Sears and Anthropologie: Reunited and it feels so good.

It’s snowing, again, huge fluffy flakes that would fill me with appreciation for their beauty if it were not mid-April.  But!  I am not going to focus on that.  Instead, let me tell you about receiving the “Hello Summer!” Sears catalogue. 

I love clothes and fashion.  I love browsing through fashion magazines and thinking about what new styles might work for me, my body type, and my own personal style, and what, most emphatically, would not.  Bright colours, patterns, and off-the-shoulder prairie blouses – no.  Dark colours, tight pants, flowy tops – okay.  I love to flip through the Sears catalogue to see how the company is marketing itself.  We all know Sears as a store that appeals strongly to older demographics, but they are also trying to get a piece of the hip, young audience.  So it’s kind of fun to see items like this:

juxtaposed with items like this:

 

I will spare you my Adam Glassman-esque diatribe about shorts and how they are an abomination to society unless worn for particular athletic and/or lifestyle reasons.  In any case, I think we can all agree that Sears is trying to be everything to everyone. 

My favourite mail days are when I get the Sears catalogue AND the anthropologie catalogue at the same time.  I like to do a contrast and compare between the two; anthropologie is a company that definitely caters to the “young, hip, moneyed” crowd but oftentimes I will find clothing that really screams out “older demographic”.  I find this very entertaining.  View Exhibit A:

To me, this $168 dress says “cabana wear”.  This one as well:

 
Man, that is one unflattering dress.  It is not doing this woman’s figure any favours, and what hope does that give the rest of us?  This dress is not dissimilar to this one, for $100 less, in the Sears catalogue.
 
 
 
What I found entertaining was the vast amount of floral skinny pants available in both catalogues.  I’m not exactly sure of the target audience, but can you guess which pants are from which catalogue?
 
 
 
 
 
If you said anthropologie, Sears, anthropologie, Sears, then you’re right!  Honestly, those pants are a BAD idea no matter where you buy them.  There is just no way that those pants will flatter anyone.  No cute shoes, tops, or scarves are going to save an outfit that contains floral patterned pants.
 
Other items of note:
 
 
 
This whole outfit is terribly fattening in every way – the way the skirt hits the widest part of the calves, the skirt itself, the cinched waist – but what I find funny is how the horse’s head hits right in between the breasts.  The horse is looking at my boob.
 
Speaking of horses:
 
 
Jeans: cute.  Booties: cute.  Red plaid top with horse sweater?  Well, I’m from Calgary.  This outfit puts me too much in mind of bad Stampede wear.  Plus, the sweater alone is $118.  If I want kitchy western wear I may as well buy this very ugly denim dress from Sears for $29.99:
 
 
 
Not that I would, mind you.  It’s pretty ugly.  Item of note: there are NO horse sweaters in the Sears catalogue.  There are many with floral or snowflake appliques, but no horses.  There is one owl sweater:
 
 
That model finds her owl and the pretend elbow patches really saucy.
 
Now, lest you think I’m a hater, I found some items that I love, from both Sears and anthropologie.  This dress, OMG, this DRESS!  If I had somewhere to wear it I would buy it in a heartbeat.  It’s gorgeous.
 
 
Someone PLEASE get married and invite me to the wedding so I can have an excuse to buy it.  This one, too:
 
 

Isn’t it adorable?  So zhu bisou bisou.  Now, Sears, don’t feel left out.  I have love for you too.  This dress is very cute and much more reasonably priced:

 
The only thing is the name of this dress.  It’s called, and I quote, “Boat Neck Slinky Dress”.  I’m not sure I can get down with that label.
 
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Comments

  1. Okay, so now that I’m not confined to 140 characters on this topic, I want to mount a defense of shorts. I can only assume that you and Beck (who, as I recall from Twitter, was in full agreement with you on this issue) live in places where it is not as hot in the summer as it is where I live. Because to me, pointing out that there are more flattering choices than shorts sounds like someone in California pointing out that a cute blazer is more flattering than a parka. Sure, but that’s not the point! When its 32 degrees with a humidex of 40, and you’re spending the day shepherding children to swimming lessons, the park, etc. shorts are SELF-DEFENSE.

    • Bea! I will give you a pass due to “athletic or lifestyle reasons”. It’s true, I could probably wear long pants for 11 1/2 months out of the year and be perfectly comfortable. The temperature might hit 32 degrees once every five years here and I don’t think we have a humidex.

      But! May I speak in favour of the skirt? Light, comfy, and cool? I do realize there are certain lifestyle restrictions that make skirts impractical, but they’re so pretty! And girly! And…no? Not convinced? I’ll take my skirts and slink away now.

  2. I should add that no such excuse can be offered in favour of floral skinny pants…

  3. I love how Sears is not even trying to make the elastic-waist shorts look sexy. The model is just standing there, waiting for it to be over.

  4. Words cannot adequately express my love for the Nicole-created genre “Sears/Anthropologie post”. And I’m convinced the floral skinny-pants thing is the product of a bet between two rich people with too much time on their hands and an unhealthy amount of influence on the clothing industry. Just say no, people. Just say no.

  5. I’d rather not have a spring garden growing out of my ass.
    seriously. Whoever thought that was cool should be ninja kicked in the ear drum.
    I haven’t got a Sears catalouge in years. poop on them.
    PS. It snowed here too.

  6. I wonder if its a regional thing because I am pretty sure those rolled up jeans shorts with the flowers on the side did not appear in the Montreal version of the sears catalogue loll..although they do have an equally “old lady” label here as well Sears is coming up in the world in the last year..I guess in a fashion city they had no choice..they launched huge campaigns about their “fashionable side” in quebec and ontario..step up or die was their only options here I guess loll..out with rolled up jean shorts with flowers and in with the 90s flowered jean look>>I still dont get the look by the way loll

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