Musings

I love the color palettes and attention to detail found in J Crew clothes but what is up with their catalog stylists? Why do they insist on grotesquely mismatching tops and bottoms? Why are they trying so hard to bring back material patterns that belong where they died. In the sixties.

J Crew designers are supreme masters at cutting perfect A-line dresses. But in their latest catalog, whose idea was it to pair up men's oxford shoes with evening apparel?

Only once in the past year was I tempted to purchase anything. It was a skirt. Not just a skirt. A whimsy of cream cloth worn over tights. As soon as I saw it I had to own it. But it had no item number to reference. No descriptive copy or price attended it. I called customer service anyway. After all, the thing of beauty I coveted appeared on a page all its own. There had to be an explanation behind the mystery.

When the customer service representative could not retrieve any information on the skirt and seemed just as fluxed as I was, she put me on hold to check with her supervisor. When she got back on the line she casually informed me the skirt actually belonged to the model in the photo. But it can't be! I cried into the phone. Why would J Crew send out a catalog presumably filled exclusively with their merchandise and showcase a chic piece a model happened to bring along with her to the shoot? For all we know she could have simply thrown it on before walking out the door, never thinking it would end up as property of J Crew. Surely I'm not the only customer in the entire world asking for the uncommon item.

What was J Crew thinking? "Oh, by the way, when you come in tomorrow bring a few pieces of your own because although we're known for selling well crafted fashion apparel, and we are indeed one of the mail order fashion houses strongest contenders, our own line falls short of having enough garments to fill up the required pages."
"Well, it is an odd request but if my own fashion sense is included in your catalog, how does that translate to the vision of J Crew and do I receive any residual payment?"
"No. You do not get a penny extra for lugging in your own wardrobe and why shouldn't we use your own clothes. After all, at J Crew we think of ourselves as every woman.