Gymboree's Little-Known Adult Clothing Line, Shade

You may not know, as Gymboree has an oft-overlooked and oft-ignored women's clothing brand called "Shade." The store sells misses and maternity sizes, with most clothing items being on the relaxed-side; think Ann Taylor Loft meets J. Jill. Nothing is too exciting, the regular prices are relatively high for what the clothing is, and Gymboree spends absolutely no time or money marketing it (unless, of course you count one Facebook post in December 2011).

Shade has 8,523 likes on its Facebook page, which isn't too shabby, but isn't great, either. (Note that Gymboree's Facebook page has over 437,000 likes.) But, many of those who like the page liked it before Gymboree purchased Shade. See, Shade started in 2004, joined Facebook in May 2010, and by the end of 2010 had closed. Gymboree bought it and reopened it as an online-only store in mid-2011. And then ignored it, as I perceive it.

Why would we be interested in Shade? Shade was founded in 2004 by two Mormon women in Utah who got tired of not being able to find modest clothes (sound familiar)? They designed a few basic shirts and their sales increased by 30% per month for awhile. Even non-Mormons liked to find shirts they didn't hang out of on top and didn't show plumbers' cracks on the bottoms! Holy cow!

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they closed toward the end of 2010 and Gymboree bought them and brought them back with only making "minor" alterations to Shade's basic design style (read: lower necklines and some alterations to swimwear, I believe reading awhile ago). So, in a bid to get more customers by having more styles, they may have alienated the brand's most loyal customers while not making much of an attempt to get new customers to replace them.

Now here comes the Tznua Fashionista part of the whole story: The website currently looks like it's having a fire sale. Like, the clothing is dirt cheap. With free shipping and free returns. I don't know what this means for Shade's future prospects; Gymboree hasn't said they're closing the site or anything like that publicly. But, based on my infrequent visits to the site, it seems to be treated like the step-child of an indifferent step-parent.

Because of the irresistible prices I just placed my first order. Here's what I bought for a total of $27.32, including tax. (Still not quite sure where that tax is doing there.) There are more tznua clothing options on the site that I didn't buy because I didn't love them for me.

Note: Please pardon these less-than-crisp images. That's how they are on Shade's site, no joke. When I say the site doesn't get the attention it deserves, I'm not kidding. When you're on there, read the descriptions and see what doesn't make sense. I just have to shake my head.

The Drawstring Maxi Skirt

At $11.99, this item is a steal. It only comes in "Black." It says it's shiny satin, but it has a drawstring, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to wear it for nicer occasions or if it's casual. But you know what? I don't care. It was $12 and it's a 40"-long skirt!



The Stripe Boatneck Slub Tee

This pretty little shirt cost the budget-busting amount of $5.99. I would have preferred to try it in a small, but it was sold out, so I settled for the extra-small. It says "free returns" anyway, right? (Note to my friends reading this: if it doesn't fit, feel free to try it on if you want to buy it off me before I return it.) I bought it in the "White/Fawn Stripe" color. The "White/Peach Stripe" color was already sold out when I found it.



The Slub Polo Shirt

The last item I purchased was this polo shirt for $7.79. It has buttons all the way to the collar, so it can be closed to the neck for super tznius-ability. Or, you can live dangerously and leave a few buttons unbuttoned. But if you go this route, here's a warning: it may lead to mixed dancing (the horror!), and we all know what that leads to... yeah, less reading of my blog. So, keep needing to search for those super-tznius clothing items we all love to hate to go shopping for! Anyway, I bought it in "Whisper Blue" because "White" was sold out



One final note: I have a newish general policy of not posting sale clothing and clothing in limited sizes on my blog. These items generally get short snippets on Tznua Fashionista's Facebook page instead. This warranted a blog post because of the nature of the discounts and how little-known the brand is.

Cute Maternity Dress for Fall

We all know it's hard to find a dress that's tznua off the rack. It's even harder to find a maternity dress that is tznua off the rack. But I found one!

Here is the Lantern Sleeve Dress by Maternal America at Amazon.com. It's really cute, flattering to many figures, and relatively inexpensive at about $50 for the dress in gray and $60 for the dress in black. This dress would be great for a fun evening out with friends, Shabbat, a casual wedding, or a pre-baby date night. And, since it comes with a belt and there are buttons on the turtleneck, very little accessorizing is necessary. Just throw the dress on and you'll be ready to go out!

Please note that the description of the dress says that it's dry clean only. The dress is a rayon/spandex blend. Based on the material, I believe that it could be hand washed or washed on a delicate cycle in the washing machine. The only issue with these washing methods is that the dress would likely dry wrinkled. If you have a good steamer, it should take care of the wrinkles. Otherwise, you'll probably have to spend the money on dry cleaning when you need to clean the dress.

Please also note that Maternal America often sizes their clothing slightly smaller than Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod do. If you're in between letter sizes, you may want to consider sizing up (i.e. if you're a 6 you may want to consider purchasing the medium instead of the small).

Shout out to Destination Maternity at the Willow Grove Park Mall

It's not everyday I get a thank you note from a store. In fact, I have only previously received thank you notes from a few online stores, but never a store where I physically shopped. That changed this week when I received a thank you note from Jennifer, the Assistant Store Manager at the Destination Maternity store in the Willow Grove Park Mall in Willow Grove, PA.

I only spent $113 on seven shirts and two skirts without being in the store for more than 30 minutes. And all the items I bought were by Motherhood Maternity; I bought nothing in the A Pea in the Pod side of the store. But I got a hand-written thank you note.

If I hadn't spent over $1,000 on maternity clothes when I was pregnant with my son and over $460 so far this pregnancy, I would go shopping again right away at a Destination Maternity-owned store! (I already had spent over $200 between two other Destination Maternity stores within three days of my visit to the Willow Grove Park store.)

Here's a picture of the note I was sent.

If you're having reading the picture, the text reads:

Allison,

I just wanted to thank you personally for coming in and shopping with me on the first! You were a delight and looked great in everything you tried on! I hope that you'll come back and shop with me again next time you're in the area!

Jennifer
Assistant Store Manager

Maternity Skirts for $30 or Less!

When I was pregnant with my son, who will turn two on Shabbat, I had a terrible time finding tznua maternity skirts. I ended up paying a small fortune for skirts that I didn't love, didn't fit right, and didn't really last through my entire pregnancy.  It was very frustrating.  However, I did love the few Secret Fit Belly skirts I bought from Motherhood Maternity, Pea in the Pod, and Pea in the Pod Collection.

Well ladies, the dark ages of maternity skirt shopping are over! Destination Maternity (the site featuring my three favorite maternity skirt stores) has at least eight tznua maternity skirts for $29.99 or less!  That's, right, 8! I'm featuring four of them below, but you can explore the site.  Please note that through Sunday, Destination Maternity is offering an additional 30% off all sale and clearance items, so a few of these skirts will be more than $30 again as of Monday.

Work Skirt #1: The Black Maxi

This was the most elusive skirt to find two years ago. I ended up spending about $70 on a black pleated skirt at a tsnuis store that lost its pleats after a couple of washings and didn't fit past month seven.  It was the only long black tznua maternity skirt I could find that looked OK on me.

Flash forward two years and we have this black maxi skirt by Motherhood Maternity.  At only $29.98 regular price, it's a bargain compared to what I went through two years ago!  Here's the picture:




Work Skirt #2: The Black Midi

I actually managed to find a couple of black midi skirts while pregnant with my son.  Neither wanted to stay on me, however, even at eight months pregnant.  Would I have loved a Secret Fit Belly midi!  Now, Motherhood Maternity is selling one for all of $26.98 regular price!




Denim Skirt #1: American Star Denim Maxi

I was never able to find a denim maxi skirt when I was pregnant with my son.  I found one at Motherhood Maternity that went to mid-calf, and that was the best I could do.  Now, Destination Maternity is offering two denim maxi skirts and they're both on clearance! Both are currently $29.99 on clearance with the additional 30% bringing the price down to $20.99!  I almost think the non-pregnant ladies should jump at that deal and buy these up!

The American Star Denim Maxi is lighter in color, features a frayed hem and a Secret Fit Belly, and is an affordable denim maxi maternity skirt!




Denim Skirt #2: Blank NYC Denim Maxi

At the same price as the American Star denim maxi, any preference between the two denim skirts is primarily a matter of taste.  Since they're both sold by Destination Maternity brands and feature the same Secret Fit Belly, I would presume they should fit the same. (Note: I never had any issues with the fit of the clothing from these companies two years ago and I was the same size in everything I bought from them.)  The Blank NYC denim maxi is darker in color than the American Star denim maxi, has five pockets, and features a frayed hem and Secret Fit Belly.  At $20.99 (or $29.99 after June 3rd), it's a steal, especially since the regular price was $99.50!

Lilo Maternity on Zulily until January 8

Zulily has 82 items by Lilo Maternity for sale from today until 9:00 AM EDT on Sunday, January 8. Lilo Maternity is a line of maternity clothing geared for the Orthodox Jewish woman. They have stores online and in Lakewood, Brooklyn, Monroe, and Yerushalayim. There are also stores in Baltimore and Monsey that carry the line.

Many of the shirts in the site are tznua without requiring layering. For everyone who doesn't mind layering, they also have a half-tanktop in white for $10.99 on the sale. The skirts on the sale are their shorter-length skirts and will not cover the knees of taller women while sitting. I believe the skirts are the equivalent of about a 24" length skirt non-pregnancy. Lilo Maternity sells tall versions of their knee length and long skirts on their websites and in their stores. The tall versions are probably the equivalent of a 27" or 28" skirt pre-pregnancy when looking for a skirt past the knee.

Zulily often has Lilo Maternity sales, and they have the best prices you will find on this line. If you know what your size is for Lilo and you like any of the items on the sale, I would recommend buying them through Zulily, unless you prefer to support your local Lilo store and keep your spending money within the Jewish community.