Let me tell you, Charleston has some seriously cute boutiques. I want everything! I mean, I usually feel like that, but the sole purpose of my trip is to explore the city, which means that I have time to shop and all I want to do is buy everything and eat everywhere…

Gahhhh!

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In Philadelphia, anytime I see a sleeveless sweater, I think, “What the hell is this? When it’s cold, you want sleeves!! Why am I the only one understanding this??”

But, I recently realized why they make sleeveless sweaters. Stupidly, since I packed in mid-August, I chose my favorite summer dresses and tops to bring with me. Well, now that the Fall Fashion Season is officially here, I’m feeling silly wearing bright sun dresses, even though it’s hot. Moreover, all of my Fall sweaters and tops are still in Spring colors-pinks, corals, mint greens. What was I thinking???It’s like the opposite of my freshman year of college, when I kept thinking I was packing for Fall, so I was forced to wear American Eagle thermal tees at the end of August…How can I even call myself a fashionista?

So in my perusals, I stopped by Madewell (a sister company of J Crew) , which I know is not exclusive to Charleston. But I found myself there and enjoyed the trip. Apparently, I’m not the only one!

Here was the cutest dress, which was-no pun indented-made well. The thick, heavy fabric and autumnal colors made it fit the season, but since it’s a dress, and had short sleeves, it felt perfect for the location:

And then there was this dress, which I LOVED, as evident in my smile 🙂It was a little too small in the top which made me uncomfortable. This is the first (and only) time my chest was “too big” for something! LOL If it had come in one size bigger, it totally would have come home with me, paired with my ancient Charlotte Russe olive jacket and new suede booties:Madden Girl: Francesca’s, but purchased using a gift card from my bestie, Sue ❤

Then there were these cute shorts, on sale! Also try these, which are ADORABLE!Too summery for my purpose, but they also came in indigo linen, which I did buy, since they laid really nice and allowed me to wear some of my long sleeve shirts with denim shorts at an appropriate length…And check out the cute peplum tee!

Also, they had REALLLLLLLY nice work pants, and considering it’s basically impossible for me to find pants that I like and that fit me, this was a home run, except for the fact that they had a kind of weird flare thing going on at the bottom, even though they looked straight leg and were cropped…

They were the right kind of tight at the waist, but then had enough room in the thigh (which is ALWAYS the dilemma) I may need to just bite the bullet and get them, and then have them tailored. I can’t tell you how many of my pants end up in the Infamous Pants Graveyard, which is in the back of my closet…

I kept thinking about that first dress, but was not about to spend $138 on 1 item. I know, I know, “quality over quantity”, but I like variation of styles, and maybe I don’t want this dress in 2 years!

I quickly ran into Forever21 tonight, so I could try and find some fall color/summer weather clothes.

Wow, I’m getting too old for that shit. Seriously, the quality was so bad and the styles were so cheap, I was like, “What am I doing in here??” And then I remembered I’m working with a limited budget and limited wardrobe selection, so I allowed myself a small budget and after some serious digging, here’s what I found:Very similar in “feeling” to the Madewell dress, literally $108 cheaper. Also, very similar to the dress I posted a few weeks ago from Vestique, (which I never bought).

And then this trendy floral romper, that snaps at the v-neck top, so it doesn’t reveal too much cleavage and also shows off my ballerina legs from the Barre classes I’ve been taking while I’m here 🙂I texted both of these photos to Sue for her opinion. She swiftly approved and even said she liked the Forever21 dress better than the expensive Madewell one. Isn’t she the best? 🙂

❤