Cheryl Shops

I lived in NYC for 13 years, and while I often miss having a proper summer, I don’t always miss the humidity that comes with it. That said, it felt good to be back on the East Coast for my friends’ wedding in Boston a few weekends ago. I hadn’t been to Boston in seven years, and it had been many more since I’d been there in summer. Aside from a few isolated rainstorms (including a particularly memorable one during the outdoor ceremony), we lucked out with the weather, and more importantly, I had a fantastic time catching up with some of my oldest, closest friends. Here’s what I wore to the wedding and to the welcome party.

It's the last day of July and the last day of Dress Month here at Cheryl Shops, so I'm wrapping it up with an outfit featuring pieces you've seen before (with one slight exception). It's a little segue into August—side note: how is it August already?!—a month in which I will be on a shopping diet in preparation for my trip to France at the end of the month. So until I go on a major shopping binge in Paris, I'll be finding new life in things I already own and resisting the urge to shop the clearance sales (or the new fall merchandise). So without further ado, here's my last dress outfit of July and my first throwback for August.

COS is hands-down one of my favorite places to shop and I've featured their items in my last two outfit posts (the T-shirt dress and yellow top), so I thought now might be a good time to talk about why their clothes are so great for fortysomething women. But first, another look at my favorite T-shirt dress...

Once upon a time, COS only had stores in Europe. A mere months after I left NYC, they opened their first US store in Soho; they've since added stores in Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., and a bunch of other cities, so if anyone from COS is reading this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE open a store in San Francisco too! Fun fact: COS is owned by H&M, and it's where Rebekka Bay—who went on to work for Gap, Everlane, and now Uniqlo—made her name. Like H&M, COS's clothes and accessories are really reasonable; they are, however, pricier than H&M, but also use nicer fabrics and have more complicated details. Most importantly, they're geared toward a slightly older customer, so the cuts are a bit more generous, the fabrics thicker, and the finishes higher in quality. In other words, H&M is cheap and trendy; COS targets a more high-fashion customer, albeit one who is still on a budget.



My favorite thing at COS are the dresses, and I thought this draped jersey dress was incredibly flattering—and would be on a lot of different bodies—especially with its adjustable drawstring thing inside. It's also $99, which seems like a good deal to me. The color was a bit too orange on me, but if they make it in another color, I'm on it.



When I tried this dress on last month in L.A., I realized I tried the same one on in Dublin back in April; I think it's sold out on the website now, but this one is very similar. COS is great at making straight-cut shapes, which, as a short-waisted person, I appreciate. This one had a lot of volume in the back, which is an interesting design technique COS often uses.



In spite of the confused look on my face, I actually loved this ribbed sweater (the description says cable knit, but that's not quite accurate). The cut was really slim and sleek in spite of the thickness of the knit; I didn't buy it, but should have, and probably will next time. Also, another good point about COS is that I'm rarely between sizes—I'm wearing a small in the above photo and it fit perfectly.



This is an A-line wrap skirt that did not look quite A-line on me (it seemed more straight) but was still flattering nonetheless, and I thought the midi-maxi length was great too. Thankfully, I took this picture before I ate brunch.



This top is silk jersey—silk!—with a woven back, and it's still only $79! As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I wouldn't normally wear this color (and COS definitely uses a lot of potentially polarizing ones), but I'm glad I took a chance, because it ended up being pretty flattering. I almost got this one but then...



I tried on this shirt-hem top and at $49, how could I say no? The upper part is knit and the lower part is woven, which gives it an interesting shape, and I truly have nothing like this in my closet. I've worn it a few times already and got a bunch of compliments, which I always love. And in case you missed it, here's how I styled it last weekend...


Look for more COS pieces in upcoming posts, and if you end up buying anything there, let me know in the comments below!