Lounge at LOFT on 34th Street

I'll be honest, I don't shop Ann Taylor LOFT. When I first started blogging about stores on 34th Street almost three years ago, I dropped by and tried on clothes. I was unimpressed, and only found a couple hats that I liked.

But you knew there would be a "but." The store has been working on updating their image, and it shows. I'm still not a LOFT girl, but you are if you have a slightly more conservative taste in clothes than the typical New Yorker, and you primarily buy for work and casual weekend wear, you are. And here's a selection of what everyone should drop by LOFT for:


The Lounge collection. Find it in the back of the store by the dressing rooms. This is a small, well-edited lifestyle line that is LOFT with big appeal. I want to feel like this big, cozy, but not-too-slouchy sweater every weekend (sweater $59.50, drawstring sweatshorts $29.50, T-shirt $24.50);



The embellished T-shirts and the hair accessories have great style appeal. It's not often you find unusual headbands in a chain store (not shown here, but also look for the Aztec headbands next to the sequin cluster headbands, below, on a table in the front of the store);










I also recommend the skinny jeans (above and below, $79.50) and the pretty, barely-there summer blouses ($44.50).


















Another great thing about LOFT is their weekend sales. A few weekends ago everything in the store was 40% off, and last weekend jeans were half off. Currently I believe all their sale items are reduced by another 30%. The store also carries Havaianas and a nice selection of sunglasses.


LOFT, 35 W. 34th Street between 5th & 6th Avenues