My blog is my happy place, so naturally, I focus on the pieces that I enjoy wearing and the items that suit me. That said, I don’t always make the right purchasing decisions and more often than not, will take advantage of a store’s friendly returns policy if things don’t work out for me. I share a few of these mishaps over on my Instagram stories but I thought I’d delve into a few recent ones here because I figure it’s always a bit of fun to read about the things that don’t work out and the reasons why.
So here are a select few, in no particular order:
Tony Bianco Hiranni Sandals
Wearing Tony Bianco sandals, Everlane Knit* (sz XS), The Frankie Shop Bea Trousers, Celine bag (review here, preloved here)
In theory – these seemed like a home run to me. A fantastic dupe for the Chanel Dad Sandals, which I appreciate is a take-it-or-leave-it situation, but considering I’ve been wearing Birkenstocks for yeeeears, there was no doubt in my mind that they’d work. When the Black Friday sales started last year, I pounced as they had just been restocked and my size was available.
My first impressions of the sandals when they arrived were glowing. Exceptionally made, pillowy quilted straps and a cushioned footbed. How could I go wrong? Unfortunately, the umming and ahhing started as soon as I put them on. Aside from the fact that they make my feet look bigger than they actually are, I ultimately didn’t think my style aesthetic was “cool” enough (for lack of a better term) to pull them off. So – back they went where they came from, and another lesson learned that just because items look fab on others, doesn’t always mean they’ll suit my style.
Country Road Compact Knit Suit
Wearing Country Road jacket (sz XS), Country Road skirt (sz S)
This one warrants a bit of a back story for context.
Earlier last year, pre-Covid dramas, I took advantage of my free lunch breaks to test out the different varieties of crepe knit on offer. When it comes to crepe knit, I’ve made it no secret that I’m fangirl numero uno to Scanlan Theodore’s fabrication. It reigns supreme. It’s been around for yeeeears, and contemporary brands have finally caught wind of the fact that it’s a great fabric (particularly for workwear) so in the last couple of years, the likes of Country Road, Saba and Portmans have all released their take on it. I haven’t yet tried any of Portmans’ pieces, but I did take it upon myself to test out Saba’s version (known as Milano Knit) and Country Road’s version (known as Compact Knit). I wasn’t overly impressed with Saba’s fabric, it was unflattering and didn’t sufficiently mask my post-childbirth wobbly bits (technical medico lingo, I know), however, the Country Road version did have me doing a double take.
The Country Road compact knit is not as thick or stretchy as Scanlan’s crepe knit, but it’s still decent quality and very well priced, coming in at less than half the price of Scanlan’s knit pieces. The Country Road Wrap Jacket is an incredible dupe for Scanlan Theodore’s Wrap Jacket (with the friendly CR sales associate neither confirming nor denying that the CR designer responsible for the compact knit range is a Scanlan alumna… ahem) and the bow detail on the jacket is particularly lovely.
Wearing Country Road jacket (sz XS), Country Road skirt (sz S)
I couldn’t help myself when Country Road ran one of their periodical Spend & Save promos and I bought myself the compact knit suit, justifying the purchase as being a nice back up to my Scanlan suit. Ultimately, I sent it back, because while it’s a decent quality suit, I’ve already got the same style suit and considering how well my one is made, I really didn’t need a near-identical back up. So while this wasn’t a purchase that didn’t suit me, it was one that reinstated the fact that I don’t need to have duplicates or back-ups of pieces in my wardrobe that still have lots of wear left.
Everlane Cropped Alpaca Cardigan
Wearing Everlane cardigan (sold out, similar here), Nobody Denim jeans, Everlane flats*
The final piece that I’ll feature in this round up is Everlane’s Cropped Alpaca Cardigan. Now, I’ve only ever heard great things about their Alpaca wool, so I was really excited to give this one a try. While the fabric is as dreamy as everyone raves on about, the style I chose did not suit my frame. While I ordered my usual size XS, the oversized silhouette still overwhelmed my petite frame. The billowy sleeves and cropped boxy cut just looked all sorts of wrong and given I’m pear-shaped, I felt really frumpy in this one. Despite it not suiting me, it was a really popular item and sold out completely in all the colours it came in. I ended up letting this one go on Depop in a most recent wardrobe clear out, currently my favourite platform to sell pieces.
And that’s a wrap on some style mishaps from last year. I’ll be sure to share more of these in the future!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
P.S. Some relaxed outfits I’ve been sporting recently and my favourite outfits of 2020.
