I got an email featuring this sweater, and it's what made me even consider City Chic. The color is even better in real life. It's just so stunning, like the later afternoon sun on an October day. The fit is surprisingly good. The front tie gapes a bit, leaving a little "hole" where the tie should maybe fill it in. But I feel if I size up the water is going to be overly large. I like the fit as is. What do you think?

The fit is spectacular! Just barely enough length to wear it as a wrap-blouse style. It's not practical, even for grocery shopping, let's be real. And I don't even care. It reminds me of two Monica Bellucci outfits that I absolutely adores. And... it's this gorgeous Victorian-inspired piece. Tons of tiny, fabric-covered buttons with little elastic loop closures down the front. The sleeves give me serious Anne-of-Green-Gables-puffed-sleeves vibes. Marilla didn't think puffed sleeves were practical, but Anne didn't care. Neither do I. Wear it to the grocery store, shall I. But I likely won't clean toilets, wash dishes, or scrub the chicken coop in it.

Another surprise. Also has some Victorian/Edwardian vibes. I love it tucked in with my jeggings. It's just a nice balance of everyday wear, yet could be dressed up more. I feel it will be good for mom group, family dinners, and the like. I'm very happy with the color too! I haven't checked it with my DA fan yet, but I feel it is likely DA. DA has some beautiful berries and even a very warm pink.

This was a total wild card. I typically dislike and avoid stripes. And yet...I LOVE IT! Another piece I feel I can dress up or down. It has potential to be a real workhorse piece. It has a lovely 70s shirt dress vibe to it. I ordered the XS and it pulls through the shoulders. So I ordered the next size up to try. I am waffling with keeping the XS just to have in case it fits down the line. I really love this dress that much.

City Chic is a new-to-me retailer/brand. I had never heard of them and don't remember how I stumbled across their site. I decided to try them and see what happened. City Chic is cut for curvy figures, bless them forever. I'm 5'10.5 and very curvy, so I find that even buying standard retailers in larger sizes doesn't usually work. (I lost my European tailor when she retired, so that option is out too.) I have purchased some clothing from Torrid in the past. It works fairly well but a lot of it is not not cut very curvy; it is a lot of straight fits. So I think I've subconsciously been searching for another brand to try.

I also realized that while I dearly, deeply love very bohemian styles, in my current body it just doesn't work on me. My body shape is too voluptuous and curvy to handle the immense amounts of volume, straighter cuts, etc. Yes, there are curvier cuts and versions of bohemian. And I won't entirely let go of my bohemian roots. But a lot of it just hasn't been working on me. I am built like Christina Hendricks, and that's just the way it is. So I am trying to honor my body shape instead of hide it.

Does this more glamorous vibe feel higher maintenance? YES. It's why I've avoided it for so long. I don't feel I can just walk out the door without makeup wearing a couple of these pieces, if I'm honest. And yet, I have come to realize that the reality is constantly fighting to make certain cuts and styles fit on my body shape is actually higher maintenance in practice than wearing more glamorous clothing. Feeling good about myself in my clothes NOW actually can bring me peace. Being able to slip-on a blouse and have it fit from the get-go and feel authentic on me is lower maintenance, even if the overall style itself isn't super sporty and casual. (Obviously, finding the clothing that fits and feels true to oneself is kind of the challenging step in the journey, isn't it? Not glossing over that. But sometimes the pieces fall together at a the right time. )