Friday Fashion: Down East Basics

I commented to my sister (and to you guys) one day that I might be too old for Delia's. They don't have much of the stuff that I used to buy from them - cargo pants, cheap basic tees, cute skirts. It's a teeny-bopper site, and sells teeny-bopper clothes, which are just not my thing anymore. I'm not really in the market for skintight fuschia skinny-jeans and faux-vintage cartoon graphic tees. Their thermals used to be a staple of my winter wardrobe, but as they are now tissue-thin, a foot too long for me, and I'd be paying $22.50 each for something that will snag the first time I wear it and develop holes with its first wash, I pass.

But I was still in the market for a new basic-stuff/pretend-shopping site. I had given up hope of doing anything but mournfully coveting things from Anthropologie...and then I met Down East Basics.

Not only do they have an entire page of nice basic tees & tanks, their other stuff is cute too. These skirts are a lot closer to the stuff I wear nowadays than, say, a zebra-print velour bubble-style ultra-mini skirt. In fact, a couple of them look a lot like ones I was coveting from Anthropologie, and a couple more look like stuff I've already got hanging in my closet. They have a girls' section, too, although a lot of it is a bit floral and pink for my taste. Their mens' section is a little sparse, but does have some nice basic tees.

And it all seems very affordable. Their sale section has some mad awesome bargains, but the regular prices aren't sky-high. They've recently added a lot of nice handbags at very reasonable prices, like this Large Patent Tote for $24.99 (which I like almost as much as this Hollywood Intuition bag I've been drooling over). The recent cold weather has me eyeing the Carpe Diem Cardigan ($26.99) because I am a sucker for a good slouchy cardigan. I can't help that it would look great with the First Lady Skirt ($34.99) and a kick-ass pair of boots...