Investigating Anthropologie’s newest Spring 2015 arrivals

We covered Anthropologie’s May 2015 catalogue in Monday’s post and now it’s time to take a look at the non-catalogue new arrivals. My quick thoughts? Handkerchief hems = NO. Boxy tops = NO. And yet as always there is plenty to love. Inside, picks, thoughts and words to start the discussion by.

I’m mostly delighted by the dresses Anthropologie has been unveiling for Spring and Summer! While I wish there were a few more fit-and-flares (my go-to shape), for the most part Anthro seems to have listened to us and is releasing longer silhouettes and a variety of shapes so that no matter how your body flows you’re sure to find something you like.

I know that there have been community complaints about gowns at a higher price point — $500 and up; $1000 and up. But I’m thrilled by them! Anthro has always had a small selection of beautiful, pricey dresses and while they won’t work for everyday wear, I’m very thankful for them in the times when I’m about to attend a special event and need a dress fit for the occasion. Whoever is in charge of curating that selection of dresses at Anthro has done a spectacular job. I’ve found a dress for a work event that was showered with praise (very important when your client is a large fashion company!) and another that was perfect for a very fancy wedding I had the pleasure of attending. The orders of those items are small and they seem to be selling through very quickly so it seems Anthropologie has found a quality niche for themselves, one that I fully embrace.

What Anthro is missing then lies at the other end of the spectrum. After thumbing though pages of $500+ dresses nothing would drive me to make a purchase faster than seeing a bunch of dresses $110 and down. Times used to be that you could find a few pretty cotton options, with a couple of polyester options too, around the $98 price point. And oftentimes Anthro’s sleepwear section would be hiding delights — sleep dresses that were enough for daywear during high summer, often for $68 or less. No more though. Now even the day-to-sleep options are around $150 and there are exactly zero day-appropriate dresses for under $100. Boo, Anthropologie. Boo.

Petites, I’m jealous. You’re getting all the best pretties right now!

Anthropologie’s top selection has really been whiffing with me as of late. The blouses especially have very few tempting new arrivals for me…most of the items I want are at least a month old: the Fluttered Flores Blouse ($118), the Avie Tunic ($98, review upcoming), the Basket Tank ($98, review upcoming), the Abella Pintuck Blouse ($78) in black motif. Items that should appeal to me, like the Ruffled Wisteria Top ($168), miss so badly on the execution for me that I can’t even muster up the effort to give them a shot. At least there are items like the Fringed Indigo Top ($118, review upcoming) that I loved enough to buy at first try — it looks so good with a long tank top underneath paired with skinny jeans and patent wedges.

Has anyone received their Nitza Tank ($88) we were swooning over last month? The sole online review isn’t too much help for me based on her sizing versus mine, and I’m quite curious about it.

The news is a little better over in the tees & tanks section, though even there nearly everything I want follows a pattern…some kind of variation on white. In this case it will be genuinely difficult for me to choose from all these white tops I truly adore…do I want a textured pretty like the Etage Jacquard Pullover ($98)? (Yes.) A tank with interest from the front and back like the Raisa Tank ($88)? (YES.) A lacy beauty, like the Jenson Tank ($68) or the Les Fleurs Lace Top ($88) or the Shoestring Lace Tank ($78)? (Yes, Yes, YES.) A more modern take like the Okta Tiered Tee ($68)? (Well, no, I can pass on this one, the execution has missed for me.)

While I try to sort out my white top dilemma, here are some other ones that caught my eye.

I’m not any closer to a solution about all those white tops I love but I am slowly whittling down the rest of my wishlist. There’s not much I see in the jackets & outerwear section, though I suppose that’s to be expected…

…while around the rest of the site, there are a few things that caught my eye. While I make mental outfits to decide which items come home and which stay a wish, take a look.

While the 20% off dresses promo has expired, the 30% off all jewelry promo is still going strong. That makes placing an order a little more tempting…though a promo on all full price items would help a lot, too! What have you wishlisted and purchased recently from Anthropologie?