My goals for this shopping trip were to try on some things that were totally different for me, hopefully more feminine and fashion-forward. "Retail research" as unfrumped so aptly put it. I visited Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Nordstrom Rack (thanks Mochi) . I’ve posted fitting room pics here plus found some "find" pics for some of the ones I liked. All inputs most welcome. Not a bad start IMHO. Need to focus more on more dramatic/graphic looks next time.

#1 Black print top & light blue jeans. I like the fit and color/print of the top, but it’s a little tight at the hip would have to order up online. I love the dragonflies. Not liking much about the jeans, especially the distressed look

#2 Same top in a lighter print. Not liking the lighter color and the print reminds me of PJs although I liked it when I first looked at it. Interesting how you can like a print when you first look at it but not like it when you put the item on.

#3 Dress – not liking fit, color, fabric, or anything else. Total blah.

#4 Black top and yellow chinos. I like the black top except for the tie at the bottom which hits me at a very awkward spot. If I keep it I’ll have to do some sort of alteration on that. These are the Pilcro Hyphen chinos posted by Janet recently. Fit well, great fabric, but would prefer a darker color. Not sure about the black top and yellow bottoms as a combo.

#5 same chinos with a floral top. I'm not liking the fit or the pattern of the top

#6 Dark blue geo print top. Too small and larger not available even online. I like the print, neckline and sleeve shape, although if I found it in the larger size the neckline could end up being a bit too low to look good proportionally. Found a few "finds" that are similar

#7 Blush leather jacket. Not a good fit but was looking at the color. With my hair color I find that cool blush, bone, and taupe colors can look awful, but this color seems ok.

#8 White t-shirt and my own olive chinos. I like the embellishments, overall fit, and neckline/sleeve shape of the top but the fabric is too sheer and it’s kind of uninteresting overall.

#9 Jacket & tan jeans. I just posted about this jacket under Angie’s Spring Tweed Jacket topic. The jeans are ok but I still think that cropped/shorter length is going to be tricky on me and I'd want a darker color.

…and two others from some spring shopping I did about 6 weeks ago…

#10 Green dentelle lace t-shirt . LOVE his color should look for more of it. Lace on shoulders. Need to shorten it a bit

#11 & 12 Blue Rose & Olive (that’s a brand) blue print top, also needs shortening, Can’t see it very well but it has a keyhole back. Might try doing some ruching on the sides instead of a regular hem.