JJill order - K/R - YouLookFab Forum

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JJill order - K/R

Makrame

Veteran

After I tried one of JJill silk shirts and liked it, I decided that voluminous silk shirts are a great summer uniform. I am having trouble finding woven short-sleeved tops, as seems to be the case for many on YLF, and our building is air-conditioned so I can wear long-sleeved shirts year-round. I got 3 more shirts in the mail today, as well as the dress that Traci has posted in her recent thread. The package also included 3 belts and the dreaded "soul-sucking beige" vest. Everything was on enormous sale (I think the shirts were $21 each, the dress was about $27, and the belts $7 each).

What do you think? #1 is the shirt I already have and am keeping (plum), #2 is "loganberry" shirt, #3 is russet-colored shirt (I have a similar shirt from JCrew but the color is a bit darker and it is shorter), #4 is a silk/cotton shirt, #5 is the dress. I am planning on wearing the shirts with white denim or denim capris as shown.

With the dress, my main concern is the length (I would like to wear it to work with tights and boots) and whether it works with the jacket. I would probably wear it to work without the belt so avoid "creeping up to inappropriate length" issue but could use belts for going out or casual wear. The metallic belt is a bit "out there" for me but it might be fun.

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20 replies

Latest reply was from Makrame

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

i think those J Jill blouses were made for you Makrame! Keep them all - the colours and fits are lovely. I also really like the silk/cotton shirt - such a lovely pattern and colour for summer. LOVE the dress, especially with the blazer over top both with and without the belt. And you absolutely NEED to keep that metallic belt - it's gorgeous on you. Call me crazy, but I also like the vest - you've book ended it brilliantly here with your footwear and as long as the top underneath has some colour to it, it will not come across as soul sucking IMO. So I guess to summarize - keep it all!!!

catgirl

Veteran

Love the shirts - I'm finding them addictive as well. If you had to send one back, I'd return the russet, but honestly they all look great.

The dress looks good to me as well.

Not a fan of the beige vest, just on principle.

christieanne

Veteran

I love the print shirt and solid blouses - russet is my least favorite but it's good too! The metallic belt is going to be a fun accessory in the long run. Not sure on the vest but I find them awkward sometimes. What a great order you did!

Edited to correct my very bad typo - hopefully no one was offended by that one. I wish spell check worked for those type of things.

Claudia

Veteran

I'd keep everything, it all looks good or great and the quality for the sale price is amazing. I think the impression of quality really shows where you have compared the J Jill russet blouse with the similar one from J Crew. I'd return the J Crew one if that was an option. Also, burnt orange/russet is one of the color trends for Fall 2012.

Nice haul, Makrame!

Makrame

Veteran

Claudia, I think you are right about the quality - that's what "sold" me on these shirts, I wore the plum-colored one all day and it still looked good. The only downside is, like all silk shirts, they take a while to iron, but they seem to keep their shape really well. In defense on JCrew shirt, it was line-dried but has not been ironed so it looks all wrinkly. I've had it for almost a year now so no returns on that.

Shannon, I also thought that bookending the vest with the shoes and adding a bright top helps. I am a bit self-conscious about wearing sleeveless vest over sleeveless tops (I prefer more arm coverage) but that's the only look that seems to work (longer sleeves just look frumpy with this vest). I do like the option of wearing a longer vest as opposed to all the cropped denim jackets I picked up for the summer.

AG, I respect your principled position! I am with you on the shirts being addictive - I wonder if my co-workers will get bored of them eventually.

Christieanne, thanks for the encouragement on the shirts and the belt!

Midwest Girl

The tops do look pretty and comfortable, but my favorite outfit on you is the dress with the metallic belt. You look great with your waist emphasized.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

Excellent haul. I like the dress belted with the metallic belt and all of the shirts are keepers. I got mine too and think they are well made and the fabric is a very nice weight.

Anonymous

I really like the silk shirts for you. They are so modern in cut, generously long without tipping over into "overwhelming" territory. I'm a bit meh on the length of the dress. Would you love it a lot more if it were a bit longer? If so, I'd return. The vest is a tricky color, and it sounds like it's not working the way you wanted it to. I like the style though! Belts look good to me, do you need them both? (Just trying to save you money, lol.)

Makrame

Veteran

Claire, good point on the length of the dress! I really "want" to keep it because I have a shirtdress from Target that I really enjoyed wearing but it is starting to show signs of fading. I wanted to get a replacement for the Target dress and thought that this would be it. But perhaps it is too short... The Target dress (below) is longer.

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Sveta

(website)

Veteran

The shirt look great - I have several silk shirt-tunics and wear them all the time. You definitely going to get a lot of wear out of them. I actually like the russet color very much and the one I like the least is loganberry - but it is just me, I prefer jewel colors to the muted ones
I am going against the grain here but I am not very excited about this dress as you styled it. Is it straight shift-like - there is not any waist definition, right? If this is the case it should not be longer: it will look frumpy in the longer length. I would wear it sans belt with tights or patterned hose and tall boots or booties to emphasize waist surrendering and make it intentional. I would be also careful with jackets: the one you wear looks too long for this dress. I would go either for very cropped or maybe long BF jacket. You can also try long BF or cascading cardigan with this dress as well.
Nice belts - you can never have too many belts!

sarah

Veteran

I really like the blouses - keep them all! I'm also not as excited about the dress. It seems a bit big and shapeless, and it doesn't seem to belt very easily what with the extra fabric.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I think the lot of it stays! High five for duplicating this blouse - it is fab on you. Much better than that J. Crew one... huge upgrade. The dress looks perfect as well. A charmed order!

Jonesy

Veteran

I really love the patterned blouse and the other new solid colors. I do notice that they tend to hug your bum a teeny bit--do you usually wear them tucked, or are you indifferent to the hugging thing? Maybe it's more noticeable in the pics than IRL, plus I am a super-duper weirdo about fit sometimes :).

I like the dress! I mean, it's only about 2 inches above your knees, right? Doesn't seem too short for work to me, at all! We're not talking a minidress or anything. I would like to see it loose without a topper, with some boots, just to get a sense of it on its own.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I really love the pattern on that dress. I felt the same when I saw it on Traci. It's almost like tweed. But in silk - so interesting. It seems like a great colour for you, too. But I'm not 100% sure about styling it. If it's a shirt dress it is meant to be belted, correct? Still...Sveta and Jonesy are very smart about styling and they might be onto something about letting it hang loose, more like a long tunic. It would drape nicely (being silk) and might look spectacular that way.

LOVE that metallic belt. Please keep. And keep all the shirts. At that price, you'd be mad not to!

Great haul.

Makrame

Veteran

I was definitely planning on wearing the dress loose, without belting. The belt was just an afterthought, to see how else I can style the dress.

It is a very straight shift-like dress and I thought it would be fun to just wear it loose but add a jacket for some waste definition. Sarah may be right, though, that it is a bit too loose up top.

Suz, I really like the "tweediness" of the dress, too.

Jonesy, good point about the "back-hugging" on the shirts. I I don't think it is too big of a problem but it is probably a function of the longer length of the shirts and the silky fabric.

Sveta, I am with you on liking the russet color the most and loganberry the least (but I still think it is going to be useful for the more "subdued" days).

Claudia

Veteran

Makrame, about the loganberry color. I love smokey and inky purples. Don't just save it for subdued days paired with black, try it with a mustard yellow (are you one of the many YLFers that have the Halogen seamed pencil skirt in yellow raisin?), olive, camel and a deep magenta or raspberry. Even the right tone of coral and turquoise (saturated) can look great with that loganberry color, and make it pop.

Meredith1953

Veteran

I love the blouses! They fit you beautifully and will be a very practical addition to your wardrobe. You are one of those ladies who looks good with the tucked and untucked so you have even more options. The vest works because you do have color under it near your face and I really like the shape of the vest as well. The only piece I can't get a true appreciation for is the dress but I think the suggestions for wearing it tunic fashion with tights and tall boots or booties would really work well for it. The fabric is lovely.

marianna

Veteran

Great haul! I've never looked at JJill before but I like these blouses on you. Great, cool summer uniform.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Just chiming in to say that your clams in #2, #3 and #4 are sensational.

Makrame

Veteran

Angie, I am glad to hear you say that! I was wondering how these clamdiggers look in terms of length etc. I got these last year at the Gap to replace the dreaded "wide-leg capris" I used to wear.

Claudia, thanks for the ideas on all the color pairings, I really like your suggestions! I don't have any of the bright Halogen skirts (no yellow raisin or magenta) but I will keep these in mind.