I know we’ve got the whole summer to get through and there’s tons of linen and silk to be ogling at, but when I flew by the J.Crew London pop up shop last week, I could have skipped straight through to Fall without a backward glance at the supposed summer ahead. But then to be fair…it is London, so maybe summer won’t be bothering to stop by anyway.
It’s not like I’m one of those saddo East coast preppy types by birth right or anything, but there’s something about J.Crew that I can’t quite shake. Since moving back to London from New York, it’s clearly been a worry as to quite how I was going to keep my addiction afloat. I had all these intricate plans to ship to my sister in Chicago, my buddies in CT, but then hot news filtered through that J.Crew were actually considering breaking into the UK market.
Holy cow! Apart from the obvious first thought which crossed my fashion addled brain,
“Shit, now all my buddies in the UK will know where I got all these ‘preppy with a twist’ clothes from!”
My second thought was “Hurrah!”
So here’s a bunch of things on my wish list.
First up – mashed up textures. I know it’s a Jenna Lyons styling given, but seriously, who knew that polka dots really could work with baroque embroidery, or that a little bejewelled sweatshirt sits just so with a tapestry embellished coat? And we haven’t even covered how the graphic knit meets bedazzled pencil skirt by way of a snakeskin clutch.
Next up, I’m looking out for over the top statement bling. Was it Coco Chanel who said before you leave the house take one thing off? Well Jenna Lyons and the J.Crew team say NO! Bung it on thick is their mantra, and you know what? I’m liking it for Fall.
J.Crew always love to big up a detail. For Fall their coats and jackets are screaming bling, colour and sumptuous texture.
Of course if all else fails and it’s only an accessory you can afford, ensure it’s a chunky patterned scarf which makes the top of your hit list.
Finally there’s the coat as a wrap trend which has been adopted by the fash pack editors over the past few seasons as a badge of honour. You know the street style pics where you see the uber pushed for time editrix teetering out of her limo dashing to her next important runway show, coat hurriedly draped over her shoulders – well weirdly enough it’s now a trend.
So what can we learn from the J.Crew/Jenna Lyons invasion this Fall? I think the key message for now is be brave with your styling, adorn yourself with some statement bling, throw your coat casually over your shoulders and head on out that door. I’m certainly guilty of making use of the ‘tuck your sweater into your waistband to catch a sneak peek at your contrastingly coloured skinny belt’ trick which has been a mainstay of the Lyons styling school for the past few seasons. But who knows, by the time the J.Crew store arrives on London’s Regent Street in November, (cue much fan faring and adulation), the style team may well have come up with something else to sell us on.