Edited:the small HL pants arrived yesterday and they were way smaller. So much so that the waist sat like high waisted trousers, and the calves were tight (not photo friendly;)) Seems the medium was the right fit for me. But after a long think over the weekend of my dream life vs reality vs budget, I decided to send both the small and medium back. Thanks for all of your help!

First of all, you could have picked me up off the floor this afternoon when a parcel arrived, and it was my ShopBop order that I put in YESTERDAY!!! And I'm in Canada. Wow. That's pretty close to instant gratification! From Angie's fab list of recommendations I chose the Blank vegan leather (pleather) crops and the Helmut Lang slouchy cropped pants. The pleather crops are making me very happy. Fit is good, and I wear that silhouette a lot in the warmer weather. I've been actively searching for a replacement for some old black Hudson crops that I wore into the ground, and I think these may be it. I realize pleather makes you sweat, but these would be more for evening with a loose top, more dressed up (shown in #1/2 with Pleoine sleeveless top).

Photos #3-9 show the Helmut Lang slouchy cropped pants. I followed the advice of the 1 review on the Shopbop website, and although these are fabulously slouchy, I think they might be too slouchy. I'd appreciate your thoughts. I'd prefer not to look too wide on the bottom, but I love me some slouch. The pockets are so amazingly dropped I'm in heaven. Dropped pockets get me every time. I asked DH's opinion, and he said " you know I'm not a fan of those baggy things you wear, but I can see how modern they are. I see it downtown." (DH has AMAZING style - suits every day). I know many of you are over HL and the slouchy thing. I still like both slouch and fitted, thus I like both of these crops. Since delivery was crazy-fast, I re-ordered these in a small to compare. I will either keep the better fitting pair, or return both. 

Photos #10-12 show the COS citron tunic that alaskagirl so kindly sold to me instead of returning it to COS for being to large for her. It is a fabulously soft merino wool. Wow. So soft and cozy. I'm not usually big into tunic/sweater dresses, and I definately cannot pull this off as a dress. However, it feels fab with the Lysee leggings. I even tried it with the striped VC tube skirt and I think that might work too. I think I'll keep this and play with it. If it seems glaringly wrong I'd be open to selling it to another fabber as Una so kindly did for me (thanks Una!!!).  Styling suggestions welcome.

Comments, critiques? Bring it on! I should mention that I have also ordered some Steve Madden Shallow black shooties. My original order was too small, so hopefully the next pair works. They seem like the perfect shootie for spring to pair with both pairs of these pants. I can't seem to Collect it for my finds. but here's a link, hopefully...http://www.stevemadden.com/pro.....ffiliate-_

Thanks in advance for your opinions