All posts in: J. Crew

22 Nov 2020

Blog Roundup

  • Get Out of Thanksgiving With This Interactive COVID Risk Map [Lifehacker]
  • How Lorne Michaels Created Saturday Night Live [Far Out]
  • Curfews Will Do Almost Nothing to Stop the Spread of COVID [Curbed]
  • 10 Winter Cocktails to Warm You Up this Season [MyDomaine]
  • Second Life Podcast: Jenna Lyons (former President of J. Crew and now Founder of LoveSeen) [WhoWhatWear]
  • The Making of BTS’ “Dynamite” with David Stewart | Deconstructed
  • It doesn’t Matter If Trump Never Concedes, Twitter is Giving @POTUS to Biden [Gizmodo]
  • Why Even A Small Thanksgiving Is Dangerous [FiveThirtyEight]
  • Timelapse Videos Show How Much Our Houseplants Move in a Day [Moss and Fog]
  • People Are Waiting 12 Hours In Line For the First In-N-Out in Colorado [SFGATE]
  • A Pioneering Vietnamese-American Pop-Up Bows Out After A Stellar 9-Year Run [SF Eater]
  • Carine Roitfeld Has Some Thoughts on Emily in Paris [The Cut]

10 Apr 2020

Come Around to the Button Down

White Blouse – J. Crew / Jacket – Uniqlo / Pants and Heels – Oak + Fort

For years, I refused to consider button down blouses as part of my wardrobe. I would make every type of excuse for them just to not own one. “They’ll age me.” “I can’t pull one off.” “This doesn’t feel comfortable.” “I work in tech! This isn’t necessary.” On a recent trip home, I found this one hanging in my closet. My mother had spotted it at the store and thought I might like it. To appease her, I did try it on, but the blouse didn’t stand a chance. Before putting it on, I’d already made up my mind about it and used one of the above excuses. I was being a brat.

The day that I left to return to San Francisco, I had just zipped up my luggage. Waiting to leave, I saw it staring back at me from my closet. The guilt of not fully giving it a chance was sitting with me. So I unzipped my luggage one more time and made room for it at the top. Wearing it the next week, I did feel aged. It made me actually “look” my age. Though I tend to have a very youthful personality and face, I recognize that there are things in my closet that I need to retire and leave behind. For work, I paired this with a pair of my black jeggings in heels.

This outfit series though was my take on a weekend look. For a little flair, I paired it with these wide-legged pants and a fun and fuzzy jacket from Uniqlo. It has a bit of spunk, but the same weekend coziness I strive for.

11 Dec 2019

Chunky Layers

If there’s one thing I do love about the fall season, it’s that I can throw a sweater over nearly anything and leave the house without a jacket. What’s funny about this outfit is that both the turtleneck and the boots come borrowed from my mother. Obviously, they are now mine. While I’ve become prone to donating many of my old pieces from long ago, I don’t the same with hers. She actually told me that I should never be donating her pieces and that if I don’t want them anymore to just bring them back home to her in Seattle. Wearing her pieces feels satisfying for a couple of reasons. It’s breathing new life into things you thought you were done with. It also sparks creativity in being able to mix them with pieces from my own closet, which is clearly the best part.

22 Jul 2018

Let’s Get Cozy

Teddy Coat – Cupcakes and Cashmere / Denim – Levi / Boots – J. Crew

It’s unclear whether or not the teddy coat trend is here to stay, but for now I’m a fan of anything cozy. It’s not crazy to think that this coat is out of place here. In the city, it can actually be chilly enough for this and the wind is oh-so-unforgiving. On this particular day though, I will admit that I found myself getting a little bit sweaty with this over me. This caramel brown color makes you feel like the ultimate teddy bear and there’s no other color that I would choose over this one. It’s going to be perfect for your wintertime and late fall/early spring, but might be a bit much anytime outside of those periods. I’m generally someone that skews being more cold than warm so when I’m at the office and without a blanket, a jacket like this will come in handy.

19 Jul 2018

Yow Yow! to Yountville

Dress – Aritzia / Denim jacket – Gap / Purse – Vince Camuto / Scarf – J. Crew

Even though I’ve been in the Bay Area for nearly five years, I still get really excited to explore a place I’ve never been to. It’s not very hard to do and it’s never too far. I feel really lucky! My company’s holiday party this year was a 3-part event. It started in Yountville with a lunch prepared by Thomas Keller and his team and led up to a Warriors game in Oakland. The night ended with a company favorite: karaoke in the city. It was hard not to find something for everyone, but the part that I was looking forward to the most was getting out of the city and exploring Yountville. I had never been there before and it felt like a mini town centered around fine dining.

Aside from having one of the best meals I’ve ever had, we had the whole afternoon full of activities, catching up with co-workers, and taking a tour of [The French Laundry’s] garden. The entire space was a dream for a perfectionist. Look at these manicured lawns! I also did something a little outside of my comfort zone. We were encouraged to sample the lettuce straight from the garden. It might have had some bits of dirt on it and we most definitely did not have anything to rinse it off with. It went straight from the ground and into our mouths and I didn’t hate it. That’s how much trust I put into this place.

Getting dressed for this event was an ordeal. Before joining this company, I was used to [holiday parties] that happened in the evening. It followed your standard cocktail attire, dinner, drinks, and DJ format and never skewed too far from that. How do you get dressed for an event that includes three very different parts? It started with the little black dress that I had purchased at Aritzia. On its own, it felt fancy enough, but it would not have been appropriate to wear all day. The solution? A casual somewhat oversized denim jacket over it and swapping out heels and sneakers for a classic black bootie. It was an outfit that held up for the entire day and was sufficient enough for each event.

Even though we had the afternoon in Yountville, it still didn’t feel like enough time. I didn’t even have a chance to stop in at [Bouchon Bakery]! We’ll definitely need a second trip.

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08 Jul 2018

Grandma Buddy’s Christmas Trees

Sweater – Urban Outfitters / Vest – Uniqlo / Belt – Madewell / Denim – Levi’s / Boots – J. Crew

Can it be? Christmas in July?! Or is it really just a backlog of posts that I’m still getting to from the winter? 😉

Every winter, I look forward to heading up to a Christmas Tree Farm with Mandi and Eric to help them find the tree of their dreams. It’s a different one each time and that’s what makes this such an adventure. We’ve headed north, south and east and each time this idea of finding a new tree is so entertaining to me. We leave the day after I get back from my SoCal Thanksgiving trip and this year’s venture was the best because it included both brunch before and wine tasting after – a first for us!

It’s a special tradition that we have and though we didn’t know it at the time, this would be the last time we’d be doing this as Mandi and Eric are off to New York City this coming fall! More on that later…

Out of all the outfits that I’ve worn to the Christmas Tree farm, this one is the best because it truly embodies my inner lumberjack. If I lived outside the city surrounded by trees, this would probably be my every day uniform. The dark elements to the outfit give it the rugged vibe, but this gold Madewell belt is sort of everything, isn’t it?!

30 Jun 2018

Wrapped

Top – Everlane / Pants – Uniqlo / Scarf – Aritzia / Boots – J. Crew / Purse – Vince Camuto

Is it just me or does anyone else ever feel uncomfortably warm when they are out shopping? It’s the reason why shopping in the winter is so tough for me because when you’re already getting in and out of your clothes, it’s an added hassle to have to carry around your jacket. This blanket scarf from Aritzia is no stranger to Yow Yow! and you’ve likely been seeing this for years on the blog. The other alternative is that you likely own one yourself because they’ve made this in a variety of colors and prints and you’re convinced that you need to have at least more than one. On a weekend shopping trip in Hayes Valley, I braved the cold temperatures by only having this scarf as my outer layer and you know what? It was enough! I decided to wrap it in a new way by just draping it over my shoulders and with the way that my purse was on me, it created a nice little shawl and kept it all together. The same thing could have been done with a safety pin too, but I preferred the purse since it looks more natural.

As usual, I’m a fan of wearing all-black outfits, but I love the pops of burgundy and navy with this diamond blanket scarf. It’s a classic from Aritzia and if you haven’t snagged yourself one yet, make sure to keep your eyes peeled around fall for what I anticipate will be a new collection of these!

30 Jan 2018

J. Crew’s Latest Swimwear Collection

Up until this past weekend, I haven’t ever thought about replenishing my swimsuit collection – at least not in the last few years. But now, I’m like which brand do I want to give all of my money to?! The reason why this thought has floated by me recently is because I’m headed to Palm Springs next month and I’ve sort of outgrown all of my older ones. There are so many great brands and lots of new and unique styles to choose from that it’s difficult to make a decision. Also, have swimsuits always been this expensive?! This was news to me.

I just purchased two new ones a couple of days ago, but I’m really impressed by this low-priced line that J. Crew just put out and now I’m reconsidering if I need a third swimsuit. Tops and bottoms will start around $22.50 while one-piece swimsuits will be in the $50 range (half of what I paid the other day for mine) Here are a few of my favorites:

Perfect millennial pink!

[Source]

26 Dec 2017

Our Favorite Looks of 2017

Duster – Azalea / Tee – Abercrombie & Fitch / Pants – Uniqlo / Boots – J. Crew

Sure, these are my 12 favorites look of the year, but they also overlap with 12 of my favorite backdrops from the year! If you’re someone who documents your OOTD’s, then you know that these two things kind of go hand in hand. This year, I experienced a major shift in my outfits and that is mostly due to a location change. Living in South Bay was a dream, but it meant that I was living in this sort of alternate reality where it was summertime every single day. The last four years of that are something that I would never give back, but now that I’m living in San Francisco, I’m glad that I get to dress for true weather. It reminds me of my days in Seattle.

In 2017, I embraced a very casual look and I pushed the boundaries of day to night wear. I showed love to some of my favorite accessories (bandana, baseball cap, choker) and revived some old favorites (Keds!) We didn’t find ourselves immersed in any crazy trends… but I did find some pieces worn by other people on Instagram that I went out and bought myself! It’s not really the same thing, you guys. It’s almost… worse.

Read more “Our Favorite Looks of 2017”