Fashion Friday: Why Loft is one of my new favorite stores.

Over the next few Fridays I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite stores and why I like to shop there.  I love discovering new places and sometimes overlook stores that are really great.  In working at the mall, I've learned that sometimes people miss out on  shopping at great places because they're not in their normal shopping center or they think that a store doesn't fit their image or target demographic.

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I first noticed Loft about 5 years ago from a magazine ad...  I remember it featured a soft pink tank, a cream cardigan with a tan floral print, jeans, and an army green jacket.  I'm guessing that I'd never paid attention to that store before because we didn't have one nearby, but that ad haunted me with that beautiful outfit.  Right around that time I went on a road trip to Colorado and found a Loft store.  I bought about 1/2 of the outfit right off of that ad and after that I was hooked on that store.  Unfortunately, the nearest stores were about 2 1/2 hours away from home and they haven't hopped on the bandwagon of reasonable shipping costs, so my purchases from there were few and far between.  I did some pretty serious damage at their Times Square store a few years ago, but other than that it was just a couple items here or there.

And then it happened last fall...

We finally got a Loft store in town AND it's only about 5 minutes from where I live!

I'm pretty sure I was in there opening day.

Ever since then, Loft has become a favorite for work clothes and the part of my wardrobe that I call "dressy casual"...  You know, the stuff that you can dress up or down and that can easily transition from work to weekend.  

Those skirts!  Both scored on super clearance, of course!

My wild new floral print cropped jeans!

1. There's always a sale.  There is never a reason to pay full price there.  They always have some sort of deal going on and a lot of times you can score stuff at pretty significant discounts.  I've managed some really great deals on new arrivals and of course have scored some amazing clearance finds.
2. They have really good "dressy casual" clothes.  I know I already said this, but this store is perfect for the whole work-to-weekend thing.  A lot of what I own from there can be dressed up or I can rock my distressed jeggings and it works either way.  It's obviously a lot more cost effective if the items are more versatile like that.
3. They carry petites!  I teeter right on the edge of petite and regular in dresses and pants, so I love having the option of choosing between one or the other.  
4. Everything is so pretty!  If you've read my blog for a while, you know I love my neons, but sometimes there's just something to be said for pretty neutrals and prints.  Speaking of prints, I'm not a huge print person, but they always seem to have ones that appeal to me and get me to branch out of my comfort zone a bit.
5. The fit!  I feel like I'm at that age where it's not really that appropriate for me to buy juniors clothes anymore (although let's face it, I do occasionally), but I'm not quite ready for "mom clothes."  (Moms please don't take offence to that, but I think you know what I mean.)  I really like to fit of a lot of their clothes and really haven't tried on much that made me totally cringe.  I find a lot of it to be really flattering to the curves, but it doesn't feel too old and frumpy.  Aside from American Eagle jeans, Loft jeans are my next favorite for fit.  Their dresses are also very flattering and they typically have a good variety of styles to fit different tastes and needs.

Do you shop at Loft?

What are your favorite things to get there?!?