Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that posting has been a bit light lately. Between my wedding last fall, and travelling for our honeymoon this winter, I’ve been fairly busy and also not very inspired to shop. However, as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, I find myself pulling out my spring/summer clothes from the back of my closet, and longing for a few new fresh options to inject into my wardrobe.
This time, I took advantage of one of their frequent sales to get a few new items from Old Navy, which is one of my go-to brands for inexpensive petite-friendly wardrobe items. While I absolutely hate their website redesign that has made finding petite sizes more complicated, Old Navy (along with its sister brands Gap and Banana Republic) remains one of the only brands to offer petite clothing here in Canada with free shipping and free returns. The quality isn’t great, but they carry a ton of basics like tees, tops, sweaters, jeans, and activewear in sizes that actually fit… usually.
Still feeling inspired by the warmer weather, I decided to grab a few lighter, breezier options to add to my spring rotation.
First, I decided I needed a few brighter colours in my wardrobe, so I picked up one of these staple t-shirts in a vivid turquoise blue:
T-shirt: Everywear Slub-Knit Tee in Cyantope, size XSP, $11.89 CAD (reduced from $16.99)
I own a bunch of these “everywear” tees in various colours, and they tend to be a wardrobe staple for me because they actually are short enough in the torso to fit me properly. This colour is a bit bright for me, but I think I can pull it off on days when I just want to feel a little more energized:
Also in Everywear tees was this one in a bright cherry red. I don’t own much red in my wardrobe, and a lot of reds come across as too orange for me. But I suspected this one might lean cool enough to work on me:
T-shirt: Everywear V-Neck Tee in Robbie Red, size XSP, $11.89 CAD (reduced from $16.99)
Unfortunately, in person, it was a fair bit more fire-engine red than it looked in the photo, leaning a bit too orange for me:
I could probably stop traffic in this. It’s also more cropped and boxy than most Everywear tees. Between those two things, I decided to send this back.
Next, I went a bit outside my comfort zone to lean into some of the more cropped styles that are popular lately, and picked up this black floral crepe top with cap sleeves and an elastic gathered waist:
Top: Fitted Cap-Sleeve Smocked Crepe Top, Black, size XSP, $28 CAD (reduced from $39.99)
This is the kind of style I am always wishing I could pull off but, in practice, always seems to look slightly off on me. Case in point:
It doesn’t actually look too bad in photos, but the fit is a real problem. The shoulders are a bit too wide and keep falling off, even in a petite size. The underarms are too tight and pull uncomfortably. The gathered waist blouses out underneath the ruching, making me look like I’m pregnant. And it’s just far too cropped; I had no interest in showing off my midriff in my 20s and I’m certainly not about to start now. Good concept; poor execution. I sent this one back.
Finally, influenced by all the beautiful crochet and lace this season and perhaps inspired by visions of being Kate Hudson in Almost Famous, I impulsively bought this flutter-sleeve top in a creamy white. Look how romantic it looks on the model:
Top: Crochet Flutter-Sleeve Swing Top for Women, Creme de la Creme, size XSP, $23.10 CAD (reduced from $44.99)
Unfortunately, in person, this was a boxy, shapeless disaster:
The flutter sleeves turned out to be more like batwing sleeves with an unflattering dropped shoulder that does absolutely nothing for my frame. The top itself, even in a petite extra-small, is huge and boxy on me, making my waist disappear and my whole body look shapeless and as wide as my hips. And the cream colour? What was I thinking? I really ought to know better than to try to pull off these warm whites by now.
Everything about this was a nope. I’ll keep looking for that perfect cool summer blouse, but this isn’t it.
Haul summary: Meh, Old Navy isn’t really inspiring me this season. These past couple of years, their fit has really gone downhill, with everything even more oversized, baggy and shapeless than usual. This haul was kind of a bust, unfortunately. Oh well, can’t win ’em all.
