Loft Plus Fitting Room Try-On: A Drama in Two Parts

So, hallelujah, some Loft stores are now carrying plus sizes. There are 10 Loft stores on Long Island. One is carrying plus sizes. Sigh. But it’s a start. Hopefully it’s just a test, and if sales do well, they’ll spread to more stores. Maybe even all the stores. But I feel like to do a fair test they need more variety in the plus size section. I did not count exactly, but from envisioning the space in my memory, I’m guessing there were 25-30 different items in the small plus size section in the back of the store. Versus hundreds of straight size items front and center throughout the rest of the store. Harumph.

I don’t mean to be so grumpy, it’s just you get excited about a thing – MORE PLUS SIZES IN REAL STORES – and then you drive 23.7 miles to The One Store on Long Island that is ACTUALLY carrying plus sizes and there are just not that many items. I LIKE Loft, I WANT to wear their clothing, but the whole “buy online, wait for package to arrive, be disappointed when it doesn’t fit, send package back, wait for refund before you can buy another thing, lather, rinse, repeat” process has gotten SO old. I was just really excited about A New and Better Way…and then there were just so few things.

Okay, I got my negativity out of the way, now I can get onto the blog post.
I did find a handful of things to take into the fitting room.

First I tried the yellow dress. Super cute, a nice lightweight polyester that feels like a crepey rayon, that would be ideal for spring through fall with the appropriate layering. But way too snug for me. Just picture this under a wine duster or denim jacket for fall, so cute!

Then, this black and white polka dot shirt dress. Same nice crepey fabric as the yellow dress, which has some give to it due to the weave and cut of the fabric even though it is not technically a “stretch fabric.”

Then I tried on two knit tops. Unfortunately, I hadn’t dressed appropriately for trying things on. I had worn a dress that day and had no spare pants with me, so I have to show you the tops over one of the dresses (!).  This grey fine knit with white organza ruffle at the bottom. It was a nice feel and color, I just didn’t really think the flounced bottom was doing me any favors. It’s a rayon, poly, spandex blend so fit softly and comfortably and was very nice to the touch.

Then the pink NOPE top. NOPE. That Julia from When the Girls Rule has me obsessed with the idea of wearing a pink top under my rust cardigan. So we can blame her for this fail. An acrylic and nylon blend, not quite as nice to the touch as the grey top.

And finally…the PERFECT UTILITY JACKET OF MY DREAMS (and the angels sang from on high). It’s 100% Lyocell (Tencel, the fabric of the gods), it has a band collar (I’m collar picky and these jackets in plus size mostly have fold-over collars or hoods), it’s a good color (not too yellow, not too drab), it has pockets. It FIT. It was magical. I instantly forgave Loft for all the things I said about them above and vowed to love them for ever and ever more.

It was $108.
(insert sound of screeching brakes here)
Hard stop. Heart breaking into millions of tiny jagged pieces.

I reluctantly take my jacket off and place it reverently back on its wooden hanger. I get re-dressed, hang up all the rejects (and my jacket) on the returns rack, and slowly walk towards the front of the store. “Did you find what you were looking for?” the salesgirl calls as I head for the door. “Yes,” I say. “I did.” And I walk out.

The End.
Or is it??

$108 is just too much for me for one thing at this time. But I thought that for half that I would snatch it up. When I got home I went to Loft.com so I could put my jacket on Shoptagr and get a notification if/when it went on sale. And lo and behold, just about everything on the site was 40% off – INCLUDING MY JACKET!!! Now, I said if it was HALF that price I would buy it, but with that kind of sign I was not going to haggle over $10!!! I bought it, quick, before it sold out! And at this very moment it’s on a truck somewhere, driving towards me. Waiting to be mine.

The End.

For real. Except for this short (under 5 mins) video of me in the Loft fitting room trying things on. As usual there is exceptional production quality (not). Painting and video – just don’t seem to be my things, why do I insist on continuing to do them??

How often do we get to actually have The Thing of Our Dreams? I feel blessed.