Long Elegant Legs Maxi Dress and Blouson Tunic

A typical weekday for me goes a little something like this - Alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. I lay there in utter denial that I have to get up until 5:36 when my second alarm goes off.  By the time my alarm goes off for the THIRD time around 5:40 (because I always accidentally snooze my first alarm), I drag myself out of bed and stagger to the Keurig, get dressed half asleep, quickly slap some makeup on my face, dash out the door at 6:15, drive 68 miles to work, do my paralegaly work for 8 or 9 hours, drive 68 miles back home, eat whatever my husband has cooked up for dinner, guzzle some wine and pass out around 10....unless I have an Army event to attend (which has been the case about 2 days per week lately) in which case, I get home around 8 or 9, question my sanity for working so far away from home, guzzle a glass of wine and then conk out around 10.

Needless to say, when it comes to the weekend, all I want to do is lounge, toodle around in flip flops, not wear  much makeup and dress as comfortably as humanly possible (without looking dumpy of course). Enter my recent purchases from Long Elegant Legs - the blouson tunic in "cafe" and the maxi dress in royal blue (both in size small). 

I've already professed my undying love for leggings and tunics time and again and - Oops! - I'm doing it again. A couple of things I like about this tunic are the flutter sleeves (paired with "side panels", for lack of a better description, so you don't flash your bra or side flesh to anyone when you raise your arms) and the tie waist which adds some shape. I usually pair it with my fun Isabella Fiore bag  (better pics below) to add a little springyness and pizzazz to the outfit.

Maxi dresses are right up there with tunics and leggings as one of my all time favorite looks, and I've had my eye on the Long Elegant Legs maxi dress for well over a year now. By the time I got around to thinking I'd buy it last year, it was already fall and no longer available on the website.  Yes, yes - I know I'm all out of wack with my seasons - writing reviews of boots in the spring, trying to buy maxis in the fall - but you must understand that I lived in the land of NoSeasons (California) for my first 28 years so I'm still getting used to this whole season business.

I couldn't believe how long the maxi was. I started to get concerned that maybe I was starting to shrink in my old age  (since I just turned 30) , so I promptly measured myself and I'm still 6'2.  Phew! The LEL website lists the length as 58" and the dress more than hits the floor on me if I'm wearing flats, so I was curious where the measurement was taken from. I emailed LEL to ask and they said "The 58” measurement is from the high point of the shoulder". I can't believe I'm saying this (and hope that y'all don't insist that I turn in my tall card), but I think I'm going to have to take the dress to a tailor and have a bit taken off the bottom so that I can wear it with flat sandals. Overall, it's a great dress. I love the color and I like that it's not super skimpy on the top like some of the halter or strapless styles. 

I know I know - I need to decorate my mantle more. I'm working on it.

I'm still a little flummoxed by the whole measurement thing since I just bought another long dress at the mall this week. It hits a few inches above my ankles (which I'm fine with because that's the look I was going for) and when I came home to look at it online, it also lists 58". I'm determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Stay tuned.

Tall Springy Top - Banana Republic

Even though my 4 month Shopping Tall Challenge is over and I'm now "allowed" to buy whatever I want, I still can't seem to bring myself to buying "normal" sized stuff again. BUT, when all of my shorter friends and coworkers started trotting around in pretty, flirty springy tops, I first became obsessed with finding some for myself and then quickly became despondent because I was having a DEUCE of a time finding tall springy tops online that didn't cost $486842840.  When I think of all of the boutiques and stores that sell "normal-sized" springy, short sleeved blouses for $20-$30, it kind of chaps my hiney that I have to shell out 2-3x that to get something comparable in a tall size. I mean...sure...I could buy those $20-$30 non-tall tops, but that's what I've done for years and I have come to pretty much LOATHE the way they fit.  Hmmm...I didn't really mean for this post to become another gripe session about tall shopping. Oops. Let's move on to the review before I spiral into a severe bout of tall shopping glums.

 

I've had my eye on the tall Tamara floral top from Banana Republic for awhile now because I felt like it would be a good winter to spring transition top with the sheer fabric and longish sleeves. I couldn't bring myself to paying $80 for it, so I waited until BR had one of its 30% off sales and snatched it up.  One of the reviews mentioned that the top fits a bit tight around the hips. Despite knowing that I'm a size large in the hip region and small on top, I disregarded this tip and bought the small because I didn't want it to look like a tent on me. I DEFINITELY should have bought the medium. The top does indeed fit rather snug in the section under the drawstring, but I love the print and other parts of the top too much to return it. I may take it to a tailor and see if he/she can make slits in the side seams so that the bottom fits a little more loosely.  Plus, BR is currently sold out of every size except XS so I wouldn't be able to return it for a medium even if I wanted to. 

Can you tell I'm a wee bit obsessed with using the pretty field behind my house as a photo backdrop?

I still need more tall springy tops! I ordered this one from Gap when I ordered the BR one but received an email that they had run out and my order was being canceled. Sigh!  Have you found any good ones anywhere? Let me know!