JCA "Help Style Me!" Weekly Post

This is the weekly "Help Style Me!" post, where we can share items we are having trouble putting outfits together with. Elaine (in this post) says it best, "You know, that thing you bought because you love it and you keep pulling it out and then putting it away without wearing it?"

Please share your J.Crew item (either that you own or are thinking about getting) that you would love help creating an outfit with.

Also, please help out by offering your styling advice. Feel free to include links to your blog (where you incorporated that piece) or to Polyvore (where you showcased an outfit with that piece). Thanks in advance! :)

"Looking to LOVE" with J.Crew

This is the weekly "Looking to LOVE with J.Crew" post, a place to share our favorite experiences with J.Crew.

If you have recently experienced a positive 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 stellar experiences with purchases & orders, promotions/ offers, in-store visits, transactions with store associates, etc.

Jeans Cost How Much {you don't say?}

"Thanks!" to J.Crew Guy In Canada who shared a really interesting article from the Wall Street Journal (click here to read in its entirety) about the true costs of jeans:

How Can Jeans Cost $300?
Shoppers Shell Out More for Designer Denim, Lured by Signature Details, 'Made in America'
By Christina Binkley
July 7, 2011

It is an enduring mystery to anyone reared on $50 Levi's: How can a pair of jeans cost as much as the Phantom, the new look from True Religion that will be priced as high as $375? ...

This is a rarefied segment of the denim business. Americans bought $13.8 billion of men's and women's jeans in the year ended April 30, according to market-research firm NPD Group. But only about 1% of jeans sold in the U.S. over that year cost more than $50.

The prices of "premium" jeans—industry jargon for luxury-priced denim—appear to be edging slightly upward after a downturn following the financial crisis. Right now, J Brand's Maria women's jeans can sell for $226. Men's Aidan jeans from Seven For All Mankind cost $225. Prices for Gucci jeans range from $495 to $665. Premium jeans are made in the U.S., which is a big part of their allure.

...It costs about $50 to make a pair of Super T jeans, True Religion's best-selling style with oversized white stitching, estimates founder, chairman and chief executive, Jeff Lubell. The wholesale price is $152, he says, and the average retail price is $335. Of course, plenty of these jeans sell at substantially less than full price.

...As with all fashion, a big part of the price of luxury denim is in the multiple profit margins taken at each level of production. Most any piece of clothing contains parts and services from potentially dozens of providers: from fabric and button makers, to designers and seamstresses, and wholesalers and sales agents. After all this, designers and retailers say the typical retail markup on all fashion items, including jeans, ranges from 2.2 to 2.6 times cost.

In the luxury business, those mark-ups cover huge marketing budgets (someone has to pay for giant billboards and ads in fashion magazines) as well as the costs of running stores, headquarters, shipping, and other overhead.

The profit margins on premium jeans can be substantial. Mr. Geliebter says his gross profit margin for private-label jeans, which he makes for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and other retailers, are less than 20%, whereas the margins for his own premium lines are 40%-to-50%.

It seemed a few years ago that the high end of the denim business was doomed, with the financial crisis killing many consumers' appetites for expensive jeans. Premium-denim makers cut back on styling and details, and cut prices in many cases to under $200. Manufacturers hit a price floor at around $150, mainly because premium denim is manufactured primarily in the U.S., which can't compete China and other nations with low labor costs.

Beyond the rise, or waistband height, and leg silhouette—bootleg, skinny, or cigarette—the details that make jeans brands stand out are often on the pockets. J Brand's pockets are unadorned, while True Religion is known for its highly stylized pockets with swirly embroidery.

Jeans brands also try to stand out from season to season by using patented materials, such as rivets and stitching, and by using special washes and distressing methods. These might involve dying, pressing, and even using sandpaper and drills on the raw jeans. These methods can be particularly expensive when done in the U.S., where factories must meet more stringent environmental and labor standards than in many low-cost nations.

Most premium jeans' cotton denim fabric comes from the primary maker of high-end denim fabric used in the U.S. and Europe: Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Denim, a unit of the International Textile Group. There, in a plant known as White Oak, shuttle looms dating from the 1950s weave the denim fabric that winds up in many premium denim brands, including J Brand. The looms are older, narrower, and slower than highly efficient modern looms, but they weave fabric with slight irregularities known as slubs, which impart a texture and character that modern looms lack.

...The Cone fabrics are shipped by truck or train to Los Angeles, where denim brands cut and sew them to their designs. Each part and bit of labor may ultimately be marked up five times or more before the pants reach retail stores. So the $23.30 spent for a Los Angeles-based seamstress to sew a pair of Super Ts will cost the consumer more than $100 at full price. Other notable costs include roughly $10 worth of fabric (1.8 yards a pair, on average), 44 cents for pocket linings, 37 cents for a zipper, and $2 for the embroidery on a back pocket. Washes for coloring and fading may be done in Los Angeles or, sometimes, at mills in Mexico.

To be produced domestically, jeans have to be priced at "$200-plus," says Shelda Hartwell-Hale, a vice president at Directives West, an L.A.-based division of fashion consulting firm Doneger Group.

Jeans makers say that manufacturing in the U.S., in addition to appealing to consumers, allows them to move quickly. ...Mr. Rudes says it typically takes his company six to eight weeks to make a pair of jeans in the U.S., compared with three to six months in China.

True Religion is one of the industry's giants, making 4 million units of clothing a year. He estimates that his $300 jeans could sell for $40 if he manufactured in China.

Still, Mr. Lubell has caved when it comes to jackets, the cutting and styling of which is more complex than pants. He makes them in Mexico, where costs are higher than in Asia, but less than in the U.S. The jackets retail for about $375. "If I made them here," he says, "they would be about $600."

Pretty interesting read! Especially the image used to illustrate the production costs for one company's jeans.

What are your thoughts on the article? Do you notice the difference between premium jeans and other kinds of jeans? If so, please share! :)

Much Love for the Capri Length Pants

"Thanks!" to J.Crew Guy In Canada who shared an article from Wall Street Journal online (click here to read in its entirety) about capri pants and of course, Jenna Lyons!

Ankle-Baring Trousers From Runway to Office
Women and Men Experiment With Summer Style in More Formal Settings; J. Crew's Best-Selling Pants Are 'Café' Capris
By Christina Binkley
June 30, 2011

Last Friday, Amanda Cain went to her New York brokerage office wearing a black tee, a black, tailored, Theory-brand jacket, and a dark pair of J. Crew skinny-leg blue jeans rolled up above the ankle.

Cropped, narrow, and minimalist: It's the slacks silhouette of summer 2011.

Ms. Cain, a senior director at Newedge USA, is approaching the look with caution, however. She says she wouldn't wear cropped pants to the office on any day other than a casual Friday.

And when she does wear cropped styles, she sticks to high-quality brands and keeps the length just barely above the ankle. "If they're edgy, you can look cheap and trashy in a second," she says.

Fashion choices in the office often raise prickly questions, risking derisive stares from the boss, colleagues or clients.

But the latest crop of short trousers present a particularly tough call: On the one hand, Capri pants are effortlessly chic, and they reveal little more than a flash of ankle. Yet they are traditionally a beachy look, which won't help you hone your image as the person who can close a deal or hit third-quarter revenue targets.

"The vision is clam diggers on Cape Cod," says Sandy Dumont, a Norfolk, Va., image consultant. Even if Capri pants are crisp and neat, she says, "they reflect the exciting place for which they were named."

Stylish pants have risen above the ankle for men as well as women. High-fashion brands such as Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne, and Jason Wu are promoting everything from slightly cropped pants for men to wear without socks, to dress shorts for women.

The look of the moment involves peg-legged cropped pants, or pants that are rolled up sloppily—on purpose—above the ankle.

Bigger brands and retailers are interpreting the runway styles for wider use, and they're planning to carry the cropped look into the fall.

J. Crew's best-selling women's pants right now are the Capri-length "Café" pant in cotton. For fall, it will come in office-ready wool in a variety of colors and patterns including raspberry, mustard, tweed, and checked, says Jenna Lyons, J.Crew's president and executive creative officer. Currently, the brand has slim wool suiting slacks, called the "Paley" pant, that are cropped a few inches above the ankle.

Jon Putnam, a Boston-based economist, says he noticed cropped pants being worn in Federal District Court in New York, where he was giving testimony in an intellectual-property case. Breaking with convention is "probably not what a courtroom outfit is supposed to do," he says.

Ms. Lyons, who is in charge of interpreting high-fashion looks for J. Crew's broad audience, says she has given a lot of thought to wearing cropped pants in a professional setting. "The most important thing is to pay attention to the length—just above the ankle," she says. "Shorter gets too casual.

"For a suit, a slim trouser with heels and no socks looks a little more polished," she adds, suggesting cropped pants be worn with a simple, classic pump.

Another, more dramatic look being promoted by high-fashion brands for several seasons is shorts suits. Ms. Cain says she won't be going there. Clients "expect you to look like grown-ups," she says. "Shorts are equivalent to wearing a miniskirt."

The risks for men are another thing entirely. While the cropped or rolled-above-the-ankle look is popular for men, the style is almost entirely casual and best worn outside the office.

... Almost no one is recommending that professional men outside of some creative jobs wear cropped pants to the office.

... "My husband asked, 'Can I do that?' " Ms. Lyons said. "No," she told him. "The world is not ready."

I love the Capri look for Summer. It will be interesting to see how J.Crew translates that into Fall. Not going to lie, the described shade of "raspberry" sounds a-ma-zing. As for wearing it in more professional settings... not so sure about that one. It really can be tricky.

What are your thoughts on article? Do you wear them at the office? If so, please share how you style them! :)

Free Shipping On *All* Women's Shoes!

"Thanks!" to many of you, including lunarary & xoxo (in this post), who let us know the following new promotion.

J.Crew is offering free shipping on all Women's shoes (click here to shop online). Even better? This offer doesn't just include regular priced but sale priced shoes too (click here to shop online)! This offer expires Friday, July 15, 2011.

This is a pretty good offer. A great excuse to get a pair of shoes! I love that it applies to all shoes too. Lastly, who else is surprised to see this offer today and not tomorrow? Usually, J.Crew does not run a new promotion while another one is going on. I for one, like it! :)

Will you be checking out J.Crew's shoe selection? If so, please share which items makes the top of your must-have list! :)

Extra 30% off Final Sale & Free Shipping {ends today}

Today is the last day of J.Crew's current offer for 30% off all final sale items (no min) and free shipping on $150+ with promo code MUSTSHOP. To shop Final Sale online, click here.

I am surprised that I didn't take advantage of this offer. But frankly, the stores were offering much better (as in lower) prices. So it just made sense for me to favor their B&M counterpart. But still, very happy to see this promotion was available for online shopping as well.

Will you be checking out the Sale section? Are there any items you are hoping to see or to get?

Fellow JCA Reviews the {beloved} Ethel Trench

It is no surprise that I am in love with one Ethel Cotton Twill Trench Coat. This is the item that I am looking forward to the most when it comes to J.Crew's Fall Collection.

"Thanks!" to both Erin, and Bourbon & Pearls (in this post) who let us know that Bourbon & Pearls has reviewed the Ethel Trench.

To read her detailed first-hand review of the coat, as well as several real life images, check out her "JCrew Flared Ethel Trench Review" post.

What are your thoughts on the Ethel Trench now that you have seen some real life images? Will you order/purchase it, when it comes out at JCrew.com?

"Looking to VENT" with J.Crew

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.

Weekly Share: Other JCrew-like Retailers

This is the weekly "Other JCrew-like Retailers" post (similar to the "Off On A Tangent" posts), where we can share our finds from other retailers that have offerings similar to J.Crew (like LE Canvas, Gap, BR, Talbots, Ann Taylor, and the like.)

If you have recently encountered items that are similar to 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 experiences with certain merchandise pieces, promotions/ offers, in-store visits, transactions with store associates, etc.

Madewell Customers: San Francisco, here we come (+ 15% off)

"Thanks!" to many of you, including Faith, who shared the following email & offer from Madewell.

The email announces that the Madewell San Francisco store is now open. Even better, you can take 15% off your first in store purchase. Just click on the image above or here, to print out the email for the store associate. The offer expires July 25, 2011.

Of course there is some fine print to be aware of:

*Present a printout of this email to redeem offer at checkout. One-time use per customer during offer period. Valid on purchases made at the Madewell San Francisco store only. Discount cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion and cannot be applied to denim hemming services or to the purchase of gift cards. Some exclusions may apply. Discount cannot be applied to previous purchases. Store associates: scan bar code at time of transaction. Valid from 7/12/11 to 7/25/11 only.

There's more! On Thursday, July 14th, they are celebrating from 6-8PM with 7X7SF. Fun!

To shop and check out the new digs, visit:

San Francisco Centre
845 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Congrats San Fran shoppers!