Augh! You know, PeaceBang is always excited when clothes have a creative or fun element to them, but she doesn’t see why it’s apparently so DANGED hard for designers to make fairly tailored clothes have some flair to them without just mucking up the garments. Looking at shirts has just been upsetting lately, and my recent jaunt to the Talbots website has given me all too many examples of What’s Wrong With Shirts Lately.
Behold (Click on any of the thumbnails to get a larger view)!
Every single one of these expensive shirts up through the powder blue cardigan has a design element that makes it wrong for any woman’s wardrobe, let alone a clergy wardrobe!! Such a shanda, too. If we can’t count on Talbot’s to deliver a really classic shirt, who can we turn to?
The crimes? Sloppy pintucks. Bad embellishments like those flattened rosette thingies. Really ugly flyaway arms. Puffy pirate sleeves. Hideous colors (oh, HOW could they put some of those models in such depressingly wrong colors for their skin tone? EEEK!), fussy pleats that are just an invitation to look like one big wrinkle. That one sort of cowgirl flowers and pleats shirt with the deep V-neck that’s just too deep. The pleating on the shoulders of the one light blue camp shirt – tsk, tsk.
Here’s a fabulous color with too tight a fit and too scooped a neck. Very unprofessional even under a blazer.
Bend down once at the office and you’re right into a Festival of Inappropriate Sharing. And what is all that heavy, dark beaded mess on the neckline? NOT an improvement.
How can you go wrong with a cute, fitted cardie? Well, you can. This doesn’t look so much “cropped” as it does “I accidentally shrunk this in the dryer.” I really like the bottom-layer-longer-than-top layer look myself but you have to do it carefully — this just looks too small, much too snug.
This is getting better and I can see ministers wearing something like this, but I’m not a fan of the open-swingy cardigan with an equally unstructured, floppy bottom layer. Still, a minor quibble (except that that shirt looks way too shredded for my taste).
This is the sort of top I look for on sale whenever I shop: something with a nice big but not loud print (big girls shouldn’t wear petite prints), somewhat fitted and with a modest-enough neckline to wear under jackets and cardigans. If the neckline offered more coverage I would be happier with it still. I would never buy this for full price but this would be something I would pair with a suit or a skirt and jacket for a Sunday at church.
Bland colors but I like the pairing of the nice jeans with the jacket. The belt is really cute, too. A good look for an informal leadership day. Cute with boots and bright pop of peachy lip gloss. Don’t forget your blush if you’re wearing colors like these, and she could definitely do something with her hair. Some of you have written in asking about French braids and I think, well, they still always remind me of 8th grade prom but if the rest of you looks sophisticated enough, go for it. Just please not with Danskos and a long skirt, if you know what I mean.
A smart chain necklace, nice dark denim, a tailored classic blazer. Very sharp. The colors are super neutral and boring but that’s not always a bad thing, and you could carry a really bright bag or wear green shoes or something.
Many of these tops look too close to the model’s skin tone for me. I worry anytime I have to squint or look twice to make sure something isn’t sheer.
Compare and contrast with your next post about the colors in the Gucci collection. Mmmm, scrumptious. But maybe that’s just because those jewel tones are good with my coloring? At least no one looks naked in teal or fuschia.
I like Gucci’s colors better (especially the coat at bottom right). My late fashionista mom thought Talbot’s clothes were very untrendy (to put it politely) but these colors are washed out even for them.
Wow. Once upon a season you could at least count on Talbots to come up with some tailored-looking basics. Those shirts that are not skintight look like sacks!
Agree and want to add that I think the models have TERRIBLE posture. Rounded shoulders makes every top look much worse.
Talbot’s has sold their soul here lately. Yuck! And I’ve beens shopping there since a freshman in college. They are “responsible” for my initiation into credit card debt.
I saw these in my Talbots catalog and thought they were cute. But the models were different, and the shirts were much more fitted. What gives? [Maybe they weren’t plus-sizes? – PB]
Sarah G – sometimes they have different models for the on line & print catalogs. Not sure about the shirts being more fitted.
I bought the “pirate” puffy sleeved one in a beautiful color and I think it looks great. I’m not a small girl, either. The trick for me was not to buy it too big – but to strive for the correct size. I tried on a larger one and it was comfy but way too poufy. I persevered and tried on a smaller size and it fits great (still plus-sized, though). The other trick was to bring an honest friend with me to the store for his opinion. 😉
I’m even going to try it layered over a collared shell sometime for ha-ha’s…but if that doesn’t work, I at least have a beautiful jewel-toned shirt which will look nice under a jacket or not!