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My "Why is it so hard to find" rant

Ariadne

Veteran

I spent the better part of 2 days trying to find simple, decent-quality scoop-neck layering tees without cap sleeves, flutter sleeves, puffed sleeves or other fussy details that make layering difficult, and that weren't so thin they were practically useless (ahem, CLUB MONACO). I couldn't find ANY in all of Vancouver or in the nearby giant mall in Burnaby. The Gap and Old Navy have ones that are so basic they make me want to cry. I finally gave up, bit the bullet, and ordered a bunch from J Crew (the perfect fit scoop neck t, which has elbow-length sleeves). At least I got free shipping. They'd better fit because they were not cheap.

You'd think, in the middle of a recession, that retailers would make an effort to stock well-thought-out, good quality basics. I have a feeling my hunt for clamdiggers will be equally frustrating (I kept an eye out on my tee search with no luck so far). Bags that can be worn cross-body have been another tough one for me to find so far. I want to find a yellow, medium-to-large one that can also be worn on the shoulder.

I DID find a pair of sandals that were very comfy and that made me think of Maya because I think they might work for her. Maya, let me know if you seee this or I'll start another thread for you. These are the sandals,they're Clarks Extinguish and they are the most comfortable sandals I've ever tried on. I may go back for them in the end. My feet are wide and they fit perfectly.
http://www.zappos.com/product/7507824/color/90573

What has everyone else been hunting hard for? Maybe we can help each other find what we need.

General

16 replies

Latest reply was from Ariadne

Maya

Veteran

Ooh thanks Brianna. Those do look comfy. I will have to add them to my list. There are so many sandals I have to try. Have you had the chance to test the Korbins yet? It's probably too soon I guess.

I'm sorry you experienced so much frustration. I know what you mean about trying to find basics in a sea of trendy pieces. A few years back I was looking for a new fitted jacket to replace one that was too small for me. It was around the time where trapeze jackets were EVERYWHERE. I wanted to cry. I never did find one. I spent all season looking and eventually it became too cold, so I waited another year and by then I decided I wanted a moto jacket more.

I'm also looking for clams, but the ones I have found are all too expensive, too low in the rise, too long, too short, etc. I really liked the ones Shana posted in another thread, and at $20 they were quite excellent, BUT of course they just had to have flap pockets just to spite me!

Is there a Uniqlo in Vancouver? That would be my main stop for basics.

I'm not actively shopping now so I'm afraid I can't be much help. Maybe Tanya will have a moment to spare, and I'm sure Inge will chime in too.

Ariadne

Veteran

Nope, no UNIQLO here. I checked ON for clams and they were all far too low-rise for me, even the highest rise ones. Like you, I need a 9 or 10 inch rise.

Haven't had a chance to properly test the Korbins yet but I'll give them a try at home tomorrow--still too cold out to wear them outside! I've been breaking in my new ballet flats and have nasty blisters from them This happens with all new shoes for me, even if they end up being 8-hourers after a few wears.

Inge

(website)

Your sandals look incredibly comfy Brianna, yum!
When you say 'layering tees' do you mean tops in actual T-shirt fabric? I'm just asking so I know what to look out for;-)
And you prefer 'simple sleeves' because that makes layering more easy, but don't mind some interesting details on the neckline/collar/front of the top?

By the way: Shabbyapple now has a similar dress in red (remember we liked the brown one?-).
http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-3.....t-hot.aspx

I would still like to find a pair of yellow wedges (or stacked heel), heel height about 2 inches, preferably with the straps starting in the middle and then going around the foot.

NCyogini

I've seen some clams around, but like others have said, the rise has always been much too low.

I'm at my wits end trying to find decent skirt tops (I suspect this is not unusual) and I simply cannot find a cute, strappy sunny yellow kitten heel sandal anywhere. Inge, I've seen a few yellow wedges on Zappos, where I am sure you looked and noticed they're mostly slides, not strappy.

Good luck friends. Let us know when you find what you wanted!

shiny

Veteran

Brianna - try BR. I love the quality of their knits. Most of my knits are from that store. I tried this one on (in the green print) recently and I'm probably going to go back and get it:

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....=646572002

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/.....=646576002

Also check their sales rack. I always find knits on sale there.

As for higher-rise clams, I posted on the other thread: Levi 512's and Ralph Lauren Nolita's. And Angie chimed in with BR's new skinny clams in the Martin cut and in the Jackson (which is higher rise) cut.

What I can't find this spring: decent V-neck cardigans!!! It seems to be slim pickings this year for cardigans. I really need to refresh my black cardi and my white one. I don't like Jcrew cardi's as they tend to fit me goofy (not always, just most of the time) - the buttons don't hit at the sweet spot for me. If you see any V-neck cotton cardis, let me know.

shiny

Veteran

Never mind... I just found a ton of petite cardis at Gap and ON...

crwilson

Veteran

Shiny -
I was just going to post a link to Gap's v-neck cardigan, which I loved when I tried it on but for some reason didn't buy. They run big, I thought. I usually wear a medium, but even a small was a bit large on me, and I have a large bust.

I'm having the same problem with skirt tops - I'm beginning to think that it's just impossible. Reading Angie's post on skirt top length was great because it helped me figure out why I had so many skirts for which I couldn't find a matching top. But, now I have a bunch of skirt orphans, and I can't find any tops that seem like the would work.

To add to that, I'm having a hard time finding basic skirts. I got a denim skirt, but I'd like one more solid, neutral a-line skirt in a casual fabric. A skirt similar to Maya's white skirt that she posted a few days ago is what I'm looking for. All the skirts this season seem to have defined gathers and/or pleats, which add bulk to my lower waist, which I definitely do not need. Of course, if I don't have any skirt tops, I don't know why I'm looking for more skirts.

shiny

Veteran

I think Gap (and ON) re-did their sizing when they started offering petites online. I have noticed that the XS's in the stores are enormous - where before they used to fit okay, they were just too long for me. But I have ordered the petites before and found they were perfect. Now I just have to decide which to try.... ON has so many different styles to choose from!

As for cotton skirts, it might be too early? That's my thought, at any rate. I gravitate towards patterned skirts and right now it seems all the skirts have patterns with lots of black, which to me is an early spring skirt, not a summer skirt. I'm expecting soon we'll start seeing more summery skirts. I could be wrong.

I have a denim skirt from years ago - Petite Sophisticate, before they went out of business. It's too big now, and I'm debating about having it altered. I've held on to it thinking I will probably regain weight again in the future. It's perfect though because it doesn't have the zipper fly in the front, or pockets, which I hate because that style always looks goofy on me. It's just a simple stretch denim pencil skirt, with no embellishments or pockets or fly or anything.

shana

Veteran

Brianna, I did not see the ON clams that I ordered online in the store (classic rise vs low rise). Mine have a 9" rise (in a petite) - I would have preferred a 9.5" rise but this is so much better than the majority of what's out there. Of course there is the flap pockets to consider. I am not too sure how much wear I'll get out of them so I'm happy to go for the budget option. I am much more likely to wear a skirt and I hate wearing shorts so this is definitely outside the box for me.

Shiny, the ON petite sizing is all over the place. I am very consistent at BR and the Gap and never have to worry about ordering online at these stores. I recently placed my first order at ON for some petite sized items and it was a mess. Bottoms were fine but the sizing in the tops was crazy. I bought a cardigan sweater (the ruffle neck one that is a blatant copy of the J Crew one) in a small petite and it was really tight (I consistently wear a small petite in BR sweaters & have no issues) and then two shirred tanks that I had to size down to a xs petite to get a good fit!

Another great place for cardigans is Martin & Osa - unfortunately, they do not offer petites.

Ariadne

Veteran

Inge, that red dress--LOVE! Whew. That's going on my wish list. I only want to buy 1 shirtdress, though--I wonder if the red is too dramatic or memorable to wear regularly?

I am looking for t-shirt or similar material layering tops. Something easily breathable and machine-washable that I can wear when doing light exercise that doesn't require gear (bike rides, long walks, grocery shopping on foot, etc) but that does involve some level of sweating as well as for wearing around the house when working from home and doing housework. Nothing too fancy or fussy, but nothing that looks like it belongs on a boy, either. Neckline details are fine, but these are definitely casual tops that I'm after. Hopefully the JCrew ones I ordered will mostly fulfill my needs, though I still have my eye out for white, cream, black and navy options.

Shiny, I did check BR for knits and couldn't find a thing! The one here in Vancouver never really yields anything for me. I did find a possible skirt top that I'll post later today for feedback. I really like those solid-colour cowl necks you posted. Unfortunately BR doesn't ship in Canada so I can't order online. Maybe they'll have some later in the season. I'll definitely look into the Levis and Ralph Lauren clams you posted. Thanks! I saw great V-neck and other cardis at the Gap and I swear I saw them somewhere else too but I can't remember. It might've been Jacob, which you don't have, I don't think.

Shana, I can't order online from ON either, due to being in Canada I really wish the Gap/ON/BR/Piperlime conglomerate would get their act together in that regard.

crwilson (Christine, right?), have you tried consignment and even thrift shops for the kind of skirt you're looking for? They seem to turn up frequently at the ones in my area.

Dawn

(website)

Oh I know how you feel. I spent the better part of last Saturday and some of Monday looking for cardigans. Unfortunately I had no luck at all. When I found any cardigans at all, they ended at the wrong spot on my torso or were too long in the arms or worse the smallest size was much too large. The one cardigan that I liked and fitted was over-priced so I left it behind.

Maybe I'll wait a few weeks and see what the selection is like then. The only shop I didn't get to was Zara which normally has good basics like cardis so when I'm near it again, I'll take a look there.

Maya

Veteran

I too have pretty much abandoned the idea of skirt tops. All the ones I have seem to be the result of random luck or chance, like accidentally throwing a pant-length top in the dryer or trying on a petite top that still manages to be long enough for my arms. I wonder if it's better to look for skirt tops in thrift stores or consignment stores, where things are more likely to be older, from back in the day when women wore 11" rises and didn't need the extra shirt length to cover their bums. What came out of necessity also ended up being more flattering. I certainly don't want longer tops to go away--far from it. I just wish there was a choice.

I'm going to add sweater dresses to this list. I have searched high and low and it is by far the most difficult thing I have ever shopped for. Maybe I'm just picky. Here are my requirements:

-V, scoop, or other low neckline

-Must have full length sleeves. This is a point of anger for me: What is the point of a sweater with SHORT sleeves? If it's hot enough for short sleeves, it's too hot for a sweater, and if it's cold enough for a sweater, it's too cold for short sleeves! You can't even cover up with a cardigan because layering sweaters looks silly. It makes me so mad when designers just completely abandon practicality for no good reason!

-Must hit around the knee (either on or slightly above). This is a tall order for a short person like me. Most sweater dresses are simply too long and since they can't be hemmed, I'm out of luck. 35"-37" is about right.

-No empire waists. Sometimes they work but I don't like struggling with them and they are usually not flattering on me in dresses for some reason. They seem to emphasize that I have a huge chest sitting on top of my hips, with no waist in the middle, and make my legs look even more abnormally long.

-No belts

-No straight skirts. All the sweater dresses Banana Republic had this past season had straight skirts. It was mind-boggling to me. Way to alienate over half of the female population (pears and hourglasses).

-It would be nice if it came in a color other than black or gray, but I won't push my luck. I would like to wear it with black or gray tights or leggings so I don't want the dress to match, but guess what colors most sweater dresses come in.

-Must have either no acrylic or very little acrylic content. I find acrylic to pill like crazy after just one wash.

My dream sweater dress either uses contrasting stitching and ribbing to create shape or has an eased trapeze shape.

Even though I just learned how to knit and I am pretty awful at it, I'll probably sooner be able to knit my own dress than find one off the rack.

ChristineB

I just wanted to let Brianna & any other Canadians reading this thread know that Old Navy (and hopefully Gap & BR) will offer online shopping to Canadians in the Fall of this year. I know that doesn't help us now, but I'm looking forward to the fall!!

My gripe - what's with all the cropped cardis & jackets right now? I've been looking for cardi's as well, and they are either boyfriend length (really long) or cropped really short. Not much in between. I don't have an ON in my small city, but we do have a Gap - I need to go there on my lunch break one of these days 7 check them out.

Ariadne

Veteran

Christine, that rules!

Yep, the Gap has some good cardis. I know what you mean about the length thing.

Inge

(website)

Elbow length tops, sweaters etc. are notoriously hard to find, sigh. I'd love some for Summer too.

Here are few more options Brianna. Hope this helps.

http://www.express.com/catalog.....egoryId=11
(sleeveless can be quite handy for layering purposes, no fussing with sleeve details underneath sweaters/cardis, and then a cowl neck or some other neckline detail adds an interesting touch...)

http://www2.victoriassecret.co.....rfnbr=5441

http://www2.victoriassecret.co.....rfnbr=5441

http://www2.victoriassecret.co.....rfnbr=5441

http://www.bluefly.com/Bailey-.....detail.fly

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/.....=653465042

http://www.ralphlauren.com/pro.....age=family

http://www.target.com/Merona-C.....038;page=1

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/30.....6&P=2

http://www.fashionchateau.com/.....coop%20Tee

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/.....ryID=35908

http://www.fashionchateau.com/.....uctID=5892

http://www.nyandcompany.com/ny.....=cat790002

http://www.nyandcompany.com/ny.....d=cat60038

Ariadne

Veteran

Inge, you're amazing! Thank you. I particularly love the Express, VS, Bluefly, ON and Nordies options. I think of all of those, only VS and Bluefly ship to Canada, and even so they'd be pretty pricey once I factored in the shipping and exchange rates, but I'll keep an eye out for sales, and I'll look for that ON top in stores.