Burberry Embossed Check London Leather Belt & Andrea Carrano Antigua Sandals

I had been eying this Burberry Embossed Check belt forever, and finally decided to just get it when it went on super sale on Ruelala last week.  This exact belt retails for $375 and is still on the Burberry website at full price.  Ruelala had it for $119 which is almost 70% off!  The sale is actually on Ruelala right now, but ends in 13 hours!  I've also seen the same belt for $299 on Gilt, but in black.  So I think the Ruelala price is super.

It arrived in a little plastic bag like this:

Inside the plastic bag is the dust bag:

And the belt itself:

My initial reaction was that it was skinnier than I expected.  It is supposed to be 1 inch wide.  But for some reason I thought it was going to look a little wider in real life.  So it looks more "delicate" than I thought lol.  Here it is in relation to my hand:

So the color I got is tan, and the size is UK 80 (US 32).  I initially thought it might be too long.  But it was the smallest size they had, and I figure it's always better to be a little longer than shorter.  When I tried it on though, I found that it's actually not too long at all.  It could even be a size up I think!  Since most of my pants are not high rise, the belt would sit somewhere around the hips, so I really should not go with my actual waist size.  Glad smaller sizes were sold out when I got it.  Otherwise I would have gotten a smaller one and it would not fit.  That would have been $120 down the drain since it's final sale.  Right now I wear this around my hips at the last hole lol.  

As you'd expect from a $375 retail price belt, the quality is very solid, and I absolutely love the embossed check look.  Only good things to say about that here:

If I gain weight, I'll just have more holes added towards the end of the belt as there is still a lot of room:

It is 100% calf leather inside and out.  I'm so done with cheap belts which you use for a couple days and the outer skin rips to reveal some cheap material underneath.  I've had my share of cheap belts, so I figure it was time for get something of better quality that would actually last.  I think this one will do the trick.

In the same order from Ruelala, I also got some casual sandals.  They are the Andrea Carrano Antigue sandals.  I've been wanting some casual slip-on kind of sandals to wear around when I run errands.  My neighborhood is very walkable, and I'm always walking out to get food or coffee.  I usually wear flats or flip flops.  But I really hate being short, especially since my bf is a foot taller than me.  I think we look creepy together when I don't have heels on... lol!  So I decided to get these sandals as an alternative.

I'm pretty happy with these as well!  I got them in my regular EU size 36, and they are true to size and pretty comfortable.  I can't believe they retail for $225 though.  That seems pretty steep.  I can see that they are very soft leather and made in Italy and all.  But still!  I got them for only $65 on Ruelala though, which is not bad at all.  They are perfect for the purpose I bought them for.

Here they are on me with an actual outfit - though I did not wear them to work since they are so casual.  But you get the idea.

 Pretty successful order!  Will definitely be using both a lot.  =)

Pumps, Dress, Skirt & Tops!

I made a somewhat large order from Ruelala last week that kind of incorporated a little of everything!  I got a pair of pumps, a dress, a skirt, and two tops.  I'm actually quite happy with all the items!  So it's a pretty successful order for sure.  Even my bf said that the pumps are one of his favorite shoes of mine.  I've been wanting a pair of mostly white pumps for a while now, and these fit the bill perfectly - the French Connection Maya 2 pumps.  They are gone from Ruelala, but Nordstrom Rack has a few sizes left for about the same price.  For ~$60, these are seriously a steal!

I love that these are black and white color blocked, and the laser cut style makes them very cool to wear.  The style literally goes with everything.  I got them in my regular size 6 which fits well.  I didn't realize based on the online photos that the front would be an asymmetrical cut, which I like even better!  You can see from the top view of them on me below:

The leather is very soft, and even though these are 4 inch heels, they feel rather comfortable on.  I'm glad the back of the shoe is black since that's the area that is likely to get scuff marks easily.  I wouldn't even have minded a black heel as well.

Super happy with these shoes!

Next, I got a Rachel Zoe sweater dress.  I found the dress on sale on 6pm.com here for about the same price as Ruelala as well.  It matches my new shoes haha.

I'm actually a fan of Rachel Zoe's... both her and her clothing line.   I loved her show and was sad when it was canceled!  I've never tried anything from her line before though.  Just admired from afar lol.  I wasn't sure about sizing, but I thought this sweater would be a good entry way point since the style would most likely work and the price is not bad at $75.  To stay safe, I got size S.  I think I may be able to wear the XS as well, but I'm ok with the fit of the S.  It's just feels a bit loose in the hips and arms.  But the style is loose and flowy anyway that it's totally fine.

Next, I got the DvF Emma black diamond pattern skirt.  It seems to be sold out everywhere so I can't find a link.  I really really like it though!  I realized that I don't have enough black pencil skirts for work (only have 2!) so this is something I've been meaning to get anyway.  When I saw it on Ruelala for $75, I jumped on it.  I ordered my usual DvF size 4, which I was worried about because I usually wear size 0 or size 2 in pencil skirts from most brands and this item was final sale.  But size 4 turns out to be the perfect fit!  I can get a looooot of use out of this skirt.

The diamond print is very subtle:

And then surprise!!  I got 2 more Vince shirts lol.  I am seriously obsessed with Vince right now!  It's like all I buy now.  I can't tell you how much I love their tops and of course their leather jackets.

The first top I got is the Breton Variegated Stripe Long Sleeve which is still available in a different color on vince.com.  It's on sale for a great price of $58!  Only size XXS left though.  I got mine from Ruelala for $69, but it's the color and size I wanted so that's fine.

I guess I really like this "variegated stripe" style since this is my 3rd top with variegated stripe.  This is the same size as all my other Vince tops - size XS.  

I love the stripes of red towards the top of the shirt.  Just adds a little bit more this way.  This top feels super awesome and comfortable, which I've come to expect from Vince.  I love it.

The second Vince top I got is also still available on vince.com and on sale for a great price of $66, and it is the Stripe Cuff V-Neck Slub Cotton Sweater.  The color I got is coastal tomato, which is only left in size XXS on their website.  But the optic white coastal color combo has all the sizes.  I've actually been eyeing this top on Nordstrom's website but they are sold out there!  So I was super happy to see it on Ruelala in size XS.

The XS in this sweater fits a little looser than my other XS tops from Vince.  I think that's because this style is a bit different.  It's a very relaxed fit.  But I think the XS still works fine.  I wouldn't want it any shorter.  As you can see, coastal is a very dark navy.

I love the dark blue and red color combo.  It's very striking.  Here's the sleeve detail up close:

So, that's my very successful order!  I've actually got more Vince stuff coming in the mail, so I hope you are not tired of hearing about Vince yet... lol.  The truth is, I'd be pretty stoked to live in head to toe Vince everyday, including shoes and accessories.  =D

Theory Shirt & J Brand Jeans

A while ago, I bought the Theory Listree Sag Harbor shirt and J Brand Maria high rise jeans in varnished steel from Ruelala.  I haven't had a chance to write about them until now!  These J Brand jeans are actually my second pair of Maria high rise jeans (first pair here).  Even though high rise is not all that sexy, but I really like how they stay up so well lol.  Besides, my tops would cover the top of the jeans anyway so no one would ever know if I'm wearing high rise or low rise.  

Here they are worn with my Vince Camuto Norita pump (which are on sale now!  Highly recommend!!) in bittersweet grapefruit.

I don't know why I got the Theory top in size P instead of S!  But I wish I had ordered S.  I feel like the P is just a tad short.  Not a complete deal breaker, but I would love it more if it was a size up.  I love how it looks on the Bloomingdale's model:

Sigh... it's a cute top too!  Linen material... I was thinking it could work as something to wear under a suit jacket to work, or as a casual top.  I think I can still make it work... maybe I'll wash it and then stretch it while it's wet lol.  I just need like an inch!

The J Brand Maria jeans are size 27, which are a little too big, just like the other Maria jeans that I have already.  I didn't want to order a size down because I was afraid my other pair was a fluke and size 26 would have been too small.  But I was wrong again lol.  Both these items were deeply discounted (about $40 each) so they are not returnable.

While I wish the jeans were smaller, I think it's better to be a bit loose than a bit too tight anyway.  This work fine, I'll just wear a belt!

The "varnished steel" color is pretty interesting.  It's a dark charcoal kind of color with a bit of sheen.  It's actually very cool, but very hard to capture on camera.

Super high rise!

When I was searching for these jeans online, I noticed that each retailer's picture looks different from the next.  So I'm not the only one who had trouble capturing the color!  Here they are from:

J Brand's website - probably most true to real life under most lighting conditions:

Bloomingdales - They must have taken this under bright lighting so you can see the sheen in the fabric:

Neiman Marcus - somewhere in the middle:

Anyway, this color goes with pretty much everything.  So I'm happy to add it to my collection!