Reviews: Viola, a capelet, and a dress

I have seen a couple of Viola items in-store but I’ve been waiting a couple of months for it to show up on the website so I’ve given up hope. I guess Viola is retail-only this year. And what a shame for those not near a store because they have some pretty lovely items.

These are the last of my shots from the cave dressing room so apologies for the dark photo quality. The item you see me in above is one of the Viola items, a long navy blue sweatercoat similar to the Ossified Sweatercoat ($178). It has a zipper closure underneath followed by four button closures. There’s a strip of wool running between the two buttons that you can take off from either side. The wool is soft and thick. It has four pockets — two side pockets, and two big front pockets. It also has thick cuffs. The quality on this coat is wonderful. As Gigi would say, me likey. It’s exactly what I expect from Anthropologie. Unfortunately at $228 it’s also exactly the price I expect from Anthropologie. Here is the tag for this item in case you want to call a store about it.

I tried on my true size medium and found it to be the perfect fit. This sweatercoat does hug your body but I found it flattering on my curves. It’s quite long as you can see in the photos but that will help with warmth. There is some openness to the stitching so this isn’t really a winter coat but I think this would keep me warm to temperatures down into the 40s. If anyone has seen this coat I’d be interested to hear your take.

For something completely different, I decided to try on Guinevere’s Evening Abuzz Capelet ($148). (I was wearing the appropriate skirt as you can see.) This item takes the batwing tops Anthro experimented with last spring to a whole new level. It’s got the rounded sleeve life with a 3/4 attachment to the thin sweater sleeve. In other words, there’s a hole between the two parts of the sleeve because they’re only partially attached to each other. You don’t notice this when the capelet is on.

I liked the way the capelet looked on. I found this item true to size (medium). It has two trailing lines of sequins with flowers and an additional four or five lines of beading. The problem is that this piece is so not me. So while I liked it I would not wear this. It is a cool idea and I applaud the design. But it went back to the rack. Below is a (blurry) pic of the wingspan:

My favorite part is how the lines of sequins and beads are diagonal, matching the shape of the cape. It’s that kind of attention to detail that makes me love Anthro.

For my last item I went with something a bit more simple. This is Maeve’s Staysail Shirt Dress ($118). With apologies to the photographer I find the product shot for this item horrendous. The sleeves in particular look pretty vile. But in real life it was very cute with all of it’s buttons and the teal color and even though maeve and I do not see eye-to-eye on fit I couldn’t resist.

Yeah, about the fit. My true size 6 was perfect everywhere except across the bust. Of course. And this meant the 8 was loose everywhere except across the bust. Since this item is made of rayon it’s not worth it to me to buy it and tailor it. So for me this is a pass. But it has a lot of great things going for it that you might like. It has an almost nautical quality to it, with double loop belt pockets and shiny metallic buttons. There’s an extra seam around the neckline that’s very cool and this dress has a wonderful defined waist that’s perfect for belting. There are also a couple of grommeted holes on the dress and some exposed buttons on the shoulder to add to the seafaring quality. It’s a pretty dress.