Four of my favorite things!

Amethysts

I mentioned in an earlier post I bought lots of jewelry on eBay back in my teaching days. Funny side note…one of the teachers in my grade level started buying pie birds and other odd things. He bought so much he was shut down from buying more for a while! Who knew? The earrings and the necklace were purchased on eBay many, many years ago. I bought the bracelet at a cute little store in Winona Lake, Indiana even longer ago! I’m pretty sure I bought my ring at Macy’s, but it could have still been LS Ayres when I bought it. I like my sterling silver to be slightly tarnished. Is that weird? Purple is my favorite color so it makes sense amethysts are amongst my favorite gemstones. Diamonds are definitely this girl’s best friends, though! And, being a Libra, I also love opals and have quite the collection of them.

J Jill

I have a couple pairs of these leggings by J Jill. They are comfortable and wear like iron. The petite fits me well in these. Even though I’m short and short waisted, a lot of times, petite pants are too short in the rise for me. That means lots of hemming in my life! These particular leggings are from last year and have a stitched down center seam/pleat/? They are the color, raisin, I believe. I had thought to pair a brown pair of pants with this top, but I liked the raisin color best.

I have shopped at J Jill for years. When I first became aware of the brand, I thought it was too edgy for me…that would be way back in the 90’s or early 00’s. In fact, I didn’t go in the store for fear of being called out on my lack of edginess! I don’t think J Jill is edgy anymore, but I do find many of their items to be quality and long wearing.

L’Artiste

I believe these booties were my first purchase of L’Artiste products. I love the different details in them: the colored stitching, the various textures, the zippers, and the heels usually have some type of detail. Unfortunately, last year, I nicked the leather on the toe of one of these booties. I’m not sure what to do. I guess I’ll search YouTube for some kind of tutorial, or I may just color the nick with a dark marker. I find most L’Artiste shoes to run just a tad small. They are in European sizes. I usually wear a 39, but almost always size up to a 40 in L’Artiste. And, because of my wonky foot (I’m going to have to write a post about that some day), I almost always put some kind of insole in them for additional comfort.

Can you guess number four?

If you’ve been reading my blog for a bit, you probably knew the answer! When I was teaching writing, I taught my students to keep the best for last. My favorite clothing retailer is definitely April Cornell. My daughter introduced me to the brand somewhere around the turn of the century (gosh, typing that seems so weird). She’d been in a store in Virginia and told me it was just my style. She was absolutely right! Luckily, there was an April Cornell store in the Fashion Mall back then. We lived about two and a half hours away. Nigel would take me there to shop for my birthday every year. I still have the very first dress I bought as well as many of those I received for my birthday. Many years ago during one of our travels, we stopped at the flagship store in Burlington, Vermont. I met April there and found her to be as lovely as her designs.

I cannot say enough good things about April and her clothing. I love the textiles she uses as well as her gorgeous designs. April is a master at florals as well as fine details like embroidery and lace. She features many of her original artworks on tea towels (I have a selection of those, too) as well as on tee shirts. If you are ever in Burlington, you should stop into the store. It is a magical place. April’s artistry is on display from the floor to the ceiling (at least, it was the last time I was there). You can read more about April here https://www.aprilcornell.com/category/about-april-cornell. There are other links on this page you can click through to read more about April and her fashion journey. You can read more here. https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.aprilcornell.com/downloads/AprilCornell_WWC0514.pdf I’d really love to sit down with her and share a cuppa, wouldn’t you?

And, if you’re in Asheville, North Carolina, you can find her downtown in a fun, artsy store. I used to order online, but I’ve found calling the store in Asheville will get me what I want a little faster. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to talk with a delightful lady named Susie! I spoke with her last week, and with her guidance, bought three new pieces. We had a delightful conversation as the store wasn’t busy. That is rarely the case when I call! This tunic is one of the new items I bought. It is just a little too short for it to work as a dress on me. Many times, I can buy a tunic (which is what I’m wearing in the photo with April) and wear it as a dress. If you spend more than $150, shipping is free and fast from the Asheville store. The Burlington store is wonderful, too, but it’s sometimes difficult to get through via telephone.

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I originally planned to buy the dress in this print, but a reviewer mentioned it didn’t look good on her 5’3″ short waisted self. Since that pretty much describes me (plus a couple of inches), I decided against it. Susie suggested this tunic. I had bypassed it as I was perusing online due to the square neckline. I don’t feel like those are good on me, but this square is very small. I’m glad I took Susie’s advice because I love this tunic. I like the blanket stitch detail around the neckline and patch pockets. It has three quarter sleeves which will fit well into a sweater (you know, not too full and long enough you can grab them with your hand before inserting your arm into the sweater). The colors are gorgeous…amethyst, creams, and browns. These are my autumn colors! It looks just as good with jeans as it does with these leggings. Who knows? I just might try them with tights and boots later this fall! One thing to note…with the pandemic, shipping, and other issues…April’s designs sometimes sell out. I’ve missed out on a couple of pieces I really wanted because they weren’t restocked.

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The Lewk

I think I’ve covered all of the pieces I’m wearing in my four favorites! I once knew a woman who thought it was rather pretentious to refer to an item of clothing as a piece…she thought that moniker only applied to designer pieces! I disagree. I think piece can apply to any item of clothing or cake or pie or pizza or…you get the idea! To be perfectly transparent, I did change out of this outfit into shorts and a chambray top as it was still warm and humid here in Indiana today. Nigel surprised me with a request to go out for dinner so I changed clothes once again (that’s four changes…workout clothes, photoshoot, regular clothes, going out to dinner clothes). Bet you can’t guess what I wore! I meant to get a snap of my outfit, but I failed! I wore a linen blend short sleeve sweater from Banana Republic, a distressed jean jacket from Target, and an April Cornell skirt. Remember I’m only 5’1″. Unless I hem them, most dresses and skirts from April are maxi length.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

I hope you’re not tiring of April Cornell clothing. Trust me when I say it will appear here a lot! Do you have a favorite designer or retailer? Is there a certain pattern you look for when you buy clothes? A floral is going to grab my attention every.single.time! Are you looking forward to the changing seasons? Let’s have a conversation. Please feel free to comment. I promise I will answer! And, if you haven’t already, please consider subscribing. You can also find me on Instagram at the_only_marsha_banks. I haven’t figured out how to add that to my blog. It’s on the list of to do’s!

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