CAbi: The Line of Traveling Pants

This sweater is more than it appears.

A million years ago when I lived in Maryland I went to one of those “home parties” where they sold clothes. It was odd, racks and racks of clothes filled my friend’s living room like it was a stylist’s lounge in Manhattan. That’s just how the sales rep tried to sell it to us too. We were supposed to think we were at a trunk show of exclusive designs only available this way. The designer was Carol Anderson and the line was Carol Anderson by Invitation: CAbi. 

I was skeptical at first. I mean, how good can a line of designs be if they’re only sold at suburban house parties? I recognize, I was being bitchy, but that’s what was going through my mind. Then the lovely sales-woman started showing us the quality, versatility and trendy nature of the clothes and I was hooked, sort of. I still sat there mentally eye-rolling because I thought that while these items were all pretty awesome, for sure these clothes wouldn’t fit me. The Sales Rep and many of the guests had what I like to call Super Soccer Mom bodies. They all had tiny waists, thin legs and modest chests (not to mention similarly styled ash-blond highlighted hair, but that’s a post for another day). There were a few of us with actual cup-sizes and child-bearing hips but I was certain we would not fit in any of these racks and racks of clothes.

This Take Charge Jacket works for work and play. It looks great over jeans and when I shoved it in my suitcase it came out fresh as can be!

Then the trying on portion of the evening started and I was ready to take my wine and hide in the room with the snacks. But a funny thing happened, some of my more brave, not-so-skinny friends tried on a few pieces and they looked great. They even looked great standing right next to our Super Soccer Mom friends. In fact, everyone looked great. Large, small, tall short these CAbi clothes somehow made everyone look great.

It was then that I became a CAbi convert and started referring to them as the Traveling Pants clothes. You know that Young Adult Book The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Book 1)
In it, the jeans that the girls pass around magically fit each of them despite their varying shapes and sizes. They jeans look great on all four girls and they bring them luck. I’m not sure if CAbi is lucky but I am sure their clothes look fantastic on everyone.

I bought a skirt that night that I still wear today. It’s reversible, so it’s like two outfits in one. That’s the beauty of CAbi, they take into consideration women who want to be stylish but also want practicality and convenience. The clothes look great and make sense. At BlogHer, I was invited by MomTrends to a CAbi Style Suite where we got to try on a sampling of the new fall line. Needless to say loved every piece. I tried on a sweater right next to my friend Julie who is the polar opposite body type of mine. We both loved it and while it looked totally different on each of us, it was flattering none the less on both. The best part was the stylist showed me another way to put it on that transformed it from a long cardigan to a cute-cropped cowl-neck sweater. That’s CAbi-always versatile and full of surprises.

See? Real Women Wear CAbi. Like I said, Traveling Pants.

To find your very own Traveling Pants outfit, go to the CAbi website and find a stylist for your very own trunk show. If you’re lucky and live near the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, you can get CAbi clothes at a discount. It’s all last year’s styles, but some of the timeless stuff is classic no matter when you buy it so it’s worth the trip. Not too shabby, I say.

Disclosure: I was invited to preview the CAbi line at a party where I was gifted the shadow sweater and jacket. All opinions expressed here are my own.