Anthropologie and I are having a cold war of sorts over boxiness and overall proportions at the moment. Unfortunately for anyone with curves many of the trendy styles right now lean towards the boxier, the draped, the less-defined shape. And while not ideal all of this would be perfectly workable if retailers were nailing it on length and proportion.
As you’re about to see, they are nailing it on neither in many cases right now.
Note: My sizing is currently floating — I started a muscle-toning exercise regimen back in June! For reference I am currently sitting at 34-29-38, size 6/M in sweaters, 6 in dresses and 29/30 in pants, 34D. I am 5’8″.
I was warned by the community about the Crossed Pointelle Pullover ($88) being short and boxy and yet I hoped that somehow the top would work on me. And it’s not a terrible top by any means. I love the tulip hemline with its open stitching, the loose round neckline and the 3/4 sleeve length. The hem ends right at the waist on each side which is a terrific trick for drawing the eye inwards and defining shape. Pull the sleeves up to your elbows or about there and all of a sudden this thin heathered cotton-viscose top has some semblance of shape.
I purchased a medium which you see on me above. The problem is that this top feels sloppy on. There’s way too much room in the shoulders which casts a weird bunch of fabric right above the bust in the armpit area. There’s nothing to pull the back in so it hangs meekly from the neck down, creating extra air especially around the waist area.
For most of the top reviews in this post I’m wearing a teal layering tank which is meant to illustrate the spot where I’d want a top to ideally end on me. Right now more than 50% of Anthropologie’s tops are way too short on me. This is a huge problem because instead of flattering the awesome curves I’m genetically blessed (#blessed?) with I instead up looking super wide and kind of lumpy. Thanks Anthropologie. Wide and dumpy is exactly the look I’m going for! Are wide load signs in right now?
As you can see this top is much wider across its top half than the bottom half. I can see that there’s some thought that clearly went into the design and I’m more than willing to concede that this top may simply not be workable for my body type. The issue with that is I never used to have this problem at Anthropologie and these days I have it more and more.
I hate to say it, but with the models being about the same height as me I really think the issue comes down to boobs. Anthropologie forgot how to design for larger chests. And what a shame that is. If my breasts were smaller this top would be longer on me. If it were 3.5″ longer it would look 50 times better on me. Instead, it got returned and I felt sad.
Another top that I was really hoping to like is the Irina Pullover ($98). I love this sweater’s deconstructed, multi-layered hemline. It’s made from all things itchy — nylon, alpaca, wool, viscose, polyester, and itching powder. (Maybe not that last one.) I didn’t find the sweater to be itchy on me but I’m mostly itch-tolerant. The sleeves and neckline are sheer on this sweater while the shell itself has multiple layers to make it opaque.
I’m in a medium above. Again, I dislike how short this sweater is. What’s weird is that the back is a good 1.5-2″ longer than the front. If the whole sweater were that long it’d be much closer to workable for me. Though even then I’d want another inch or two in length. I noticed that in Anthro’s product shots the models are hunching over in nearly every shot to make this top look longer. Alright. But I can’t do that all day in real life!
The medium fit fine in terms of roominess. I have a feeling this would stretch out a bit over the course of a day. It is very, very thin with all open stitchwork — beware of animals, children and random sharp things coming near you when you wear this.
If I were 5’4″ this sweater would be perfect. At 5’8″ it’s much too short for comfort. This sweater was returned.
We interrupt this parade of sadness for a top that I liked a lot — the Mela Colorblocked Top ($58)! Strictly a weekend piece for me, this rayon-spandex-nylon contraption is very sleek on. There’s tulip hems on each side and I noticed that when I reach up for anything my side shows which eliminates it from work contention for me. Each top has a different colored top and bottom. I went for the wine version which is wine up top and close to navy on the bottom. Although thin this top is not sheer. The top portion feels like a very soft tee and the bottom feels kinda silky.
I’m in a medium here — I mostly wear a small or x-small in Meadow Rue so this runs small for the label. A medium is what I wear in most tops so in that sense it’s true to size. Make sense? Good. Although a bit short on the sides the top overall is a great length. The neckline is round, open and deep, perfect for framing a necklace. (I’m wearing the beautiful Adelais Pendant Necklace ($98) here which I also love, though like most nickel-coated jewelry I can only wear it for one day with several days between to prevent my skin from breaking out.)
The wine color I’m wearing is sold out on Anthropologie’s website as of this writing but does pop back in-stock from time to time. You’ll want to wear a seamless bra underneath it or risk the bra showing through as it does in my try-on shots. But no one is seeing these except the hyper-critical world wide web, right? 🙂
Of all the items in my order this one was the keeper. It’s a happy addition to my weekend casual wear.
And now back to the sad, sad tyranny of torsos. Moth’s Terrace Pullover ($118) looks delightful online and is more of a whomp, whomp downer in real life. Once again it’s a sweater with a lot of potential that gets trashed in its too-short execution. There’s actually two layers to this piece — the tail of a dress shirt sticking down below the cropped split-opening sweater. Yes I am aware that crop sweaters are supposed to be short, however for this piece to work the crop should end right across the waist (it’s a good 3″ too high on me) and the tail needs to end where my teal layering tank does.
This medium was actually pretty loose on me everywhere except the sleeves, which were an ideal fit. I do like the wide neckline and I love the lace appliqued around the side slits of the sweater part. The pattern on the dress shirt tail is also very cute! It’s sort of a swiss dot on oxford. Which just makes me long for Odille’s old impeccably tailored dress shirts…memories. The ivory sweater is pretty much see-through so even though this shirt already has 1.5 layers you’ll need one more below it. Made from cotton (yay!!!!) it’s super soft and comfy on.
If I liked this sweater I planned to buy both colors…instead it was yet another return. Rack em up I guess. Boo.
Let’s wrap this reviews set up with a pencil skirt delight, Maeve’s Clementina Pencil Skirt ($118). This skirt comes in either the beautiful orangey-yellow medallion pattern you see on me or a beyond cute telephone print. The 5th Ave store in NYC only had this one for me to try on. The skirt is cotton and spandex, lined inside and has a pretty generous back slit that could be problematic if the skirt slides up. But I don’t think it’s going to do that because it runs pretty damn tight!
I am vacillating between an 8 and a 10 in bottoms right now, usually an 8. In this skirt you see me in a 10 and even that was pretty tight so you’ll want to size up for sure in this skirt. I do love the design placement in front and back and the pattern lines up at the side seams. Very nicely done, Anthropologie! The skirt hit me just above the knees.
Here’s a full-length shot…
Very cute skirt. I can see this getting lots of use in the fashion-forward environment I’m currently working in (though definitely not at my more conservative home office). I think this would be a delightfully funky a-line skirt too if only Anthro made another version.
For now, this one will do. Wishlisted!
Have you tried on any of the items in this reviews set? What did you think of them? What items should I look for to review next week?
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