Marc by Marc Jacobs reviews

One of the things I will miss most about Saks in Pittsburgh is the opportunity to try on current season items from my favorite brands. I usually do so with the intent to keep a running tally of what I want come sale time. That way, even if something sells out locally, I can track it down elsewhere with little risk. Despite the North Hills Nordstrom, this is something I will now have to do when I visit other cities.* I was in San Diego last week and visited a Bloomingdales that had lots of cute things. While there, I spotted some tropical and bird themed prints from Marc by Marc Jacobs.

This bird-printed dress, named the Finch Charm has a little flounce to the skirt that is supported with seaming and fabric. It also features a stretch waist with ruffle. I loved the sleeve length and found the skirt to be fine for me but a bit short for taller folks. It is sized in letters, not numbers and I am wearing a medium which is typical for this style of dress from this brand. In general, MBMJ runs a little large (similar to many Anthropologie lines). The dress is silk and has a removable slip. It comes in navy as shown above and a peach color. This one is the first MBMJ number to make my "must find on sale" list in over a year!

The Havana Printed Silk Satin dress (on sale here) is vibrant and tropically themed. Essentially, it is a simple sack dress toned down through the help of a stretchy belt. The hem has a slight bubble to it which I found to look ok but feel a little weird. It is sized in letters also and I am wearing a medium. It comes in another color: this deeper mix of purples and blues which is on sale more widely than the one shown above. The fabric has a bit of a shine to it. While I liked the dress, I will be letting this one go even on sale.

The Light Hearted heart print dress comes in navy/teal or navy/red. I only saw a navy/teal. This is another dress that is sized in letters with a forgiving, stretchy waist. I am wearing a small which ran a little short-waisted and short on my curvy figure. I needed a medium but they didn't have any. I didn't care for how the sleeveless tank top cut into my shoulders so I wouldn't wear this without layers. I do like the dress though and found the shape to be very cute.

Overall, I liked these dresses but found the pricing to be a bit high. Previously, and in my experience Marc by Marc Jacobs dresses that were sized in letters used to be released for lower retail starting points than their numerically sized counterparts. I guessed that the higher prices of number sized garments were due to the amount of additional pattern-making and tailoring required to yield more precise fits. While I was fine with the fits and quality of the above, and I'm glad the dresses are made from natural fibers, I think their prices should start lower. They're all produced in the developing world and all sized with less precise letters. While each dress is very cute, even the sale prices are pretty steep. What do you think? Do you expect a difference in price between letter and numerical sizing?

*Though the service is expectedly stellar at my local Nordstrom, the selection of brands leaves a lot to be desired. I am sure it is because of the SWPA market differing from that of SoCal but when I visited the Fashion Valley Nordstrom, I was shocked by the array of brands that are never carried here.