Monday, August 25, 2008

The Look for Less? Shopping With a J. Crew Personal Shopper

Like I said in the previous post, there just is no substitute for bonafide J. Crew. And when you gotta have it, you gotta have it. Well, what better way to feed your need than with a discount and some free style advice? Since early this month, J. Crew has been running a promotion where you can get 20% off all of your full-priced purchases when you make an appointment with a personal shopper and spend at least $100. Done and done.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't so sure about the personal shopper thing at first. I'm pretty particular about what I wear, and I didn't want the added pressure of having to spend a lot of money because I have someone helping me out. But after hearing other J. Crew aficionadas rave about their experiences with their personal shoppers, I decided to take the plunge and set up an appointment. My growing wishlist of new fall items also helped nudge me in the right direction.

When I first got there, the personal shopper, Lana, had already pulled several items in my sizes and put them in a dressing room. We then talked about what my (fashion) goals were and walked around the store and pulled some more stuff that I liked and that she suggested for me based on what I said I wanted, or what would go with pieces that I already recently purchased.

I thought I went in with a fairly open mind and with the intention of trying everything the personal shopper suggested. However, I soon realized that my already negative opinion of certain items didn't miraculously change once I put them on. The Donegal Tweed Ecole Jacket? Eh. It looked okay undone, but I don't really see myself as a blazer person. Glass-Button Featherweight Merino Cardigan? This is one of those long, v-neck cardigan shapes that is becoming popular. I didn't like it at all. Even in an extra-small, this thing swallowed me and just looked shapeless and sloppy. This is definitely one trend I am not going to adopt. The Dream Taffeta-Sash Cardigan was very plush and soft, and slightly better than I expected, left untied and over a graphic tee, but not something I'm going to spend $150 on at this point. Maybe it if goes on super-sale in the future...

So what DID the personal shopper help me accomplish anyway (besides allowing me to get 20% off)?? She was able to tell me what styles worked for me and what didn't. She was able to come up with suggestions on how to pair certain pieces together. Who would have thought to put a purple Jackie Cardigan over the Serengeti Tank? I know I wouldn't have thought of it, but now it's an option that I have, and it's awesome!  And girlfriend squeezed me into a size zero dress that I never would have even considered trying on, because I never thought my hips would allow it!

Oh yeah, and she also enabled me to spend much more than I wanted to, but damn, I am all the more happier for it! I mean, I actually SAVED over $300, so really, it was a no-brainer.

Bottom line: Lana rocks! And did I mention that she has the most adorable eastern European accent? She sounds just like my friend Miriana, who is from Bulgaria. I can't promise that your local J. Crew will have an eastern European Lana, but they probably will have a personal shopper there who can give you some good style advice, as well as 20% off some fabulous fall clothes if you get in there by August 29th.

What was that you say? What did I buy? Oh yeah. Now the fun stuff. I won't show you EVERYTHING I bought, because that would just incriminate me.






12 comments:

Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada} said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada} said...

Congrats! It sounds like you had a great PS and a wonderful shopping experience (with lots of great new clothes)! :)

Unknown said...

I got the ruffle henly in black and love it. You got some great things from what you shared ;-)

Ashley said...

Alexis: Thanks! I appreciate your comment to a burgeoning blogger. We'll see how long this lasts!

Gigiofca: I already had that henley in green, so I couldn't resist at 20% off! I also ended running back into the store because I forgot to buy a bracelet (triple scrolled-link). You can't let a golden opportunity like that fly away!

Anonymous said...

What color henley did you get? I never noticed them before, but they look so pretty and feminine. Also, thank you for your wonderful review. Since I don't live anywhere near a b&m store it is reviews like this that give me ideas! Again, thank you!!

Ashley said...

jcrewjunkie: I got the plum colored henley and I already owned the green one. I love bright, fun colors! So much, in fact, that it killed me a little bit inside to get the Dream Sylvie Dress in charcoal. That dress is adorable that I just had to get it (I will have to liven it up with bright tights and accessories), but I wish that it came in that beautiful eggplant color that the Dream Soho dress comes in.
And thanks for the positive comment, I appreciate it!

math teacher said...

I have the plum henley as well and love it. I noticed the pic of it with the gold cord skirt - I havne't noticed that color pairing on the website. Do plan to wear that color combo? I may have to try it myself! :)

Ashley said...

math teacher: I don't have any gold cords, but I do think that's a fun color combo! I got some dark grey ones and some ones that I thought were the acorn color from online, but the tag says "WHE" (I'm assuming that means "wheat"), and they are lighter than the acorn color. In store there weren't any matchstick cords that were that pretty bright gold color (i'm not a skirt kind of gal), but they did have some in the bootcut. The bootcut ones were all wrong on me, however.

Leigh said...

Hi Ashley!

I noticed that I was added to your Blog Roll. I really do appreciate that. I love your review of the all the great J.Crew pieces. I am going to add you back to my Blog Roll.

Cheers,
Leigh

sleepypasture said...

I heart J.Crew because they carry Tall sizes. Not Longs, but Talls. Big difference. Longs just have extra length, and Talls are actually made proportionally for a tall person, with a longer torso, longer arms, etc. Their tall pants have a 35 inch inseam (hooray!), and it's the only place I can buy button-down shirts and jackets because the Tall sizes have sleeves that are actually long enough and don't hover above my wrists. But unfortunately, they don't carry Talls in the stores so I have to do all of my shopping online and take a risk on the sizing.

Lesli said...

I have never been a JCrew fan, but why must you torture me with all of this fantastic stylization? I, too, would like a personal shopper! Also, it is killing me...I want to know what the person said in the first post....Please remind me to stay away from you when we go to Vegas. Between your tasting cocktails and our shared nasty shopping habit, we are in for some trouble. Love, love!

Ashley said...

Lesli: I didn't delete the comment; the person who wrote it did; they probably posted by mistake or something. Anyhoo, maybe we should just stay away from the malls in Vegas! Although the Forum shops *are* good. Fashion Show Mall is right across the street, but I wasn't totally impressed.