This is the weekly "Looking to VENT with J.Crew" post, a place to share our not-so-stellar experiences with J.Crew.If you have recently experienced a frustrating situation with J.Crew, maybe you might be willing to share that information with us in this post.
Please feel free to share your story on almost any topic— including poor experiences with purchases & orders, promotions/ offers, in-store visits, transactions with store associates, etc.
Final Sale. So many "new" items go straight to FS... The Pixel Dot Perfect Shirt, Clifton Booties to name by a couple. When is FALL Sale going to start?
ReplyDeleteHi Closet Crisis - the last couple of years Fall Sale has started at the end of October and ended a day or two before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteSubscribing. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought the Matchstick Starlight Jeans in short 31 inseam, they are regular length 33. Inside the jeans they say they are short. I had to pay to take they up.
ReplyDeleteVanity sizing, inconsistent sizing - discussed (with chart, no less!) here.
ReplyDeleteDeclining quality - discussed here.
Without my noticing that it had happened, I've wound up spending more on tailoring (the updating kind, shoulders, sleeves, necklines) than on new stuff. Wonder if I'll learn anything from this?
I asked online to match the in store price and she first gave me a million excuses but then decided to match it. After she took my cc info she says: "This is a one time courtesy. I am noting this on your account."
ReplyDeleteHow professional of you Jcrew. Definitely a big huge turn off!
Much of the Sale section needs a second or third markdown. A lot of that stuff is OLD.
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought any fall items from J.Crew. Price points are too high for the (low) quality and many sale items go directly to final sale. I rarely get to a store and it is a small one with low inventory to begin with and I cannot try on beforehand. So just waiting for final sale to go away and if not: Oh well.....
ReplyDeleteMore detail on the review thread, but I am sooo disappointed in the watercolor floral scarf in the purple olive print. My (non-sharp) earrings tore two holes in it the first time I wore it! Why couldn't this lovely print be the same quality as the 2010 watercolor floral scarves?
ReplyDeleteP.S. My word verification is crushed!
The price for the quality is outrageous. It is also frustrating that stuff jumps straight from full price to final sale. I have been going in the store to try things on and then I stalk them online (or check the sale section if I happen to be at the store) and buy on sale.
ReplyDeleteI have only gotten two things full price in a long time: the hacking jacket because I knew it'd be a while before it went to sale, if ever, and a pair of cords I wanted to start wearing immediately.
I have a little list and bookmarks of everything else I want and I just keep checking online and will not buy until they are much cheaper!
sub.
ReplyDeleteI received a dress from final sale today in the mail...It still had the plastic electronic sensor attached from the store! Who is looking things over?
ReplyDeleteI've been loyal to J.Crew since the days of roll-neck sweaters and have to say I've noticed a difference in both sizing and quality.
ReplyDeleteThe last order I placed resulted in a swimsuit top tagged as a medium, sized as an extra large. Had to pay to send it back, only to order a small and have it fit as a large. Sigh.
Items I've purchased over the past year have had little but nagging issues, such as a seam unraveling, small holes developing where seams meet, etc. I hope they are able to reconcile sizing and quality issues as they're still one of my favorites, but I've definitely been shopping elsewhere as a result.
I would like to know when JCrew will make the giant leap to find ways to produce in the USA. I appreciate their adoration for quality shoes, quality leather bags, etc but they fall short on that message when they get to their clothing. JCrew should take it a step further and make a true statement. Bring the garment industry back to NYC!!
ReplyDeleteThe quality of their shoes is just ok. I have some metallic leather loafers that started peeling the first week I wore them. Another pair of admittedly cute ankle boots have such thin leather.
ReplyDeleteThey're always talking up This Italian mill or That Argentinean leather place, but the overall quality is sad. I would never buy full price, knowing things wear so easily.
Regarding sizing: I recall reading somewhere a few months ago (I want to say it was as random as Talbots' FB page but can't remember) from somebody supposedly "in the know" that in some of these overseas factories with little/no oversight, when they're packing up an order of garments to ship and say, they're 100 short on size L's, they just take 100 M's and sew an "L" tag in them so that they don't have to produce more Larges. This is complete heresay - I wish I had a link - but seems totally within the realm of possibility given the absence of quality controls on most overseas clothing production. I've seen it myself for example when I ordered the about town dress in S and M - the S fit fine but the M was like a sausage casing!
ReplyDeleteThe quality of the construction and materials is getting worse everywhere. I just saw Gap has these new "lightweight" and "ultra lightweight" jeans that are from 24-35% polyester! WTH. It's also a bummer in sweater weather to see so many pieces with such high acrylic content (for the price). Ugh. I wish JC would cut their offerings in half and bump up the quality on them. Eight different schoolboy blazers with cheap buttons, felt collars and faux leather elbow pads (many of which will end up in FS)? How about four with enamel buttons, silk lining/piping, and real leather elbow pads (that sell well at FP or first markdown)? I'd love to see some kind of analysis on this.
I'd love to see garment production back in the States - I think I've mentioned this before but if you're into documentaries you should definitely check out Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags. It's a fascinating look at how hopping NYC's Garment District was not too long ago, and how it's almost all gone now.
silver_lining, it's an old saying in the rag trade: First they pick the order, then they put the size tags. Le sigh.
ReplyDeleteHa! my word verification is "outem."
silver_lining, we are singing the same tune. I think it would be better for J.Crew's bottom line, and DL's plan for world domination, if they would produce fewer items in each release, lower quantity of each and better quality overall. Their strategy seems too focused on volume and unrealistic margins for disposable fashion. It has really cheapened the brand IMO.
ReplyDeleteI really wish there was an outerwear or cardholder's promo.....very surprised they haven't offered one yet. I thought they usually did by now.
ReplyDeleteITA with the offering fewer items and making serious progress in the quality department. I just opened my box of bright berry and turquoise hacking jackets, fresh from the UPS man. Oh dear! The bright berry is not really red,or orange or pink either-just fluorescent! And, for your $250.00 you get an oh so cheaply finished collar. The underside is merely interfacing, masquerading as grey flannel, cheekily peeping out and winking at those unsuspecting victims behind. The fit appears to be, in this size 2, a tad more snug than the herringbone hacking jacket. Now, on to the second jacket, whose color does not evoke the rich tones of the jewel of the Southwest, but rather the near empty contents of the mint chocolate chip ice cream carton in the freezer. The interfacing interloper is even more bold on this jacket, showing a good 1/4" all around and this size 2 I can not button it is so tight. We all know why Mrs. Obama went to Target recently-she knows their tees hold up so much better than JC's. C'mon, Mr. Drexler, start walking the talk!
ReplyDeleteDavid, it's sad to hear the jackets don't measure up. As I mentioned in the comments here, a lot of people are probably buying the jacket expecting a return to a quality classic when in reality it is more likely a cheap knockoff. So hard to find good quality for a decent price, I can see where people would want to give the jacket a try.
ReplyDeletexoxo,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the post on J.Crew's offerings and decling quality. Good read. Exactly how (sad) I have been feeling about my once favorite store!
xoxo, your comments are so very true. After I beheld the color of the bright(I'll feel like a giant Pez if I wear this))berry, I dove into my coat closet to compare the difference in color to an outerwear jacket from possibly three years ago, the color I believe is ripe raspberry. Not only was the color gorgeous, truly a ripe raspberry, but the material itself is so thick and plush,the inside of the coat is equally divine, with lovely tie silk piping and a contrast lining at the waist. You would think a highly visible company like J Crew would be embarrassed by such a drastic drop in quality in such a short time frame.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I might just "dive in" and admire my older J.Crew jackets. Even the pencil skirts I own from 2006 and 7 cannot compare!Gorgeous detailing and buttons on them as well.
Second time wearing my herringbone hacking jacket . . . . lost TWO cuff buttons! WTF?
ReplyDeleteI just got the Cafe Capri in wool the bright dahila color, piling all over, especially in the middle. I've only worn them once and spent most of the day sitting down.
ReplyDeleteI purchased the Fleurette pencil skirt from the Factory awhile ago and wore it out for (the 2nd time) lunch yesterday. I departed ways with my girlfriends to run into a store and walking through the parking lot wondered why the back of my skirt was blowing up in front. Much to my dismay my skirt ripped ALL the way up the back!! So back in the car I went!! Thankfully my mom can fix it but come on! I know the Factory touts in quality can parallel Retail but there is a reason it is Factory merchandise.
ReplyDeleteI hear you all on the sizing. I don't know what size I am any more in J. Crew! I swear I was a 4 in the pencil skirts..but tried a 2 (I'm so not a 2) and to my surprise zipped right up. Wow. But the toothpick cords..I'm a 29 one pair..28 in other pair...ugh!
ReplyDeleteNice that places like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor I can go in pick up a my regular size and know it probably will fit (or be close). I want consistency. Makes my shopping life so much less stressful. If I'm in a dressing room for a certain period, I'm going to get fed up and just leave...not purchase anything period.
Oh! The crazy marked-up prices us Canadians have to pay to have JC's goods shipped up north when we use to pay the same $$. I vented at the end of my last purchase with the Bizrate survey, and I received an email from JC saying they "take these comments regarding price very seriously". Uh huh, serious enough to do something about them?
ReplyDeleteSo frustrated by the random sizing.
ReplyDeleteI'll join the chorus disliking the random sizing! Even within the same item the sizing is off. I've tried on a black tippi in a small that fits beautifully, and a bold peri in a small where the arms were way too tight.
ReplyDeleteI just ordered a men's fatigue jacket, got it yesterday, and even though it was in plastic, the hood was missing. It's supposed to have a detachable hood. I emailed j.crew and at first got back a kind of condescending email back from a rep telling me that "maybe I missed it" and that i "should go look again." And also, that "the hood is usually rolled up and tucked under the collar." I wrote back that DUH, I know where it's SUPPOSED to be but it's not. It's not even made to be tucked in, it's made to be buttoned to the back of the collar. Four emails later they tell me they can't just send a hood, that I will have to ship the jacket back. In the last few emails really nice about it, and I got responses really quickly, but this is not the first time they've sent me something and it was either damaged, missing something, or the wrong size.
ReplyDelete"I wish JC would cut their offerings in half and bump up the quality on them. "
ReplyDeleteYes! Yes! Yes! I could say the same for Banana Republic. So much product and so little quality.
The basics seem like they are being made as an afterthought these days. It's as if they are considered disposable.
"Tissue" t-shirts used to be lightweight, super soft Ts. I feel that "tissue" now simply means cheap, see-through fabric with shoddy stitching.
I have tissue Ts that I bought years ago that are still soft. I have two that I bought at the beginning of September and one has a hole in a seam already. My flesh colored bra shows through both.
Tissue ts so so very disappointing now. Like cheap Walmart material not soft at all. I dropped mine to good will. Quality seems to be gone it’s very disappointing. They were my fav for here in S Fl
ReplyDelete