Two days ago, J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler admitted the obvious — that the company’s women’s fashions from the last year have “failed.”
If you’ve been regularly reading Catalog Police, my weekly review of mail order catalogs, this will come as zero surprise. Just a few years ago, the company had morphed from a boring preppy purveyor to a cool comeback queen. Then, the clothes morphed into a self-parodying sham. (Statement sweatshirts! Formal jumpsuits! Popped collars!)
But Drexler insists the company is back on the straight and narrow. No longer will it wander far from its preppy path. It will now return to its “classic” roots. And the latest stylebook is the triumphant return.
What do you think of the return of the prodigal prep?
When I was in 9th grade, this was my uniform. (Seriously, they forced us to wear this.)
This photo is incredibly over-exposed — perhaps to fool customers into thinking it isn’t completely transparent. (Hint: It probably is. Don’t buy it — unless you need a $40 pajama top.)
Oh good, I always wanted to know what to wear to the corporate board meeting on a cruise ship.
Ahhh. Now we’re back to the cray cray J. Crew we all know and love. Acid green skirt, button-up fabricated to look like silky aluminum foil and a limp rope belt.
Great comeback!