When you find something that fits, it’s tempting to ignore the little details that aren’t 100%.  This happened to me last week when Anthropologie sucked me into its store.  I love soaking up Anthropologie’s atmosphere and admiring all its pretty things, but I certainly didn’t expect to find anything that fit.  Instead, I found three wardrobe staples:  this dress, this jacket, and this cardigan.  I’m only keeping one of them.  Based on the pictures below, see if you can figure out which one.  I post the answer and my analysis after the jump.

I’m keeping the cardigan.  It’s a thin 97% wool, 2% nylon, and 1% Spandex knit in a dark grey that I can layer over many thing in my closet and easily accessorize. Plus, I love that I can button the size L without any of the pulling that I often get with cardigans.  And I think the length is a lot more flattering on me than the short jacket.

Where did the dress and jacket fall short?

First, the dress.  I wanted this to be the classic charcoal dress that I’m always searching for, especially with its sleeves and shirring in strategic places.  

  1. What you can’t see from the photos is how thin and clingy the fabric is.  The 94% rayon/6% Spandex feels flimsy and cheap.  I tried it with my 36DD Wacoal body suit below to see if shapewear would help, but cheap is cheap.  Interestingly, large-breasted reviewers on the Anthropologie website also criticize the fabric for “warping” and being too see-through.  A heavier jersey would have made this a 100 in my book.
  2. Mr. Campbell thought it looked frumpy. 
  3. The neckline dips a little lower on the left side.  Perhaps someone wasn’t careful with the cutting.     

Next, the jacket.  I was amazed that the size 12 buttoned over my chest.  So amazed that I considered overlooking the little bit of puckering around the top button.  On me, I think it is the fabric pulling against the buttons, but a 34DD reviewer had this to say about the size 10 she tried:

I’m a 34DD and i tried this on in a size 10 and it fit quite nicely everywhere else. The bust fit too– infact– closing up with just the right amount of leeway– but the fabric puckered slightly near the breast closures. When I say — slightly– i insist that it is NOT the fabric pulling against the buttons- You can see it on the hanger too. It dimples over the breast area perhaps because of the way it was sewn? ?? at first I though this was a fluke/ a problem with this particular individual peice– but i can see the SAME THING– in the online picture now that I know what i’m looking for.

The dressing room size runner told me that it didn’t go to a size 14, so I bought the 12.  Yesterday, I discovered size 14 on their website and ordered it (with free shipping–hooray!).  I’ll report back once it arrives. If it fits sans puckering, I might just overlook my other reservation with this jacket:  the fabric again.  It’s super soft in a match-almost-everything color, but it’s 68% rayon (the rest is 29% polyester and 3% Spandex), and you know my reservations about rayon.  I can’t tell if it’s the fabric or the construction, but once again, something about this jacket says “cheap”.  For $118, I can’t expect too much, but I may rather put that $118 towards a high quality jacket that fits–once I find one!