retail rants

I knew this day was coming! We're vacationing and visiting family in Miami for the week, and headed to the air-conditioned mall on his past particularly hot and humid Monday. In New York, it's SUCH a process to head out for a day of window shopping...get your walking shoes, check the weather, consult the subway map, etc. In the 'burbs, when we're bored, we just hop in the car and can get an Auntie Annie's pretzel and mass retail fix in less than 15 minutes.

We headed into J Crew to see if the chambray Perfect shirt I had been lusting after was in stock. What did I see? Ruffles and huge embellishment everywhere! Outfits repeated in 5 color combinations throughout the store! Jenna's favorites! This is all fine and good in some ways...I found the store much more organized than in past seasons. However, the sale section was abysmal ($50 for a ruffle tee is no sale to me). I also found myself annoyed by the repeated outfit combinations. Sure. it makes it easy to envision pieces together, and thus, shoppers probably purchase more than one clothing item. But I have to wonder if it's stifling the creativity of J Crew shoppers? Hear me out here. It's a trend I've seen in the J Crew blogosphere as well. Outfits that are exact replicas (or very close approximations) to what appear in the catalogs. Purchases more motivated by Jenna's favorites than a personal true affinity for the pieces. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think the quality of clothing comes close to the prices J Crew thinks they can charge. Even if a blazer is lined with Italian silk and has buttons shipped from the far reaches of the Pacific...what motivates shoppers to spend close to $300 on said blazer? And don't even get me started on the atrocity that was the bejeweled puke green trench, priced at over nearly $800.

To be fair, there are many things about 'the new J Crew' that I love...the creative outfit combos (for INSPIRATION only), especially the artful layering. The bags, belts, and other leather accessories are great quality. And they do have a few stand-out pieces (like the Chimera jacket that is really beautiful in person). Further, it's not just J Crew that bugs me. I found the Gap totally uninspired, while Old Navy is good for nothing but basics. Abercrombie is too loud for me, but I imagine it's a more expensive version of the plaid and distressed jeans repeated at American Eagle. Express looked like the 80s vomited all over the store. Banana Republic was a snore. Even mid-range contemporary designer pieces at Bloomies and Saks bored me. Anthropologie is one of the few stores I keep coming back to. No forced outfit combinations, wearable pieces mixed with out-there items...you can mix and match and accessorize and combine to your heart's content.

Maybe it's the recessionista in me. I really need to be wowed by a piece...or have it on my long-term wishlist to purchase it. And almost nothing will bring me to pay full retail for clothing. This fall/winter season, shoppers can expect less sales and more shallow discounts as retailers scale back inventory to avoid losing as much revenue as last year. Brands definitely played it safe as well...bringing back some trends and slightly tweaking others. The good news is that I can most definitely work with my current wardrobe, adding/deleting a few pieces here and there for an update. If I need the trend, I can always hit F21 for a quick fix. Once we leave Miami, it will sadly be time to switch out the closet for colder weather...perfect time to play with what I have, rediscover pieces I love, and rework or discard those I don't.