"Thanks!" to Cousy (in this post) who pointed out an interesting addition to J.Crew's Jewelry Collection: the Lulu Frost for J.Crew tangerine resin petal necklace (item 25490; $278.00).I have to share Cousy commentary on this statement piece because it is pretty amazing:
You know how there are J Crew items that aren’t your style but you can see how other people might like them? I call that Not My Thing, or NMT for short. ...LOL! Oh yes, this necklace is hideous. The definition says "showstopping" and that it does. That it does.
But every once and again there’s an extraordinary item that defies taste, reason and the laws of nature. Judgments about these items aren’t subjective, but objective: their hideousness is fact, not opinion. These items join the Pantheon of Ultimate Ugliness (PUU, pronounced “pee-you”). To qualify for PUU status, it has to be universally unfathomable that the item was designed, approved, manufactured, wholesaled, priced and offered to the masses. Indeed, it must boggle the mind that dozens of experienced people signed off on it.
It is our sad obligation to acknowledge another entry into the PUU: the Lulu Frost for J Crew Tangerine Resin Petal necklace. Please – before you click on the link, make sure your children are in bed and your pets are secured.
...I am a deep believer in the Almighty, but one look at this necklace caused me to fall to my knees and plead WHY??? WHY???
And then it dawned on me. This $278 “pitch perfect mash-up” can unite the world. This necklace is so dreadful ... JCA’s, together we can draw the line, take a stand and right a wrong. J Crew, for the good of all mankind, please don’t sell this necklace! Do I hear an AMEN?
This looks like a craft project, where someone took the tin can full of remnants (from necklaces of yore,) and pieced them together. (How did J.Crew come up with "marigold" as its color?!) The individual pieces are quite lovely, but all together it looks ...complicated.If you are interested in this necklace that features "a pitch-perfect mash-up of antique, vintage and modern influences that makes for supersweet retro-chic designs with a twist", you will have to wait until November 5th. (Is this wait-listed?)
P.S. The Bugle-Beaded Bug Pin (Item 11348; $50.00) is looking really good right now! ;)
What are your thoughts on the Tangerine Resin Petal Necklace? Would you buy this or leave it at the store? Have you see this first hand, and if so, what are your impressions?
Quick Poll: Do you like the Tangerine Resin Petal Necklace?
I fear it is time to get my affairs in order! Yikes! This is truly, dreadfully, spectacularly, awful!
ReplyDeleteThis could bring about world peace....
LOL! It just might, it just might. ;)
DeleteLOL! world peace!! love it. xox P
Deleteit's like they took every piece of vintage jewelry in grandma's jewelry box, grabbed a glue gun and mashed it all together. So much going on it is painful to look at.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I thought- they just pieced whatever they had together. I agree- too much going on.
DeleteIt makes me dizzy.
DeleteActually that is story behind Lulu Frost's pieces. She was in fact inspired by her grandmother and all her original pieces use antique and vintage jewellery that her mother buys to create a mashup.. it's fashion forward but appeals to a different niche. I quite like it. :S
DeleteIt would make three lovely necklaces and two beautiful pairs of earrings, so $278 seems like a downright bargain.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I hang on to my money and when I need so,etning bright and shiny I buy real gold. If this is a statement piece, it is not stating anything I would care to hear.
ReplyDeleteEven the name sounds like they didn't quite know what to do with it- it looks like 3 different ideas at once- can't believe this passed and made it into this season's "look"!! AMybe if you are really talented someone could buy this, take it apart and turn it into 3 or 4 new things!!
ReplyDelete...if the Third Reich designed necklaces......
ReplyDeleteOmg, I just spit/blew the ice water I was sipping. THAT's what it reminds me of. WTW!?!?!?!?
DeleteIt DOES look like something Hermann Goering would have loved!
DeleteYes! You are so right! I was going to say it loos like a military medal. I see the eagle's wings!
DeleteJane, that crossed my mind on first glance at it last night.
DeleteBINGO! And that is why this necklace surpasses the status of blindingly ugly to extremely disturbing.
DeleteI love the comments this necklace has provoked, though. If J.Crew was hoping for publicity, well I guess they have it!
I like weird shit, but this is just too weird.
ReplyDeleteLOL i agree!
DeleteHaha, my thoughts exactly!
DeleteI'm trying really hard to picture it in an outfit, but absolutely nothing comes to mind. The best I can do is a solid black short sleeve shift or sheath dress.
omg i just spit out my water. LOLOLOL!! xox P
DeleteI predict this is in sale bin by the registers for free soon. This is the ugliest thing they've ever put out
ReplyDeleteTotally hilarious. Thanks everyone for some good laughs after a long day at work!
ReplyDeleteI love that you used hideous. That's how people know I mean something is just not right.
ReplyDeleteI'll be the odd woman out here and say (holding up my shield for the flamethrowers), I really like it. I love the fact that it *is* so many things but it works for me. Very unique.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Lulu hooked up with J.Crew and went cuckoo ...
ReplyDeleteThis thing makes the Peacock Necklace looks downright conservative.
Personally, I'm still getting good use out of my Bubble Necklaces. They are enough of a statement for me!
I'm trying to figure out if this and the hen sweater are some kind of J.Crew staff strange joke. Or else the staff is going to Happy Hour then coming up with "creative" ideas. This seems like an idea from someone confusing fashion with chaos.
ReplyDeleteI hate it. And as soon as Tabs or DaniBP wear one and look classy and elegant I will have to have one at FP. Does this ever happen to you?
ReplyDeleteIt's an obnoxious looking necklace, that wants attention for the wrong reason. It does look like 2-3 different jewelry pieces put into one necklace. I don't get it either. It might look pretty IRL, but only to look not to buy. I was just looking at Lulu Frost's collection on Net-a-Porter.com, those pieces are prettier than the stuff she designed for J.Crew.
ReplyDeleteI sort of love it. But I have the "Wooden Atomic Necklace" - anyone here remember that? I love that necklace, and pretty much everyone else hated it.
ReplyDeleteCarmen Catalina - You are a brave soul to admit it in this thread. And for that I award you 5 bug pins. lol
DeleteBug pins! Lol, I love it. The J. Crew version of Girl Scout merit insignia . . .
DeleteI'm honored, gigi, honored. I would like to dedicate this award to my extensive jcrew costume jewelry collection, and of course, all of the little people . . .
DeleteYeah, the Atomic Poo Necklace!
ReplyDeletesilver_lining - If I wake the baby because I'm laughing, you'll be on the blame list. (chokes)
DeleteThis thing makes my chest hurt. And yet I know it could be a good purchase because who doesn't need a bullet proof piece of statement jewelry.
ReplyDeleteit is making a statement
ReplyDeleteI'd rock it! Not at that price, mind you :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is one ugly necklace and this is coming from someone who grabbed the navy hen sweater as soon as I spotted it!
ReplyDeleteIn the spirit of full disclosure, I also have a yellow bug pin in my jewelry book. Wear it occasionally in a random fashion, on a jacket cuff or pin it on a bag. The thing is,I do enjoy looking at it and it's small. But I think it may summon other critters to join it. The enameled peacock bangle (item 22122) also joined the menagerie this month.
Jewelry does have to speak to the wearer, hence I don't question most statement jewelry. And yes, I do remember the Wooden Atomic necklace. Not to my taste, but I would enjoy hearing how it could be styled. Sometimes, I think that the JCAs do a better job than than the JCrew stylists.
BTW, the bug just told me that he will not open his home to that travesty of a necklace.
"BTW, the bug just told me that he will not open his home to that travesty of a necklace." LOL! Great line! :)
DeleteI would actually wear this if not for the crazy red stone at the bottom. I think that's where it truly enters the realm of strange design as that stone does not complete the aesthetic but rather destroys it entirely. The color combo is a bit off as well. Loving the orange stones and the gold leaves, but if they were going to adorn it with other color stones, I would pick the red or the purple (actually I'd pick the red) and stick with it. This necklace is the perfect example of too much of everything.
ReplyDeleteNot my thing at all.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's taste is so different and one of the reasons I really like J. Crew is that they have something that appeals to everyone. I never quite understand why people feel the need to trash something simply because it is not their cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteHi Ramona -
ReplyDeleteI fully appreciate what you're saying, and I hope you're not offended by my intentionally silly and over-the-top post. Indeed, as of this writing, 56 JCA's have voted that they like the necklace or think it is okay. JC has a real range of styles, and most of us are pretty loyal because of that. There aren't many "PUU's" - JC has a great track record. But there was something about this necklace...
yes, there is something bout this necklace... possibly the vague sense that when Hugo Boss was acquired by a neutral shell corp for the 4th time, they did one last clean-out of the notions bin?
DeleteFor that price, I could get a very nice sterling silver necklace from Tiffany & Co.
ReplyDelete:) Jen
Which would have a *much* lower cost per wear.
Deleteit is trying too hard - and i agree. too much going on.
ReplyDeletedo you think those big plates pick up satellite signals? :D
It's actually not so bad in person & looks pretty cool. It's really no different then all the super popular Danjo & Winter Kate pieces that are selling out on Shop Bop these days, I think targeting a more fashion forward customer.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit the very first time i laid eyes on this piece I was entirely turned off…but I have seen it in person and it is not even half as bad as it may appear online. It is a Lulu Frost collaboration and her pieces are a mixture of old (vintage/antique) pieces or inspired by and modern aestheticism. I have to say that after seeing it worn on someone I have grown to really love it and even asking J.Crew to find it for me as it is sold out.
ReplyDeleteHere is a photo of the necklace worn on an actual person :) http://instagram.com/p/UUT6WmLqXa/
ReplyDelete