Last week, J.Crew sent out an email promoting "a brand-new kind of swimsuit". The email contained the following that made me give some serious side-eye:
The Rash Guard Bikini. Because... wait. Did we just invent a whole new kind of bathing suit? Whoa.
No. No you did not J.Crew. The combination of rash guard top and bikini bottom has been around for quite some time. I have seen tons of athletes, ranging from surfing to beach volleyball, rocking that look for years now. (By the way, did anyone laugh at the last word inclusion of, "whoa"? I
just kept hearing Joey, from the early 90's TV show Blossom, saying it
over and over again.)
This comes after J.Crew declared "You heard it here first: Birkenstocks will be everywhere this summer" a few weeks ago. Refer to
this post. (Interestingly enough, J.Crew removed the "You heard it here first" line from all the Birkenstock item pages. Maybe someone noticed how over the top it sounded.)
I love J.Crew, but I don't understand why they feel the need to claim credit for styles that are not even theirs! Don't get me wrong, J.Crew definitely has their ahead-of-the-fashion-industry-curve moments. Remember when J.Crew introduced the Victoria Ruffle Cami... amazing! But the sandal/rash guard bikini instances are definitely not examples of it.
J.Crew, again I love you. But let's keep it real. Instead, the swim email should have focused on J.Crew's awesome "Mix & Match" feature.
I love it! J.Crew lets customers build your perfect swimsuit. You not only can pick the style, but also the size and color. Even better? They let you save your swim combinations. That's right, you can save them! This feature is crazy addictive... a real time suck in a fun paper-doll-dress-up-way. In fact, I would love to see something similar for the rest of J.Crew's clothing line.
What are your thoughts on J.Crew's declarations of style? Do you feel they rightly or wrongly deserve credit? Have you tried out J.Crew's "Mix & Match" feature? Please share! :)