Friday, July 16, 2010

J.Crew Email: Chic hits the beach

"Thanks!" to many of you, including Marisa, Irina, Desert Flower & Marietta, who shared with us the latest email from J.Crew. (I am surprised it wasn't a Crewcuts email!)

The email promotes J.Crew's sweaters for Women (click here to shop online) which totally makes sense to do in the Summertime. I kid, I kid. ;) Actually I use cardigans all the time in the Summer, because the stores & restaurants blast their AC so high that its freezing cold inside.

It also features the Shawl-Collar Côte Cardigan (Item 27770; $118.00). This cardigan is described as:
The quintessential comfy-chic beach sweater—made of chunky cotton, it's long and oversized with a shawl collar, raglan sleeves, high-ribbed trim detail at the cuff and hem and tilted welt pockets (just for fun). We're wearing ours over short, flirty dresses to play with proportion. V-neck. Long sleeves. Hits below hip. Import. Machine wash.
The cardigan is cute. I love the look of a shawl collar. It tends to frame the face and neck beautifully.

However, I can't seem to get over those short shorts in the email's image! Are those legitimately shorts or bathing bottoms? Sure enough, they are the Heathered Cotton Boy Short (Item 27765; $54.00). The model doesn't look like she is going to the beach (honestly, who brings a gorgeous leather bag like that to the beach? You don't. You bring a cute straw or canvas tote that can get wet & sandy). I can see where J.Crew is going with the trend though. So I am going to be uber-trendy and bypass the Boy Swim Shorts. Instead, I will go straight to wearing just my Spanx undergarments with my polo tees and cardigans. ;)

What are your thoughts on the Shawl-Collar Côte Cardigan? Have you tried on or purchased it? If so, please share! :)

21 comments:

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  2. I already have the shawl collar beach cardigan so this is a pass for me.

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  3. I got an e-mail for the minnies, which I already own. I wonder how they decide who gets what e-mail, as if I were in marketing I would have sent me the sweater one!

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  4. This is weird that they're just promoting this sweater now. When I was last in a B&M about ten days ago, this sweater was marked down a lot (though I don't remember the price).

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  5. I think it's overpriced and really nothing special. Odds are that you can find something very similar at another retailer for a lot less $$.

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  6. Alexis, I noticed those "shorts" right away, too! Can't imagine going out of my house in them, unless I was on my way to the pool. :)

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  7. got the cardi email (chunky knits and sand don't mix for me either). Did not get the minnie email. Mentioned to a PS that the fall Lookbook didn't arrive, was told that everyone who was supposed to get one got one. Ooooh, cold. Maybe that's why they want me to buy a sweater.

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  8. So funny, I just got this email now! I wonder why it took my inbox so long! Love these cardis though!

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  9. aren't we supposed to wear the swim bottoms as shorts on the street, not at the beach? just like the luxe tulle swim collection and how we're supposed to wear that as everyday wear as well...

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  10. i agree with FFM too that the shape is relatively simple and probably easy to find elsewhere.

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  11. As I don my parka and hat to walk the dog I wish it was WARM enough to wear even a chunky cardigan. I think this is quite nice but the navy is not on sale yet and white would only stay white until I leave my closet. Lots of other things in the sale section today--some I never even saw at full price?

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  12. Slastena reviewed the Cote cardi with IRL photos in the second half of this post on her About All and Nothing At All blog.

    I received the Minnie pant email in one In box and the Cote cardi email in another In box that I have never used to purchase from J.Crew. Very odd.

    The product emails are becoming very frequent. I wonder how well they drive sales.

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  13. Nay and nay, and I agree, those shorts are criminal. As it is, I'm sporting my bubble skirt today and very conscious of the fact that it's hitting me higher than the skirts I normally wear. (Btw, LOVE the bubble! Have gotten 5 compliments already and it's not yet lunchtime! :-)

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  14. OT-Elaine-
    What color bubble skirt did you get? I ordered a light one and it should arrive today. I'm hoping I don't look more like a sausage than a bubble!

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  15. Just wanted to comment that I think J.Crew, like many, many retailers and designers (just comb through advertisements in any magazine), doesn't aim for practicality when styling their models. It's more about having fun with the clothes, conjuring fantasies and showing off the merchandise (hello ten bracelets at a time). If J.Crew (and everyone else) were to show everyday people cruising the mall, the grocery store and pumping gas in jeans and button downs, I don't think we'd get caught up in the brand. That example is extreme, but I wonder if anyone else understands what I'm saying?

    Basically, even though I obviously wouldn't leave my house in what that model has on, she looks cute, and I'd buy those things because she sells them well in the photo, even if I put them together a bit differently.

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  16. Wow, that DOES look hot, even for Minnesota in the summer. I was thinking about how "hot" (literal) J Crew's line is, and kept thinking the summer stuff would show up. It never did! (I am new to J Crew, still learning). They barely had any? short sleeve cardigans, always 3/4 sleeve. I tried to wear one of the gauze/thin ones today over a dress, and had to carry it with me outside and (especially) make sure it was off in my roasting car. And this is Minnesota! What do the rest of you in more extreme heat think? (Alexis, I HATE how cold stores/restaurants are in the summer! A/C is supposed to keep it room temperature, not meat-locker cold!)

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  17. Whitney, true, good perspective. Think of typical runway clothes, OMG, in terms of practicality. That model is very attractive IMO, I even like the saturated color lip stains they put on her.

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  18. Whitney, I understand your point,but I totally disagree. If JC styled models looking adorable pumping gas or grocery shopping or going to work, wearing practical outfits that were appropriate for normal activities... but looking really cute... I'd be FAR MORE LIKELY to purchase the clothes. Sometimes I see a cute clothing item in the midst of one of their crazy overly layered outfits, but I have no idea how to wear it IRL... so I don't buy it.

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  19. Go Whitney!
    I am at the beach right now and noone, trust me, noone is wearing high heels or jewelry. It is starting to get breezy and there are a few old sweatshirts in view. Unembellished. Straw bags, totes, rubber flip flops, old sneakers. People doing beach things -- dozing eating drinking chasing children throwing sticks for dogs reading oops yes texting. Sunglasses. Life is short. Wear old comfy stuff to the beach and enloy. Oh yeah -- and sunscreen.

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  20. And go Jeanne! So some of us like to look at a site or catatlog and see what we'd be getting, and some prefer whimsey. Couldn't JC accomodate both? Lapels, waistlines, cuffs don't have to be a mystery. (opens another)

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  21. I think straightforward photos are fine for the website, but if you're gonna kill trees and put the Post Office to work, then you better make something whimsical to say the least.

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