A little over a month ago, I received an email from Susan Wagner of Friday Playdate, ParentDish, and BlogHer Beauty Hack’s fame.  She was inviting me to participate in a fantastic shopping opportunity–on JCPenney’s tab. 

BlogHer will provide you with a $300 JCPenney gift card to shop for clothing, but — as they say on What Not to Wear — there’s a catch. No, I’m not going to come to your house and throw away all of your existing clothes, but I am going to ask that you spend one day (approximately three hours) shopping with me, not on your own. And by “shopping with me” I mean letting me help you pick out clothes, for work or play or whatever you need right now.  

 
Even though Susan lives just a short hour’s drive down the road from me, I’ve never had the opportunity to meet her.  Actually, I have a confession to make.  I’ve never met any blogger in real live person before. I confess, I actually hesitated before saying yes. I know! I know! I’m crazy. Who hesitates when offered $300 worth of anything for free?

Well I quickly got over it.

In preparation for the trip, Susan asked what my biggest fashion dilemma was. Here’s what I answered.

My biggest wardrobe dilemma is finding clothing in my size (22) that are attractive and flattering. I’m not sure what kind of success we would have in finding me the clothing I would need for this review.

So there you have it. If there is still time and you think you can take on my particular challenge I’ll jump off the cliff and put myself out there.

So a couple of weeks ago, I drove down to Edmond, north of Oklahoma City and met Susan for our shopping trip. She wanted us to focus on the fall trends of menswear, ruffles, and purple. I wasn’t so sure about the first two but the third I could definitely do. I’m so glad the dark jeweled colors are back in fashion. And I love deep purple.

I found a wide legged pair of pants from Liz & Co.  in a deep chocolate brown. But what colors can I wear with brown besides various shades of brown and orange? Susan said, “Anything! Try it with purple.”

So I did. This great twin set by Designers Originals is now one of my favorite pieces. I love cardigan sweaters but have rarely ever had one. The underpiece is sleeveless, and while I won’t be wearing it alone, it’s nice to have the option should I need it.

When we were gathering up armloads of clothes to haul to the dressing room, Susan threw this turtleneck on the pile. Also by Liz & Co., this sweater is also in that beautiful shade of purple and I quickly added it to my “buy” pile.

Don’t mind the two little dark stains on the front. I had just taken a drink of water and missed my mouth.

Why, yes. I do have a drinking problem, why do you ask?

This swing sweater from east5th is a deep burnt orange. It has 3/4 lenth sleeves and it’s super comfortable. I like to wear orange and this goes well with one of my favorite shirts that I already had in my wardrobe.

The final outfit I bought was this one by Worthington. I have no idea what you call that print pattern of pants but I like it. The black blouse has a wide scooped neck that doesn’t dip too low–something else that I like. And the sweater is way out of character for me, but it works. Susan said something about liking the combination of textures going on.

She’s the fashion guru, so who am I to argue?

So when we took my haul up to the cash register we found that with all the sales going on, I still had over $60 to spend. So, next I went to the shoe section, hoping to find some flats. No luck in my size or width. But, I found three packages of trouser socks in black, brown, cream, and tan. Perfect!

But I still had some money left and the deal was that I had to spend it on myself. I know. It was a great hardship.

Next up, jewelry!

I love earrings. I found three pair I thought would integrate easily into my new wardrobe.

This brown pair, which will go with all kinds of stuff:

This pair that combines silver, gold, and copper metals, nicely solving my dilemma of matching jewelry–they’ll go with just about anything I’m wearing:

And this pair of torquoise, that I got HALF OFF!

I have to say, I came away quite pleased with my purchases. I even spent $12 of my own money because I didn’t want to put back one of the pairs of earrings that I picked out.

It’s been a long time since I shopped at JCPenney for me—even though, I love their children’s clothes and have also shopped there for my mother in the past. Our local store’s Plus sized selection has not encouraged me, but now I know that the larger stores in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa should not be overlooked. And the sale prices were just fantastic! The next time I’m shopping for me, I’ll be sure to check JCPenney out first.

Thanks Susan for inviting me, I really enjoyed shopping with you and Carrisa.

You could win a chance to go on a $300 shopping spree at JCPenny too. Hurry and click, all the details can be found here.

P.S. I really want this peacoat. I’m putting it on my Christmas Wish List.

I’ve been working on a super secret project with a very well known blogger.  It was a privelage and my full report will be available soon! (Oct 6th!) Come back then!