Shopping Adventures - Old Navy, ASOS, Nordstrom

Wowee. I've been shopping a whole heck of a lot these days. Well, shopping in the sense of trying on lots of things, not necessarily keeping them.
I think I mentioned that I've been doing a little closet cleanse since giving birth and kind of revamping my wardrobe. A few people have asked me to share the pieces I look at, even if I don't keep them. I've found some pretty good gems, and some could-be-gems-for-others even if they're not for me. Plus, I always love when Fran does her reviews, so I thought this might be helpful.
Lastly, I said in a recent post that since I'd been feeling "meh" about Target through the fall I started to venture out to other stores. I started with ASOS and Nordstrom (cuz free shipping...and ASOS ships internationally, btw) and I wanted to share my shopping ventures.

Old Navy But before we get to the other two stores, I've been ordering things to try from Old Navy like crazy, so here's what I've been looking at recently:

First, this eyelet tee. I absolutely love my white lace crochet tank and though I have a different lace tee with sleeves, I want to replace it with something that feels more like that tank, but with sleeves. The lace tee I have is a little too romantic feeling for my tastes so I unfortunately don't like wearing it much. I was looking for something with lace, crochet, or eyelet and scored this top for $12. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. While the bad-habit shopper in me is like "It was only $12! Just settle!" My good-habit shopper side is like, "BACK AWAY FROM THE TOP." I don't absolutely love it on me, and it doesn't fulfill the purposes I was looking for.

It is see-through because of the holes, so you have to wear a cami underneath. I'm wearing Medium.

Second, this polka dot dress which I scored for $15! I *almost* love it, but something about how it hangs on me below the waist isn't perfect. It's perfect in some angles and not others, which means it's not perfect. I think my hips are a little too wide for it to hang the way I want it, but if you aren't hippy like me I think this dress would be SO CUTE FOR YOU!

Next, jeans. I'm looking for replacement boyfriend jeans so I tried two from Old Navy that ended up only being $16 each! On the left above is the boyfriend skinny ankle jeans. They look better in real life, but I still don't like how they bunch at my knees. I LOVE the color and distressing though. I'm normally 6/8 in jeans, but reviews said to size down, and size 4 fit better than size 6. Size 6 was too baggy in everything except the legs. I'm still contemplating whether or not to keep these, trying to figure out if the knee thing will stretch out with wear. Again, they look better in real life too. Might need to take a better pic with the real camera to see how they really look!

In the middle is boyfriend straight jeans. Gosh, these jeans and the pair above look so much better on the models! I like how straight these are compared to the ones above, and when cuffed more they look even better. However, I just love the distressing and wash on the first pair! Dilemma. I'm wearing these in size 6.

At $16/pair I kiiiiinda wanna keep both. My good shopper side is cringing. :)

This last pair is the rockstar skinny in grey. Not a boyfriend cut. I want another pair of light jeans this spring, and these were also on sale for $19. These are very stretchy, which could be great, but I personally find the stretchiness unflattering on my legs, especially with the lighter color. I think I need to go with more structured and thicker jeans in lighter colors given my build. Otherwise, great color!


ASOS
This was my first time ordering from ASOS. I don't know what took me so long, since it's free shipping both ways. RIGHT?

Some of their stuff is super expensive, but some of it is more within my price range. I particularly like ASOS for their huge selection of skirts!

I've read that sizing runs small, and I found that to be true. For a-line skirts I'm normally size 6, and usually never 8 (only 8 on bottom for fitted things like skinny jeans and pencil skirts). I tried both skirts below in size 6, but 8 felt better with both, even with elastic waistbands.

First up, this jersey circle skirt. Super comfy, stretchy material. Besides the wrinkles from being packaged up, it lays nicely and is a lightweight stretch jersey. It's not terribly thin though. Compared to most maxi skirts and other jersey dresses I've gotten at Target, this jersey is sturdier. I would still wear a slip under this, given that it's white and I don't like to take chances. I'm 5'6" and it hits right above/at my knees.

I absolutely love it and have a white skirt on my shopping list. HOWEVER, I'm trying to be a really good shopper. I need to go back to what I used to do when I was first building a wardrobe (see Building a Remixable Wardrobe and Wardrobe From Scratch) and be really, really specific about what I want each piece to do to determine if I should keep this or not.

This skater skirt is a similar material to the white one above, but this has more pleats at the waistline. This color is called blue, but it looks more purple to me in other lighting. It also comes in red and in "khaki" which either is actually olive or I'm completely colorblind. I love the pleated detail, and it can be dressed up or down nicely. I'm not sure I need a purple skirt given I have this similar magenta one, but I'm going to play around with it in my closet because I like it so much. Or I might try the olive one instead.

I also tried a really pretty white eyelet skirt, but it was too puffy for my taste. If you're not hippy or if you want a puffier white skirt it might be a great option. It's fully lined.

All in all, I'm a huge fan of ASOS skirts! I'm open to other stuff they have as well, but just didn't find anything on my current shopping list this round.


Nordstrom
I don't know why, but I always felt under qualified to shop at Nordstrom. Their free shipping is helping me get over it though. That, and having bought some accessories like my favorite ever teal teardrop necklace, the reversible tote, and the pendant I've been wearing lately.

But, like I said, I was not happy with Target and looking for some more options, so I found myself on Nordstrom's site. Here are some things from my order:

This is another eyelet skirt, but I like this much better than the ASOS one I linked to above. It's less puffy, and is fully lined. Very cute and perfect for spring! I personally won't be keeping it because it's not quite what I'm looking for in a white skirt. I got it in Medium and it fits my waist perfectly.

All of my jeans have been a little loose these days, so I'm looking for a really, really, REALLY good replacement. Something that holds shape and is form fitting. This pair has rave reviews (I guess because a popular blog linked to them). They're actually called leggings, but they feel like a very thin and stretchy pair of jeans. Whether you like that or not is just up to what you're looking for in jeans. I can see why everyone loves them, but they're not quite right for me. I've had jeans that are more flattering on me and prefer something a little thicker. However, for a jegging, I think they're pretty great and worth a shot! I'm wearing size 6.

Next, this scallop tee. SO CUTE! (Seen in THIS post.) Without realizing it I got rid of a lot of the bright colored tops in my wardrobe, so this peach one totally caught my eye. The material is thin and loose, and the fit is kind of boxy and baggy which might not be ideal for a lot of people. I loved the peach, so I ordered the white version after. However, I'm not a fan of the white on me. I wanted to love it, but it did something odd at my chest--and I don't have a large chest. I think the color makes some aspects of it that I don't like stand out in an undesirable way.

I'm going to wear the peach one tucked into skirts, with printed shorts, or with normal blue, white, or grey jeans.

Also comes in dark green, black, and bright orange. I'm normally 6, once in a while 4 on top and I'm wearing this in size 8.

Other Nordstrom Pieces
I ordered 3 necklaces: this pink pendant I've been wearing, the turquoise version, and a gold chevron necklace.

I'm warming up to Nordstrom a lot, and I like the variation from my standard Target finds. I also LOVE their "True Fit" thingy that helps determine how a piece will fit you. So far with the 3 clothing items I've ordered it's been pretty spot on.


Target Pieces
I forgot to photograph pieces from a Target order before I returned them. I looked at this printed kimono in ivory. It was enormous on me, even in XS. But the real problem I think was that my shoulders are broader, so all that material didn't hang well. I think if you have normal or smaller shoulders it'll be fine, but broader shoulders extra material kinda made me look like I had wings. :D

This crepe dress was pretty cute and fit well (I ordered M), but I just loved my recent black Old Navy dress more. The Target one comes in 4 colors, and if you're looking for a non jersey material this would be great.

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Whew! I know. Tons of shopping. I've got some decisions to make!