Unbeatable Prices: Body Central

Florida-based body-conscious clothing company Body Central somehow got my name and address (Victoria's Secret, I'm looking at you!) and while generally the juniors-focused clothes are a bit on the young side for me (short skirts, destroyed jeans, etc.), they have some truly amazing deals on clothes that emulate the look of Vicky's at a much lower price, so I am not complaining about receiving the catalog.

Anything with nice detailing at VS is going to run you at least $40, especially anything corset-inspired or lacy, and dresses generally debut over $70. Not to say you can't find great clearance deals there, as I've discussed, but in general a few items will add up to $100 rapidly. Not so with Body Central, where nearly every piece is in the $15-30 range. Nearly all of the summer line is pretty darn cute, but here are my personal favorites:

Fabulous Dresses:

Sublimation print B&W elbow-length sleeve dress, $24.50



Also in gorgeous pastel multicolor, $24.50

Psychedelic print banded-waist halter maxi dress, $29.80 

(my catalog says $26.50 so maybe call if you order and demand the lower price! (Source Code C5A109C)

Adorable Tops:

Crochet-back flyaway-hem cardigan vest, $19.50

Lace-overlay corset-inspired cami with padded cups, $16.50

Corset top with sheer cap sleeves (also in white), $19.50

Layering cami in 9 colors, $8.50! o_O

This picture also wins my "lovely!" award for best styling in the catalog. So summery, so pretty with those chunky bangles and the long necklace, matchy-matchy after my own heart, plus the perfect balance of the floaty skirt and form-fitting tanks (skirt available at $29.50, teal bangle, wood bangle and necklace $6 each. The whole outfit a mere $64.50!

  Ruffled eyelet-applique sleeveless blouse, $16.50

 I'm so attracted to this sequined cami but it's probably better for the less-curvy girls, $19.50

My only major issue with BC is the lack of extended sizing. Most things come in S, M, L or 1-13 or S/M and M/L. That cuts out, oh, a good 60% of the population. Uncool, BC, uncool. Voluptuous ladies like cute clothes, too! That and that a lot of the stuff is polyester (ew), but at these prices you can hardly expect organic cotton or something, right? The ever-present quandary of ethics vs. poverty, *sigh*

You'll have to let me know if you end up buying any of these, because my shopping embargo is actually going pretty well since that last spree at Vicky's-- oh yeah, and that other one at the mall-- but for all of June I haven't set foot in a clothing store or mail-ordered anything! Go me!

How do you like these picks? Have you ever ordered from BC or gone to one of their (apparently 194) stores? Let us all know what you thought, if so. 

Happy shopping, vicariously or otherwise ;)

 

End-of-Summer Trends We Ended Up Loving

We bought a maxi dress! We had questioned the sanity of such an item on our short little frame, but we found the perfect one that we don't step on (even in flip-flops). It has a Grecian-inspired, drapey empire-waist bodice with adjustable straps (woot!) and in an absolutely divine peacock print. Really, we just love it-- and best of all, it was half off at that dreaded T-conglomerate, for $14.99. It was marked a size 2, which is possibly why it was the only one of its kind on the clearance rack. Remember, never believe the label- try it on if there's any possibility it could fit!) Here's a really terrible picture:


The print is turquoise, teal, periwinkle, spring green, bright violet and seafoam. Luscious:



We also thrifted a statement necklace back in June at Raspberry Beret, which we paired with (our first wearing of) our new psychedelic flower-patterned mesh surplice v-neck at the office on Friday (on the bottom, our orchid tiered hippie skirt). We doubt we'll be owning a bib necklace or anything else enormous in the near future, but layers of chains and teal-and-sea-green glass beads are just fine by us. We're flouting the petites-can't-wear-bold-jewelry rule:


It seems like the big-necklace trend will still be huge (ha, ha) for fall, and we recently saw (in September's 15th Anniversary InStyle) teal referred to as a fall color (? really?) so hopefully this will last us a while before we look hopelessly out-of-fashion. (Like we'd really care...)

What are your favorite trends that are continuing on from summer to fall? We discovered that our maxi dress looks adorable over a body-conscious teal sweater (from the same thrifting trip as the necklace) as a jumper, with our fake Frye motorcycle boots from Famous Footwear beneath, so we'll be wearing it well into the colder weather (it's also a magnificent just-hanging-around-the-house dress, as the empire waist and cup-and-strap construction mean braless is a possibility even for those of us who are more largely endowed and can rarely enjoy the non-constricted luxury).

While we usually advocate vintage thrifted and/or handmade, we have to admit that we're drawn to the clearance racks at the demonic T. Aren't you? Definitely hit them now, as they're transitioning out for fall items, so you can probably find a lot of cute stuff. Also, some of the dorm decor isn't so awful-- we just grabbed a microfiber "storage ottoman" in black, for $19.99, which is now housing our dumbbells so they're not just lying around the living room waiting for us to do something about this teacher arm! Check it out (bottom left/center):


(Yes, we are obsessed with purple).

Ooh! We forgot to mention that our Tar-geigh has all of their house brand (Prospirit) Balance Balls on clearance for $5. We got one for home for an office chair, and we're thinking we're going to go back and grab a blue one for the office, if we can convince them it's professional enough! Hooray for working the abs while you're required to be sitting on your arse!

Enjoy the last of your weekend!

What We Bought: Payless and Bob's and PATTERNS, oh my!

We are utterly addicted to solids- we admit it. We have a very hard time branching away from our saturated jewel tones. This weekend, however, we headed into Bob's to pick up a few basic tees and things from the clearance rack, since our Old Navy ones from a few years back are starting to look a little ratty (and we notice a general dearth of non-revealing tops in our collection... we're tired of feeling weird about spaghetti straps in the office because the a/c isn't working and we have to take off our cardigan quite often while running around...), and we're very, very proud of ourselves for having picked up not one but two tops with a print!

Here are some of our scores:

At Payless, with the BOGO 1/2 off sale, we got these cute little velvet flats for fall for $4.00:

Unfortunately the other pair we fell in love with wasn't even close to on sale, so we spent more than we like to at Payless ($24.99), and also had to buy a 6 1/2 even though we know they'll be rough to walk in, because the 7s slipped off the back too much... so we'll probably regret this, but we couldn't resist the platform and color and ruffle and perfect, perfect heel... 

So in case you're counting too, that's our third pair of purple pumps. Obsession, anyone? We did almost buy some pointy-toed hot pink faux-leather 80s ones, too. Someone probably needs to have those- we just knew we'd get too matchy-matchy with them since we've been really into hot pink lately...

We bought a couple of cute flutter-sleeve tees for $5 each, with a great square neckline and shape, which you will no doubt be seeing in outfits to come soon. Super-summery without being revealing, and made from renewable rayon-- we are pretty much in love. Hot pink and deep violet, of course. And we went a little obmre-crazy with a pink v-neck and a purple smocked-waistband skirt, too ($5.00/$15.00 respectively). 

But now, the moment you've all been waiting for-- the patterns!

First, an uber-flattering meshy surplice top with side-tie detailing in this crazy loud psychedelic print that would terrify us if it weren't our favorite colors all in one. $10

Lastly, we took ourselves far out of our comfort zone with a tube top (it has a shelf bra so there is some support going on) in coral with a pretty glittery floral pattern painted onto the front ($10.00). At some point we're going to need someone to tell us we're too old for glitter. Not yet, though. 

We hope you're proud of us. We highly recommend the Bob's clearance rack right now, if you have one nearby. Most of the tops were less expensive than our local Goodwill. There are also hundreds of bikinis on final sale for about $10 a piece, and we think every girl needs multiple swimsuits, so if you wouldn't blind people by showing your stomach in public like us, snap some up!

Happy Shopping!

What We Wore Tuesday: Hibiscus and DOTS

By dots we don't mean polka, we mean those little semispheres of candy stuck to rolls of paper that we used to eat as a kid. The colors in this outfit remind us of those wretched little sweets, although we are not actually consuming any fibrous bits with it (thankfully!)

We're being AWFULLY adventurous today, venturing not only into print-land, but also wearing three (count them! 3!) colors besides neutrals today! Usually it's black and one solid. We're not sure whether the print on this Skirtology skirt is overwhelming our petite but curvy frame... we loved it at the shop (and especially loved its $8 price tag) but maybe it's a tad big? Is it making us look shorter and fatter? Hmmm... This might be one for passing on to a taller friend, even if it is quite lovely.

We do love the turquoise and hot pink, though, even if it took us a while to come around. This is a cropped sweater we found at Marshalls in the junior clearance for $8. We love the saturated color. Our man calls it our "miniature sweater" but it really does fit... we think anway! Layered underneath, a short-sleeved knit top with lace ribbon detailing at the gathered shoulders (we let the lace peek out around the cardigan for a little extra girliness). And... we kicked up the candy-liciousness (although you can't quite make it out in the photo) with those purple pumps we discussed earlier. (Turns out they're microfiber, not actually suede, but they were cheap and had never been worn and they're luscious so we're not complaining).


We think we'll definitely be trying some more outlandish color combinations in the future... Trinny and Suzannah (of the UK original What Not to Wear) say that any colors can go together as long as they're tonally matched-- i.e. have the same quantity of black in their shades. Who knew?!

For accessories, we picked up the pink in the sweater with hot pink and black chandelier earrings by us (of course)

And then echoed the print in the skirt with our David Anderson leaf bracelet again:


...as well as matched the turquoise with a beaded cuff (we absolutely adore coordination), also a gift from mom but not vintage... which we've now tried to transfer from the phone approximately ninety-seven times and have now given up. But it's quirky and fun, trust us- you can sort of see it in some of the outfit pics.

Wish list: tights in super fun colors. This outfit would have been kicked up to 11 with some hot pink, turquoise or (gasp! What have you done with Desiree?) yellow tights. The black are so blah, even with the purple shoes.

What do you think of our foray into more-adventurous-land?