This post is sponsored by Talbots.
Talbots is one of those brands that has been in my fashion imagination for as long as I can remember. My mother loved shopping in their red-door boutiques when I was growing up, and I remember standing next to her at a picnic eating Grandma Utz kettle chips from a paper napkin when she asked one of her girlfriends, “Where do you get off looking like that with three young children?” Her friend was meticulously dressed and smelled like expensive soap. “Well, Elaine,” her friend said, “Talbots.” When I was 25, I was standing behind an elegant woman wearing a gingham dress at a Fourth of July parade, and I asked her where she’d purchased it. “Oh — Talbots, honey!” I ordered it immediately. And at my ten year high school reunion, a classmate arrived immaculately attired in a pair of linen pants and a statement blouse. “Talbots pants,” she said, knowingly.
I’ve worked that knowing insidership into my own shopping habit, and have often struck gold over the years, especially in their shoe department. (If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I lived in their navy suede drivers and sherpa-lined loafers this past fall and winter. I wore the sherpa loafers so much that when I gave our nanny a sherpa-trim tote for Christmas, she commented, “Just like your shoes!”)
I love their latest spring collection, which is full of the feminine details (eyelet, scalloping, trim) to which I am always drawn, and was shocked and delighted when they asked whether I would be willing to style a few of their pieces.
I selected this delicate flutter-sleeved blouse, this joyful striped popover, and these perfect white pants, as I am firmly planted in my Nancy Meyers protagonist era, and these make me feel like I should be walking down a hydrangea-lined path onto a private beach. On sizing: I took a petite P in everything, and found they run just generous of true to size.
All of my favorite pieces from this collection are linked below.
PULL-ON WIDE LEG CROPPED PANTS
Happy shopping!
P.S. Things I’ve learned from my mother.
P.P.S. Motherhood is a surfeit.
I found Talbots by mistake in 2013. I was looking for a plus size professional career girl black pant suit. I was so delighted since they sell the suit in separate pieces Boy! I was happy happy!!! You see I am two sizes larger on the top than my bottom. When I got the suit and wore it my husband couldn’t stop complimenting me. He marveled at how well the suit fit, since then I do alllllllllll my shopping on Talbots.com. I love the featured styles that scream style with elegant grace , I am over 65, With Talbots I can dress with style that doesn’t make me look too young or too old. As a plus size person I am so concerned about how clothes fit on me..with Talbots styles I always look good weather for work ,play or church Talbots keeps me looking good.
I love this! So glad that you found and love this brand!
xx
Fun! Talbots looms large in my imagination as well. I actually grew up in the town where it was founded and is still HQed, so many a woman in my life wore it. And I found it most useful when I was shopping for my semester abroad in Nairobi, which is a fairly conservative place where people tend to dress up for work. So I ended up with several midi or maxi skirts/dresses from there that I think of fondly.
I love these memories – I can definitely see why Talbots would be a good pick for outfitting yourself for those situations. The specificity of your memory reminded me of the last summer I spent in Colorado with my family. I had grown up spending a month each summer out there and loved it. I think I was about 16 or 17 when we went last, and I was deep into my Gap era. I specifically remember two denim skirts — one white, one mid-wash — of theirs that I wore ad infinitum while out there that summer, with platform sandals (naturally). I still have trouble separating the memory of those outfits from my time out West.
xx