Having spent a lot of time in bathing suits and leotards, the thought of the flexible give and take of spandex was appealing when I ordered my Sally Mack cotton and spandex (two percent) jacket from Storybook Heirlooms.

If you haven't heard of Storybook Heirlooms, it's one of those wonderful websites with professional photos, a catalog, and a great search engine that allows you to search by size as well as type of clothing. Unfortunately, it's also going the way of the dodo — no new items seem to be displayed, so I must conclude that the going-out-of-business rumor is true. This site is just selling out its stocked items before closing down. What a shame. I thought this might even be the perfect place to buy a wedding dress some day.

The jacket in question was in my favorite color, purple. The website described it thusly:

Contrast Stitch Blazer

A terrific twill blazer with floral print lining. Notch collar, welt pockets with flaps, 4-button front, 3-button cuffs, and center back flap with 2 buttons. Oh-so versatile. By Sally Mack.™ Substantial, soft cotton-spandex. Machine wash. Imported. Eggplant. Regular retail price was $59.00. 

The lining is a cute cotton floral pattern that seems totally out of sync with the fashion statement in the photo. The background color does match the eggplant of the jacket, but the bright pink, blue, and white flowers do not. Think country western. It also doesn't lie as flat as one would want. This is probably because it has no spandex content and can't stretch as much as the rest of the jacket.

The problem with the cotton spandex material for the jacket is that the jacket gets old fast. What do I mean by this? The ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the jacket show considerable wear although the jacket hasn't been worn much.

I'm guessing that's the spandex giving up the ghost and the threads fraying. So this jacket isn't a great deal at $59 or even $25 unless this is really for a 12-year-old girl who won't wear it longer than a season, outgrow it, and give it up to charity. I have the same problem with old leotards and swimsuits, but those both lasted longer than a season and the swimsuits were battling the effects of chlorine.

What I'm hoping to do to cover up this problem is use some faux fur trim to cover it up — just another one of those sewing and repair projects piling up at my house.

I've made other purchases from Storybook Heirlooms and bought items made by Sally Mack that I'm much better pleased with, so this isn't particularly a negative review of the brand.