During one of my regular strolls on the J.Crew website recently, I noticed that they were offering a Chashmere Care Kit (Item 83762) for $15. At first, my reaction was that the price is ridiculously high for just a "cashmere comb to remove natural pilling, a naturally aromatic cedar ball to repel moths, and an attractive cotton storage pouch that ties neatly closed". (I am pretty sure I could go to Target and pick up the same items for less than $4.)My second reaction was that I found the note that comes with the kit a bit funny. The note (that J.Crew thought was worthy of its own image) reads: "Enjoy your J.Crew Cashmere... What is the lifespan of cashmere? A lifetime-with proper care and attention."
A "lifetime" may be an optimistic view of the duration for J.Crew cashmere to last. Many of us have discussed J.Crew Cashmere throughout this blog (including the "J. Crew's Cashmere: Is it for me?" post) and how the cashmere's quality isn't as good as it should be (e.g. it easily pills).I personally think this little kit should really come free with any cashmere purchase made at J.Crew. Especially considering how expensive J.Crew sells their cashmere for (even on sale).
What do you think of J.Crew's Cashmere Care Kit? Would you consider buying it? Do you own it (and if so, do you think the price is worth it)?
I think it is nice they offer this kit but I wouldn't pay full price for it. I bought a little comb exactly like this for a dollar or two at most last winter and it works great! I replaced one that I bought 15 years ago. It still worked but I wanted another "newer" one.
ReplyDeleteThis item strikes me as more being meant to give as a gift with a cashmere sweater. I am surprised they didn't wait to come out with it in the fall.
ReplyDeleteI'd buy it maybe for $5, but no more.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would purchase this for $15...like candid engineer said...$5 is more like it. I also don't forsee my J.Crew Cashmere lasting for a lifetime...it's just not that great of quality...glad I didn't pay full price. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with the $5 crowd. It would be a nice addition with a gift of a sweater, but the $15 seems a bit much. And really, like you mentioned in your post, you could probably get all of this at Target for much less.
ReplyDeleteAlexis: I 100% agree with you. First of all the mark-up is ridiculous! And I also wish that their cashmere withstood the test of time a little longer. Personally, I have only bought the cashmere turtlenecks... but one got so stretched out after only 2 winters (granted I did wear it about 3 times a week) that I had to chuck it.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, a little cashmere comb wont help the stretch issue and that comb can be bought anywhere... who cares if it comes in a little pouch or not, frankly (I say this only as a complete neat freak) the little pouches just make things harder and messier to store. I would probably chuck the pouch.
Also: my bf was sick yesterday but he has read the blog, but I am still working on getting him to post.
P.S. FFM I never pay full price for their cashmere either... THE MOST I will pay for it is 25% or more of a mark down off of the sale price.
ReplyDeleteI have three Jcrew cashmere sweaters. They fit great, the colour is good, but they do pill easily.
ReplyDeleteThe kit would be nice to have, maybe it should be a gift with the sweater. But I wouldn't pay $15.
Compared to other cashmere I have the Jcrew sweaters aren't as high quality. Maybe it's the yard used, as the sweaters keep their shape and wash well.
Add me to the group that refuses to pay FP for J Crew's cashmere. Even their "most luxurious" isn't as substantial as the cashmere that I have purchased elsewhere. I too think that this little "cashmere care bag" should be included with purchase.
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but FFM, I have the Fiona jacket in a 2P. I thought that the 4P was a bit boxy on me. I got it in Papaya, but now wish that I had gotten a color that was more transitional (i.e. flax or navy).
Guy in Canada: I am so envious of you. Guys get the cotton cashmere blend sweaters. Those are actually a great sweaters! I get those for my boyfriend all the time and he loves them. I wish they made that fabric for women, especially in winter! I would buy 70 of everything!
ReplyDeleteI think I also feel this way because most wools are too itchy for me and I cant wear them. So the cotton, featherweight merino and cashmere are pretty much all I buy. :(
But I would still love a cotton cashmere blend to come out for the fall/winter!!! That would make my YEAR. You basically get a similar feeling to cashmere for less and I could buy more because they are less expensive.
I looked at Target for a sweater comb and couldn't find one. I have been trying for years to find a comb. Anonymous at 8:12, where did you find your sweater comb? I was seriously looking at the J. Crew sweater comb. I feel a little silly now with all your comments. If anyone can tell me where to find an alternative then I probably won't purchase the J. Crew one. I have heard that no matter what quality, cashmere pills.
ReplyDeleteoff topic, does anyone have any experience with the logan pant? specifically bright yellow? is the color too obnoxious?
ReplyDeleteYou can find a sweater comb at fabric/craft stores. They are very inexpensive!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to play devil's advocate and say that I really like jcrew cashmere. I like that it is of a lighterweight, so that it looks sleeker and less bulky on. I also love the plethora of color choices. Especially the bright colors that you can't get in sweaters at department stores.
ReplyDeleteI have alot of cashmere from other places (esp. Nordstrom) and it all pills. That's just an unfortunate side effect. With dry cleaning it maintains shape and color for a long time.
I was quite surprised to find this being sold on the website since I had gotten mine free at a B&M store about 3 or 4 years ago. A bunch of them (in the pouch) were in those glass jars at the register, and I asked the sales associate what they were. She told me that they were cashmere kits and even showed me how to use them. Then, she told me to go ahead and get one! I still have it.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to where you all buy cashmere...sounds like I'm missing out on really good quality cashmere!
I have the cashmere boatneck (and another on the way, eventually) and yes, it does pill a bit underneath the armpits, but it's holding up fine so far.
ReplyDeleteI won't pay more than $70 for jcrew cashmere. I've gotten higher quality cashmere at places like Macy's and Nordstrom.
I get rid of pilling with a lint shaver I got from jo-ann fabrics for $9. When I was younger, I remember my mom had a lint comb called d-fuzz-it, which worked ok for something non-mechanical. I worry about using combs because I don't want to stretch out the fabric.
What I do like about jcrew cashmere is that they fit me far better than anything I have found at department stores. Even the petite sdoesn't fit right. So, I do appreciate that jcrew's cashmere flatters my small frame without looking frumpy.
ReplyDeletej.h., you can get one from Drugstore.com for about $2.50. It's called the Evercare D-Fuzz-It Sweater and Fabric Comb :)
ReplyDeleteE&S's momma: I tend to buy cashmere at the Cashmere store. I also do Saks or Bloomies... The Lord and Taylor here in NYC also has great deals on cahsmere after x-mas. In fact out of the big dept stores in NYC they always have the best sales because NO TOURISTS go there because you really do have to hike from all subways in order to get there. Its not like Macys (which has gotten very tacky lately and I dont go there any more) saks, or bloomies which are all easy to get to.
ReplyDeleteThanks, blumre!
ReplyDelete*putting down Cashmere store as essential stop on next trip to NY*
=)
Neiman Marcus has some really sweet sales on their cashmere after Christmas as well! :)
ReplyDeleteFor people in the Boston area, I remember there used to be a cashmere store on Newbury St... Best of Scotland Outlet or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThis is a little off-topic (still cashmere-related though! - sorry Alexis!), but has anyone heard of or bought from Pure Cashmere? I receive a catalog from them every once in a while, and there items look really nice!
ReplyDeleteThanks, jcrewjunkie and heather for the cashmere shopping tips!
j.h. - You can even get sweater combs at CVS for $1.99. They come in a cute pink box too. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought a cashmere wrap sweater on clearance from Saks a few years back, and it is super soft, very light, and has not pilled a single bit. :) I haven't experienced J.Crew cashmere, though, so I can't make a comparison!
I also would like to put in my 2c and say how much i LOVE my jcrew cashmere sweaters. They do pill, but don't all cashmere sweaters? I have the basic wool shaver which i got for $2.50 at local drycleaners and it works fine. The problem with other brands sweaters is that they just dont fit as well: i like my sweaters fit perfectly, kinda hug my body and other brands just don't do it. I also never had problem with jcrew cashmere sweaters stretching and I own like 10 of them. I only get them dry-cleaned. So I am suspecting that people complaining about stretching just don't care for their sweaters properly.
ReplyDeleteBtw, my boyfriend is now hooked on jcrew cashmere too. Hot got 2 sweaters and he loves them.
I have TONS (like 20+ sweaters, cardigans, etc) of J Crew cashmere, and while it IS very nice (if it wasn't I would buy so much of it...lol) I do not personally think that is holds up as well as some of the other cashmere sweaters that I own. I always get my cashmere drycleaned, so I don't think that is the problem maybe it is the way I hang/store it. Now this is just MY experience and I am nothing more than a happy cashmere consumer. I don't honestly even know where cashmere comes from (well, a goat in Italy, I do know that since it says right on the label Italian cashmere) or how it is supposed to look after years of usage....I just love to wear it. As for the colors, I totally agree that J Crew has the BEST selection bar none!
ReplyDeleteI bought this kit a few years ago when they were offering it, but I don't think I paid $15 for it. I have used the comb a lot, (the bag and cedar ball are pretty worthless) and it has really helped me maintain my sweater collection. My comb, however, has a bit of a gap between the last tooth and the plastic frame, and sometimes that last tooth actually snags the sweater and causes a pull in the knit, so I need to use it carefully. While I highly recommend a comb for your sweaters, I'm not sure I would recommend this one.
ReplyDeleteI thought that handwashing cashmere was the best way to clean it. Is handwashing bad because it stretches the sweater? Is dry cleaning better?
ReplyDeleteIf you look closely at the picture of the comb, you can see the gap I'm talking about. For those of you that have combs for other stores, do you have a gap like that in your combs?
ReplyDeletenote: i'm typing one-handed (all lowercase) because I'm feeding baby C a bottle. i'm not trying to be cool or poetic (i am neither).
ReplyDeletei was reading this board/blog last night and my husband asked what was so interesting. i read him some of the stuff about hiding boxes. today he walked in at noon????!!!! (very unusual) and brought in my package from Olive Juice (I haven't bought anything from j.crew lately). he commented that i hadn't hid the package well. (i was just about to go outside and check. i hadn't heard the ups guy.)
i can't wear cashmere, even that is too itchy for me. i'm an itchy mess. i bought some from lord & taylor 9 or 10 years ago. wore it a few times but couldn't handle it. (someone was saying they liked j.crew cashmere because of the fit. mine (l&t) was a basic twinset, but they are updating (l&t), and might have tredier styles now. i never tried cashmere from anywhere else.
I hand wash all my cashmere with a cashmere wash liquid type soap. They look great. I have bought wonderful Lord and Taylor cashmere sweaters at a second hand shop in Chicago. Only had a few pills on them and I combed them right off. It is an older one b/c of the tag design but the quality is fantatic compared to my JCrew ones.....things from the past are just made better.
ReplyDeleteI have several J.Crew cashmere sweaters and I like them, but they do pill very easily, as others have noted. I use a sweater shaver, which works well as long as you are careful (it can make holes if you are too agressive with it). BTW, mild shampoo works very well when hand washing cashmere. J.Crew had announced that it is getting its cashmere from the same Italian factory that supplies Loro Piana. I've never owned a Loro Piana sweater. Does anyone know if the quality is comparable?
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that J.Crew cashmere is overpriced for the quality. I have several pieces over the years but they pills easily and are not as soft as my Tse pieces that though pricey, seem to be worth the price. Somehow, J.Crew's cashmere feels like just wool. Even scratchy.
ReplyDeleteI have only one loro piana sweater, so I can't generalize. I find this piece to be more comparable in quality to Tse than J.Crew :)
ReplyDeleteAnother contributor here was raving about Tse. Maybe it's worth trying it. Those pills are a pain!
ReplyDeletemekiki: aww a baby! know how it feels:)
ReplyDeleteokay, i have three cashmere sweaters from j crew (all cardigans). one is in navy that i bought in 2006, still holds up. the next two were from last season and they are argyle cardigans, one is green with purple pattern and the other is orange with ivory pattern. i bought all three in small, because i knew it would shrink when i washed them. i use cold water and woolite when washing and lay flat to dry. the color still looks great as well as the shape. as for pilling, yeah, especially for me if i am wearing something like a belt or carrying a backpack.
ReplyDeleteTse rocks the cashmere world IMHO. Still, I am the queen of J Crew cashmere because I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the girly colors that they come out with. Sigh.
ReplyDelete20% off prchases of $175 thru friday july 11th with code : SALEJULY
ReplyDeleteah! purchases
ReplyDeletewhat 20% of 175 or more.. eh I will just shop in the stores. With this sale I probably wouldn't spend 175 at one time anyway... Oh wait no I did but it was in stores and it was a celebration of a new job (1st post grad school job) and my first pay check! But I can never afford paying that much at one time anyway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the coupon code...although I think I will save my money for fall at this point..20% is better than nothing but 25 or even 30 would really mean much more after all this...blankety blank blank:)
ReplyDeleteTo answer all of the cleaning/care/pilling questions: Cashmere should be hand washed, not dry cleaned. All natural fibers pill. Pilling is caused by rubbing and dirt. The Loro Piana yarn that J.crew uses has longer fibers so it will pill less in the long run than cheaper sweaters.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't just J. Crew's cashmere that pills, it is the wool too. My husband has wool crew necks that pill after a couple of wearings. My cashmere hoodie is a mess! I have a cashmere l/s t-shirt form Lands End, and it has held up much better. Pricing is similar. Though, beyond the tee, I prefer J. Crew styles. We use a sweater shave. My husband shaves his face, then his J. Crew Sweater for the day.
ReplyDeleteback to caring for cashmere, do you hand wash yours in a sink, or do you run your "hand wash" cycle in your washing machine? thanks
ReplyDeletekellyg; I tend to handwash in a plastic dish pan just for handwashing only. I have also used the handwashing cycle on my new machine as it is a front loader and has a Woolmark approved cycle.
ReplyDeleteI am the one who raved earlier about TSE cashmere. I have white/pink trim TSE hoodie from5!!! years ago.Did not pill,did not fade, did not stretch. I own 2cashmere tees, 1 cashmere shrunken cardigan,2 cashmere turtlenecks, 2cashmere argyle sweaters and couple of shells from J Crew- I like them a lot: hard to beat great shape, color, fit, and softness,BUT.. The quality is just NOT the same as for TSE cashmere. I also have Donna Karan collection cashmere and one from Ann Klein, they are better in terms of yarn quality as well.
ReplyDeleteBottom line;I buy my J crew cashmere deeply discounted and will gladly continue to do so. I have a small electric sweater shaver and use it carefully to remove pills. I handwash my cashmere in a sink using environmentally safe delicate detergent and lay flat to dry.
Try using Eucalan or another soap like SOAK from a handknitting store. The quality of those far surpasses the ones you can get from the grocery store or Target, IMHO. Some of them are no-rinse, which is a bit strange--you soak your sweater, then squeeze out the water and dry flat without rinsing. (I usually rinse a little bit anyways!)
ReplyDelete