Love It Or Leave It: Confetti Flapper Dress

Confetti Flapper Dress
Click here for product page
Item 99510
Regular: $895.00

"Thanks!" to Anon at 12:57 PM (in this post) who pointed out this latest dress offering from J.Crew. I think it makes for a great "love it or leave it" post. :)

Unfortunately, this dress is a "leave it" for me. One reason: price- I think this dress is a *tad* overpriced. ;)

Another reason: versatility. The website describes the dress as "party perfect—the softest grey silk covered in thousands of bright yellow paillettes". I am not sure how "party perfect" the dress really is. I mean if you wear it once everyone will remember, which limits the number of uses. It definitely is not as versatile as the little black dress, which J.Crew offers so many beautiful versions of (click here).

Lastly, the website describes the style as "Sleeveless silhouette. Blouson bodice, straight skirt. Skinny straps. Scoopneck. Back zip. Interior corset for added support". Unfortunatley, I don't think the style of the dress is that flattering, even on the {absolutely gorgeous} model. However, I could be wrong since I have not seen this dress in person.

Incidentally, I do love that J.Crew mentions in the description that the dress is "shipped in a gift box with blue ribbon". It is a nice touch, but definitely not enough to convince me to purchase this dress. ;)

What are your thoughts on the Confetti Flapper Dress? Do you "love it" or would you "leave it"? Do you already own this dress? If so, please share with us your review. :)

Lucky Mag Names J.Crew's Bug Pin As "Amazing"

"Thanks!" to lovesargyle (in this post) who let us know that the {infamous} J.Crew Bug Pins (click here) are featured in Lucky Magazine's "Style Steals Blog" (click here).

According to the post, "...stores are going to experience a significant run on brooches thanks to our stylish new First Lady elect, Michelle Obama. If the surplus of styles now suddenly available is any indication, I'm guessing Kim is totally right. I love how Michelle O. wears them scattered across the collars of her sweaters so they look like a necklace. Banana Republic and J.Crew are always excellent sources for fancy-looking costume jewelry. I love this sparkly version (and, as an aside, this fantastic necklace, too) from the former, while the latter is doing these totally amazing bug pins. I want them all!"

I have expressed my opinion on the bug pins multiple times on this blog (refer to here, here, & here). At this point, I find them amusing. ;)

What are your thoughts on the bug pins being selected as "amazing" brooches? Disagree or agree? ;) Do you agree that the latest trend will be to wear brooches? :)

J.Crew Email: New Spring Arrivals...

J.Crew sent an email today announcing new arrivals in both their stores and online. Fortunately, we Aficionadas and Aficionados knew this information long before the email was sent out (refer to here and here). ;)

Although it is still pretty cold in the Northeast (and will be for sometime), I cannot wait for Spring! I am looking forward to wearing skirts and sandals again. :) But to be quite honest, I think I am done shopping for awhile. I purchased quite a bit in the past two months and that should hold me over for awhile (key word: should, but who knows!) ;)

Are you looking forward to the new January arrivals? When do you think the new Spring catalog & items will arrive? Are you planning to hold off purchases for awhile? :)

The Great (Weekly) Exchange

This post (of weekly posts) is for individual members who want to swap/sell/share among yourselves. This post is where you can mention your items and outside listing/ auction site (like eBay and eCrater & the corresponding user ID). Please note: this posting is not for resellers.

Individual members can also request in this post, items that they are looking for and interested in buying. :)

Please note that any transactions are independent of this blog. (Especially since you will be using an outside listing/ auction site like eBay or eCrater.) I have no dealings or interactions with any of the potential communication, listings, or transactions. :) Moreover, please limit comments about items to swap/sell/share to the "Great (Weekly) Exchange" posts. (Refer to "A Quick Note to J.Crew Aficionadas" post.)

Do you have any items you would like to swap/sell/share among yourselves through your outside listing/auction site? Is there an item (or items) that you are looking for and interested in purchasing?

J.Crew Tries To Reset Price Points {will it work?}

In the "J.Crew's New January Catalog Online To View {yey!}" post, Anon at 11:35 AM mentioned the following (great) observation: "Has anyone else noted that in the catalog pages they are noting the starting prices of the items and that they are lower than they have been in the past? (i.e., suede ballet flats starting at $98 as opposed to $138-$148 in the past). ...with a number of items in the catalog I noticed that the price was a tad lower than in the past (a pink/reddish dress at about $98 when in the past it would have been retailed at about $118 or $128). Anyway, just something that caught my eye."

Well, we have some super smart Aficionadas (and Aficionados) as exampled by Anon at 1:14 PM (in the same post) who answered with the following: "This is a deliberate strategy to increase sell through at full price. It was discussed in the 3Q conference call and ballet flats were one of the examples given: ...

Brian Tunick - J.P. Morgan
We watched you the last couple of years. Your gross margins have been up I think 700 basis points. You’ve run a very full priced business. Now what happens going into 2009 is a lot of your customers are probably looking for the additional 50% off clearance you’ve been offering them. How do you reposition J.Crew to get back to a full priced business going forward?

Millard S. Drexler
I think that’s a really good question. ... I think the reset button has been pushed on value in America; homes, cars, gasoline, clothing, apparel, stocks, and everything else. So I think it’s hard to figure out when we come out of this. It is all about inventory management. ...

I will tell you what we’re doing without talking too much to our competitors. There’s clearly an opportunity. It’s interesting. Believe me, none of us is having fun running businesses today I don’t care what the business is. But I think what’s going on is a lot of this is playing into our hand in terms of our opening price points where in fact they were at some times higher than we’d like.

We’re going out with categories this spring; it’s too late now because it is what it is; and I think consumers are driving it and determining retail. But our ballet flat category will start at under $100 for the first time ever. We’re doing T shirt businesses at prices with good margin by the way and margin’s a function of sell-through along with high initial margin. So in some cases, this is all merchandising, you might take a point or two off initial if you can get better sell-throughs.

We’re looking at the competition now in that regard too. ...Having been through this a couple of times before in my career, the right goods win out if you’re managing the inventories correctly. So I don’t want anyone to think that’s not a critical issue here. We’ve all been caught by this tailspin of consumers not shopping other than for sales but we have key categories like ballet flats.

We’re weighting our inventory differently than we have this past fall. You’ll see inventory weighted towards more friendly price points so that it kind of averages out. And it’s all again dependent upon the inventory and the sell-through. But I think the reset button’s been pushed on price and I think we’re all dealing with where that will end up. ...

But I think that’s going to be really the billion dollar question for the retailers: When will they trust your prices again?"

I find this fascinating and I am curious if J.Crew's new "lower price point" strategy will work. :) Personally, I feel like I have been "trained" in the past few months to see some amazing sale prices, accompanied with great promotions (e.g. free shipping and additional percent off sales). So it's difficult for me to justify a full price purchase when I think the item will go "on sale" in just a few weeks. ;)

What are your thoughts on the lower price points to get customers to spend closer to the "full retail" price? Do you think customers will "reset" their price points? Do you think this strategy will work during these economic times against other competing retailers?

The Great (Weekly) Exchange {looking to find}

This post (of weekly posts) is for individual members who are looking for and interested in buying certain items. Please feel free to share a J.Crew store location and/or your outside listing/ auction site if it matches the requests made in this post. Please note: this posting is not for resellers.

Also note that any transactions are independent of this blog. (Especially since you will be using an outside listing/ auction site like eBay or eCrater.) I have no dealings or interactions with any of the potential communication, listings, or transactions. :) Moreover, please limit comments about items to swap/sell/share/finding to the "Great (Weekly) Exchange" posts. (Refer to "A Quick Note to J.Crew Aficionadas" post.)

Is there an item (or items) that you are looking for and interested in purchasing?

J.Crew's Jackets & Outerwear {how's the fit?}

In this week's "Seek & Find: Will you visit J.Crew this Weekend?" post, many of you, including Fluffles, Anon at 9:09 PM, Anon at 9:31 PM, Anon at 9:38 PM, JaneEsq, Anon at 9:45 PM, & Cleo26, mentioned the issue of fit when it comes to J.Crew's recent jackets and outerwear.

In particular, many of the jackets and coats had "a too boxy" cut. Fluffles said it best with the following: "Either the shoulders fit alright but the waistline is far too large (cf. the teepee comment!) or have a jacket be quite tight in the shoulders and only a slightly smaller waist (which is still too large sizing down)". I could not agree with her comment more when it comes to a few of J.Crew's jackets this season. I missed the more tailored look for jackets from previous seasons (e.g. Bella, Lexington), as they were easier to determine one's proper size.

So, I thought it might be helpful to have a post where we could quickly review a few jackets we own or have tried on, in terms of size & fit. :)

For me, I am a normally a size 0-2 in jackets. I felt in previous seasons, the size 2 fit me best. This season, the size 0 more often than not was a better fit. The following are some quick notes of size/ fit:

• Wool-Cashmere Harriet Coat (Item 99222): had to size down (went with size 0); the shoulders were fine, the body of the coat was still loose, but the belt helped cinch extra fabric in
  
• Metallic Giraffe Day Coat (Item 96171): true to size (went with a size 2); the body of the coat is loose, the shoulders are narrow
• Berry-trim Astrid jacket (Item 96309): had to size down (went with size 0); the shoulders are a bit snug, but it made the body of the jacket more tailored; incidentally the jackets looks tailored in the front, but a bit boxy from the side
• Herringbone Fiona jacket (Item 96553): had to size down (went with size 0); shoulders and arms are a bit snug, but the body of the jacket isn't as loose as the size 2 (but still loose)
  

How was the size & fit of some jackets (and/or coats) you have tried on? Would you size up or down? Was the fit boxy or tailored? Do you prefer a certain fit for the upcoming season (e.g. boxy, tailored)?

Product Review: Small Oslo Bag

Small Oslo Bag
Click here for product page
Item 10075
Regular: $295.00
Now: $139.99

Bug Pin was kind enough to share her review of the Large Oslo Bag in an earlier post (click here). I thought the purse looked great and was curious about its smaller counterpart.

Luckily for us, Anon at 3:34 PM (in this post) was kind enough to share her review of the Small Oslo Bag.

Small Oslo bag:

I have the small Oslo bag and I love it. I can easily open and close the clasp with one hand. The bag is open on the top and the side pockets are also open so you can get most items without opening if the closure gives you trouble. Or just throw the strap over the top and the weight will keep it in place.

The leather is thick yet soft and the unstructured design gives it the slouchy look, which may be too much on the larger version but it is cute on the smaller version. It can easily be filled to give it a firmer shape as it is a smaller bag. I love the Borge Garveri leather and I totally love this bag. The champagne color will transition nicely with the new spring palette as well.

"Thanks!" again to Anon at 3:34 PM (in this post) for sharing her great review with us! :)

What are your thoughts on the Small Oslo Bag (do you like/dislike the style, design, material)? Are you considering or already have purchased this purse? Have you seen this purse at your local store? If so, please share with us your reviews too! :)

Darlings, is it time for a J.Crew coupon code?

Yes it is that wonderful time!

A big "thanks!" to Lyssa who let us know that J.Crew is offering free shipping on orders of $150+ with promo code IPL-40. This offer expires 1/14/08.

P.S. I tried the code in a mock checkout this morning and it worked. {yey!} :)

Seek & Find: Will you visit J.Crew this Weekend?

This is the weekly "sale watch" post, to help each other find sale items at our various local J.Crew stores. ;)

If you are stopping by a J.Crew store this weekend to take advantage of the post holiday sales, the additional 20%-30 off sales, or to see some new January/ Resort arrivals in person, maybe you might be willing to share that with us in this post. In particular, if you could share with us a few of the noteworthy items that are available, at what prices, and potential sizes the store is carrying (as well as the store location)- that would be fantastic! Also, please let us know if your local store is carrying an additional percent off sale. Thanks in advance!!! :)

P.S. I noticed that many of you have already been reporting sale items (and in which stores) in other posts which by the way "thank you!" :) I really appreciate how helpful we are for each other!

P.S.S. Happy New Year Everyone! :)