Chambray: A Fashion Lesson.

    I didn't think I was going to be one to jump on the chambray fashion wagon, but one day I realized the incredible versatility of a chambray shirt, and I just *had* to get one of my own. But before I introduce you to my first outfit, let's begin with a quick fashion lesson. 


     What is chambray? Contrary to popular beleif, chambray is not necessarily a lightweight blue denim shirt. Of course, that is what comes to mind when we think chambray, but its actual definition is a lightweight fabric (usually cotton) that uses a colored warp (down) weaved with a white filling yarn (across). The colored warp is usually blue (which is partly why we think denim), but it doesn't have to be. And although it is usually plain, it can also be in stripes or checks or other patterns. The end result is something is generally something that seems to be like denim, but you may actually come across some items that are chambray, but don't look or feel like the typical denim-like chambray at all.


     Now that we have that out of the way, a little background on this particular shirt. I splurged on this J.Crew Selvedge Chambray shirt. I'm still debating as to whether to keep it because compared to what all the other petite ladies have spent on theirs, this thing costs a bloody fortune. It's regular price is $98, but I bought with 20% with my J.Crew credit card and 4% cash back from ebates, which brought it down to about $75. Yea, I know. Ouch. But I've searching for the *perfect* chambray shirt for MONTHS. Everything was either too light or too dark, too sheer, had some sort of weird details on it, or fit was too big. This was truly only one of two chambray shirts that I actually liked (the other one was a Ralph Lauren Cristo Chambray Shirt, which turned out to be much too big even in XSP). This J.Crew chambray is an XXS and it fits fairly well and the color is a perfect medium blue. I have a few complaints, one being  it's a bit too wide in the shoulders and even though you can't see it in these particular photos, it's actually too long which makes for weird proportions when the shirt tail is not tucked in. The material is a medium-weight. I actually find it difficult to layer things over this (sweaters and blazers) because it is a thicker material.


     Here is my first outfit incorporating chambray. I decided to do something more work-appropriate because I've been slacking on those types of EOTDs lately.


      I'm having an angry face day.

Shirt: J.Crew Selvedge Chambray Shirt (Coastal blue, size XXS).

Skirt: H&M Lace Skirt (Black lace, size 4).

Necklace: Tommy by Tommy Hilfiger.

Shoes: Ann Taylor Signature Pump (Black patent, size 6).

Clutch: American Apparel (Reptilian Poppy).

    I've been *dying* to try out this combination just to see what it would look like IRL, as opposed to in my head. Because as I'm sure some of you have experienced, sometimes an outfit should work theoretically, but in actual practice, not so much. Of course, if your office is extremely conservative, I wouldn't try this. Because hey, the shirt does look like denim. I also did some crazy experimenting with textures in this outfit.

     Betcha thought you'd never see those giant baubles again, huh? Actually the vision I had with this outfit was a necklace that looked more like this:

Kate Spade Cascade Short Necklace, $78, from Piperlime.

...but orange. But since I don't have one of those, I thought that this would be the next best thing. 


   Help me decide, ladies! Is it too expensive for chambray even though it's the only chambray shirt I've found that I actually like? I'm having a little buyer's remorse over this thing, so I'm leaning towards sending it back. =(

      See the lace skirt remixed here: