Ann Taylor Store Opening Event: South Coast Plaza

12:47 PM

While I was visiting California, Kelly of Alterations Needed kindly invited me and a few friends to the new store opening event for Ann Taylor at South Coast Plaza. If you didn't already know, Ann Taylor has been a huge fan favorite of fashionable petites especially after their brand facelift a couple years ago. The brand has found itself a nice little niche in my daily "I'm a classy lady" wardrobe so I was very excited to see what was in store.

I had never been to a store opening event before so I didn't know what to expect but the outdoor venue at Noguchi Garden was festive, cute, and filled with handsome waiters and fabulously dressed women.


There were a few tables decorated with items from the Summer 2011 collection. Plenty of eye candy.


 There were also several lovely headless mannequins dressed in Ann Taylor's latest frocks and accessories.


One of the first ladies I spotted when I arrived was the always put-together petite, Kelly! Probably one of the most exciting things to find out is that we are height twins. Also, we both wore seersucker, blazers, hemlines at the EXACT SAME LENGTH (you know it's right when it's done twice) and even similar almond-toe heels. Love this girl! (P.S. If you are petite check out her blog Alterations Needed. It was the first personal style petite blog I ever followed years ago!)


Long-limbed cactus. We don't have cacti like this in the midwest but I saw TONS in Cali. You guys are sitting on a desert, masked by green things that pretend to be grass and foliage! So amusing! :D


Lots of ladies decked out in Ann Taylor gear as well. Gotta say, I think we may have been the youngest of the bunch there.


A few bridal and formal-wear mannequins.



A little wind-blown!



A sel-ca shot of me and my lovely photographer and dear friend Kassia


 Oh, and look who we found! It's the sexy-classy Wendy of Wendy's Lookbook! Love her color-blocking.


Seriously, I think this is my favorite shot from the entire event. It just makes me so happy for some reason! 3 dainty, almond-toe heels. ^__^ Wendy, I think I need a pair of purple suede heels right now!


I also spotted this incredible purple Hermes Birkin bag on one of the very stylish ladies in the crowd. My jaw went like this D: Ugh the color is so gorgeous! Droooooool!


The event was co-sponsored by C Magazine which had Zoe Saldana gracing the cover and looking perfect as usual.


Even our champagnes flutes with floating raspberries were feeling photogenic.


All the ladies together! Kelly, Wendy, my sister, and me!



Some yum yummies carried by the male model waiters. Seriously, who hired these guys? They were all gorgeous.


Our goody bags from the event! I love the illustration on this tote. Very chic!



One of the pieces inside was this ornate lace-inspired cuff which was thankfully adjustable and fit all of us. So pretty! I've already worn it a few times and it fits well with my girly x edgy wardrobe!


Reviewing some video with the girls. So much fun! And for the record, my white dress is from Ann Taylor. ;)


If you missed watching a snippet of this on my Cali Vlog, you can see it here and skip to 4:02 for the Ann Taylor event. :)


I hope you enjoyed another installment of my Cali recap! I still have many more to share so stay tuned and I'll talk to you soon!

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20 comments

  1. cute white dress that you are wearing

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    http://eleven23shop.blogspot.com/

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  2. Yes!! I've been anxiously waiting to see Kassia's beautiful photos! Thank you so much for coming to the Ann Taylor event with me! I would have been so bored all by my lonesome. It was wonderful hanging out with you ladies, and to meet a short-twin! "Twinning!" (gotta cut back on the Jersey Shore. :P )

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  3. I LOVE this post! Such gorgeous photography from Kassia and of course fab "subjects" as well. Super sad I missed this. Kelly almost looks Asian in her wind-blown photo ; )

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  4. such gorgeous gorgeous photos! looks like a super fun event :)

    couturelust
    giveaway! win four gorgeous rings

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  5. gorgeous photos! it looks like you had such a great time! i'm originally from CA ~ i miss it!! hope your sunday is going well!!
    xx ~ kristina

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  6. looks like such a great event! everyone looks so pretty!

    www.petiteandhungry.blogspot.com

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  7. could you please share what camera you used to take these photos?I only ask because I would like my senior portrait to look like that thanks jen!

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  8. Love the colour of your shoes, Jen! Looks like you ladies had a fabulous time at the event!

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  9. Looks like u had much fun waa i want to go to the beach!! XD
    http://amz88.blogspot.com/

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  10. hi Jen! new follower here:) i love your white dress!!^^ u look very pretty as always!

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  11. beautiful photos, the event looked great and i love your outfit :)

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  12. Love your outfit. Gorgeous! Great day you have. :D

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  13. i love that purple hermis bag.. but the lady wearing it had a wardrobe malfunction! lol
    and way you go Kassie! i love how u capture moments! <3 <3 <3

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  14. I like the bangle!

    Http://summer-noniek.blogspot.com

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  15. aw ! I love the short red dress. so nice and gorgeous. i wish i was lived at America LOL.

    warm hug from Indonesia :)

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  16. Omg I love your dress! You are so adorable! What an awesome event to be able to go to! Thanks so much for sharing! Oh btw, Michelle Phan just posted the short story/video she directed and I was so stoked and excited when I noticed you were in it!!! ^___^

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  17. Hi Jen!

    I've been following your blog since about a year ago! I love your videos :) There's no other beauty blogger with quite that special little touch you have.

    My aunt is actually one of the VPs at the Ann Taylor Company in New York. She's a designer and has been working for AT for many years now. Haha, just a random fact since you did an entry dedicated to her artwork (to an extent) :D

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  18. the items on the second pieces are so nice !

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  19. Looks like you had a great time! I do love the picture of your shoes, the purple suede ones are gorgeous!

    Kelly
    Enterkelly.blogspot.com

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  20. Many beautiful photos. I will have to check out an Ann Taylor store if I ever get the chance. I didn't know if has a line that caters to the petite crowd! I'm excited about that as a fellow petite lady. Thus, thank you for this post. =)

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