July 2021 Shopping Reflections

If you caught my Instagram stories last Thursday, then you may be able to guess that I also made an additional major purchase last week, which isn't listed in this post. After I fully paid off my law school student loans earlier this month, I made an appointment to stop by Mociun in Brooklyn. All their sapphire ring designs were absolutely gorgeous in person, and I ultimately chose one as a gift to myself, to celebrate the hard-won personal milestone of finally paying off my student loans. 

It didn't seem quite right to include that particular purchase in this month's shopping reflections post, as it's very much a one-time only, special occasion kind of thing. Price-wise, it's also an extreme outlier compared to any other single month - or heck, even any other single full year - of total spending since 2015, when I first started tracking my wardrobe purchases on this blog. I'll probably do a separate, dedicated post about it soon. And when it comes time to do my year-end shopping reflections post for 2021, I'll probably start counting jewelry separately from other categories in that analysis. 

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As for the rest of this month's shopping for my closet, two out of three items were summer dresses I actually ordered back in June, but they were not made to order and delivered to me until this month. The third item is the secondhand Balenciaga City I first became interested in not long ago. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $1057.22) 

• LinenFox Slip Dress, sea green - $104.07* - The price on this was originally $87.56 with standard shipping, but then I added expedited shipping. If I remember correctly from my past LinenFox orders, standard shipping can take two to three weeks. I was actually shocked by how much faster expedited shipping was, it barely took two or three business days for my package to get here from Lithuania! Anyway, if I'm interested in new summer clothes from LinenFox next year, I probably need to remember to order earlier than June because their expected production time can be as long as four to six weeks during the summer. I customized this dress by asking them to shorten it by four inches, which was definitely the right choice as I'm significantly shorter than their models. I quite like this dress and the color I picked, but I may need to sew up the straps so they're a bit shorter and the dress would look a little less low-cut on me. One other quibble I have with this design is that there's no slit at the bottom of the skirt, I think adding one would be helpful to allow the legs to move more freely. As always, the detailed product measurements LinenFox provides for each size of every item are extremely helpful for selecting the correct size. 
• Heinui Noe Dress, green birds print - $310.79 - No product link because Heinui took orders for this through Instagram DM! I had this one customized by asking them to add three extra inches because I worried that - with the brisk wind one often encounters in NYC - the very flouncy, voluminous, and short-ish skirt could easily get blown upwards and cause a wardrobe malfunction. (There was no extra charge.) This print is really cute. The fabric is a medium-weight cotton-linen blend that's heavier than Elizabeth Suzann medium-weight linen, but because this dress is so flowy, I find I'm still been able to wear it comfortably on fairly hot and humid days (up to, say, ~85 degrees Fahrenheit). Heinui often works with lighter, floatier fabrics that are more summer-friendly, but because this dress is quite short and voluminous, the designer said they intentionally chose a heavier fabric to prevent the skirt from blowing upwards accidentally. This silhouette - with the skirt flowing generously out and down from a rather high point on the waist - can take on a bit of what I rather ungracefully refer to as the "boob tent" effect on my more busty frame. (I used to think these kinds of silhouette were solidly outside my style comfort zone - they emphasize the part of my body I'm most self-conscious about - but over the years, I've learned it doesn't actually bother me. If the dress is comfortable and pretty, I'll still enjoy wearing it.) I still really like this dress and find it very fun to wear, but I also worry that other people could think it looks... a little like a maternity dress on me. 
• Balenciaga City, black lambskin, secondhand - $642.36* - (search for similar items linked) - As I mentioned two weeks ago, I'd already ordered and returned this bag with gold hardware, so by the time I ordered this one, I was already sure I'd like this design and that it'd be functional for me. I find this bag to be a perfect size, it can carry everything I typically bring to work - which currently includes an additional A5-sized notebook; a swap for a larger pen case; and my Kindle, on top of everything pictured in that post - and then some. Though like the Coach Rogue, the City also can't comfortably accommodate a letter-sized notepad or binder. The somewhat short-ish shoulder strap is just the right length to allow the bag to sit comfortably and securely on my shoulder without flopping around and getting in the way while I'm walking. Now that I've taken this bag on a few outings, I confess part of me sort of wishes I kept the gold hardware version instead, even if it would have been ~$100 more expensive. (I originally thought the higher contrast gold-tone hardware would be a bit too "loud" for my tastes, given that my handbags tend to have simple designs with minimal visible hardware.) I find this combination of more subtle aged brass "classic" hardware and black leather causes the bag to really blend in to the background for me when I'm using it - I don't think to admire the bag in my reflection in shop windows when I pass by - so maybe I'd have appreciated the brighter, more eye-catching gold hardware after all. Between my previous return and this order, I'm very satisfied with my Fashionphile shopping experience. Everything's been smooth, and in particular, they process returns quickly. 

*Indicates that this price includes tax and/or shipping. 

And that's it for this month! I'm maybe a bit surprised I haven't been interested in actually ordering anything I mentioned in my "miscellaneous shopping" post in early July. Those J.Crew hammered metal bangles have since gone on sale, but I haven't been inspired to get them. As for my sandals, I think it's looking like I can safely wait until next summer to replace them. (Thank you to Hadilly for recommending the Mephisto Helen sandal, as I think they definitely seem like they will have a sleeker and more attractive look on me than the Birkenstock Gizeh I was thinking about or the Fitflop Lulu style I currently wear!)