Shopping in US from the ‘Nothing ever fits’ girl point of view

I decided to go with overview post first, because review of the separate items doesn’t cover overall experience and I think this is important. I did a lot of shopping while I was in US, which is rather unusual for me, I don’t really like it and tend to go online to buy stuff or have it custom made. But I have a good reason: clothes are much cheaper in US and there are items which my tailor do not make (like leather jacket or jeans).

First. I had very high expectations and packed light. That was a mistake, because guess what? nothing fit, of cause. Well ok, I’m a little bit exaggerating. I had absolutely no problem finding bags ))).

So I ended buying:

– electronics (a phone, a camera and a laptop); these items are something like 25-30% cheaper in US, so if you are travelling from EU or exUSSR it’s a good idea to save some money to upgrade your gadget park;

– bag to go to sport (Kipling, nice indigo color, just the right size to fit all my gym wear, about $70, like this)  and spinner bag with laptop compartment (Samsonite, $110);

– one pair of patent purple heels (Cole Haan, something around $80, here is the same model in black), not that I really need them, but they were nice looking, ok fit and just high enough to be high heels, but not very high (this is the real problem at home: all fancy heels are like 4.5″ high, which is too much for me);

– black leather jacket (Wilson leather, around $250), I expect it to be a real work horse, period when I can wear it isn’t very long, because it’s usually too cold or too hot, but it’s very basic and can go with jeans as easily as with pencil skirt, so in a years it will eventually get a lot of wear, I think I will review it later;

– black leather pleated midi skirt from Asos ($200), believe it or not, but I expect this skirt to become one of my wardrobe staples. The reason is that we have windy and cold weather from November till March, so skirt to wear with shorter coats should be a real wind shield and leather is perfect for this task;

– beige silk jersey T-shirt from Yoox ($35), very basic, very nice to skin, could be effortlessly worn with jeans and skirts;

– ivory silk top sold from Amazon ($40), again very basic and versatile, a bit baggy, because it’s not fitted in the waist, but this I can fix when I come home;

– 2 pairs of Wolford tights (black, opaque, $35 each from ASOS), btw if you are a fan, but think that they are pricey when looking on Wolford website, I highly recommend to look at ASOS instead, they don’t have such a variety of colors and designs, but they are like $15+ cheaper there and if it’s a sale it could be a really good deal;

– 2.25 yards of Power Shield Polartec fleece (I think it will make a great winter coat);

– two pairs of jeans (Bold Curve Slim Levis, $50 and True Religion High rise skinnies, $105), I’m not fond of them, but they were the least horrible ones (and believe me I tried dozens), what’s interesting, I still have skinnies from 2 years ago which fit me fine in size 28, but what I bought were 26. Jeans isn’t the most flattering garment on me, but when I want to play with my aunt’s dog or want to play it down they are my best option :-);

– two DKNY cozies ($65 each, silk-cotton-cashmere blend), love them;

– earrings ($70, Swarovski crystals, quite small and neutral), I’m allergic to almost anything, but not medical steel they are made from, so I like to be able to wear something nice;

– one size Hanky-Panky thongs and not one size briefs and some cotton VS panties;

– Josef Seibel ‘Tina 07’ Pump shows (casual, soft and comfortable);

– Revelation 3D Molded Simone Perele bra, which is to narrow for me to be truly comfortable, but I think it should be ok, when I bend wires (see my Nordstrom lingerie department report);

Do you see the pattern? I bought a lot of stuff, but almost everything I bought don’t create fit problems (tights, bags, fabric, cozies, jersey T-shirt), ASOS skirt I bought online is A-line, so it’s very forgiving. The only garments which are not so forgiving are jeans and ivory top, but they are not perfect.

I had a really tiresome experience trying shoes which never were soft and comfortable enough (and I really wanted to buy at least two pairs of shoes for everyday wear!). I was going to stock up on jeans, but bought only two of them.  I found what I wanted most: casual shoes for autumn which can go with a skirt, but weren’t high heels, but I didn’t find light or colorful flats for summer (this is a huge hole in my summer shoe wardrobe). I think that my shoe problem originates in the fact that Americans rarely walk a lot and I do. And I walk in the city, so I don’t like very sporty or outdoorsy footwear.

But other than shoes I did ok I think. My shopping list look like a wild shopping spree, but actually it was more like planned campaign (I have a list of items I need and I was buying from this list mostly). Most of the items I bought I bought much cheaper than it would cost me at home and most of them are things which will get a lot of wear. So price-per-wear* should be really low after some time.

* Nice and short explanation here .

This is going to be some time until I resume blogging

This is going to be lytdybr post (lytdybr is what Russian word ‘diary’ becomes if you use wrong keyboard layout). This mean that I’m not going to be reviewing a bra or writing something useful, just writing about how it is going for me. Which is pretty good actually.

The thing is I’m in California right now. There was a lot to do before flying to the other end of the world (visa, tickets, arrange my cat living with my parents, install some stuff on my corporate laptop, pack my bags etc) and there is a lot to do here (work, shopping, sightseeing to name a few).

Here is what I think about California

17-miles drive is beautiful even when it’s foggy and the weather is not good at all. But where I’m staying it has been great so far! Very warm and sunny.

They care about disabled people over there, people in wheelchairs are not limited by their homes and cars, traffic lights for pedestrians are doubled by sound, so they can be used by blind people. Great respect for that. In Ukraine it’s a terrible problem.

People are really nice. My team members are all very friendly and helpful.

Starbucks is overrated, but food is really good here and portions are huge!

GPS driving is not my thing!

Shopping is not what I expected it to be. I was going to buy jeans and casual shoes and sandals and I can’t find even single pair of jeans that fits and flatter and I tried a lot. Being in two Levi’s shops and True Religion outlet and several others I found only four models which were my size and looked ok, but they didn’t flatter me at all and were all small folds in the back because of very soft elastic or were too low on my hips. Skinnies or slims of size 26(sometimes 27)-32 for girl with curves? (I forget about boyfriends, I promise, they look cute, but never fit me, although I insist on skinnies! I have old skinnies which fit fab), pleease! Is it too much to ask? No luck with shoes either. Patent purple heels doesn’t count because they are anything but casual. But you guys have really good deals on electronics. So hooray to a new phone, a camera and a laptop. And leather jacket I may review later.

Definitely going to San Francisco next  weekend. Hope to find something looking good and walkable there (yes! I do that awful thing with my shoes: I walk, I can walk couple of miles just because I feel like walking and the weather is good, I also don’t like shoes which look all sporty and completely lack style). But even if I don’t find them Golden Bridge alone should be enough to justify the hassle.

 So being on a mission (buying shoes is a mission!) I’m afraid I won’t be able to write a post the next couple of weeks, but all your suggestions about what to do in northern California will be greatly appreciated.