Belated Black Friday Haul Post

Hello Kittens!

As some of you might have noticed I was quiet on the blog last month in December so I have some blog posts to make up that I normally would have liked to get out earlier in December... in particular this post on my Black Friday haul!

I always enjoy reading about what great things my fellow bloggers grabbed during the wonderful Black Friday sales so I wanted to join in on this time honored tradition and also reveal my Black Friday haul.

Black Friday is my favorite sale of the year. I've found that not only does Black Friday typically have the best sales (in terms of discount amount and selection... typically it's a large percentage off site wide), but there's also usually tons of retailers to choose from offering sales.

This year I decided to limit my Black Friday shopping (for me) to two companies and initially planned on only purchasing two new dresses.

Top on my list this year was Trashy Diva. Trashy Diva usually offers 30% off site wide which is the biggest discount they offer off of their regular stock all year. This sale came right in time for the release of their Green Kimono print. The Green Kimono print was one that had to grow on me... but really, it only took about a few hours of thinking and looking at this print to fall in love. While some have said that this print is a bit too busy for them, what I love about it is that it has a decidedly playful Kawaii feel to it for me.... a cutesy Japanese style that reminds me slightly of designers such as Takashi Murakami. And so on Black Friday I picked up the Day Dress in Green Kimono print!

Dress Review:

Trashy Diva's Day Dress in Green Kimono print

Trashy Diva Day Dress in Green Kimono- Front View

Trashy Diva Day Dress in Green Kimono- Front View

Trashy Diva Day Dress in Green Kimono- Side View

Trashy Diva Day Dress in Green Kimono- Back View

Trashy Diva Day Dress in Green Kimono- Close Up

This is the first Day Dress I ever purchased from Trashy Diva. I initially had a hard time decided between this dress and their Anna dress in the same print, I decided on getting this dress because it's a style unlike any other Trashy Diva dress I currently have. Also, I love the mix of this dress's Asian style with the Japanese print as well as the black frog fastenings that add visual detail to the bodice of this dress.

When I received this dress I was surprised at how long the end of the collar is. From pictures online the collar looked smaller than it is. In addition to the frog fastenings at the center bodice and the large collar, this dress also features capped style sleeves, and a side zip. The skirt of this dress is more straight than the usual 50's style skirts I go for, but I love the casual easy to wear feel of this dress. I got this dress in a size 12 which is typically one size larger than my usual size. I read reviews previously that said the bust on this dress was fitting a little on the snug side. Unfortunately, it came out later on other reviews that this dress was tending to also fit large in the waist. I might have been able to wear my usual size 10 but even in a 12 I think this dress looks great and the extra room gives it a very comfortable feel when it's on so I will keep it sized as is.



The second place I stopped at online for my Black Friday shopping needs was Pinup Girl Clothing. While Pinup Girl usually offers great sales year round, I love their 30% off sitewide on Black Friday. Initially, I was trying to limit myself only to one dress, the most wished for on my Pinup Girl Clothing list, the Jenny dress in Cherry border print, I decided to also grab the new Heidi in the Tipsy Elephants since 1) 30% off is a great discount and 2), it gave me even more of a discount by making my total order eligible for free shipping. I love it when my items ship for free... and Pinup Girl sadly tends to charge a lot for shipping.

While I was more than thrilled about my haul for Black Friday, when I later found out that their Harlequin print items were discounted in the sale on sale section and that there was a discount code floating around that could also be applied to bring the already awesome sale price on further sale, I could not resist going back for more! The day after Black Friday I checked out again from Pinup Girl's website with a Jenny dress in red and brown Harlequin print as well as a Jenny skirt in purple and green Harlequin print. With the sales I was able to get both of these items for almost 70% off! I debated about getting both colorways in the Jenny dress since I do love the ready-made outfit of throwing on a dress as opposed to having to pick out combos as you do for separates, but seeing that I was already going above what I wanted to buy/spend for Black Friday I decided to go with just one Jenny Harlequin dress and get the other colorway Harlequin in the skirt. I'm actually really glad I did because I love the way this Jenny skirt looks paired with so many of my tops plus because it's a dress and a skirt it feels like two completely different things rather than just two dresses in the same print with different color! <3

Dress Review:

Pinup Girl Clothing's Jenny Dress in Cherry Border print

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Cherry Border- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Cherry Border- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Cherry Border- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Cherry Border- Back View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Cherry Border- Close Up

The Jenny dress is described on Pinup Girl's website as being a 60's inspired dress. It has a very fitted bodice with thin adjustable straps at the shoulders. This dress also has boning at the bodice which I was surprised to discover (even though it says it in the dress description). It is a very nice touch that helps keep the structure of the bodice, something that definitely is a nice touch for me who tends to fit dresses a little short in the torso and tends to get wrinkles just under the bust. The skirt on this dress is gathered at the waist and very full. It comes with a red grommet belt and has a back zip. I love the pattern on this dress. The vertical cherry pattern on the skirt is so pretty and unique and the red border at the skirt is complimented so well by the red shoulder straps and red belt as well as the red in the cherries. This dress might be one of the prettiest I've ever bought from PUG! This dress, however, does run small! I've read of some dresses of PUGs that run small but this one is one of the smallest size larges I've ever bought from PUG. I debated about exchanging it for an XL which was a possibility but after having sizing issues from Trashy Diva's Apple Pie dress (see my review here) and seeing how much of a difference a size 12 could be from a size 10, I was worried about going from a L to an XL which in principal should be even more or a size difference... I figured in number terms that would be like going from a 10 to 14. Also, according to their exchange policy, if I exchanged this for an XL and found that the XL was too big I wouldn't be able to then exchange it back for the L and still keep the Black Friday discount. I would have to buy back the L at whatever price they were then selling it for. So while it's small and tighter than I'd like I am able to zip it up and so decided to keep it and hope that as the dress description says, the cotton sateen will loosen over wears or that I might shed some holiday weight by Spring and Summer for a more comfortable fit. :)

Pinup Girl Clothing's Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants

Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants- Back View

Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi Dress in Tipsy Elephants- Close Up

The Heidi dress, as opposed to the Jenny Cherry Border dress, fits a little large. It seems that the Heidis in general are a larger fit. This is my second Heidi (see the Heidi Birdcage dress here) and both of my Heidis feel a little larger and roomier than other PUG dresses I have especially around the bust. Still, this was no reason for me to want to exchange it. I do like my dresses to fit a little looser and more comfortable some days. The Heidi dress is a nice easy to wear dress. It is made of cotton and has no boning, which while means doesn't have the structured look of the Jenny, it also means that it is a more easy to wear dress. The ruching at the bust and the slight sweetheart neckline ensures it has flair and is not boring. Though how could any dress even come close to boring when it has an all over drunk pink elephant print? This dress, to add finishing touches, has white bordering at the top and at the wide cap-sleeve-type shoulder straps as well as comes with a white slide belt. This dress also has a full skirt and back zip.

Pinup Girl Clothing's Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin Print 

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin- Back View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Dress in Red and Brown Harlequin- Close Up

The Jenny dress in Red and Brown Harlequin print fits like a dream! I had no sizing issues with this dress! Like the Jenny Dress in Cherry border print, this dress has boning at the fitted bodice, adjustable skinny shoulder straps, full skirt gathered at the waist and back zip. Unfortunately this dress did not come with a belt but with so much going on with the vibrant and busy harlequin print, it didn't really need one to look finished off! 

Pinup Girl Clothing's Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin Print 

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin- Back View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny Skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin- Close Up

The Jenny skirt in Purple and Green Harlequin print is my first Jenny skirt ever and I love it! While at first I debated between getting this colorway in the Jenny dress or Jenny skirt, I ultimately decided on the skirt because of price (even though it was slight with the Black Friday discounts). I'm actually really glad I decided to get the skirt in this colorway. In my opinion, this colorway somehow seems more bold than the Red and Brown colorway... maybe because the red and brown colorway all seem to have very complimentary colors in it, while the purple and green colorway are very contrasting in colors. Also, whenever I see purple and green together I immediately think about villains and bad guys (a la Joker from DC Comics). In any case, I like the skirt because I can pair it with solid color tops and tone it down somewhat that way. Also, because I can pair it with so many tops, it ends up being a very versatile addition to my closet :). While I had no sizing issues with this skirt, one thing that I noticed that seemed very odd was that this skirt was so long! A good 4-5 inches in fact longer than the Jenny dress in the Red and Brown Harlequin print. I'm not sure if all the harlequin Jenny skirts are this long, or maybe just the purple and green ones, or maybe it's all the Jenny skirts in all prints which are this long. Holding it up to the waist of my Jenny Harlequin dress you can tell the difference right away as well as when it's being worn. Once again, this wasn't really a problem, especially not one to warrant an exchange or return, I just found that it was an odd thing.



And so, while I was really trying to hard to be so good on Black Friday, I ended up ending the shopping year with quite the Black Friday haul anyway! Sometimes it's just too hard to resist a good sale!