What's happening to J. Crew? - Page 3

I will say this about J Crew clothing. I purchased a bunch of thin wale cord jeans from them in the Fall and I just love them. Dressier than jeans but super comfortable. Very reasonably priced as well, even at full retail. I also bought some pocketless long sleeve T-shirts that have held up well and I have mentioned on several boards how comfy their cashmere v-necks are.

I would say the J Crew depending on the item can offer high quality, often at a good price.

Regarding the suiting, is J.Crew phasing them out completely or just in-store? The J.Crew near me hasn't carried suits for a while but they're still available online.

I bought a Legacy navy sportcoat a couple weeks ago for $115 that I foresee wearing for a long time...3-roll-2, made in Canada, almost perfect fit on the shoulders. Based on that I'm interested in buying a suit from them sometime.

Got my tailored polos today from J.Crew. Sooo much better than Ralph Lauren Polos and 1/2 the cost. I love it.

I am a J. Crew Whore. I admitted it. *Phew* However, rarely ever do I buy anything full price. As per the discussion, I am actually quite intrigued as to the focus and future of the Jcrew. As someone who works in the industry, their creative direction in menswear is not clear at all. As such i am being forced to look at more and more RL items-- as i don't want to pay for crap (unless it is at 80%off ;-). For instance, I used to be able to walk into J.Crew know what i wore right off the shelf. This season or last, they changed the dimensions of the clothing. In fact is it cut quite similarly to some of Polo's Rugby or University. I would describe it as slim fit. (Since when is a 44R an XL?) In addition, many of my girlfriends have complained that J crew makes feel fat as they may be a true 8 or 10, but a size or two higher in Jcrew now. I even took measurements to see if i was crazy. A manager who i am friends with told me that alot of people have been complaining about the sizing and sales weren't as great. Whether that is just for the store or the company i don't know. I see all of this as gravitation towards a trendy seasonal "fashion company" --- which is diametrically opposed to their roots. Their quality is so severely lacking from things i acquired 5 years ago that I refuse to pay full price for anything. They are a public company now -- and the bottom line is more important than maintaining the focus of the company. My sweaters from Jcrew this winter are in worse shape than the ones i have from years ago. I don't know whether they will ever totally shake the preppy look, at least not while it is still popular. But I wonder what their creatives have in store. As per comparing Jcrew to BR... i don't see it. BR has completely lost its identity right now, as is apparent from the Heritage line and their corporate troubles. What i mean is that there is no solid brand identity. Am i Saying that they should sell safari gear -- no? But i am hard pressed to form a BR image. Nothing sticks. My experience with their goods is also unremarkable. Their pants typically fit me better than Jcrew and some of the heritage pants are quite nice for summer. Their sweaters cannot hold a candle to J Crews IMO and die on me after a season. The shirts that I have gotten have only lasted 5 - 6 washings before a seam came sewn or a snap broke, or the like. BR for me is only good for a piece here and their. Gap = Crap. I haven't bought anything from their in years. What is funny --- the best OCBD in my closet is from GAP. Late 90's i think and cost me 5 bucks. HA.

Still!

Ha... that was at least on purpose!

Those are by far the best things I've bought at J. Crew. Nicely slim.

Agreed, and the colors are rich and have not hardly faded at all in many washings.

I'm a big fan of Jcrew - They make an XS, have some good slim shirts that fit me as a tiny person, and still make pants with small waist sizes. One of the few places you can put together a semi preppy / trad wardrobe without totally bankrupting yourself. I don't buy JCrew unless it's on sale - but it's a good value for 20 - 25 bucks a shirt, etc. I would be very, very disappointed if they stopped making mens clothing.

I feel the same, while my girlfriend constantly finds great deals on sweaters and pants and t-shirts for like 10 15 bucks, there is nothing for me ....... what pains me more, everytime we go outlet shopping, we go to J Crew first and freaking spends over 1 hour before we move to any other store

Hell if I care. I only buy two things at j.crew and I couldn't get them in the stores anyway: the essential slim chinos and 7-inch inseam shorts.

Stopped in at J.Crew at lunch to take back a sweater for my wife. All their sale stuff (at least in New York) is an additional 50% off. Not bad! Picked up a pair of mocs for her. $40 down from $118. Men's sale stuff was not great, though they did have a lot of stuff. Almost bought this seersucker tie in brown for $15 but passed.

did they have their ss suits on sale?

I was in there a couple days ago to check out the white bucks they are carrying this year. The suits were not on sale. As for the bucks, they were pretty subpar.