Sunday, November 29, 2009

Petite Particulars is a little Peculiar!



I recently tried the Petite Particulars Henley (size: Small; color: grey motif) from Anthropologie. Straight out, I have to say that this one is going back. I wanted to like this top -- and I did -- but I just can't get past the ill-placement of the buttons on the two chest pockets that, on me, looked weirdly like two tiny little pasties. Am I right?! I'll state flat out that I'm certainly not the most buxom of babes, so perhaps this would be a non-issue for a more well-endowed girl? All I know is that when I saw myself in the mirror, I was overcome by an urge to rock side-to-side and wiggle my shoulders back and forth. I'm sorry to say that unbuttoning one pocket did not help at all; it actually made things worse! Then I just looked like one pasty popped off! Though it may not have been the prettiest picture, at least I had some fun trying this one on!

But I digress...overall, I think the top is cute. The black and white stripes are fresh, but classic, and the henley style, when unbuttoned, is a little flirty. While it looks more like red on the website, the button-holes and buttons are actually sewn with hot pink thread, a pretty, feminine detail:


I was pleasantly surprised by the knit, which I found to be slightly heavier than a run-of-the-mill tee, but nowhere near heavy enough for me to wear without something over it, given that I live in New England. Unfortunately, the 3/4 button-tab sleeves make this top difficult to wear under thinner-knits and 3/4 sleeve jackets because of the added bulk.

That said, why not layer a thin layer or two under this tee? I gave this a try with a thin wool turtleneck sweater and it didn't look as great as I'd hoped, but maybe a thinner layering piece would work out better. Also, the fit on this top was a touch smaller than what I would call "true to size", so if your plan is to layer, sizing up might not be a bad option.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Hello there!

So, this is it; my very first post for Shed The Chapeau!

Here goes:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” --Ernest Hemingway

Please have band-aids in hand and be ready to apply direct pressure just in case!