XXSP Sweaters at anntaylor.com - A Follow-up

I have struck gold! I have finally found sweaters that actually fit me almost perfectly (note: I don't really ever expect to find anything that fits me perfectly). I am in shock!!! Last week, I discovered that Ann Taylor was offering clothing in 00P and XXSP online. Obviously, I immediately ordered a mixed set to get a general sense of what the label meant by 00 Petite and XXS Petite. Apparently, they meant what I've been hoping they'd mean!

All the items was wrapped up very nicely when the box arrived. Everything was individually wrapped, sometimes with tissue. The jacket was also on a hanger. Yay - a nice new hanger for me. I unwrapped everything and took a look at what I'd ordered.

This is the first time in my life that a twin set has actually fit me. Ever. The shell is usually the problem - but as you can see, if I had a slightly larger bust, it'd be perfect. Someone bigger than me would be fine too - the sweater does stretch, after all, since it's made from silk/nylon. I'm not too enthralled with the cardigan, since the sleeves are too long, but it'll do in a pinch. Luckily, I'm not in a bind, so I'll just wait and see what else they produce before laying down the dough. I'm VERY happy they started producing these XXSP's though - when they finally come up with something I like, I'll be there in a flash.

The silk/cotton ivory shell I got fit decently, although I wouldn't want to actually buy it. Like I said, this was a totally research purpose only batch! I didn't really like the quality of it - maybe I just dislike cotton sweaters? Probably. I got some sort of fiber content issues. That sounds crazy doesn't it? What I mean to say is that I generally hate cotton sweaters and suits.

But crisp cotton shirts are definitely ok. Oops. I realized I forgot to order one somehow, but I got this silk one instead in 00P. Which fit exactly like a silk shirt is supposed to on me (ok, fine, yes, maybe it could be a little tighter since the designer assumes that the buyer has a chest, unlike me). Silk shirts should be worn looser than a cotton shirt. Or rather, if you're the more modest type, a silk button down shouldn't stretch. Yeah, yeah, I know, you can totally see the fold marks. I avoid ironing like the plague because it's all or nothing for me - which means a long ironing session for each piece. And once the iron's hot, I might as well do everything, right?

Thanks to my incredibly detailed-oriented self (shall we say, anal?), all the measurements are below. I'm not a tailor but they seem to do the job of figuring out what would work. I'll be getting to the suit, dress, and skirt soon enough.


Measurements:
Twinset shell: 9" shoulder strap to strap (from the center of the strap), 7" from the shoulder to bottom of the armhole, 27" widest circumference under the arms, 25" waist, 13" from shoulder to waist.
Twinset cardigan: 16" shoulder seam to seam, 30" widest circumference under the arms, 27" waist, 21.5" sleeve length from above, 17.5" sleeve length from armpit.
Cotton shell: 8" shoulder strap to shoulder, 4" from the shoulder to armhole bottom (stretchy straps), 26" widest around arms, 23" waist, 13" shoulder to waist.
Silk shirt: 14.5" shoulder seam to seam, 32" circumference under the arms, 28" waist, 13" from shoulder to waist.

J.Crew Phone & Online ordering review

In my last post, I did a mini-review of J.Crew's retail store, to get a peek at all the stuff short people can't buy in store. Because of a complete lack of petites in store, I decided to chronicle my experience with J.Crew's mail order service.

It's possible to order J.Crew's merchandise through its catalog, online, or over the phone at 800-562-0258. However, all 3 of these methods require you to pay extra for shipping. Now, I don't know about you, but I get annoyed whenever I have to pay extra to purchase something I may not even wind up buying (incidentally, there is free shipping with code NFS-100 until August 4th with some restrictions...but this is very rare!). Since most of the special sizing selection is only available through the mail, I don't consider free shipping a perk anymore. It's bad enough that stores don't stock my size or enough items in my size - stores should definitely comp for the shipping and extra annoyance!

One little know fact is that if you can actually get free shipping to your home if you order on the red phone in any J.Crew store, as long as at least one item is full price. If you don't want anything, you can return everything in store as well. It's a pretty straight forward process; the only annoyance is that size 0P clothing disappears quickly (not one dress was available), and the sales associate on the phone with you can't filter by size - only by style number. If you're cheap like me, my suggestion is to browse online, and jot down all the style numbers you're interested in. After purchasing 2 sets of suits and a blouse, I waited for my order to arrive.

My order arrived in less than a week to my apartment. I was very impressed with the packaging job. As you can see, everything was on an individual hanger and then plastic wrapped. The hangers were good quality - the pants hangers even had a rubberized elastic that held my slacks in place. I typically order from Ann Taylor or Banana Republic, and J.Crew definitely did a better job with wrapping its mail ordered items.

Unfortunately, I didn't wind up liking the clothing very much. Everything was huge on me. This short-sleeve French Oxford Shirt was a size 0P, and needed to be taken in a lot! Even so, I thought that it was a a pretty good quality shirt and not terribly expensive at $58.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the wool twill suiting or the wool gabardine suiting I got either. Besides the fit issue (when is it even not an issue for me? - just look at the photo at left), I didn't particularly care for the fabric itself. On the plus side, while I was returning everything, I learned that all J.Crew button cuff jackets are actually functional - so you can 'roll' up your jacket sleeves a bit. Price wise, they weren't that bad, at $228/$198 for the jackets, $128/$118 for the pants, and $98 for the skirt. But without any subsudies for alterations, J.Crew suits are a costly option for me.

Sizing is just obsurd - the pants in particular were just falling off of me! In fact, a nice strong tug would have them swimming at my ankles. I literally would need to have them taken in 4 1/4" to fit correctly. They measured 30" around - completely unfixable unless I were to get them taken in through the back (the seat was too big as well) and through both side seams. On a particularly outraged note, the size charts for J.Crew indicate that a size 0P should have a 23" waist and 33" hips. In reality - according to its size chart, the true measurements indicate that the pants should accurately be sized as a 6P.

All in all, aside from the sizing, I found this crop of suits from J.Crew a little disappointing, but not terribly so. The suits were, after all, well constructed and shapely. I wasn't fond of the fabric choice, but I am admittedly a fabric snob. When the Super 110's come out again, I'll be pawing at the suits again. It's just a shame that I'm really too small to wear them.

If you're a bit longer limbed than me, J.Crew might be a good option for you. Fit really is everything, so if it works for you, its not a bad price for the quality. If all you need is a hem, then this is a great bet. Otherwise, I would suggest a trip to Brooks Brothers, where old-school suits come with cheaper alteration options. Finally, it is again worth noting that J.Crew doesn't carry any petite sweaters, which is truly a shame. I'm glad I made the effort of looking at its items - but for me, J.Crew just won't cut it unless it makes its business attire smaller. Hopefully, J.Crew will be willing to create a size 00P like Banana Republic did last year!

Figleaves followup - nice try but no cigar

In a rant a few posts ago about underwear, I mentioned that I was trying out a few new sources for bras. Well, I ordered a few bras from Figleaves with high hopes that I'd find something suitable in my impossible 28AA/30AA sizing. The order came last week and I was impressed with the packaging and quality of the items. I was also impressed with its customer service when I called to inform them that my order was accidentally doubled. Not only was I greeted by a live British-accented voice (it's a UK company - no outsourcing quite yet), but she refunded me the extra shipping cost immediately without any hassles. Here's a review of what I got. Sorry, no pictures of me modeling them - there's no way I'm doing that myself!

This was my highest hopeful, as it came in 28AA. Ok, ok, it's incredibly girlie and candy pink (and even called Candy), but as everyone keeps telling me, if it fits, just buy it. The 30AA and the 28AA "fit", but they weren't particularly helpful in boosting my bust. I was also under the impression that they were underwire, but turned out to be just cotton and elastic. Well, not actually all that surprising as they really seem to be training bras.

The After Eden bra was a big disappointment - the cups actually gapped a bit from my chest, which may have something to do with the "maximizing" qualities. The material used for the elastic around the chestband is very very flimsy - it just stretches and stretches. Not something I'd want to keep for $37. Between this and the Wacoal ones I've tried in store in a 30AA, the Wacoal seems to be of better quality (and cheaper at $36).

Finally, the last piece was very nice - but too big in 32AA. I realized this when I bought it, but it was a black strapless underwire bra. As for most of the things I try to buy, I was hoping against hope that it'd be running too small. Ironically, the Panache Atlantis in 32AA fit better than the After Eden 30AA because the chestband wasn't flimsy - note the shiny elastic, as it's meant to be used as a strapless. Obviously, the cups were a little too big, but the quality was heads above the After Eden one. It's a real pity that they don't make it in 30AA. It's pricier at $46, but I can't find a black strapless anywhere close to my size.

Anyway, this all goes back today as soon as I fill in all the return info (free returns) and drop it at the post office. While I couldn't find anything appropriate for me at Figleaves, I do recommend them for anyone else who may not be quite so small. At least no one can say I didn't try....