A big "thanks!" to Maggie May who shared with us J.Crew's latest email (shown above) announcing their Fall Sale at J.Crew Factory stores. They are offering up to 40% off outerwear, sweaters, and other items. This offer is good from 10/8/08 through 10/15/08.Have you been to a J.Crew factory store recently? If so, are there any great items (or deals) that you could share with us?
i got a blair sweater dress look-alike in black (they have charcoal too) for 40% off 88.00 about a month ago. It came to $52.80. I never saw the Originals last year, so I cant compare, but it seems pretty nice to me! I am not going wear it that often anyway. Looks great with boots!
ReplyDeleteI was just at the factory store 2 weeks ago and they were having great sales. I got the Ava jacket in green for $90. Its super cute and very warm and looks and feels just like the version they had at the regular store.
ReplyDeleteI just walked in the door from a trip to my local Crew Outlet. I found a slew of Outlet Bella jackets (in both wool herringbone and velvet.) Sadly, none of the elusive herringbone in Azalea, but I did pick up the wool herringbone in the Pumpkin Charcoal. I also got a Felted Wool Adrian Skirt (which is a pencil skirt that is nothing special but is nice enough.) I also picked up a Metallic Leather Box clutch.
ReplyDeleteThe outlet also had tons of five-pocket cords, some trouser cords, tissue tees, suiting skirts and pants with some jackets, and a good supply of cashmere cardigans will full-length sleeves. I only saw a couple of handbags that were some strange dark-greenish color in what was supposed to look like pony hair, I think. (Ick.) I saw a few jackets that looked like Jacindas, tons of ribbed tanks and a table or graphic t's (I noticed the crest tees in white and in grey.) There were short peacoats in red, yellow and either dark blue or black and some winter wool coats - single breasted wool-blends. Some trench-style with belts. I saw no double-cloth coats there. (I wasn't looking carefully, though, as I already have a wool Tuesday Trench and the Lady Day.) No new jewelry or belts, no new loungewear. A few long slubby scarves
If you are looking for a Bella, they had a good selection of color and size in both fabrics. This outlet is in Kittery, Maine, and thei phone number is (207) 439-5810.
Have fun shopping!
FSW
Congratulations on all your purchases FSW, and thanks for the info, too! :)
ReplyDeleteI was at an outlet store today in north Georgia. They had some great fall pants, mostly favorite fit, wool with full lining. They had Bella jackets in courderoy, herringbone and velvet. They even had some charcoal Fiona (herringbone) jackets for $169. All of them were 40% off.
ReplyDeleteI got a long sleeve dream knit Emily sweater in eggplant for $40, and a cute bateau neck argyle sleevless sweater with tie (from last fall's catalog!) They also had lots of cardigans, winter coats and fall skirts. Lots of summer clearance. The sales girl said they were expecting new holiday merchandise next week!
Is the quality of the factory pieces any different than in-store pieces?
ReplyDeleteEliz.
I noticed some subtle differences on a few things, but overall I did not see a big difference. However, aside from today,I have not bought from an outlet store in at least a year. Other people who shop outlet stores more often may have a different opinion.
ReplyDeleteI also went to the outlet store here near King of Prussia PA for the first time and it was great! I got the Bella jacket in black since I completely missed out on that last year. They do have a good selection I think.
ReplyDeleteI went yesterday...they had a lot of Jackie cardis at great prices...I bought a purple button up with tiny white dots which looks identical to a shirt in retail stores currently-I think the % cotton varies but it looks almost exactly the same!
ReplyDeleteI hit the outlet this weekend. I rarely go to one as the closest is several hours away. But we were happened to be there so of course I had to go!
ReplyDeleteI thought they had a lot of great stuff....Bellas, Velvet jackets, suiting, outerwear, cardis, jeans.
I picked up a tulip sleeve jacket, brown tweed dress pants and several 3/4 sleeve tops. Hubby scored lots of goodies too!
I've never been to a J. Crew factory store. Do this sell discounted J. Crew items left over from last season? Or is it like some other Brand Factory stores that sell second rate items that never made it to the retail stores?
ReplyDeleteJcrew dude: In my experience, its a little of both. I saw stuff today that was straight from the retail store and other stuff that was similar, but not as fabulous.
ReplyDeleteEven though I live about 10 minutes from a factory store, I have sworn off going anymore because I am always so disappointed. IMO, the prices are't that much better/different than jcrew, especially with the lack of quality I see. My store never seems to be having decent sales. Also the sizing seems a bit off...sizes that fit me perfectly at regular jcrew are waay off in factory stores, esp. jeans and dresses. But that's AWESOME for everyone else who finds such great deals and cute stuff...I've just never had a good experience. Sad, since it's my nearest potential jcrew opportunity :(
ReplyDeleteLet me elaborate: the prices aren't different for the MEDIAN of jcrew's items. Obviously, they are much better than the collection and certain overpriced items :) But I always feel that I get better stuff with jcrew's sale items versus jcrew factory items.
ReplyDeleteJ.CREW = Target
ReplyDeleteJ.CREW OUTLET = Walmart
Both have clothes that will keep you stylish and warm. Different prices, different quality, and certainly different people working in retail vs outlet.
Some of the pieces at J Crew outlet has worse fabric than the original version at the retail, but others are not.
ReplyDeleteThe wool bellas are really similar to the original, but the velvet version is not.
The dani peacoat fabric is much inferior at the outlet than the original. I don't notice much difference between the cafe capri from outlet versus last year's version at retail. Basic stuff like favorite t and tanks are reallhy pretty similar.
They don't have the bella in azalea at the outlet, btw. Never did.
I heard there will be new store markdowns tomorrow. Not sure how much or which items. Also not sure if that will translate to new website markdowns.
ReplyDeleteAnon@9:46, have you ever looked at the clothes at Target or Wal-Mart? They are terrible! Not even close to J. Crew outlet or retail.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you meant to say
outlet:retail::Wal-Mart:Target.
Thanks anon, yes, that's what I meant. I know a lot of people where chatting about Target vs Walmart earlier.
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarifying! :P
I got a bella jacket in corduroy at the outlet for around $50... I'm not sure what color it is because sometimes it looks more maroon and sometimes it looks like a magenta purple. I wouldn't have payed full outlet price for it but half off is more reasonable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the analogy of Jcrew/ Jcrew outlet to target/walmart. Many target clothes have good quality and style. Target items of the go international brands and the brand of mossimo are nice.
ReplyDeleteWe have different sensibility to quality and styles. In my opinion, the quality of outlet items isn't as good as jcrew items. However, their prices aren't necessarily lower than the onsale prices of jcrew items. Earlier this year, before any additional discount, velvet bella was on sale at 49.99, wool bella was 69.99, and lexington was 79.99. Outlet bellas and lexington are at prices a lot higher. I suspect even going into thanksgiving, their prices won't be as low as the lowest prices I have seen earlier this year. Therefore, I would rather buy items at the end of a season.
I was in a JC outlet recently and thought the quality of construction and fabric on many pieces was atrocious. Think j.crew styles made with obviously cheap, insubstantial farics. Really made me appreciate real JC fabrics a lot more.
ReplyDeleteThis info is from an email I received from Chelsea Premium Outlets:
ReplyDeleteJ.Crew
Oct 9 - 15
Columbus Day Weekend Fall Sale
30%-50% off all sweaters
30%- 50% off all shirts
$24.99-$29.99 all chino and corduroy pants
20% off all cold weather accessories
*prices as marked
I'll probably check out the sale over the weekend.
Just a heads up-- the favorite-fit (NOT STRETCH) bootcut cords are $29.99 in store! They don't fit me quite right (I'm a little too curvy in the hips), but they are a fantastic steal. I think sometimes you can see a bit of quality difference in the outlets, but generally things are pretty comparable. The outlets tend to stock plainer, more classic items (rather than one-season trends). For example, there are long sleeve tissue tees for $11.70 after discount/sale. My biggest qualm is that there are no shoes other than flip flops-- at least at my local outlets (2 in Central PA).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info re: $29.99 cords. Do you know if they came in a dark gray color? I'm not crazy about the faded cement color currently in the regular J Crew stores.
ReplyDelete