LOFT reviews: striped maxi, striped sweater dress, striped sweatshirt dress

Hi everyone!

Stripes, stripes, everywhere!  Everywhere I look, it's either stripes or polka dots. Fine by me, love that in spring and summer.  I went to LOFT yesterday, still reeling from the sticker shock of J.Crew's latest rollout. And while J.Crew still has the edge on style and color, other stores will give me a little more bang for my buck. They are running a 40% off sale on certain new spring items, with code SPRING40. Online, you can see which pieces fall under the sale.

Loft hasn't interested me much terribly this past year, both style-wise and quality-wise, but this spring they are offering up some cute things. (See my post on the striped skirt here)  I spied some more stripey goodness to try on the other day, and really liked everything! 

First, the Knit Stripe Maxi Dress (it's showing as sold out online, but the SA said they just put it on the floor? Maybe they're pulling a JC.). This is super reasonable at full price ($59.50). I had a 20% off coupon to bring that amount down even a bit more, but I'd have paid FP for it. It's a nice weight -- not too hot for summer, but not so crazy thin that I'm forced to wear a slip in order to camo any VPL. Also, a tank style is lovely, b/c -- let's be honest -- for the most part, I just want to wear my comfy t-shirt bra. It runs TTS and the armholes are fine and not showing anything (this is a small). It's not too snug, not too much volume. Love!! Also, I love the grey/cream combo.

Next, the Colorblock Roll-sleeve Sweater Dress in navy/grey, one of my favorite combos (especially when paired with cognac leather accessories/shoes.  It's nice and soft, and yes, man-made fibers. But at their prices, it's expected and a-ok with me. I like the dark grey accent at the bottom. It was just soooo comfortable. I can easily see just throwing this on with tights and boots (or no tights in early spring/fall) and running out the door. Cute little roll-sleeve button detail. It's hard to tell, but there's a stretchy middle band, so it can blouse over a bit. It needs a belt. This is a small, so it's TTS. Not sure I'd pay full price for this one ($89.50), but they have 40% off certain FP items, and this one was included. So it's more than reasonable at just under $54.

How 'bout those snowflake knee-highs? Hot!

I also had to try out the Incognito Stripe Sweatshirt Dress. They had a grey version of this last year that I picked up on super sale, and wore it a lot. It doesn't get much more comfortable than a sweatshirt dress. Throw on some navy stripes and I'm sold. Now, it's going to be a bit short for some, a couple inches above the knee, but I don't think it's obscene. I think it depends on how high up you have the waist. I can bend down to my son's level and be completely well-covered. ;)  It's a thicker knit (think sort of like the Maritime dress, but not quite that thick), which I like. This is a small again. A medium might add a touch more length, but it would be too big up top.

Oh, and they also had a bunch of sale racks, with an additional 40% off as well, as well as several $4.99 racks. I couldn't resist picking up the Boatneck Cable Poncho for $5. Sure, I need a sweater like I need a hole in the head, but I'm a sucker for these batwing things, thrown over a button-down or stripey tissue turtleneck. I wouldn't say they're, um, sexy, and the trend is probably on it's way out, but for $5, it's good for fat days. Just sayin'.

And just so you don't think I wear dresses or pencil skirts every day, here's a shot of me dressed for preschool pick-up in the snow:

BTW, J.Crew factory just came out with a version of the above madras popover, which I love.

What do you think of LOFT lately?