They opened a b & m Peruvian Connection recently, on Fillmore. PC is one of those etailers I've perused, on and off, for years probably. I did get one of their silk half-slips a while back (it's held up well over many washings, and is a handy length), and tried a discounted bias pima cotton skirt—like this, but in a muted grey-blue tone:
I can't carp about the color or fabric (beautiful, and fairly luxe, respectively) but the length was too great even after a hearty spin in a hot dryer. Had it shrunk further...hmmm...maybe I should try that again. It's been sort of sitting there in my weekend pile, awaiting cooler weather. Wish they offered the skirts in a shorter length—this would be work-friendly—I do like that they always have matching tops (pima cowl necks, and long- and short-sleeved scoop necks).
Anyhow, I did make it out to the b & m shortly after it had opened. I'll have to admit it was cool seeing the stuff in person, after puzzling over it online...take the Extreme Turtleneck:
This is less extreme than it sounds; the neck is long, but fits comfortably (I'd dreaded a giant tube o' fabric, suitable only for those with swan necks). Fabric: silken pima cotton, with a twist of lycra—seemingly durable and a bit stretchy.
The colors differ from how the swatches appear on my monitor, sorta...Umber is browner (gorgeous, but useless for my wardrobe), Glacier greyer, basically grey with a slight blue cast. They didn't have Navy, and Eggshell...can you go wrong with that? it's ivory. Tuscan Red is not red, but rather red-orange with a bit of brown. Pesto iirc is quite brown, a fatigue color. Port looks drab in the swatch, but is the most transcendent shade of red wine.
These run in size similarly to J.Crew, or "smallish" (I tried medium and large, and preferred the large).
Another item I'd come to see was the pima cotton layering tee:
These seemed less useful to me than the Extreme T-necks, since they are after all tee shirts, but I was after something like it if the color was right (a plain tee shirt can look quite pretty in a nice fabric and color). I ended up getting the Tearose shade pictured above, but it's more a terra cotta flowerpot color, with a rosy cast. (Sizing is about the same as the Extreme T-neck.)
Overall, well worth the trip. PC offers a lot more than basic items, but it's the basics in which I was interested; something versatile, easy to wash and dry, handy to grab when you've no time to iron, and in subtle and unusual hues.
J.Crew Camden leather brogues in light ginger, nutmeg and black
I bought these a while back, actually, during one of J.Crew's discount-on-top-of-sale things, and I've worn them several times now—I got the black ones, despite the allure of the other tasty tones, on the notion they would be far more useful. (Don't you often find yourself gravitating towards your black shoes?)
There was advice to go up half a size for these, which I did initially, but it didn't work. 8-1/2 was too long on my foot; the heel slipped off. My regular size 8 fit fine and didn't feel overly narrow on (I have wide feet too).
I can admit these aren't exactly the best quality shoes I own. My Cydwoqs are better made, as are my Cole Haans. But they are undeniably cute, and are decently-enough made. They are a perfect small replica of a man's oxford shoe, but somehow don't look masculine on. Perhaps it's the plethora of perforations and the neat streamlined shape. They're also quite comfortable as you would imagine.
Now, what do you do with them; they seem to look best with textured hose or tights of some sort, although I have worn them with regular stockings. The rest of the outfit could be a work skirt and a button-down shirt, and a cardigan, which is what I've been wearing a lot of, lately.
In summation, I'm not sure these would have been worth the FP. And I would hate to have to buy on Final Sale (I would've been stuck with long shoes). But for sale price, so far these have been rather nifty.