What you will see here today are three items that I have recently purchased from Pure Collection. Two are from the summer collection and the third is from the autumn collection.
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| I dig my hair most when it is messy. No. I really don't. |
The blouse looks like it is polka-dotted from far away, but in reality it is a very twee/feminine bird print (much like J. Crew's french hen silk shirt).
The sizing of this shirt is true to size, if I go by my J. Crew perfect shirt size, which is a four.
The fabric is a silk, but it is not the shiny type that you see most often, this appears to be more of a brushed silk (it reminds me of brushed metals versus shiny metals, same material, very different looks).
Also note the tailoring. The garment is exceedingly well-sewn, buttons secured, and absolutely no loose threads.
It is worth the full price (minus 25%--still going on, fwiw), especially since the shirt has a classic cut and a "stands the test of time" print.
Printed Silk Blouse. I love how they styled it with red jeans. May have to try that look myself...once it gets cool enough for denim, of course.
The blouse is a year-round fabric, on its own in summer, under a cardi in spring and fall, and under a jacket in winter. Very versatile.
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| Please excuse the "just home from the beach" hair and lack of makeup. Just how I roll sometimes, you know? |
I do not like that I have to iron this out of the bag, but part of that is due to the nature of this fabric. It was carefully packaged and made well, it is just a big bummer to not be able to wear it straightaway.
Tie Waisted Tapered Trousers. Size 6. I kind of feel that Pure Collection may vanity size some of their items, so I decided that these trousers, since made from a stretchy blend, would be best for me in a size 6. In most companies I wear a size 8 or 10, especially since I have not lost all my baby weight, but I felt like I had won the size lottery when I put these on. LOL. All about the label, right? ;)
The waist is adjustable, so when I lose the last ten pounds around my hips, I will be able to cinch these tighter for a better fit, but since they are adjustable, they fit very well now, too. Since they are back in stock (they had been out of stock for a while), I plan on getting the black pair. (Please keep in mind that they do not offer additional % off sale items, much like Boden). At $40, give or take, that seems like a pretty good deal for pants that I will wear over and over and over and over.
Both of these items could easily be worn outside of the summer, but in colder climates, the pants would likely need a liner of some sort, like long underwear (which we don't use in VA except in the coldest of days). The top clearly can be worn layered in many ways.
The color of the blouse is most like the two photos you see above this one, in other words, quite a bright yellow.
This particular blouse is all sold out, but below I have a recommendation for a similar blouse in the same kind of silk satin fabric.
Tie Waisted Tapered Trousers (top) and Silk Satin Blouse (similar option for the yellow silk blouse that is all sold out) (bottom).
There are plenty of the trousers in stock. The Silk Satin Blouse is all sold out in the bright pink shade you see in the stock photo, but there are other colors available. Also, this blouse is the same silhouette as the printed silk blouse in my first review, so I can vouch for its awesomeness.
The trousers were so comfortable, I wore them again with my Lexington jacket last Saturday (post here).
Other thoughts on Pure Collection...
1) Great company for basics. There is not a whole lot of fashion forward thinking going on here at this company, BUT part of that may be because this company is geared towards women who are in their 30s and up. That said, I kind of have always dug these companies that make classics well and then adds a specific fun twist on them, so Pure Collection would have been fine by me if I had discovered them in my 20s (would have been possible, but they were just starting out then--more on their beginnings in a moment).
2) Shipping. You do have to pay for shipping, and it seem seems expensive, but I think we all have gotten used to free shipping from other companies so much that we all expect it now. It is a definite downer to see the extra fee added on, but at least there are no taxes (for most of us, anyhow), right? And they do have a lot of sales (see bottom of the post). The shipping takes a long time, but not as long as Boden, it seems. Hmm. The packages are beautifully wrapped and cared for well, so do expect to see your package come in great condition (provided the mail service didn't screw up somehow).
3) Prices. The items you get from them should last a long time, and are typically made from natural fabrics, so while the prices seem higher at first, these are garments that will be in your wardrobe for a long time. And since we all know that J. Crew expects us to pay the same amount and often has cut corners in the fabric and tailoring side of things, maybe going to another company for basics will send a strong message to Mickey?
Okay, that's it for now. PLEASE do add your thoughts on Pure Collection, since I know many of you have bought from them before.
Also, if you spy something on their site that you just love, would you mind letting us know what it is? I would love to see what you all adore!
I am running a 25% off with free returns coupon through my sidebar. Definitely use it if you would like the extra discount. (It is also below for mobile users.)
The coupon above will be active for a while, at least for October, if not longer.
Right now, though, Pure Collection is having a pretty big sale (with the more spent equaling more of a percentage off--35% off if you spend more than $450, for instance) for their tenth anniversary (yay 2002!). This sale ends on Thursday morning at 9 am (tomorrow), so be aware of that. The discount is applied with the code TREAT1. I doubt that sale items would count towards the whole amount, it is likely you have to buy full-priced items to receive the additional % off.
