J. Crew Quality?

[seoulfully]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I don't know what the hell happened to this thread. Thankfully this is atypical.

For the record, J. Crew outerwear is of low quality. I have a pea coat that I bought in 2002, and I don't wear much, but which is starting to fall apart. As others have said, their shirts and sweaters are great, if they fit you and you can get them on sale.

thanks... i'll avoid the coat... a little bit of a bummer as i detest shopping... just like to target buy what i want/need... though as i said before 3/4 topcoat shouldn't be difficult to source this year

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I don't know what the hell happened to this thread. Thankfully this is atypical.

For the most part, I love this thread. I hope it doesn't even up in dickering over value v. luxury v. marketing, but other than that, it's been a fun trip. Very far ranging, like a good conversation.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

That is why you buy vintage cars. I've never owned a modern car.
Dude, you're like 17.

 

[Artisan Fan]

It may be valuable to give J. Crew a bit of a break. I spoke recently with a local manager and he said that new CEO Micky Drexler (former Gap CEO) is really streamlining things internally and focusing on offering better quality.

I think he has been there less than a year so perhaps we should see where he takes J. Crew.

 

[Artisan Fan]

As it turns out he joined in 2003. So I guess he has been working for three years on this.

 

[Sartorially Challenged]

I don't know what the hell happened to this thread. Thankfully this is atypical.

I think it began with someone making absolutely declarative sentences like things made in certain geographic locations are "guaranteed to be rubbish," not finding "real America" and so on. Those are fighting words. And, being of ill-temper, I rose to the challenge.

My thanks, however, to those of you who answered the querie I posed initially without making hyperbolic statements about "rubbish" made in places other than England, Australia and the U.S.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by Sartorially Challenged

I think it began with someone making absolutely declarative sentences like things made in certain geographic locations are "guaranteed to be rubbish," not finding "real America" and so on. Those are fighting words. And, being of ill-temper, I rose to the challenge.

My thanks, however, to those of you who answered the querie I posed initially without making hyperbolic statements about "rubbish" made in places other than England, Australia and the U.S.

Holy banana pie. What happenned here? I thought this thread would have been a simple two pager. Instead I have to slog through all this?!?

 

[dkzzzz]

If you work 9 to 5 in an office and on a budget then I guess it is fine.

Since this is Styleforum let me say something about J.Crew style:" Who? What?"

J.Crew is Banana with a price attitude. The head of GAP/BR quit last year and went to work for J.Crew that is why you will find exactly the same fabrics/leathers from the same Chinese mills. Many garments/shoes are not even re-styled; they are identical to Banana's offerings.

Stylistically J.Crew is an outfit that prepares young men to graduate one day into Brooks Brothers or Joseph A. and wear comfortably pleated shorts with tasseled loafers and play golf.

To contribute to the discussion here is wonderful article that sheds light on why clothing is the way it is. Wonderfully written article, I am sure you would get a chuckle or two.

Enjoy:http://www.exile.ru/2003-June-26/feature_story.html

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

J.Crew is Banana with a price attitude. The head of GAP/BR quit last year and went to work for J.Crew that is why you will find exactly the same fabrics/leathers from the same Chinese mills. Many garments/shoes are not even re-styled; they are identical to Banana's offerings.

Stylistically J.Crew is an outfit that prepares young men to graduate one day into Brooks Brothers or Joseph A. and wear comfortably pleated shorts with tasseled loafers and play golf.

J. Crew, in terms of shirts and trousers, seems to charge less than does BR. I can't say I get your comparison. I also don't see them being particularly stylistically similar. Can you provide some specific examples?

I think you're reaching on the "prepares young men" bit, too.

 

[Artisan Fan]

The head of GAP/BR quit last year and went to work for J.Crew that is why you will find exactly the same fabrics/leathers from the same Chinese mills.

I don't recall Loro Piana cashmere yarn being used in any BR I visited.

 

[Soph]

If I am going on a hayride or to a barn dance, J. Crew is choice.

 

[abc123]

If you work 9 to 5 in an office and on a budget then I guess it is fine.

Since this is Styleforum let me say something about J.Crew style:" Who? What?"

J.Crew is Banana with a price attitude. The head of GAP/BR quit last year and went to work for J.Crew that is why you will find exactly the same fabrics/leathers from the same Chinese mills. Many garments/shoes are not even re-styled; they are identical to Banana's offerings.

Stylistically J.Crew is an outfit that prepares young men to graduate one day into Brooks Brothers or Joseph A. and wear comfortably pleated shorts with tasseled loafers and play golf.

To contribute to the discussion here is wonderful article that sheds light on why clothing is the way it is. Wonderfully written article, I am sure you would get a chuckle or two.

Enjoy:http://www.exile.ru/2003-June-26/feature_story.html[/QUOT0E]


Completely disagree. Have you walked into a Banana then into a J Crew? The styles are totally different, really not even in the same ballpark. I went into both stores today, and beyond the basics, that every store carries (solid v-neck sweaters, chinos, etc), everything was quite stylistically different. For example the composition of the sweaters are different (Banana uses this silk cashmere blend, which is nowhere to be found at J Crew), all Bananas shirts are points/spreads, with not a button down to be found (plenty of those in J Crew), and I doubt youll ever find an emblematic tie or sorts in Banana. I've also never seen red/yellow/orange pants at Banana, not pink argyle socks. Really the only thing that I would compare about the stores is their price point - targeting the upper middle classe range who are looking for casual clothing. Beyond that, the similarities pretty much end, in my view.

 

[JBZ]

Originally Posted by Soph

If I am going on a hayride or to a barn dance, J. Crew is choice.

Not to take the bait, but J Crew's current incarnation is more East Coast/Southern prep/trad. I wouldn't call their clothing hayriding or barn dancing material (not that there's anything wrong with a good hayride - I've never been to a barn dance). I also disagree with the above comparison to Banana Republic. The stylings are very different. I know many people here find going to the mall beneath them (gasp, there's no Borrelli store?!!), but you could at least take a look at their offerings online before making sweeping generalizations about styling.

That said, I think what's been said about J. Crew above is pretty accurate. Some decent clothing, but probably not worth the full retail price. Personally, I'd rather pay less for the same or better quality (LL Bean) or more for better quality (Brooks, J Press, Mercer, Bills, etc.).

 

[Sartorially Challenged]

If you work 9 to 5 in an office and on a budget then I guess it is fine.

Neither condition applies. But then again, I do not subscribe to the philosophy that I should purchase to the maximum of my financial means.

That article was hilarious, especially since I happen to be in the top tax bracket, and I still wear Old Navy.

 

[Mentos]

Didn't mean to cause offense there, Doc. Now I'm jumping right in.

J. Crew is most certainly not a minor league Brooks. It's minor league Polo. Which, in my books, is not a bad thing to be. They're apparently trying to take an Apple approach to design. I don't see too many result, but I encourage that.

You can't compare J. Crew to what it's not--it's not comparable to clothes costing three times as much. It does appeal to young people, and to people on a budget. It's certainly almost never appropriate in a formal business environment. To the extent the office monkeys like me want to wear it after hours, you can use J. Crew to pull off a casual look that I think a lot of people on SF would really appreciate. There are some misses, but for the price, there are an awful lot of hits. No, you won't wear it on Paul Allen's yacht in Monaco, but he's not going to invite me, so that's okay.

If you want to scoff at all that, that's fine, but I think you're taking a platonic approach to evaluating clothing, when J. Crew explicitly is concerned with such quotidian issues as price. Is it handmade by old Italian men? No. But it still doesn't look bad if you're worried about price and looking for a casual, happy American look.

Put another way, if you want to make a meaningful evaluation of J. Crew, you absolutely have to consider price. If that's not something that you take into consideration, then you can't really make a meaningful comment.

All that said, I don't own much J. Crew, but that's just because I always miss the sales...