The Frock Doc

For your consideration - obviously; the colour is different, but the length, material, and the washing instructions are the same.

1/2 - blue; Anthropologie's Vinca Minor Dress ($178)
3/4 - red; Forever 21 Love's Contrast Lace A-Line Dress ($34)

So I set about to iron some of my skirts that came, and my Anthro ones ironed all beautifully and with little effort and I loved the way that they were so polished ...

... but when I went to iron my eShakti skirts, the cotton warped and pulled, and it was very obvious that the hemline was uneven; also the white cotton turned a mottled yellow patchy colour. I suppose one of the chemicals in it reacted with the heat of my iron? 

That's it! No more e-Shakti for me, and more Anthro for me! I will contact customer service to see what they can do, but if past experience is any indication, it will be nada-zero-zip. >:(

GRR.

In happier news - one of my friends was shopping second hand and found this beautiful dress (1) ... in my size! Whee! <3 Love! :) From the internet research I can find on it, it's pretty old school Anthro. But that doesn't detract from it's supreme awesomeness! *squee*

The mailman came to the door with two more boxes from Anthro today - and for some reason, they pack one thing in each box (that's probably why they charge $20 for shipping!) but it works just fine for me - more fun of taking boxes apart! :)

For your consideration, there are two dresses :)

#1-4) The construction is not bad on this dress, although it's only lined in the top half, it would be super easy to wear a slip on the bottom, so this doesn't really bother me too much. The "origami fold" on the chest I thought would really bug me, but I kind of like it. I think that it's pretty easy to dress up or down, and the pattern is one that is forgettable enough :p

#5-9) This second dress is wonderfully soft; I am pretty sure it is almost more comfy than my jammies and I'd totally wear it on call. It is also very wrinkle-resistant, which is always good if I'm sitting for a long period of time. I am thinking it might more be a casual dress in the summer and I can always wear some tights with it in the winter and some boots - it's a bit short for my current summer, aesthetic though. And there are pockets!!! :) I think it makes me look a smidgin preggers in #5 - but who knows :p

What do you guys think?

Remember my beautiful Anthro purchases that were on their way to me at mega clearance prices? I was SO happy when everything went through, I got my confirmation email, and I even got my shipping email!!

Then a day later ... BTW, yo, we're totally out of item A, B and C. We are oversold!!! GAH! It's not like I can go into my local Anthro and buy things - there is literally nothing left in my size, even if I want to buy it at full price. It makes me a little angry, that even though I have to pay very high shipping costs ($20+) that they still oversell... I guess it's better for their bottom line if they never have to ship up to the Cold Arctic North.

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But I have decided to embark on a new project! I am carving out a new section of my wardrobe to be the skirt section - eventually, hopefully full of tops and skirts that can play well together! :) - Currently; I only have five skirts that are going in and out of rotation that have survived the cull, although hopefully some are on their way to me. I hope to have about 30 pieces in that section eventually... we'll see.

In the meantime, I have put my funds towards supporting a Canadian establishment during their Friends & Family event (Rickis) - and we'll see how things are like when they come :) 

It's gonna be my very first lace skirt (3) - and my very first shirt with shine (4) and my very first 3" pair of pumps! (5) - the pumps I got for a steal; $30 (regular $80) from Le Chateau. The sales lady swore she wore them to work, and they are comfy (and she stands all day!) There was a minor scuff that I fixed with a grey sharpie and a touch of clear nail polish :) Presto!

Tee hee; I picked up an extra shift, so I have a few more buckeroos to spend on pretty dresses this summer! I am hoping that I could request your input as to which of the following options would be the best for me? 

Of course, they are all from Anthro. My dad would like to know if people who are addicted to Anthro should go to rehab :p

The contenders for my last $100 are as follows...

1. The Vera Sketched Danios dress - what I thought was an interesting print of grass are actually fish! Just too terribly cute!

2. The Notched Dots Cord dress - very typical of what I usually wear; I'm a little worried it looks pretty similar to other dotty dresses that I have; but what can I say, I love dots!

3. Nadinoo Lula's Pear dress - it's a sheath! But apparently it's supposed to be very flattering! And it has pears all over it!!! Apparently the bow is easy to tie, but if not, I'm pretty sure that it can be removed.

4. The Hilda Shirtdress - It's supposed to be seasonless, and looks fun to dress up and down!

5. Porridge Elephant Dress - It has elephants (detail in 6). ELEPHANTS. OMG SO CUTE. I probably couldn't wear the dress as is to work, I'd probably wear it as a skirt, and wear a top over it; so to make the dress function as a skirt. BUT IT HAS ELEPHANTS.

I have a frontrunner, but I wanted to know what you guys thought :) !!! Thanks!

I am going to wager that if my skirts are longer, and more "serious" that way; I can balance them with a more "twee" top - and still be able to get away with it! Tee hee!

I have been staring at these tops for a long time, but I was afraid with a shorter skirt they would be to twee-twee for me to wear to work, even under a blazer.

I have been seriously addicted to blazers in the last little bit - what did I ever do without them adding beautiful structure to my outfits? 

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One of my patients said to me today, "Thank you for dressing nicely. Young people never do that anymore." 

I thanked her, and my preceptor said (she's really against the way I dress for some reason), "It's probably more important to have a good attitude and a nice smile though, right?" 

Patient: "No. I noticed her pretty skirt first, then her pretty smile." 

:) Tee hee.

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ETA: Found an old store credit! This is why you never throw away all your receipts! I think I'm going to try 4/5 and 6/7 as a mail order (none in store) and try to hunt down the pretty coral colour (8) if I can find it in store :) - One of my friends has a really beautiful chambray shirt, and I want to try one out!

Well, there goes my May shopping budget aside from my call stipends, haha, and I was quite delighted to stumble upon this Anthro sale! I don't usually have a lot of luck with Anthro in store (because any size of mine is sold out instantly) so I tried the american site - and ordered a few things!

1) I love the origami fold of the "Architectural Shift" - and it's long enough!! It looks so adorable and I'm just hoping that the chest detail won't be like a huge dart. :p From the reviews it doesn't seem like this is a problem.

2) One of my residents has this beautiful blazer, and I've always been insanely jealous of it whenever she wears it - Mineeeeee! :)

3) The Margo Pencil Dress has a lot of wonderful reviews and I think it will add a spot of colour to my wrap dress collection (currently cobalt blue and black only - kinda bleeeeeeeh). - I think it will work okay with a navy blazer, a red blazer, a black blazer, and my pink one!! :) AND SLEEVES!

4) OH SO PRETTY. SPARKLE!!!!

5) The Caledonia Cutout Dress has a little bit of a cutout in the back, but definitely looks like it could work with a blazer or a cardigan! I love the pattern and the shape; and it's length is beautiful for me too! :) I LOVE LONGER LENGTHS. SO EXCITED!! AND SLEEVES!!!!

// All in all, <$250. Phew. Every time I see anything Anthro, I start freaking out. LOL.

Has anyone seen the dress in #6? It's sold out online and looks terribly adorable. I'd be okay with a size 4; possibly a 2 ... If anyone could get it for me, I'd be terribly grateful and PayPal you back and shipping and everything :) 

Custom made goodies seem too good to be true at the eShakti price point. Last time I tried buying anything from them (approximately a year ago), I was disappointed by quality and customs. I did have pretty good luck with their "overstock" section where people have returned things that they didn't really like - these products were already in North America, so I didn't have to accrue the shipping charges from Thailand (which were outrageous!) I also had an unresolved incident in which they didn't send me a jacket I ordered.

I also sized down this time; their idea of 4 was definitely not my idea of 4.

For only $40 each (regular $72 or so), I decided to try these Kate Spade-esque summer skirts, more because I needed something below-knee length that were appropriate to wearing to work during the summer when I may skive off the "bare legs" rule in clinic... I went with a navy (#1) and cherry red (#2).

http://www.eshakti.com/product/CL0025766 is a black one!
http://www.eshakti.com/product/CL0025768 is a yellow one = LOVE!

The closest I've found on Etsy were around these same skirts for about $78 a pop, so I figure that maybe eShakti picked up their socks? Their review also seems to be pretty good, although I'm not sure if the bloggers got free merchandise (http://thedoubletakegirls.com/.....ties-skirt) Also, they have Paypal as a method of payment, so if they don't ship here, then I'll sic Paypal on them!!!!

... the red one could be part of my Where's Waldo costume for halloween :p
... and if these work out, #3 is also calling my name pretty strongly!

Has anyone had any luck with eShakti? 

So, I saw a lady with an awesome kick-ass neon pink messenger bag! Not only is it super awesome, but I think it will be super fun for a summer bag!

(Alternatively, if it's really retarded, please talk me out of it).

Bag 1 - $30: Pic #1 to #3

Bag 2 - $50: Pic #4 to 6

:) Which one should I get? I'm not too concerned with durability and things like that, I plan only to use it for one season. I do have a favorite, but I'll keep mum on it for now, as to not cloud your judgements. :)

I came across these pretty dresses from Forever21's "Love" line - I love their bold print! I will probably try the red/orange one!

They are a tad short, weighing in at 33" for a small size, but I think their flare shape makes it a bit more okay - and they didn't look that short on me. Cottony with 3% spandex!

Leave no retail stone unturned, as per Angie! :)

I also picked up the cutest hair clips ever (#3) and cuff bracelet (#4) - ah, such a fun place! And I wanted to experiment with colours I never wear; so I picked up a dotty number in yellow (#5) - we'll see if I can make it work! What a challenge!