Review of My Naghedi St. Barths Tote + Other Recent Acquisitions.

Today, I thought I’d share a few recent fashion acquisitions with thoughts on sizing/styling each. I didn’t fully style most of these, choosing to orient more towards fit and initial thoughts on whether to keep or not, so this is a bit more a rapid-fire, gut instinct review situation.

First: you knew this was coming, didn’t you? My Naghedi St. Barths medium tote arrived and I couldn’t adore her more. I feel like she’ll fill a meaningful gap in my bag repertoire. I have a lot of wicker/basket bags for spring and then my Goyard, but sometimes I want something that can be worn everyday, casually, and not be as precious as the Goyard? I’m thinking of outings with the kids, errands, etc. I am going to continue to share thoughts but I’m really impressed after wearing it since I first received it. The medium size is ideal for carrying all essentials, and then some — you can totally use as a “diaper bag” for kids of my age. Plenty of room for two water bottles, snacks, an activity or two, and all my gear. It is, conveniently, super lightweight on its own despite looking rather hefty.

I’m wearing below with a favorite dress from a few seasons ago. It’s by the brand Glamorous but no longer available anywhere — I even checked eBay! Sorry! I will keep my eyes peeled for them. I paired with my favorite platform espadrilles from Tory Burch from last season, which you can still find (on super sale!) here and here. You can find a very similar pair “inspired by” TB for $60 here. These were a surprise hit for me. They were a bit more fashion-forward/out of my comfort zone and I ended up pairing them with all of my maxis all summer long, and fully look forward to doing the same.

Two key features on the Naghedi St. Barths tote I wanted to report back on: 1) The straps do fit over your arm — albeit snugly. This is, for me, a big requirement for an everyday tote. And 2) I didn’t realize it, but the bag comes with a cute little pouch! You know my feelings on pouches — ha. I can’t live without. And you could absolutely use the pouch as a clutch, which I fully intend on doing this summer! Fun little bonus. You can see both of these features in action in my snaps below. This is probably more of an accurate depiction of how I’ll style it most days –with an unfussy caftan dress (mine is Mille; runs really big so you can size down) that is essentially a nightgown.

Second: J. McLaughlin Parr Skort. I have a burgeoning interest in golf, and two of my girlfriends have expressed eagerness to learn the game alongside me, as fellow amateurs who will not laugh at whiffs and be open to picking up the ball if we’ve exhausted ourselves. I found this adorable skirt, which would work for either racquets or the links, and it is beautifully, thoughtfully made. It is made of a performance fabric so it is actually meant for fitness, and it has built-in shorts underneath, a zipper pocket (for ball/tees/glove), and a cute pleated hem. I was surprised to see that this skort is already sold out in a few sizes as I set out to write this post. I guess good fitness skirts are hard to come by? I took an XS and it fits wonderfully. Note that I am very short and this hits maybe 4″ above my knee so might not be great for taller chickadees. I’m wearing with a very old Lacoste polo and this beautiful cashmere funnel neck sweater, which would not be practical on the course, but the matchy-matchy stylist in me couldn’t resist tying in with that cute little M logo.

Next up: the aforementioned Haven Well Within Cashmere Funnel Neck sweater. My friends over there generously sent this over as a complete surprise and I couldn’t love it more. A beautiful moody blue and super soft. The little patch pockets in the front are too cute! Currently 25% off. And how fun with my yellow bag? Easter egg vibes.

I’m wearing them above with my new Gap kick fit jeans, which are easily one of the top two or three purchases I’ve made for spring thus far, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve made a lot of really fun buys this season, including several items in this post! I think these jeans are a tie with the Naghedi tote. Anyway, I took the jeans in my true size in the petite inseam and OMG. Guys! These jeans! They’re like $50, so comfortable, have a good amount of stretch but hold you in, totally opaque, flattering fit! And I love that Gap offers tall and petite inseams so you don’t need to mess with tailoring. A no brainer. I will be wearing these with everything all spring and summer long.

I’m wearing the Gap kick fits with one of several different inexpensive tees I’ve been testing lately. I have had so many people tell me they love Uniqlo, or Gap, or Walmart for cheap tees, and I wanted to investigate further. Will share a post with my complete findings soon. Above is the $10 Walmart tee. I have to say, I’m impressed that it is made of 100% organic cotton given the low price point. It’s soft and feels more expensive than than it is. I love the contrasting collar (in navy) and the torso length is good for tucking. I don’t love the length of the arms. On me (again, I’m petite), they look a little too long/ungainly/schlumpy? Maybe it has to do with the slight drop of the shoulder? I wish they were just a tad shorter/more tailored. But, for $10, will absolutely work this into the rotation, possibly layered under my Alice Walk half-zip or denim jacket (seen below) during these interim months.

This collarless denim Gap jacket is impressively high-quality for the price (under $100). It has a good amount of stretch in it and I love the fashion-forward collarless silhouette. It runs fairly cropped — I’m 5’0 and you can see it hits around my belt line in the back. The sleeves are too long for me, so I rolled them up. I like it…but can’t decide if I need it. It arrived and I thought, “am I jean jacket lady after all?” I am going to play around with styling this week. After I threw it on over the tee and jeans, I thought maybe I would prefer it if I layered it over a frothy white mini or something? Stay tuned. But, if you are a jean jacket afficionado, this is a good one. I can’t believe how incredible Gap is at the moment. I find the quality superior to a lot of similar big retailers.

Finally: I picked up these $27 Amazon running shorts based on tons of favorable reviews. They’re solid. Not, like “OMG I need these in 12 colors,” but I know I’ll be happy to have them in my running drawer come warmer weather, and they tick all the boxes. I feel like a lot of running shorts have a kind of diaper-y quality to them and these are frankly no different. I do love the navy — I find dark navies looks more expensive — but they come in tons of other colors. I sized up to a small in these because I hate running gear that is in any way too constricting. I bought a pair of Lululemon running shorts a few years ago that were too small and have no idea why I kept them, because I dreaded wearing them and eventually got rid of them. They were always riding up in weird spots and making me self-conscious. Anyway, I routinely size up in fitness wear. I’d say the size-up was good for these — they fit me well. They have a nice thick waistband, zippered pocket, and are lined.

P.S. How do you stay on top of household chores?

P.P.S. I am actually smiling in one of the photos above thanks to Invisalign…what a wonder! Shared a bit about that process here.

P.P.P.S. New nursery finds.