The results of the last poll are in and it seems that the category of items most often purchased from J.Crew is "Sweaters". "Knits & Tees" was a distant second, with "Shirts & Tops" close by as third.I find the results of the poll super-interesting. Most of the comments made on this blog about quality, have been about the lack thereof, with J.Crew sweaters & tops. In particular, many Aficionadas have mentioned that the quality of J.Crew's cashmere has not been the same as in past years. There has also been some comments about the durability of their sweaters & tops (e.g. not lasting after a washing or two, lack of proper stitching).
So this got me thinking... Which of J.Crew sweaters (& tops) would you consider a good wardrobe investment? Which sweaters (& tops) would you recommend avoiding? If you could bring back a sweater (from a previous season), which one? What are some of the reasons behind your selection? :)
My two favorite sweaters are the dream ruffle cardigan with jewel
ReplyDeletebuttons and the ruffle neck cardigan, both purchased in the past year.
I can wear them with jeans and a tee on the weekend or with nice pants to work.
I hand wash them and lay them flat to dry. There's been a small amount of pilling that is easily removed by hand. No quality problems whatsoever.
Just posted a comment in the wrong section!
ReplyDeleteAnother reason I love these sweaters is that they are shorter in length. I am short, 5'2 1/2" and many sweaters (and tees) are way too long.
J Crew used to make sweaters in petite sizes and I wish they would start doing that again.
I love my cashmere heirloom henleys from this past season. They pill a little bit, but not as much as the dream yarn or cambridge cables. I handwash and lay flat to dry. I hope they bring back the ruffle neck cardi!!
ReplyDeleteI used to love JCrew sweaters but have had too many quality issues with them in the past year...crooked shoulder seam on a full priced cashmere sweater, another cashmere sweater (full priced as well) with a hole in it, mint cashmere cardigan with black and gray threads sewn into the front...I could go on and on...JCrew sweaters are no longer my favorite. The cotton ones this year are so thin. I saw several in the stores with holes along the shoulder seam as well.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so negative but these are the facts and I am just disappointed in JCrew right now.
None, most of my J Crew sweaters have ended up in the Goodwill bag after wearing 1 season, either they have holes because they are too thin, or they pill and look like a rag (cashmere). (Please note I also hand wash them and hang to dry)
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the sweater category won based on the popularity of cardigans this year. I only own 2 regular sweaters (1 cashmere, 1 cotton v-neck) and they're alright, but I only bought them because they were on sale. I have had great luck with their cardis though-so far!
ReplyDeleteI love the Wellesley cable knit cardigans from 2007. I have three of them. I've hand washed them and they still look great. No problems with pilling or stretching. The fit is perfect as is the length. The style is classic too (no beading, no chiffon, etc). I plan on wearing them for many years.
ReplyDeleteI am not exaggerating when I say that I own between 50-65 sweaters (what can I say? I'm from the northeast), and the majority are jcrew. And yes, I am one of those who laments the decline in quality of jcrew's sweaters. I did, however, like the dream sweaters, with which others seemed to have problems. My shoulder button sweaters have pilled, but I just shave them off with a sweater shaver/d-fuzzit.
ReplyDeleteI like the cambridge cabelknit, but they have gotten thinner; I prefer a slightly thicker gauge. I miss the shetland wool blends; they were warm and durable and in the last years they were sold (04? 05?), were more form fitting, in updated styles and vibrant colors. I also liked the bateau neck cashmere sweater, and luckily have not had any problems with those.
The sweater jackets are pretty good quality and not so trendy that you can't wear them in going forward, but I don't think they are worth a $100 price tag (I would say $59-89 is a fair range). My favorites that get a lot of use are the Candace and the Katie (striped). The Academy cashmere cardigan (black/grey) is probably the best cardigan jcrew has produced in the last few years.
I handwash all my jcrew sweaters with woolite, and if it still seems like something I don't want to mess with, I dryell them.
oh, and the men's sweaters are nice, too! My boyfriend likes the (shetland) wool crewnecks, and the cotton cashmere blends.
ReplyDeleteI second Tweetle's picks! I own 7 Wellesley cable v-neck sweaters in different colors -- in fact wearing the purple one right now -- and love all of them. The length is just right, the v-neck flattering but not too low, warm but not bulky, and incredible quality.
ReplyDeleteNone of the other j.crew sweaters I have bought since then (and believe me there were many) come close to the Wellesley.
Today I am wearing a t-neck fine cotton knit sweater in the most gorgeous shade of pink. It has dyed pink shell buttons on the shoulder and a classic fit. It's probably from 2005 or 2006 and I bought one in purple as well. The same year I purchased v-neck sweaters in the same fine knit in the same pink and purple and also a lovely turquoise color. All the older ones have full-length sleeves, which is something we don't see at J.Crew as much anymore.
ReplyDeleteI believe these are all Egyptian cotton and they are my favorite spring sweaters. They have held up well over the years, although hand washed and laid flat to dry each time. I've ordered other cotton sweaters from J.Crew after purchasing these but the only ones that come close are the cotton argyle turquoise and pink ones from last summer, which I have. I would gladly pay full price for more of these sweaters in quality knit cotton and such nice colors. Unfortunately, the newer ones I've tried aren't quite as good quality, the colors are not as nice either.
Have anyone had problems with loose buttons on jackie cardis?
ReplyDeleteIn my case only after two wears, the buttons have gone loose. Bouquet cardis are even worse - after a few try-ons, buttons got loose and need to be reinforced. Back they went.
Anony@11:02
ReplyDeleteLot of button sewing going on at my house with JCrew sweaters.
I just re-sew the buttons on myself.
I had to sew ALL the buttons on a beaded cashmere sweater from JCrew that I paid over $100for a couple of year back.
I wore a new Portland cardigan for the first time last week. By the end of the day, one of the buttons was barely hanging on by a thread. Had to sew it back on and reinforce two of the other buttons. J Crew really needs to do a better job on button sewing. ALL of the buttons on my Jackie cashmere cardigan required reinforcing -- that is how poorly they were attached.
ReplyDeleteI voted for jackets based on my fall/winter purchases--the jackets they were doing these past seasons were really my style. Spring jackets not so much, so now I am focused on sweaters. I'm recently back to buying after maternity, so I haven't had the quality issues others have complained about. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't. Whenever I've been in the B&M I've thought the spring/summer sweaters didn't look like they were very good quality. But I'm a fall/winter gal at heart.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites by far are the printed cardigans. They are so unusual and instantly add class to a very simple outfit. In particular I have loved the animal and graphic prints. I can buy a solid color sweater anywhere, but I can always depend on JCrew to come out with a screen print cardi that I HAVE to have!
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:44 and Anon 12:39 -
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your button-reinforcing tricks. Looks like "button sewing" will be an on-going activity over here as well. lol.
I had to reinforce/resew buttons on winter coats but that's after heavy use. This spring's sweaters (or buttons on them) leave much to be desired.
Anon 11:02
i think the problem is though j.crew's sweaters aren't of impeccable quality, the styles and colors of their cardigans are SO freaking cute that i can't resist buying them. i have a ton of cardigans and probably 50% of them are from jcrew (the other half are from anthro mostly). since i have so many i can rotate through them and don't wear them too many times in a row so the wear and pilling they get isn't as noticiable...i have noticed that the necks of all my ruffle cardigans immediately tore though and that made me quite sad :/
ReplyDeleteCashmere T's are great but I hand wash them.
ReplyDeleteI think the cashmere-cotton or cashmere other blends though become a problem. I bought cashmere-wool blend sweaters two seasons ago and they were a mess.
goldenmeans: I agree! I cannot resist J Crew cardigans and any sort of printed or patterned sweater. Now I am addicted to the tees, too. I shouldn't buy any more and then a new rollout of merch and there I am buying more! Last week I was stitching up the sleeve of a brand new mendhi print t-shirt. Hadn't even taken the tags off yet and the sleeve was falling apart. But it was the last one in my size at the store and I had to have it. I'm such a sucker for J Crew!
ReplyDeleteThose of you who like printed cardigans might want to check out Garnet Hill. They have a lot of really unusual prints in cotton and merino wool.
ReplyDeleteFree shipping both ways on exchanges.
They also have reviews onsite to give you an idea of quality and fit.
www.garnethill.com
Colorful cotton cardigan 17964
Modern merino cardigan 11488
Tropical sweater 11680
Embroidered pima cardigan 12993
Anony @ 8:30 thank you so much for the Garnet Hill link. I ordered the Colorful Cotton Cardigan in the poppy print and the Tropical Sweater in pink Gorgeous sweaters!
ReplyDeleteI voted for the jackets. I like the sweaters, but like many here, have been very disappointed by the quality of cashmere and how thin the knits have been lately. I have a merino wool J Crew sweater from 11 yrs ago (honest!) that I throw in the washer then dry flat, and it hardly has any pilling at all! Since it's such an old sweater, I no longer baby it, but it's held up much better & looks newer than my merino wool Lea sweaters bought last fall.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Anon 9:35. I hope they work out for you!
ReplyDeleteI am eying that colorful cotton cardigan in the poppy myself. I've seen more pictures of it besides what they show on the website and it just looks lovely.
But I already have WAY too many sweaters!!
Anon 8:30 pm
I have been buying the cable knit cardigans for years. I have noticed that over the years, the knit has gotten thiner and thiner. This past year, I thought the knit was really too stretchy and the fit is kind of akward.
ReplyDeleteI find that the merino wool sweaters pill the least and last a long time, but they do lack the cozzyness of the cashmere.
Also, where has the cowl neck sweater gone? I wish they would bring it back.
My favorites are the merino wool Tnecks, Lea, Portland, Michelle and button cuffs. I have not had any issues with pilling or buttons falling off. I love that most can be worn every season if weather permits.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite is the latest Jackie. The cardigan is too short and the shell is extra long.
I wash my sweaters on the short cycle, in cold water and lay them flat to dry.
I like the favorite tees and think they are very durable. The tissue tee is too thin for my liking. I do like the slub material tees. I also love the thin thermal henleys because they are comfy and wash well.
Hello! I stumbled across this site in the midst of a search for two very important items. . I am getting married in August and my whole wedding party is done in Jcrew. . one of my bridesmaids failed to order her dress which happened to be on sale. . and now to much dismay they are sold out. . if anyone could help I need NEED NEED the ****silk twill pleated halter dress in champagne ( item 99822) any size!! and also the j crew daniela satin flats/bridal ivory sz 8.5 or 8 ****. . .if anyone could help that would be great! My email is Casshofer@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteCassandra, there is a size 6 in the dress you are looking for on the website right now:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/
WomenBrowse/Women_Feature_Assortment/
catalogjcrewcomexclusives/dresses/
PRDOVR~99822/99101601283/99822.jsp
Oh, I miss the old JCrew cashmere. I confess I have MANY JCrew cashmere sweaters, but these days I only buy the higher gauge ones (3 or less), which do not seem to pill as bad as the 12 gauge ones (which are a mess after a few wearings). I am very careful with my clothing, de-pill and brush all my sweaters daily after wearing them, and hand wash them and lay them flat to dry after a few wearings. So obbviously the cashmere quality has declined. OT, I don't have that problem with other Scottish cashmere sweaters that I own (they are tightly knit, have not pilled in 15+ years!), or with Lands' End cashmere.
ReplyDelete