Fashionphile: Banana Republic and Le Chateau

Even I, sometimes, have a hard time resisting the impulsive purchase, combined with other excuses as factors in a certain shopping purchase.

In January, I had needed a cheap clubbing dress that was easy to handle and that I wouldn’t mind have alcohol spilled on it if the occasion arised. I also didn’t want to spend on something too expensive for fear of ruining it in the club, thus had to settle for, for a lack of a better word, a throwaway dress. I don’t go out clubbing that much anyway, so the chances of buying something cheap and fast are seldom.

Le Chateau Shift Dress – $60
Made in China

Le Chateau usually has something for every occasion for a low price and pretty cheap quality. Perhaps not as low as H&M, but it’s low enough to put a sales rack of $10+ dresses. I had found one to my liking: a silky shift dress with a black and royal blue butterfly print on it. It came with a black sash belt, making it easy to play on volume. The neckline was wide enough for me to have an off the shoulder look, or if I didn’t move much, would barely rest on my shoulders. It looks great with black tights on, and I can mishandle it as much as I want and it wouldn’t wrinkle too much.

Banana Republic Shirt Dress and Office Dress – $134 and $160
Made in China and The Philippines

Lately I’ve fallen in love with BR again as their Spring Collection has rolled out and I’m finding a slew of really cute tailored-like fitted dresses. There are so many to choose from, it was difficult to pick which ones I should buy.

I ended up with a black cotton shirt dress that is remarkably resistant to wrinkling. The model wearing it doesn’t do it justice though, as she is as flat as an iron board. I don’t have many day dresses and the shirt dress I bought from Theory last summer is great, but is prone to fly with the wind at times, which is inconvenient being bare legged. It has concealed buttons making it for a smooth look with a skinny, sturdy fabric belt.

The second dress I got was a thick rayon/nylon, lightly capped sleeves office dress. It looks rather plain but it would be ideal to wear for work in the summer. Though it fit everywhere else, the length is a tad to long, going past my knees by about 2 inches. Since I have pretty short calves, hiding my knees makes me look even shorter, so I might have to get this one trimmed.

Total spent: $354.00

You can check out the total I’ve spent so far during the year by going to Pricephile.

Image credit: Banana Republic