Marc by Marc Jacobs Lake Blue Multi Argyle Sweater

Way back in the fall, when I first received the Barneys Co-op Fall Winter 2009 mailer, I instantly fell in love with this argyle cardigan from Marc by Marc Jacobs, modeled by the handsome-and hot-but-in-a-slightly-strange-and-badass-way Tyler Riggs.

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Once a believer that one can never have too much argyle, I now feel that argyle has become so mainstream that even straight guys think they're fashionistas each time they don their "smart" looking sweaters...gifted to them by their wannabe style-maven midwestern girlfriends...who think they're SO clever shopping for their man at Banana Republic. And I could go on and on... Needless to say, one needs to maintain a degree of selectivity these days when shopping argyle, after all, you wouldn't want to be mistaken for something or someone else, would you? I definitely identified with the characteristic "MbMJ-spin" on this piece...ho-hum conventional turns into quirky.

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Alas, the mailer was released before Barneys' placed the cardigan for sale online, and so despite making the best mental note possible to follow up with a return visit to barneys.com, life got busy, I strayed from my priorities, and I forgot about it...

...UNTIL I noticed the piece was online, MARKED DOWN, earlier this month...but in only an XL left! DAMN! How did I let myself completely miss this?! It's no secret Barneys has had inventory issues, and so unlike previous years when I've held out hope that perhaps a returned piece might get restocked online, I was pretty convinced that once the XL sold (and it did), this item's tenure at Barneys was DUNZO.

Lo and behold, essentially resigned to giving up the good fight, I stumbled upon this piece while paging through a UK-based website unfamiliar to me at the time: www.my-wardrobe.com. And there, in the 75% off section, was my sweater, IN MY SIZE, just taunting me to drop it in my shopping cart. HAPPY ENDING!

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I don't even know what wayward surfing expedition led me to this site. But I'm quite pleased that fate has led me to this conclusion. About My-Wardrobe, the site has a well-curated selection of pieces from an excellent roster of labels -- McQ, APC, Opening Ceremony, Burberry (unfortunately, but understandably, only Brit and London it appears), and of course, Marc by Marc Jacobs. The cardigan I bought is no longer available, but there's quite a few other great pieces in the sale section still from a variety of labels. Customer service is quite pleasant, given I was a first time shopper, they got in touch with me to confirm my shipping address. I must admit, they're not well-structured for international e-commerce (yet, hopefully), as shipping was kind of a bitch and there was only one option for US orders, but I'm really not complaining, I've got my cardigan :) And in a very expedient time-frame too.

I cannot wait to pair this piece with a pair of chunky black plastic frames, perhaps a simple white v-neck tee underneath...black jeans...biker boots...

All in all, mine is a tale of silly obsession and skewed priorites in life, wouldn't you say? But I love it all.

XOXO, Gossip Girl.