Back in college, Cupcakes and Cashmere was the first blog I really fell in love with — and Emily Schuman was one of my first internet girl-crushes.
Though my fashion sense was dramatically different from Emily's, I loved her blog just the same. Her attention to detail, commitment to her aesthetic, and warm personality — with just a hint of business bitch — kept me coming back.
A lot has changed in the 12 years since I was obsessing over Emily's blog in my dorm room, but even though I remain a Goth Queen, I still not-so-secretly love C&C.
And I'm not the only one. It turns out that Revelist's producer, Brittany Fowler, is ALSO a longtime Cupcakes and Cashmere fan. "I started following Emily's blog in high school," she told me. "I LOVED (and still love!) her style!"
So when we heard that there is now a Cupcakes and Cashmere clothing line AND online store, we knew — as longtime Emily Schuman stans — that we had to try it out.
The Cupcakes and Cashmere store carries a lot of the C&C clothing line, as well as Emily's curated picks from other brands. How would our favorite style blogger's clothing line measure up?
We bought up everything to find out.
Though we both love Cupcakes and Cashmere, we're the first to admit that our respective styles are pretty far from the C&C ideal.
Brittany gravitates toward casual, athleisure-inspired looks in her daily fashion life, while I never met a shapeless black sack I didn't buy. But when you love a style blogger, you take some style risks — so inspired by our mutual love of Emily, we shopped anyway.
We started out slow — by picking a Cupcakes and Cashmere outfit that best adhered to our personal styles. Which was SHOCKINGLY easy.
I was expecting everything to be very preppy, very office-lady-who-loves-blazers… but the line contained a number of edgier pieces (for me) and laid-back styles (for B). Unfortunately, the Cupcakes and Cashmere store was sold out of a lot of the things we really wanted to try, like this dress.
But we made it work.
Brittany's first outfit was a super-easy blue and white shirt dress. "As someone who wears predominately athletic wear, I looked forward to slipping into something a little more polished, but just as comfortable."
Brittany is wearing the Stelle shirtdress ($105, Nordstrom) in size extra small. "I really liked this, even though I felt like I was in a nightgown at first," said Brittany. "The material was light and airy — perfect for summer. I planned to style this with sneakers, but after putting it on I wanted to go a little fancier (yes, platform sandals is fancier in my book)."
But while the material itself was sheer, B didn't feel like her underwear was on display. "The dress has a built-in white slip, so I didn't feel exposed in the slightest."
The slip DID attach to the shirt dress with snaps in the back, which seemed a little needlessly complicated — "But maybe that's normal and I just don't wear slips very often."
"The quality of this dress was great for the price. I liked the little pockets on the boobs," said Brittany. "But I kinda wish they were on my hips."
"My only complaint is it was a little tight around my shoulders and upper back — but maybe I'm just too buff for collared shirts."
"Feels like a nightgown, but makes me look polished and put-together — I'd wear this all summer long!"
B gives this dress 3.5 cupcakes out of five — "The .5 is sprinkles."
Meanwhile, I tried on a SUPER-TIGHT sweaterdress... and fell passionately in love.
This is the Betsey bodycon dress ($110, Nordstrom). I'm wearing a size small, which fit like an XS, and I didn't even care. It was SO sexy, as well as being tight but not suffocating. I could stop traffic in this dress.
The neckline was great, it gave me that Jessica Rabbit body I always wanted, and I was in LOVE — but there were just two problems.
First, the off-the-shoulder piece rumpled and kind of restricted my arm movement. But that's OK, because the second issue is HOLY SIDEBOOB BATMAN. The entiiiiiiiiire sides of my tits were out, and I am not super-massive in the chest. If you wear a bra size above a C cup, you might show some nipple. Just a warning.
To deal with my compressed arm situation, I slipped a C&C jacket overtop and immediately felt 40% cooler.
This is the Carlton varsity jacket ($125, Revolve), which must be a crazy bestseller — it's out of stock EVERYWHERE.
Sadly, the jacket wasn't great quality — the material was flimsy, the pockets were placed up really high, and the inside was unlined.
I actually thought the things inside the jacket were INSIDE pockets — but no. It was the guts of the outside pockets, with no lining to hide them. No. Bad.
I would definitely buy this black dress, but the jacket was a no-go for me.
I mean, look at how great that neckline makes my collarbones look. Well done, Emily.
For our next ~lewks~ we both selected outfits that we felt were most representative of Emily's classic, preppy style — and accidentally dressed for the beach.
Spoiler: We REALLY pushed our personal style boundaries here.
Brittany picked up this romper, which she felt epitomized Emily's style — "It's light and airy, with her feminine touch."
It's the Cari romper ($120, Cupcakes and Cashmere) in size XS. And, as Brittany is a bit of a romper expert — "I live in them in summer!" — she was really impressed.
"I started looking for my umbrella drink as soon as I put this romper on my body," she said. "All that was missing was a beach! I was nervous because it's quite revealing, but the material was silky, and it ended up giving me life."
"I was nervous about the totally open back, but your boobs will NOT fly out when you wear it. It DEFINITELY shows off your under-butt… so I wouldn't wear it to the office. The elastic waist band was a little tight around my waist, but going up a size would make the top half too large."
"It DEFINITELY passed the shimmy test — I loved how I felt in this. Emily knows what she's doing when it comes to rompers!"
"I would absolutely wear this again, except next time I'll have an island drink in my hand. Piña coladas anyone? I give this piece 4 cupcakes, because the tight waist band will limit my brunch and umbrella drink consumption."
I, on the other hand, was WAY outside my comfort zone with a neon coral dress. Emily loves bold color and fluttery details, both of which this dress includes.
This is the Tex dress ($105, Cupcakes and Cashmere) and I'm in a size small. Do not adjust your monitors: I am in fact wearing a color.
I really liked the slightly textured material of this dress; it was thick without being heavy, and felt really expensive. I even quite liked the color.
Don't get it twisted — I'm not abandoning my all-black-everything wardrobe to become a Palm Springs person. But it was nice to realize that a color I didn't think I'd look good in actually didn't look horrible on me.
Unfortunately, there was a MASSIVE sizing issue — and it made me feel unexpectedly bad about myself.
What is it about not filling out a dress that makes you feel like a hormonally stressed out teenager? I don't know, but this dress was absolutely massive in the bust.
Seriously, there was enough room in the top for an entire other person. It slipped down, and I showed the world my entire boob. I couldn't have sized down, because then it would have been too tight through the hips. Huge sizing fail.
These outfits made B and I feel like we were going to the fanciest beach-themed prom in all the land.
Even though my right breast is making a break for it, we did look cute.
Finally, B and I took the BIGGEST risk of all — and each picked an outfit for the other one. A true test of both fashion and friendship.
Here we are, both pretending to pose like Emily. B is nailing it; I need some help.
Brittany is in my pick — a wide-leg chambray jumpsuit that I knew she'd absolutely SLAY in. "I'm new to jumpsuits, and I was a little hesitant when I saw the wide legs," said B. "I feared I couldn't pull off wide legs. But I FELT LIKE A BOSS."
I picked the Deven jumpsuit ($130, Cupcakes and Cashmere) for B, and it was even better than I imagined.
"Where has this pantsuit been all my life? Why am I not living in all wide-leg everything? This jumpsuit confirmed that you don't have to sacrifice style for comfort," said Brittany.
"I only had two issues: The lightweight material wrinkled easily, and it was a little big in the chest."
"I also couldn't wear a bra because of the cutouts in the back, so this was definitely a 'get it tailored' situation."
But those were minor concerns for B. "I liked it so much I'm keeping it," she said. "I can't go back to pre-chambray jumpsuit life, and dammit, I won't."
"I can immediately see myself in my perfect backyard, brunching with mimosa in hand — just like Emily does (in my imagination)."
For me, Brittany picked out — oh god, everyone — a PALE PINK DRESS. "Alle never wears color, and this dress is light, feminine, and pretty — the complete antithesis to Alle's style. I wanted to push her out of her dark comfort zone," she said.
I KNOW, I WAS SCREAMING, TOO. This is the lace Summers dress ($145, Cupcakes and Cashmere) in a size small.
Even though this dress was 100% not my style, it was well-made — fully lined, with really beautiful, detailed lace over the entire body.
My only issue with it, other than it not being black, was that it was slightly see-through. I was wearing a dark bra, and in sunlight, you could REALLY see that. So flesh-colored everything if you get this, please.
While I can defintely see Emily loving this pale pink dress, it wasn't something I felt confident in. So I added my leather jacket and cool sunglasses and felt WAY more like myself.
Those two additions were all it took to make me feel good about my style again. "And luckily," Brittany told me, "You've mastered the art of unwearing your jacket, so you won't overheat in the sun — but I wouldn't make you wear this again, because your jewelry gets caught in the lace."
Smartass.
Despite a few flaws, B and I were both really impressed by the Cupcakes and Cashmere clothing line. It's awesome when a blog you've loved for so long turns into outfits that live up to your expectations!
While the sizing was a little inconsistent and there's a conspicuous lack of plus-sizes, we both agreed that this is a solid line with a lot of potential.
"I felt like we were shopping in Emily's closet," said Brittany. "The designs were on point and exactly what I expected. Some of the items lacked quality for the price — nothing is exactly cheap — but everything really reflected Emily's upbeat and welcoming personality."
Not only was it a lot of fun to try on clothes created by our ultimate blog crush, it was really fun to do it with a friend. Even though neither of us know Emily, she's been a part of our lives for a long time — and has helped make B and I better friends.
We can't wait to see what Emily — and Cupcakes and Cashmere — will do next. Fingers crossed it includes more black.
