love&laughter: anthropologie

Showing posts with label anthropologie. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Ruche

Even with my generous 40% employee discount, Anthropologie is expensive! Beautiful, exciting, unique, special...but definitely not friendly to the wallet!

And right now every penny counts (building our house, baby on the way...need i say more?). Throw in the fact that my body is changing and I'm wearing sizes and silhouettes I never thought I'd try on (empire waist just screams pregnancy, doesn't it? or at least foopah! wait is that a bad word? opps sorry!)... Well, I really can't justify buying myself expensive things right now! (You're welcome, Nate!)

Except of course this dress...which I literally wear once a week. And this one, in blue, that I wore to my gender reveal party! Both I know I'll wear post-pregnancy!

I actually discovered this dress via a friend on facebook
who wore it to her baby shower and looked adorable!
The dress I had planned to wear from Lilly Pulitzer
arrived a day too late...and in the wrong color!

Thankfully, I've had some success at more budget friendly retailers like H&M, J. Crew Factory, Old Navy and Target. (No maternity purchases yet, just sizing up!)

But, to satisfy my Anthro cravings I've turned to Ruche - an online-only retailer that I recently discovered through some market research (on Anthro competitors nonethless) at work. I told you part of my job requirement was online shopping!

Ruche is absolutely adorable - it mixes the aesthetic of Anthropologie and the prices of Modcloth - and was launched by a newlywed couple who was having a difficult time finding affordable clothing that was "her" style!

I literally want to buy every dress on the site, and the shoes are so on trend I can't stand it!

Pink Parade Ruffle Dress - $38.99

Stick Together Braided Sandals - $34.99

They even have bridesmaid and wedding dresses!

Bridal Collection

Oh, and the cutest toys for your children and pet!

Pink Roses Play Picnic Tea Set - $35.99

Melrose Mike and Butter Treat Tin - $17.99

Anyways, I couldn't resist sharing this new fashion find of mine...even if my loyalty (and paycheck) belongs to my beloved Anthro!

Are you a fan of Ruche? I'd love to hear about your recent purchases!

Have you shopped Ruche before?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

What gives?!

Summer officially starts this weekend (in my book), yet work seems to be busier than ever! What gives?!

P.S. How cute is that cookie from our Annual Shareholder's Meeting? They were so pretty I ate 3! :)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Magic Dress

At work, we call the Bailey 44 column dresses sold by Anthropologie every season "magic dresses". They are super flattering no matter what your shape or size, and they are sooo soft and comfortable you'd think you're wearing a cozy t-shirt and not actually a dress!

Although it's been recommended to me about 100 times and I've seen style after style on all my pretty coworkers, I only finally hopped on the bandwagon this season. I ordered this dress:

Cap Sleeve Column Dress - $178

...and wore it for the first time yesterday. All I can say is WOW! The dress really does live up to its hype...even with the little baby bump I'm starting to grow! The diagonal stripes are soooooo slimming!

While the price tag is definitely more than I'd usually spend on an every day dress (and thank goodness for the 40% employee discount), I'd say this is pretty much the perfect dress for any season. I wore it like the model above yesterday (ok, i wish!) and probably will all summer, but I envision pairing with some brown boots and a long cardi this fall / winter...

Anyways, they are usually best sellers, so if you're interested I'd recommend heading to your nearest Anthro or ordering online sooner rather than later :)

Are you a fan of Bailey 44? Or have any recent dress purchases you are raving about?!

P.S. If you're in between two sizes, I'd recommend ordering down!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Where I Work!

As many of you know, I work for Urban Outfitter's Inc., the parent company of five of the most compelling brands: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and BHLDN. (Ever heard of 'em?!)

We're a Philadelphia founded and headquartered company, located at the old Philadelphia Navy Yard...and we have a pretty awesome campus! So today, I thought I'd tell the story of how we got here and give share a virtual tour of where I work!

Yup, thats my desk!

In the early 2000s, URBN had about 600 employees spread out over numerous buildings in downtown Philadelphia. This dispersion of the employees was causing problems and our Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Dick Hayne wanted to design a space that reflected his company's designs and products as well as fit the needs of the employees for space and creativity. And with that vision, the company bought four buildings and leased a fifth in the abandoned Navy Yards for literally $1 in 2004!!

A picture of the warehouse and naval yards before the renovation

While renovation to transform the dilapidated old buildings into the 330,000 sq. ft of inspired, creative and light filled work spaces that houses all of the Urban Outfitters brands cost ~$100 million, many of the materials in the building were reused and reclaimed.

URBN at the Navy Yard

The resulting look of the new campus is one that preserves the scars and reflects the history of the Navy and its construction and repair of naval vessels. Paint was left on walls, metal was sandblasted and left to rust, reclaimed wood was used to make new staircases and windows were removed, re-glazed, and reinstalled.

And even more, the creative folks here make sure you unbdoubtedly know what brand building you've entered as soon as you walk into the lobby...

Lobby of Anthropologie brand building

Lobby of Urban Outfitters brand building

Lobby of Free People brand building

Most of the offices and studios are open to the warehouse and light streams in from skylights and high windows on the multi-story warehouse buildings.

designers hard at work

A Free People conference room

Pathways surrounding the campus are reminiscent of railway lines and old broken up concrete pieces were artfully repositioned into "Barney Rubble," a sculpture in one of the plazas

"Barney Rubble" pathways surrounding the dog park
(and do you see that old hyperbaric chamber?!)

The campus also features lawns, a dog park (employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work), a gym, places to eat, a yoga studio, and even our own farmer’s market every other Wednesday!

Building 543
home to our gym, coffee shop and cafeteria

Cafeteria

And a recently rennovated dry dock (with floating letters that spell out URBN) - the perfect spot for lunch...or company bbq.

Dry Dock

What do you think? And what doess your office look like?

xoxo

(Images via URBN and Inhabitat.com)

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

60 Degrees and Sunny

Wow - what a beautiful day outside!! I can't believe it's only January 31st!!

I don't know about you, but I'm soooo ready to ditch my heavy sweaters and slip into some spring fashion. The weather plus all the new catalogs arriving at my house with their fresh, vibrant colors have really been teasing me lately...so I thought I'd share with you some of the the spring styles that are currently "in my cart"! (Now if only money grew on trees...)

How gorgeous is this coral blouse...