My
Golden Tote from the July selection arrived today! I was so excited to see what was in my first $149 tote.
Golden Tote is a clothing subscription service that sends you clothing and some acessories every month. There are two tote options: a $49 tote where you pick the first piece and they send you 1-2 more (up to $250 value); and a $149 option where you pick two pieces and they send you 3-5 more (up to $600 value) based on a style profile you fill out.
The first item I picked was the Puella Swing Dress. Puella was started by the same girls who then went on to start Golden Tote. I love everything of theirs that I've been sent so far!
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| Puella Swing Dress, |
I definitely like it better with a belt!
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| Puella Swing Dress |
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| Puella Swing Dress in Navy and White Stripe |
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| Puella Swing Dress in Navy and White Stripe detail |
This dress is on sale for $66 at the Golden Tote
website. I love how comfortable it is, but it still looks really nice. It is 72% poly and 28% rayon and dry clean only (which means it's DIRTY.... with apologies to Mitch Hedberg). I can see this becoming one of my fall favorites on my teaching days!
Next in the tote is a tank from Collective Concepts. My boyfriend said it looked like a
Magic Eye pattern and I agree. But, it is comfy and fits well and I don't wear patterns (other than horizontal stripes) very often, so it's nice to change things up.
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| Collective Concepts Tank |
This tank is a little on the longer side, but not quite tunic-length. I'll probably end up tucking it in and wearing it with a sweater to work. I really like it, even though it is not something I would pick out on my own. This is why I love Golden Tote! They know me better than I know myself.
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| Collective Concepts Tank |
Check out the contrasting patterns. It works, against my better judgement.
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| Detail of Collective Concepts Tank. |
This tank is 100% polyester and dry clean only. I found a similar tank on piperlime and it was selling for $59. I think Piperlime marks things up quite a bit, so I will knock 20% off the price to estimate the actual value. $47.
Even though in my profile I said that I didn't like maxi dresses, they apparently took that to mean maxi skirts were ok. I don't have any, so I'm not complaining because this one is pretty decent. It is paneled at the bottom to give it a lot of freedom and motion.
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| Potter's Pot Maxi Skirt |
Don't mind the belly, this is how high I had to pull it up so it didn't hit the ground. I have some room to wear heels with it if I lower the waistband.
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| Potter's Pot Maxi Skirt |
The waistband has a metallic gold and black background with orange and blue detailing. It's really pretty in person and I need to figure out an outfit that I can wear with this skirt that will show it off! If I still was in the orchestra world, this would be excellent for concerts, but I'll have to find another place to wear it!
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| Potter's Pot Maxi Skirt Waistband Detail |
It's really hard to find these things online! Again, Piperlime has some (mini) skirts by Potter's Pot that are selling for $59. Again, I think that might be a little high, so we will take 20% off and call it $47.
The skirt is double layered chiffon (100% polyester) and says to hand wash and line dry.
We have another Puella item, and one I definitely would not have even looked twice at in a store. It is growing on me now, though. It is a really light and soft fabric and the bold geometric print is unlike anything else I own. The cozy factor definitely will push me to wear it, and I'm ok with going outside my comfort zone for something that feels so soft it might be more appropriate for sleeping than for working.
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| Puella Top |
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| Puella Top |
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| Detail of Puella Top |
Puella tees go for about $20 (on sale right now) at Anthropologie, which seems like a good estimate to me.
This is 100% rayon, hand wash and lay flat to dry.
The Bonjour Cafe blouse by Under Skies was my second pick and I am so happy with it! It is light and sheer and fun and very wearable. I can see myself wearing it with jeans to work, or dressing it up with a skirt if I have to look a little more professional.
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| Under Skies Bonjour Cafe Blouse |
I couldn't tell from the pictures online, but the bottom is elastic. I thought the model had it tucked in neatly to her jeans, but this makes it even better! It won't come untucked and look sloppy :).
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| Under Skies Bonjour Cafe Blouse |
The blouse has pretty gold buttons on the cuffs, as well as across the shoulders. It's a really nice detail that pulls it together.
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| Detail on Shoulders of Under Skies Bonjour Cafe Blouse |
Golden Tote is selling this in their boutique for $46 on sale right now.
It is 100% Polyester, came with a spare button, and is hand wash and lay flat to dry.
The final item is probably my favorite thing in the whole tote! If you asked me to describe my perfect year-round item, I would say it would be a cozy, soft, grey open-knit sweater. That is exactly what this is, and I am thrilled. Put it over shorts and a tank for a cool summer night, but pair with a scarf and some knee boots for a nice fall outfit. Grey is my favorite clothing color, too. It is a great neutral!
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| Under Skies Open-Knit Sweater |
So comfy! So soft! So perfect!
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| Under Skies Open-Knit Sweater |
It is as comfortable as a sweatshirt, but because it is slightly metallic, looks a little nicer.
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| Close up of Under Skies Open-Knit Sweater |
This is 100% Rayon and hand wash, flat dry. Some other Under Skies tops (button downs and blazers) went for an average of $45 on lulus.com (which I have never heard of... is it legit? They have some cute things!)
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| ban.do Flash Bobbi Set |
These bobby pins were a bonus! Aren't they cute? I hope they don't pull my hair out like the Birchbox ones did :/.
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| Golden Tote July 2013 $149 tote |
As always, they included a branded tote bag. They are so useful! $3? I'd buy one for that much.
I also got a bonus in this month's tote! I won second place in a contest they ran on Instragram (#gtfavorites) and they sent my prize with this month's tote.
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| What was my prize? |
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| Cleobella Mexicana Wallet in Kelly Green! |
My prize was a beautiful hand-crafted leather wallet from
Cleobella.
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| Cleobella Mexicana Wallet |
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| Detail. The gold is actually a little metallic and shiny. |
Not bad for some selfies! The Mexicana Wallet retails for $138, which is almost as much as I paid for this entire tote!
My overall (very estimated) value without the wallet is $284. I think that is a pretty good deal for $149 plus about $8 S&H. I definitely underestimated some of the retail prices, but that's ok because I probably wouldn't pay full price for any of the items I received. I'm a poor grad student and mostly wear basics from Old Navy. GT gives me a chance to class up my wardrobe at an affordable price.
As always, everything fits perfectly (their sizing guide is spot-on) and is something that I will wear. Most of my current favorite articles of clothing are from Golden Tote. I know that I can trust that they will send me quality items that I will enjoy wearing. For $149, this could not have been any better!
This post contains items I purchased with my own money, or won in a promotion. No compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own.
