PFC #6 - Dress Up Your Basics

The sixth Petite Fashion Challenge is being hosted by Jess of Stylepint!

The Challenge: 

Jeans and a tee is a classic outfit starter. 
 Start off with a jeans and tee basic look and dress it up to show off your personal style.

I cheated a little and started out with a striped tee (but forgot to take a plain "before" picture, sorry!)

Top: LOFT Painted Stripe Boat Neck Tee, size XXSP
Jeans: A&F Kids Maddy Skinny, size 12 
Necklace: Charlotte Russe (similar)

I'm terrible at remembering to accessorize but am trying to improve... and here I added a newly-acquired long drapey chain necklace to balance out the boatneck of the top.  The attached flower on this surprisingly inexpensive necklace makes it almost like two accessories in one!

And since I easily get cold, I almost never leave the house without some sort of cardigan or jacket.  I decided to add a spring-appropriate blazer on top.  I usually prefer my blazer sleeves scrunched up, and here I thought that the effect of the striped sleeves peeking out underneath kind of gives the idea of a striped jacket... but without the commitment! 

I love that the flower on the necklace serves double duty as a faux flower pin on the blazer too!  Please forgive the feet-less pics... I had on flats but they were a baaad idea.  I was going to change to pumps at the time for a lil' more sophistication, but hubby came home with dinner and I was starving so that was the end of my photoshoot.

Not the most creative effort I have to say, and the attempt ended prematurely before I could try again with different shoes, a belt, etc. due to an unexpected injury.  But at least it is a casual look that I can wear without feeling like I'm trying too hard.  Don't forget to check out lots of other outfits from this Petite Fashion Challenge here!

My First Theory: The Gratian Blazer

Ever since Kelly of AlterationsNeeded first wrote about the Theory Gratian blazer, it seems like virtually every petite who managed to get their hands on one has absolutely loved it.  And even though several other Theory blazers have come onto the scene since then, I still secretly wished for but had given up hope on ever finding my very own Gratian.  They simply weren't available even if I had the $$ to pay the hefty full price (which I don't!).

But I must've been a VERY good girl last year because not only did the style resurface over the holidays in a black textured version, my Secret Santa also helped me track down the ever elusive size 00!

This was my very first Theory item and I love it.  Since Jean of ExtraPetite already did a thorough post on it here, I won't go into too much detail.  I knew it ran small from seeing it on other petites, but was still quite surprised at the shrunkenness of it in person.

 

It's slightly boxy on the side view, but because the length is cropped enough, I think it's still do-able.  And the best part?  A very reasonable price tag for a Theory blazer since it was an outlet find!

Thanks Santa!!  You're amazing and I'm so glad we wear the same size! :)

Abercrombie Short Shorts

This summer I'd been on the search for shorts that fit.  The search was pretty unsuccessful (see previous attempt), but I guess I wasn't looking too hard because this SoCal summer never really got that hot except for a few random days.  Of course as soon as summer was over, I stumbled upon these!

I was really hoping to avoid kids sizing, but it was inevitable... how could I pass up these Abercrombie Kids shorts that fit better than anything else I've tried on, and for the bargain price of $15!  These are no longer available online, but are pretty similar to this pair that's the same price and still available in many colors:

Mine has cuffs at the bottom and comes with a belt, which I got in the above khaki and also this light gray, both in size 12:

They fit relatively well, but hubby is concerned that they're too short lol.  I actually would've gotten the other pair above without cuffs/belt, except that one is almost an inch shorter!  I think the ones I got are already pushing the limits, so that other pair would've been too indecent to wear outside.

I would probably wear them untucked, but here they are tucked so you can better see the details:

The belt is purely decorative since it's loosely fitting even on the tightest hole, but it's removable so I'll probably do without to reduce bulk.  Sadly the weather is now too chilly to wear shorts, but I will be saving these for next year!

Allison Izu Piano Low Rider Jeans

A little while ago, a girl who never wins anything (aka yours truly) somehow amazingly won her first giveaway... and what a great time it was to get lucky!  Courtesy of PetiteLG and Allison Izu, I was soon the proud owner of my own pair of premium petite jeans, which came nicely wrapped in tissue with a quirky little card:

I chose the Piano Low Rider, mainly because it seems like the smallest running Allison Izu pair based on prior reviews.  And thanks to some good advice from PAG, I ended up going with the 00 size instead of the 000 because she thought it would be too small even for me.  And I have to say, it was a little hard to resist my knee-jerk instinct to get the smallest size available in anything... definitely a novel experience for me!

And here they are!  It's a boot-cut silhouette and I would say a medium-dark wash:

The waistband was lined with fun Hawaiian fabric and the tag was literally a wooden ruler!

This same pair was previously seen on Sydney, Jean, and Elle.  And here they are on me:

 

Sorry about the dark grainy pics... this was another failed attempt with the settings on my DSLR on loan.  Here's how they look with my regular camera:

The true color is probably somewhere in between.  I really like how there's no contrast stitching and the signature embroidery on the back pockets is tasteful and not flashy.  The overall fit is relatively good, and I can tell that there's a touch of stretch in the material.  The 31" inseam is sooo long on me though.  I was wearing my AT Porcini pumps with 3.5" heels and the hem was still dragging on the floor.  But they do seem to elongate my legs... although honestly I felt almost a little giraffe-y :)

Hopefully after a spin in the washer/dryer, they'll shrink a just tad and become perfect!  It does feel different to finally own a pair of grown-up jeans.  Thanks again to Sydney and Allison Izu for a great giveaway!

Review: Gap Legging Jeans

Gap has been periodically sending out 40% off entire order coupons, but I usually never find anything worth keeping (or even trying) because even their petite sizing is usually too big on me.  But after seeing a glowing review from the always stylish Chloe about a certain pair of Gap jeans, and especially after learning that she shares my pancake butt syndrome, I had to try these Legging Jeans in 00P:

Now I never thought the day would come when I would actually consider wearing "jeggings," but there's just something about these that makes me feel awesome :)  And to be fair, they're more like actual jeans rather than jean leggings - they have real working pockets!

The material is surprisingly comfy and the fit is good!  The length is about right with a small amount of bunching at the ankle which I don't mind and prefer over ones that are too short.  There is also an ever so slight bit of gapping at the sides of the waist, which is pretty inconsequential and I suspect might go away with a wash/dry.  And true to Chloe's words, no flattening of the rear despite this being a clingy stretchy fabric!

Tucked and untucked views:

For some reason when I ordered, I didn't realize that they come in multiple other washes - including true black, classic, faded medium, as well as a faded dark blue wash that looks great on curls-and-pearls.  I got these at 40% off for ~$40, which is still a little expensive for me considering I usually buy kids' jeans.  That said, I might even consider picking up another color if these ever go on sale!

I was pretty pleasantly surprised by finding these possible keepers in this last Gap order (and I didn't even get a single kids item!).  But of course, there were some total flops as well... definitely don't bother with the following:

• Ruffled Eyelet Top (XSP) - Humongous boxy tent, I could probably still fit in it if I'm 6 months pregnant.
• Vintage Cardigan (XSP) - Also ginormous, probably at least a medium in LOFT cardigan sizing.
• Tweed Mini Skirt (00P) - Very wide and unflattering, thick bulky fabric and unattractive pattern up close.  *Update* Per request, pics of the skirt are here: front, gap, and side.

Gap Slim Crop Pants - A Petite Do-able?

When I heard on the "grapevine" aka Twitter that Gap's new premium black pants line has a style that runs small, I decided to add it to my order during the last 40% off sale.  The style in question is the Slim Crop Pants in 00P:

When I first tried it on, my initial reaction was oh boy, a possible keeper!  The material feels very sturdy, the cut is slimming, and yet it somehow didn't flatten out my behind like most other dress pants do!

But then the nit-picking began.  Like ExtraPetite noted, there is a bit of waist gap (although fixable with belt), as well as some extra material bunching up in the upper thigh meet lower buttock region (see extra creases on side view).  Not to mention the inherent questionable cropped nature of the pants, which I've always thought was a petite no-no (especially in a dark color) that effectively truncates and shortens the leg line.

Here's a full-body view with flats:

And some other test shots with my Dad's DSLR that came out poorly with cropped out bottoms:

I'm really torn on this one!  One one hand, I love the slim cut of the pants and how effortless/chic it makes me feel.  The price was also a bargain at ~$23 after discounts.  On the other hand, the fit is not perfect with the waist gap and back creases, and the length hits awkwardly at the ankle which I'm not sure I can pull off.  Any thoughts to help me decide would be appreciated! :)