Tuesday, June 1, 2010

J.Crew Email: Pretty as a picture - art tees

"Thanks!" to many of you, including Desert Flower & Marietta, who shared the following email from J.Crew this morning.

The email features "Art Tees" from the Women's Tees & Knits line (click here to shop online). In particular, it showcases the Tissue Ruffle Tank (Item 26519; $39.50) which J.Crew describes as:
Our much-loved ruffle tank updated with manicured rows of cotton lawn ruffles cascading across the front. (We love turning an everyday summer staple into something special.) Fitted. Tissue cotton—a lightweight, bias-cut fabric with a very soft wash.
For some reviews & real life images of the Tissue Ruffle Tank, check out:
Is it just me, or does it feel like J.Crew has done almost every variation of ruffles on tees? And somehow, they still manage to find new ways to ruffle tees up! Seriously, every time I feel ruffle-fatigue, J.Crew comes out with a new ruffle art tee that I have to have! ;) (Yikes! I just re-read my paragraph and I used the term "ruffles" way too much.)

What are your thoughts on the J.Crew's tees?
Do you think you will pick up the Tissue Ruffle Tank at your local J.Crew store? From the current offerings of tees (both new arrivals & sale), would you recommend any to buy (& any to avoid)?

28 comments:

  1. haha! i am tired of the ruffles honestly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Buying these art tees reminds me of when people rubberneck at the scene of an accident. I shouldn't buy them, I know, but I can't help but slow down and take notice. It's as if ever since the infamous "original" rose tee became so popular, j.crew thinks, "oh! our customers want more of the same!" I think all of us have tired of the art and ruffle tees, but I did buy 2 of them from the last 2 rollouts so...(at least they were on sale!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is 200% OT, but what the heck is this? a "tell-all" book about J Crew? Something called 'Going Postal' by someone named Nell Bly. An eBay seller has a zillion copies of it for sale -- the author, presumably. It came up while I was searching through women's clothing.

    ...What do we make of this?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Isn't that a tell-all book about every company out there that does retail? It's all about the bottom line...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Seriously, enough with the freaking t-shirts. I wish J.Crew would make more WORK-oriented clothes, and I don’t mean just a bunch of khakis. Their 120’s line is great, but I just wish they’d make more items… especially sheath dresses in petite sizes. If I want t-shirts, I can go to Urban Outfitters or GAP. I’ve never bought a t-shirt full-price at J.Crew, especially given the quality. They’re just not worth full-price and honestly, I don’t think many of them are even attractive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm guessing j.crew keeps spewing out these un-imaginative tees because it's a great profit margin - cheap cotton, high mark-up. I don't know why anyone would ever buy one at full price - they all end up sad and sardine-like in the sale section at some point ... I agree with BYT, more professional clothes, please, more sheaths, indeed, and not ones cut so low, as they've been recently, that it's hard to think what workplace would approve.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wear J. Crew tees to work all of the time! Pencil skirt + J. Crew tee + blazer = my go-to work outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many thanks for the link love Alexis. :) I really want to agree and say that I am over the art tees...but then J.Crew reels me in with another cute one. They are disposable. I think La Belle Helene hit it right on in regards to the markup, though like Kirby I wear some to work over pencil skirts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. BYT & La Belle Helene, don't you know you're supposed to wear an art tee under the cut-too-low sheath dresses? *lol*

    ReplyDelete
  10. The only area on a T-shirt that J.Crew has not put ruffles on is the armpit. Wouldn't that look flattering eh?

    ReplyDelete
  11. sorry, gigiofca, I've been too obsessed about wearing sky-high heels, ankle socks and piling on pearls to *also* remember to throw a cheap tee - plus possibly also a bikini top - on underneath my dress, while keeping my mouth hanging open and my eyes suitably vacant the whole time, lol.

    I do wear tees with pencil skirts all the time, just not usually j.crews, because I got tired of finding holes in them.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for the shout-out. :) I have a bunch of tees/tanks with ruffles, but I have not reached (I believe) my saturation point. You know what's gonna happen, though, right? J. Crew will come out with another ruffly tee/tank but it will be in a color I. just. have. to. have. LOL. Sneaky...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Umm, brain work...that should have read "I have REACHED my saturation point." :P Must not post comments whilst tired.

    ReplyDelete
  14. #23710- Dip dyed ribbon art tee- steer clear! Beautiful piece to look at and I got lots of compliments on it. However, it's a hand wash only piece, which is ok, except... when I washed it, the colors bled severely all over the shirt. I literally washed it over a half dozen times and had to use Shout on the stains each time. (I used the hand wash cycle on my machine and yanked it out as soon as the cycle was over.) I finally got the shirt to a presentable state, but you can still see yellow spots on the shoulder. Ugh, WAY too much trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  15. jbird - that is good to know! I have the dip dyed ribbon art tee but haven't worn it yet. I'll have to be really careful when I wash it . . which I will . .who can wear a white shirt more than once without washing it?! Doesn't sound like the quality is too great. :(

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am also getting tired of ruffles. They still look cute on my daughter, though...

    ReplyDelete
  17. I have a million of these art tees and ruffles everywhere, and yet...I keep getting reeled in when they go on sale. Argh!

    jbird - Annoying about the colors bleeding. I definitely recommend bringing it into the store and showing them. I had one tee unravel a bit after one hand wash. I brought it in just to show them, and they had no problem at all replacing it with a new one. They said if it happens again, they'd give me a credit. Anyway, just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I only have 3 art tees, the original chiffon rose, last year's multiple chiffon roses and the satin snowflake tee from H08. Being the inverted triangle that I am it is tricky to wear embellished tops.

    I only have two blouses with ruffles, the LS cotton Victoria and the silk streamers cami. Being busty on top and smaller on the bottom makes it way too easy to appear unbalanced with anything "extra" on top.

    None of the tees I haven't bought have been that appealing to me so I don't feel like I'm missing out. Now if we are talking Perfect shirts, the button-downs, I probably have every single one that isn't a mainly yellow theme. Those reel me in every time - hook, line and sinker.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am like XOXO, I have the original chiffon rose tee (in both black and champagne) and one or two others, and nothing else since then has appealed to me much. I wear the rose tees a lot, and always get compliments. They are holding up well to handwashing and air drying.

    I didn't count the victoria tissue ruffle cami, which I don't think is an art tee. I have several of those.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am over-ruffled. I would, however, love a great pair of well-cut black cotton trousers.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I have heard bad news about their "tissue" fabric. Being too thin and cheaply made. I never buy their tees on full price.

    ReplyDelete
  22. @maryw2062 I am a huge fan of the Bistro pant in stretch cotton. I have a pair in each color and wish they had more!

    As far as the tees, I know this has been said but the fabric is cheap cheap cheap. A recent purchase went through the gentle cycle and came out with runs on all of the seams. What's the point of owning t-shirts when you have to hand wash them all?

    ReplyDelete
  23. As far as ruffles I like them but not over done/too many and lots of JCrew tops fall into this category lately.

    As far as thin tees the Max and Molly tee has to be the worst I have seen as far as cheap/sheer fabric. It feels like it could tear in my hands just holding it up to inspect it! Such a cute tee. Why can't JCrew use thicker fabric?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Pansy- lol! You had me laughing so hard about the armpit comment! You might have given them a bright idea to ruffle that area up! :)

    Genny- ITA about the max & Molly shirt! It's super thin, cheap, loses shape fast, and runs really big! Despite all that, I still ended up wearing it today just because the doggy is so gosh darn cute!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love my Perfect Tees and wear them often-- the fabric is thick, stretches a little, and holds its shape in the wash.

    The tissue tees lately have been very thin, almost sheer.

    I bought two ruffled tees (sky blue and white) at Macy's earlier this month. They look like they could be from J. Crew or Anthropologie.

    Also, my local Target had "Boyfriend" tees! I bought white and grey... they fit wonderfully. They were $8 each, so definitely check them out if you're looking for a deal.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I did buy the glitter petal tee in neutrals; yes, it is sheer, but I bought it one size larger and wear an off-setting colored camisole beneath, more slouchy look. That said, I got the asymmetrical tees in rose, bone, coal, & sea spray b/c it is a perfect slub weight which I wish JCrew used more this season. I'm surprised those lingered on the sale section so long.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Lawyerette concurring in the opinion of BYT and LBH...more work clothes please. Specifically, more cute suiting separates. The 120s stuff is nice but a bit too plain for me. Why not have another version of the Baird McNutt Georgia suit that came out 2 summers ago? I also second the call for some sheath dresses. I like mine with pockets. Did you ladies check out the Emmaleigh dress? Those are great work dresses, but on me they're too short so they may be just what you're looking for.

    ReplyDelete
  28. As Elaine Benis might say, "It will be years before they find another place to add ruffles on a t-shirt!"

    ReplyDelete

Dear J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados: Please feel free (and encouraged) to share your thoughts and opinions. :) However, please note that this is still a personal blog. So comments that are considered inappropriate (e.g. obscene, racist, homophobic, personal attacks, rude, and just plain mean) will be removed.

And now back to J.Crew! :)