I went to TJ Maxx for the first time today as they recently opened a new store in our area. It was pretty busy. It was interesting--they had some designer stuff in their Runway section but all of it was still pretty pricey ($300 and up) and quite ugly IMO (a lot of horridly dowdy or crazy prints). I didn't find a whole lot in the rest of the store either--I looked at purses, shoes, dresses, coats, and careerwear. I was starting to get that mildly overwhelmed feeling that I used to get shopping for clothes (pre-YLF) when there's too many things and I don't know what to look for. I think I don't do as well in the random bargain hunting environment--I like browsing online and ordering or going into a store with a list of specific items to try. The prices were OK, but fairly similar to Nordstrom Rack (which I love to browse online). I will probably go there again, but I was a little disappointed I didn't find any amazing bargains. Do any of you love to shop there? What's your strategy?

I did try on three dresses, and ended up buying a Ralph Lauren dress for $50. It's navy with blue and white flowers (1-6). Size 4, 95% polyester and 5% elastane. It's a good spring dress and I thought I could wear it both for MOTG and for work. It has wide shoulder straps and V neck which I like and ruching to hide the apple tummy. It's stretchy and comfortable. I tried styling for MOTG with the white AE denim jacket and wedge sandals (3-4), and for work with the ink blue jacket and blue snakeskin pumps (5-6). What do you think of it, keep or return? Is it too similar to my Jason Wu for Target blue floral dress (7)? They are pretty similar, but I feel like this one is a little dressier because the floral print is bolder and the hem isn't so short.

The other two dresses I tried on at TJ Maxx were a black shift (don't remember the brand) with Bailey 44 style diagonal paneling (8-9), and a red Adrianna Papell faux wrap jersey dress (10-11) but I didn't think they looked as good on me. And bonus pics from when I went to J Crew and tried on Angie's emerald stripe shirt (12-13) and another dress (14-15) the other day when I went to return the blue jacquard dress. I didn't buy either because I am not used to waist surrender and that shirt is rather loose around the waist. I liked the Mad Men style of the dress (it's more coral, not bright orange like it looks in the picture--I wish it was orange!), but it was $200 so I didn't think it was worth it. J Crew is expensive!