Getting ourselves dressed

 I have a friend named Julie who always looks very stylish (she's second from the left, in case you're wondering). Every time I see her I tell her how put together she looks, and each time she gives the credit to this guy named Anthony, her personal shopper at J Crew. He helps her put together pieces that she would've never put together on her own and picks out accessories to pull it all together. She's been shopping there for 5 years and he knows every piece that's in her closet, so he knows what pieces will go with things she already owns. He even stopped her from buying a third gray cardigan after reminding her that she already owned two.

A group of us got tired of hearing about this Anthony without meeting him, so we asked Julie to hook us up. So this past Sunday eight of us arrived at J Crew at closing time to find this sign on the door:

We had the store to ourselves for 2 hours after closing time, with Anthony helping us with our style issues.

One of us was looking for an outfit appropriate for a gala but something that could be used on other occasions.

One of us was looking for pieces that could go from office to casual weekend wear with just a couple of switches.

I myself was looking for help with my boring long-sleeved t-shirt that I use under nearly every blazer and sweater I wear to work. Bor-ring. I even wore one to the appointment so he could see how boring it was.

He surprised us by putting some of the ladies in skinny jeans...and they looked surprisingly good! I would've never imagined that on women who have hips. (Yes, we have hips.)

Anthony managed to keep options in front of all of us and to our collective amazement, kept all of us straight. (Did I mention that 7 of the 8 people at this personal shopping party have names starting with "J"?) He could tell you what worked, what didn't, and would put together pieces that some of us would have never put together.

Best of all, we all got an additional 20 percent discount on our purchases, even clearance items. We all walked out of there with J Crew bags and smiles.


Janel, Julie, Gianna, Janey, Jenny, Jennifer and Anthony

I have never shopped at J Crew before - whenever I looked in the window the clothes seemed so basic and plain to me. But upon closer look they stock nicely constructed basics that you can invest in, i.e. blazers, skirts and pants, with more interesting shirts and accent pieces to put together an outfit.

I will definitely be back and will put Anthony's infamous memory to the test to see if he remembers me or my particular style challenge. And hopefully we can have another personal shopping party - it was so much fun!