{ the jaunty magpie }

The Magpie had a Veruca Salt moment, Fancying something like no other, but not quite breaking into song over it. The item in question: the Velvet Eden Blazer from one of my favorite stores, J. Crew. It's been one of their perennial items, meaning -- it never goes on sale. But on a recent trip to the factory outlet, I cornered my precious, fuzzy quarry and was pleased to see the glorious clearance pricetag. Despite my fun budget cutbacks, I couldn't resist its velvet charms and the fact it was $65, so I purchased the lovely aubergine hue. Originally I thought I would have wanted the heather grey, but the color wasn't as flattering and I noticed the lighter colors showed more wrinkles and creases. The retail justification section of the brain, aka, the Excuse-o-Matic, convinced the logic part that this would be a piece I would wear for a long time, through several seasons, and could easily be dressed up or down. I do look forward to being able to put together some fun new Inspired vignettes as a result of this find, that's for sure.

It totally makes me think of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Mind you, the Gene Wilder characterization, not the mildly terrifying Johnny Depp version. Egads. I couldn't help but doodle my way through this Fancy post, with the voice of Gene Wilder singing, "Come with me, and you'll see, there's a world of pure i-ma-gin-a-tion..."


Jaunty Fine Print:  Blazer photos by Denise Sakaki, image of Gene Wilder from Art Store