This is the weekly "J.Crew Reviews {straight from the JCAs}" post, to help each other share our reviews.So if you have recently purchased, or stopped by a J.Crew store to try on an item (or two) from J.Crew, maybe you might be willing to share that information with us in this post.
Also, this request is not just limited to clothes. Please feel free to discuss bags, shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc.
In particular, if you could mention a few of the noteworthy details like fit, size, fabric, and the like— that would be fantastic! Thanks in advance! :)
It's pretty quiet out there this morning. It must be that people are shopping all the pop backs.
ReplyDeletePraying for popback, more likely.
DeleteGot to rant a bit. Has JC learned nothing? New roll out is a mess. So much of it looks ill fitting and sloppy. I'm so over the stripe top/floral skirt. And the jacket/long sleeve top half tucked/jean shorts rolled up....i wore those shorts in the 80's and it's summer - who wears a jacket with shorts and a long sleeve blouse? I'm also tired of the off the shoulders look - one or two tops sure, but there are SO many and it's so trendy (and not that interesting when you realize you need to move your arms!). And who is going to buy all that acrylic jewelry? Gosh I remember when they sold jewelry in 2009 and I wanted it all - it felt special and classy. Sigh. I'm so nostalgic for classic JC.....I really hope Fall brings more return to structure and what I loved about JC and keep looking for.
ReplyDeleteI loved it all back then too, it was a whole lifestyle too aspire to, not any more, its just rehashed high street.
DeleteIt's all very disappointing. The beige sequin dress with the navy ribbons for straps....tell me the entire design team sat in the office and unanimously said "we LOVE it!"....come on! More sequins, feathers, off the shoulder...if I see one more tassel on anything I'm going to go ballistic. The only item I actually opened and looked at was the swim cover up in that pretty tropical wallpaper print. But do I need another swim cover up...no!
DeleteWhere are the knit jersey dresses? (Oh right, on eBay.) Does anybody remember the Sanur dress - it was a skirt or strapless dress (or even swingy strapless top) depending on how you folded it. Same with the interesting knit tops - today I’m wearing the eyelet embroidered tank from Summer 2011 (can’t believe there is still an online pic)… it has visual interest without ruffles and I can actually wear a bra with it. They just seem hell-bent on ignoring what made them great.
DeleteOMG, silver_lining, I just took the eyelet embroidered tank out of my storage bin! I've got the olive color. J Crew needs to go back to what they were great at. There is nothing I want to buy right now other than the new perfect fit tees. I've already purchased all of the colors and only missed out on the red/blue stripe.
DeleteHigh five, shopalot! Mine is a dusky purple color called "baltic blue". I didn't know it came in olive - sounds pretty.
DeleteI suspect sabotage...
ReplyDeleteThat looks... Itchy.
DeleteJust what any woman wants, to look naked, covered in feathers and sparkles.
Delete@WFF, haha, yes, sabotage on Jenna's part! That item definitely has her mark, all right.
DeleteThe collection pieces from this roll out make me really sad for J.Crew. That tulle vest? Brown raffia dress so you can look like a tubular coconut? Nude color sequin midi slip dress? Who will that flatter? JC needs to start focus-grouping all of its pieces with real women before sending them to production because their team must be suffering from serious group-think if no one is vetoing these designs.
DeleteI actually love that sequin slip dress. It also seems more reasonably priced than usual considering that it's all sequins (I think)...
DeleteI like that sequin dress too Ema. I am not opposed to the feather dress for the proper occasion and I'm sure it is beautiful in person. Don't judge but I recently bought the Italian cashmere sweater with feathers in Heather silver E8784. I got the size small and the feathers are attached to a camisole that can be removed so you can just wear the cashmere shell by itself. Very versatile for day and night that way. I will try it on and snap a pic for my Instagram at some point and let you know.
Delete@Ema @Shopping Celle, I love the sequin dress, too. It's really stunning. Also like the feather dress. I think it's pretty and fun. Wish I had an occasion to wear them.
DeleteI live the dress too!!!
DeleteI mean ...love
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DeleteI'm cool with these dresses as collection pieces. I'm actually happy to see that what was shown @ NYFW is being produced. The dresses are intentionally intended to be special occasion and that can mean a little over the top & unexpected. I've been told that in retail, if 70% of a roll out sells through, that's considered a success. So, there's already room built in for the duds. Let's see how they sell. I did order Thomas Mason Striped Apron dress; it hasn't sold well, but I've been wanting to try & 50% off sale was the trigger.
DeleteDid you hear?? closing stores and cutting back on Style Guides...They will do less style guides and have separate for men and women..Oh boy this company is sinking fast
ReplyDeleteI need the details on this RN.
DeleteHere is one article...Let me also find the one that goes into Style Guide details...
Deletehttps://fashionista.com/2017/06/jcrew-q1-2017
Now here is the article with details abt style guide:
Deletehttps://www.racked.com/2017/6/12/15786880/j-crews-print-catalog-reduction
Check out the picture used in this article about style guide.....gee, could the problem be the CLOTHES??? God, what a mess.
DeleteThis bit from the fashionista article:
Delete'Another area is pricing; Nicholson says the company is focused on "evolving pricing architecture to align with customer expectations and improving value perception."'
I think even if they change their pricing at this point, customers are so used to their constant sales or percentages off, that they'll prefer to sit back and wait on some of this stuff.
Also:
'Then, there's marketing: J.Crew plans to "reinvent" its famous catalog, or "style guide," scaling back on deliveries and reinvesting those resources on more digitally focused marketing initiatives that it hopes will have a stronger impact in terms of driving actual sales.'
That sounds like they mean possibly fewer rollouts? Not the worst thing in the world. I'm reminded of something other JCAs have mentioned (I think Shopping Celle mentioned recently as well), about how we used to be a culture of shopping a few times a year, but how that's involved into a near-constant procedure of 'New Arrivals' every few weeks. Less wouldn't be a bad thing -- it might allow them to shorten production times as well. I remember last summer, for instance, they didn't release a strappy, silk dress until early August or something like that -- it seemed really late for the season. I know they've done that with other items, ones that debut too late into the season.
I would miss the 2x per mth rollouts. one is usually a mini. roll out. the style guides should just be online. IMO.
DeleteI always look forward to getting my Style Guides. Really going to miss them!! I can see a lot more detail in the outfits when I see them in the Guides and the color representation is much truer in the Guide than what I see in the website images.
DeleteThe increased number of rollouts has got to be related to lack of control over production schedules and shipping.
DeleteI used to really look forward to the style guides but not so much anymore. I guess in the past we had a marriage of great style guides and mostly great clothes. I expected and hoped for fewer rollouts. It's been hard to understand how they will unload a lot of the clothes on the website and the clothes just keep on coming. It's an avalanche of OTS and ruffle tops. This might not be a bad thing for all of us. I wonder if most of the design team knew they were on the way out and decided to give a halfhearted effort. A lot of what I'm seeing lately seems tired and confused.
DeleteIt was not me that mentioned shopping just a few times a year but, I think I could live without as many rollouts. Sometimes I have a fear of missing out on something better so I wait before I make all my purchases. That way I can take benefit from things being marked down too. I would miss the style guides though because I enjoy studying them. Am I the only one that does that?
DeleteNo @Shoppin Celle, I study them too. I love to see how the outfits are styled in detail. Colors look so much better, more appealing, in the guide, too.
DeleteShopping Celle,
DeleteI read an interesting article maybe six years ago about the phenomenon you describe. It was by a psychologist who said that all of the choices in the world lead to perfectionism followed often by indecision and decision paralysis. He used the example of shopping for a pair of jeans. When he was growing up, he said you had just a few choices. You went in and found something and that was it. He went to the Gap or someplace and spent two hours trying on maybe 20 pair of jeans. So many of them came close but had something wrong. The variety of choices encouraged him to keep trying for perfect instead of settling. It was an interesting story that applies to a lot in our world.
Hopefully fewer style guides does mean a few less rollouts so they can actually focus on delivering great styles and fixing their supply chain issues. In terms of pricing, it would be awesome to have work dresses that are not $188 full price and that actually have a short sleeve. I will not even spend 30% off of that price cause I think it's ridiculous to start with.
DeleteInteresting Mary G. You probably nailed it on the head with that observation. Sometimes I am paralyzed trying to decide!
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ReplyDeleteI shopped the updated sale section this morning and purchased three dresses that may or may not work. They are returnable. Made my return at the factory store last night and found some retail merchandise but not a ton. Purchased a pair of super 120 trousers from 2015 for $25 and the short sleeve navy popover from last year for $20. The prices did not ring up correctly when I checked out so I had to have them adjusted only to walk out a second time and realize I did not get the extra 20% off they were offering cardholders. I did not realize this until I got home. So frustrating. Aside from that nothing to add to my wishlist from new arrivals and looking forward to the fall rollouts but losing hope that I will find much to wishlist.
ReplyDeleteIn case somebody would like to see some new arrivals reviews,they are on my IG.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing so many new items @Ina. Really like the Embellished Tank and the one with the lovely floral print. Here's the link for anyone who would like it.
DeleteThank you for the link!!!! @maryeb!!!!
DeleteJenna just wore the feathers dress to the gala last week - was it CFDA? Pictures on Eva Chen's insta
ReplyDeleteYes, she did! With a navy jacket over it - here's a link, hope this works:
Deletehttp://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/red-carpet-dresses/g9978431/cfda-awards-red-carpet-2017/?slide=28
I don't mind it, it totally suits her. But the color in the collection piece is a difficult color to wear.
DeleteShe is also wearing the dark jacket to break up the color a bit, which I think is more flattering. I think it is a terrific special occasion dress - I just have no reason in my life to own a feathered dress.
DeleteAlso - I'm willing to bet that my dry-cleaner would have no idea how to clean it. I'm in a midwestern college town - I don't think they see a lot of feathered clothing to clean!
Thanks for the link @carmencatalina. The dress looks great on Jenna.
DeleteLOL about the midwestern dry cleaner and feathered clothing. Never thought of that. Probably the same around here.
That's nice she wore it even though she left J.Crew. She's still representing the company.
DeleteI agree, Suz, it is a hard color to wear.
@JSR, I thought I read at the time that she was there thru the end of the year? I guess when I read that, I (perhaps naively) thought that to mean she was still coming in to the office.
DeleteEither way, agree that the dress looks nice on her and she styled it perfectly, but both the style and price surprised me a bit for JC. It reminds me of what other JCAs have expressed: who are they designing for, exactly? I think few of us have places to wear $1K dresses and as another JCA recently said, once you're in that price point, you're probably not shopping JC, but a real high-end retailer.
I just caught a pair of the ankle-wrap heels in the cherry print in my size - free shipping (I didn't see that advertised, but apparently SALESTYLE gets you free shipping) and with the discount only $65.
ReplyDeleteHappy! Hope they ship.
Carmencatalina, that's great! I true those for 80-something. I couldn't pull together enough outfits with them, but I still wanted to keep them because they are cute and the leather felt super nice. They seemed like they would be really comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI wear a ton of all black outfits or grey and black, so having a fun print on a black shoe will probably work with most of my stuff!
DeleteI was so tempted by them but got the cherry print flats in store awhile back (November maybe?). I actually prefer the ankle wrap but thought there was no way I should have two pairs of cherry print shoes! Like you I wear a lot of black plus denim, and I love them with both.
DeleteI received a few items today including the popover in piece dyed Irish linen. (White) I love a linen shirt and specifically bought it to wear with the white linen sailor pants and the Rhodes pan in linen,, but today I also wore it with older linen shorts during the day. it can be worn tucked or untucked. It's a great breezy summer shirt,
ReplyDeleteI posted a pic on IG @wearthislikethis. Lately I'm a 4 in many button downs or popovers and I took this in a 2. I'm a 00/0 bottom. (Broader shoulders and very narrow torso.) I love that even though it's loose it doesn't feel boxy like many Madewell tops I've gotten.
I should add it's a JCrew top, I just mention Madewell because I find their tops to run big but short and boxy
Delete