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Even though the temperature isn’t reflecting it, the time has come for the kiddos to head back to school. My sister and I don’t have kids, so we usually feel left out of the excitement for back to school shopping. This year we decided that we were going to have fun and pretend that we were going back to school. As anyone remembers, you can’t just return to school wearing the same clothes as the summer or, even worse!, the previous school year. You have to go and create a new wardrobe with a few new key pieces. Guess what guys, we did this too! After the jump is a trip to the mall and every fitting room to see what I liked, what I didn’t and what I ended up buying.
Our date for when the school year “starts” for us is today, September 12, 2016. Check out our Instagram to see what we decided would be a good start outfit!
I started out my search at Macy’s Herald Square. 
I thought Rachel Roy dress was nice, a little sexy and fun. I didn’t get it, because I had a master plan. As you can see from the note I wrote on my phone below.
This Cece Dress was pretty cute, but not exactly me. It was too cutesy. With my face and being of short stature, I always get honey, sweetie and the like – this dress is sure to get more of those comments. Next!
I can’t remember who this was. Demerit for me. But, again, not my thang. It was nice and very stretchy. As you can tell it was ribbed. I liked it, but didn’t feel like, I need this.
Then I shimmied into this baby. I will admit, buttons on the back of the neck were a little difficult to button, but I can keep them buttoned when I put the dress on and off over my head. I checked.
I love this Guess dress as you can tell by my expression. I like the sweetheart neckline that gives a hint of nice cleavage but not too in your face about it. I like the way it shows I have a waist. I’m also a big fan of how the shoulder straps fit me. Usually they always slip off and look ridiculous. These fit perfectly. SCORE! I bought this one.
My next stop was Zara. I did not love much there. It seems like you have to be very tall and thin to have good luck there. Or perhaps it’s the pant styles right now. Either way, I had no luck. 
I liked the trousers, but, if you look closely, they have pleating on the front. Looks like I have a bigger pooch than I actually do. No, not a fan. The shirt was cute. It’s cropped so it actually hits me at a nice length, however, the buttons are VERY cheap. One broke when I was trying to button it up.
Next up was Nordstrom. I made a special trip out to White Plains, New York, to hit up a store in person. It’s unbelievable to me that in the mecca of fashion (NYC) that there is only a Nordstrom Rack.
The selection there was very paltry compared to the ones in Chicago and Arizona, but I managed to find a few things to try on. Below are some that I feel were ok to show. I tried on some doozies that aren’t fit for print!
As you can see from my expression, I didn’t love the above combo. The pants were great! The shirt, not so much. So comfy, but again, we have the pleated front, which doesn’t look good. As comfy as they were, I had to just say no.
This shirt is cute, but low cut. I’d need to put a cami under it and that would ruin the look. 
This looks almost exactly like the outfit I tried on at Zara, no? Different pants from the other two above, but these look particularly bad. I would have gotten the top if it was a little cheaper. I think the cropped shirt might be my new go-to since they seem to hit me at my faux waist. I have a very short torso, my waist is basically under my chest. High waisted anything is not a good look for me. I got nothing at Nordstrom and was very, very sad. Tears.
Then I popped into Express. I never usually shop there, but they have some cute and comfy tank tops good for going out. I have this same top in black and got this pink one too. I don’t see it on the website anymore, but I know when I was last in there, there were a ton still left.
Gap. Haven’t been in there in an age either, so imagine my surprise when I found pants and a shirt that fit and that I liked! I don’t think I’d wear them together, like this, but I like both pieces. I’ll probably pair the pants with a chambray shirt, and the shirt with a black skirt.
The last stop was H&M. I found some new earrings that are really cool! Don’t you think? Also, they’re only $5. I mean, that’s practically free!
And this shirt, which on the website says is blue, but I thought was dark grey when I bought it. I didn’t get the moto pants though. They just didn’t thrill me.
Is anyone gonna glam up this week and do your own first day of “school” like us? What are your favorite looks for back to school, or fall? Let us know in the comments and tag us on insta with the hashtag #backtoschoolforadults.
