Thursday, April 16, 2015

Jenna Lyons' Look Evolution

The following article is from Refinery 29 (click here to read in its entirety):
Jenna Lyons Has Totally Changed Her Signature Look
By Liza Darwin
April 6, 2015

Ever since Jenna Lyons took the reins as the creative director of J.Crew back in 2008, she’s slowly and steadily injected the All-American brand with her signature mussed-up elegance. Lyons’ influence has rubbed off everywhere, but most notably in unexpected styling tricks like mixing prints, daytime sequins and tomboy touches (the list goes on). Lyons and the label's aesthetics have become so inseparable, even the J.Crew models have morphed into Lyons’ own oversized-glasses-sporting image. So, when the style icon decides to shake up her look, we can't help but do a double take.

It's been a few weeks since we spotted Lyons at J.Crew's fall 2015 presentation wearing her trademark glasses, bright lipstick, and slick middle-part bun, but she's ditched all three in favor of a barefaced make-under at a recent dinner in New York City.  She's since lopped off her long hair into a lob (a change she quietly debuted a few weeks ago at the CFDA nominees announcement ceremony), swapped out the bold lipcolor for a pale pink hue, and gone entirely sans glasses. And, surprise! She looks amazing.

Her beauty look may be more understated than usual, but the outfit itself remained a quirky Lyons original. Wearing a button-down blouse, fancy party shorts, and a menswear-inspired overcoat, all in various shades of blue (and topped off with a snakeskin bag), her eclecticism is still totally on-point. But, here's the real question: Now that we know Lyons can pull off both nerdy-cool and effortlessly pretty equally, will the J.Crew models follow suit next season? Stay tuned.
Jenna Lyons is exceptionally gorgeous. She can pull off looks the average woman (myself included) could not.

However, the article raised an interesting question: Will J.Crew and their models follow her direction? They have in the past, will they continue to do so. Back in January, it sounded like J.Crew might be pulling away from Jenna's style (refer to the "Does J.Crew Still Heart Forever Jenna Lyons? {probably}" post). However, all indications point to a strong relationship between J.Crew and their favorite employee.

What are your thoughts on Jenna's new look? Do you think J.Crew will replicate the style in their upcoming collections?

13 comments:

  1. While I think she looks pretty, this style will lever look good on me, do I guess that's going to be a pass.... And excellent point about making all the models look like her; it's like she's glamoured gayle and Tom to replicate her everywhere, LOL!

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  2. I'm very happy to see that those giant glasses are gone, now imagine not seeing them on the JCrew models anymore... it's a start!

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  3. I am also so glad the glasses are gone. Did it really take all these years?? Who wears the same pair for years? It was just weird. Glasses also change styles. And she does look beautiful without them. I also like the softer look. I am really hoping we won't see mini-me Jenna models on the runway anymore.

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    1. I love her new look...but then again I have always really like her.

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  4. She looks great, but....I do appreciate a woman who has a "trademark" and defies trends and fashion and that's what those goofy glasses were for her. I personally detested them, but they were "Jenna Lyons". Too bad J.Crew made them ubiquitous with the brand itself cause that's a personal look and hideous for us mere mortals!

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  5. Ditching the glasses with those horrid frames makes a huge difference. I like the new haircut as well.

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  6. Hair - very becoming - the "lob" is everywhere, and this is a good thing.
    Makeup - big improvement - eyes - almost looks like a good bleph or those new contacts with built-in "sparkle", which I'm dying to try, the lenses, I mean; lips - great color, v. becoming, perfect for her skin tone.
    Glasses - oh, thank heaven, the Groucho glasses are on vacation.
    Clothes - oh, dear. I'm sure people who like this kind of thing will like it very much.

    Could natural or colored tights be poised for a comeback? If so, YAY - I don't look good in goosebumps.

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  7. I figure the new look may be part of J Crew generally trying to change direction which would be awesome! While I don't love all of this look, it seems a lot more wearable than what we have seen in J Crew of late. It certainly seems more grown up and polished, and less like it is trying for overpriced Coachella-wear. Full speed ahead!!

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  8. Off topic, but I just got an email from Antgropologie offering a 15% coupon for feeling out a survey. I'm riding in the car so I figured I would fill it out. The questions were very relevant in regards to what has been discussed on this blog lately. Lots of questions about fabrics and fit. Maybe jcrew will follow their lead with the survey...

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    1. That's funny, I got a survey from BR like that. Also it had TONS of questions about Marissa Webb, like BR is trying to turn her into a Jenna-like icon. Questions like "do you like her personal style?" And "would you be interested in reading about her lifestyle?" Etc

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    2. I received the same survey as well and thought it was odd how much they pushed Marissa.

      Also, everytime I come to the blog and see some of the picture for the post (I.e. style me) I get nostalgic and wonder why I can't buy those outfits now.

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  9. I personally think this is a much improved version of Jenna. That said I had no problem with the way Jenna was styling herself previously. She should be able to dress as she pleases. The trouble starts when her look dictates how all the models and the JCrew customers should look. Her style may work for her but doesn't translate well for so many others. For my taste she has made giant steps toward a look that appeals to me. I hope she keeps walking in this new direction since she is currently the dominant face of JCrew.

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  10. This look is nice on Jenna. I won't miss the glasses, but do agree that it's too bad it wasn't simply her signature and became the look of J. Crew and other knockoffs.

    I'm noting that we may still be seeing low cut chest lines in the future. They seem to have a death's cold, rigor mortis grip on that design element.

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