On Memory and Matching

Remember my earlier post about my trip to Nordstrom?  The one where I listened to some tween getting a can opened up on her by her tough-loving aunt?  Yes, that one!  You might also recall I picked up a pair of red skinny jeans, which the salesgirl immediately paired with a white shirt and black tank top.  The jeans fit weird, the top was too blousy, and the ensemble pretty much failed.  I walked out empty-handed (but with an earful of memorable quotes).

Well, the outfit the salesgal assembled for me must've stuck in the back of my brain.  A couple weeks ago, my shopping partner-in-crime and I spent an evening at one of the local, upscale malls.  Even though we stopped into a number of stores and tried on quite a few cute things, we walked out with only two purchases each (hey, that is impressive by our standards).  One of the winners?  Lo and behold...  red skinny jeans.  However, these didn't come from the teen department.  Rather, from a trendy store that caters to, um, old people (you didn't consider anyone over 30 to be "old" when you were fifteen?  Boy, I sure did.).  The jeans, made by J Brand, were so darn cute that my friend also got the same pair.  OMG, look!  We match!  Isn't that adorbs?   OK, we didn't really say that.  

Now then, if you and your pal are going to buy the exact same thing, it's only logical that you decide to wear them out one night - together!  What did I pair the lucky jeans with?  Coming back to the teen department trip, I grabbed a black shrug and also a black and white jumper dress (the brand of which will remain un-named ;) - voila!  While I'd like to say the pairing came from natural stylish instinct, I honestly probably recalled the salesgirl's own fashionable decisions back in that Nordstrom dressing room.

Regardless of who gets the credit, it makes for a cute outfit.  And the jeans got twice the love.  Here are some snaps...

Ahh, yes, the Nordstrom visit:

Ensemble grade:  M for Meh.

The J Brand pair my friend and I were pleasantly surprised with:

And - voici! - red jeans times two, plus the black and white top theme:

Have you and a friend ever ended up buying the same thing?  Did you wear them on the same day to the same place - but not on purpose?  :)  Do tell!

In closing, enjoy (at my teen expense) a great flashback example of the above question:  my junior year in high school, I was lucky enough to receive a leather jacket for Christmas from the Gap that I later christened "Sea World" because, um, it smelled like...  Sea World?  Man, I was so proud to wear it to Ms. Corbett's Algebra II class...  until Joe, the dude who sat next to me, plopped into his seat wearing *the same dang jacket*!  Unplanned and kind of embarrassing, probably more for him than me.  I think my parents still have that poor jacket, crammed in some hidden closet.

You know, I'll bet Sea World would go swimmingly well with those J Brands.

Images:  all my own except the J Brand photo (Shopbop)