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Casual woven tops?

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Suz's lament for tops hit home. I'm having trouble finding casual woven tops.

My criteria:

* no silk (too dressy)
* no spaghetti straps (must be bra-friendly)
* no sheer (see above, and I do not wear camis during summer)
* good length
* no tie waists
* must be able to be worn under jackets (so prefer no puffy sleeves or other odd shoulder treatment)

Any leads, let me know, please!

Shopping

18 replies

Latest reply was from Mamapicklejuice

Meredith1953

Veteran

You are seeking the Holy Grail! I will be following this with interest!. As Bill Clinton said " I feel your pain".

krishnidoux

Veteran

I do too! Lots of fluff out there but very little in terms of just simple and pretty. Have you looked at Talbots?

Ana

(website)

Veteran

Have you checked out Ann Taylor or Banana Republic? Boden might also be worth a look.

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

Do you have a Zara or H&M in your area? There are a lot of options right now!!

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Second recommendation for H&M.

Lyn D.

Veteran

I can't help here but I hope you have enough leads to help out?

Suz

(website)

Veteran

H&M? You must be joking!!! Not at my H&M. Not yesterday when I looked!

Or maybe I just do not know how to shop at H&M. I go in and never see anything. There is too much there. And if I do pick something up, the quality looks so bad I can't really imagine enjoying it on. Yet I see so many here with great H&M finds.

I hope your search for tops is more successful than mine has been so far, MamaPicklejuice. If I come up with a source I will shout.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

Are you sure silk is too dressy? I have a few shirts from AT that are a poly blend of some kind and without checking the label, I'm not sure anyone could tell whether they were silk or not. There seem to be a lot of silk shirts out there that are washable and have details like the front flat pockets and camp style rolled sleeves that really mitigate the formality.

Jjsloane

Veteran

I find good tops every summer that fit the description by Calvin Klein jeans and DKNY. I can find them at Lord & Taylor, The Rack and other department and off price stores. Unfortunately a lot of this year's models have a lot of embellishment (beads, etc.) that I'm not interested in. Gap and Old Navy have good tops for summer as well.

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Thanks, guys, all the leads are very helpful!

I feel like silk is both too dressy and too hot for summer. I would probably eat it up if I worked in an a/c office, but it's just not breathable on the playground in the sun.

JennyAnne

(website)

Veteran

It hink I saw stuff like that at Banana Republic.
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....pid=905216
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....pid=905188
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....pid=905209 - has a little silk, but mostly cotton

Inge

(website)

I've also seen fun woven tops at Zara and Mango.

Here are some ideas.

http://www.hm.com/be/nl/produc.....le=98774-H

http://www.hm.com/be/nl/produc.....le=01118-A

http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs.....NTED%2BTOP

http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs.....T%2BBLOUSE

http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs.....ATED%2BHEM

http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs.....BDOT%2BTOP

http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs.....RFLY%2BTOP

http://shop.mango.com/BE/p0/ma.....8204353149

http://shop.mango.com/BE/p0/ma.....8204353149

http://shop.mango.com/BE/p0/ma.....8204353149

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/mo.....tback=3983

Inge

(website)

And some more:

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_ca...../77701.jsp

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_ca...../62765.jsp

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....pid=905188

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....=462104042

http://www.gap.com/browse/prod.....pid=135220

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=477496042

http://www.asos.com/A-Wear/A-W.....;clr=Multi

http://www1.macys.com/shop/pro.....otId%3D140

http://www1.macys.com/shop/pro.....otId%3D168

http://www.thelimited.com/deta.....ee/4223582

http://www.karenkane.com/store.....less-shirt

http://us.asos.com/countryid/2.....n_4i_cFtxQ

http://us.asos.com/ASOS-Shirt-.....50L1Byb2Qv

http://us.asos.com/Vero-Moda-P.....9wL1Byb2Qv

http://www.bluefly.com/wyatt-b.....omens-tops

I'll stop now:-)

mrseccentric

(website)

Veteran

oy. Welcome to my world. on top of all Mamapickle's criteria, i have a non-standard body.....hips size10-12, waist 8, bust 12-14 and shoulder size 18. Fit is a nightmare, mostly i just do not bother shopping.

Yet casual woven tops are a staple of my closet! Thus, i sew. These days there are gobs of wonderful patterns out there and massive amounts of amazing advice online. http://www.patternreview.com is a great place to start.

Some patterns:

By Colette:
http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/jasmine
http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/violet
http://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/sencha

this Colette pattern for an elegant tank is free and only takes 1.5 yards of fabric:
http://www.coletterie.com/cole.....rbetto-top

But you want sleeves? Not to worry, there's a free sleeve pattern for the Sorbetto top here:
http://sew-incidentally.blogsp.....o-top.html

Hot Patterns has 22 patterns for woven tops -
http://sew-incidentally.blogsp.....o-top.html
each pattern includes multiple views and Trudy (the designer) has many very helpful videos on how to get the most out of your Hot Patterns

None to your taste so far? Here's a list by Sewing Plum of North American Independent Pattern Publishers:
http://sewingplums.com/2011/07.....rs-update/
search around her site for international lists.

Then there are the Big Four. Joann's is having a $3.99 each sale on Vogue Patterns starting wed. May 30th. And if you don't sew, you can get the pattern and material and take it to tailor or dressmaker (as alaskagirl did recently). HTH!!! steph

Anna

I saw one in the JCPenney flyer in my local paper. It's yellow, sleeveless, with breast pockets. The model wore it with a belt so it's long enough. Looks like cotton but it doesn't say. $18

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Jonesy

Veteran

I would suggest asos.com too. They have lots of inexpensive woven tops and the do free shipping both ways. Are you thinking strictly cotton? I find that silk is very breathable, especially compared to polyester or other synthetics.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Old Navy has a slew of tanks right now. http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....?cid=72087

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Yes, I should have stated that upfront - I'm definitely looking for cotton/natural fibers. YMMV, but I can't wear poly on hot days...ditto silk.

It may come down to getting off my duff and sewing up a few.

Off to check out more of your lovely links, ladies!