How About a J. Crew Wedding Store? Also, the $300 Monogram

Hello-Hello everyone!

We are a little crazed and dazed here at the Prepatorium, having just received enormous shipments of new Bungalow Scout totes and Lilly Pulitzer Stationery.  The Consort is busy supervising his minions (heh-heh-heh) in the unloading process. Us? We’re whiling away the hours watching Martha Stewart’s Lilly show, but our primary goal today is planning a foray into the stockroom housing the new treasures.  Methinks we have earned one of these:

Scout Totes at PreppyPrincess.com

The Poolside Stripe pattern simply shrieks “Summer” at us and it will hold a million things. (Ssshhh. Don’t tell TPC, he’ll never miss it.)

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On to a few pieces of J. Crew news, starting with the one closest to your pocketbook, their ‘Private Sale.” We almost didn’t post this one ladies, as it really does not fit within the parameters of what we define as a “sale.”  To us a sale is a price that is less than the original price at which an item was sold, a discount on merchandise.

This particular “J. Crew Private Sale” is not a sale as it merely provides a discount of 20% off one’s order when spending $175 or more.  We think of this as a promotion and there’s nothing wrong with a promotion, not at all.  But we don’t want to become tedious in posting every little promotional effort offered by our favorite retailers, so we shall leave it up to you, our treasured readers:

1. Does this qualify as a ‘sale’ in your estimation?
2. Do you want us continue providing information on such promotions?

BTW, if interested in taking advantage of this promotion, the code to enter at checkout is SECRET.

Also, there is word that the preppy retailer is thinking about opening a bridal salon, a simply marvelous notion we heartily embrace! In a recent conference call with stock analysts, CEO Mickey Drexler talked about that possibility.

““A bridal salon store is something we’re talking about,” he said. We’re looking uptown and downtown. If the right location came up, we’d do it.””

That information comes in this story from WWD, as well as another comment from Mr. Drexler on Crew’s pricing strategy:

“We’re responding to customer preference,” Drexler said. “Our bestsellers are things that are in fact stylish and fashionable and under 80 or 90 bucks. That’s where the action is right now.

The company plans to continue with their Madewell brand, opening another 8 stores this year, and they recently announced their new Size 12 shop for children.  Speaking of children, how much do we like this as a Pretty in Pink for today?

J. Crew Girls' Katy Trench

The Girls’ Katy trench coat is available in Dune (a more traditional tan), but that is nowhere near as fun as the fuchsia color!  And when we spotted the bow on the back, we were goners.

J. Crew Girls' Katy Trench

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Also today, news that Louis Vuitton is offering a new service, Mon Monogram, for almost all of their items. In essence they will put your monogram on their monogram.

Courtesy Louis Vuitton via Style.com

A Style.com story provides this tidbit, sharing the image you see above of the Vuitton Speedy 30, available at $700 for the standard version, $1,000 if you would like to personalize the monstrosity place your initials on their initals.

Now, to be fair, Vuitton provides complimentary hot-stamp monogramming on the majority of their small leather goods. And the company offers leather-goods in patterns other than their Monogram line.

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We are more than a little behind the times with our final tidbit, but we really wanted to share some of the photos of Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester from this past weekend.

Courtesy FashionHerald.com

The wise and wonderful Fashion Herald took the pictures at Lady Footlocker this past Saturday, and shared them on her blog.

Courtesy FashionHerald.org

Polo Ralph Lauren Olympic Games Collection, J Crew and the Madewell Brand

We celebrate with our friends across the border! Happy Canada Day!

With 8.8.08 only 5 weeks away, it is good to see that the smart minds at Polo Ralph Lauren have made some of the Olympic Collection available. We thought it wise to follow their lead, as they frequently do know what they’re about, and share some pieces from the line with you.

We start with the Men’s Classic-Fit Olympic Games Polo in white, and then we have TP’s favorite: the Olympic Games Newsboys Hat.

Below is the Men’s Slim Custom-Fit USA 08 Polo (both front and back), available in three of TP’s favorite colors, red, white and blue! This one is constructed of cotton mesh, comes complete with the official embroidered logo of Team USA for the 08 Olympics, and runs $125 retail. We’re thinking it will be a big seller for some reason… people will favor the back, as you don’t generally have that sort of lush look with Lauren until you hit the rarefied strata at the Lauren Collection level.

Above we show the Slim Custom-Fit US Shield Oxford described as:

Long-sleeved shirt cut for a trim, modern fit in preppy oxford-woven cotton and featuring the embroidered US Olympic shield logo at the chest pocket.

Also above, the Olympic Games Track Jacket in cotton mesh. Below we show the Olympic Games Cargo Pant, available in white only, with some interesting visual points of interest.

And now, another of our favorites, the Olympic Games Bucket Hat, which looks pretty cool, even with the guy on the horse.

Now we move on to the Ladies apparel, starting with the Womenswear version of the Olympic Games Pony Polo, available in white, or navy as shown.

Similar offerings for women are seen below with the Olympic Games Character Polo,

Also seen below, the Olympic Games Rings Polo.

And finally, there *is* a tee available in both men and women’s. Here is a look at the ladies version.

If you are looking for Children’s Olympic merchandise, it is on its way. (According to the website.) If this is something that is of interest to you, TP recommends checking the Polo website regularly or being in touch with your favorite salesperson at your local Polo store. But you already knew this.

All told, there isn’t anything groundbreaking here, nothing that makes us want to race to the nearest phone, dialing up TSU (The Spousal Unit), shrieking carrying on about our great shopping discoveries. There are some very solid pieces, and a few of the hats display a touch of whimsy. Of course, all of the pieces carry an unmistakable Polo air of preppy confidence and nonchalance. An added element this go-round is a touch of patriotic team spirit on some level The Princess is unable to discern…hhmm.

We can tell you there is more Men’s merchandise in the Collection than Women’s by good measure, even allowing for the four different varieties of hats or caps shown on the Men’s pages. Several of the “cooler” items are also clearly on the Men’s side of the store, in a virtual sense, such as the Slim Custom-Fit US Shield Oxford, and the Olympic Games Cargo Pant. We’re sure there is a rational retailing reason for this we simply aren’t aware of, and we will make every effort to learn what that is.

In other Preppy News…

Just so everyone doesn’t think the only thing going on at the White Elephant on Nantucket is a massage after golf, an update on J. Crew’s youthful Madewell 1937 brand actually came from there last week. In reality, it came in the form of comments from Chief Financial Officer Jim Scully during the huge financial conference held every year at the hotel. Scully said the company will decide sometime before the end of the year whether or not to expand the brand.

Madewell is the brand created by J Crew to appeal to a younger, more trend-driven demo than those shopping their J Crew stores. Below we show a few looks from the Madewell Fall 2008 collection.

Price points on the merchandise are substantially lower than at J Crew, which could make the hipper, edgier stores a more popular shopping spot during an economic downturn. That could also make marketing and merchandising mavens at shops like Gap and American Eagle Outfitters a little nervous; unfortunately, there are currently only eight Madewell stores open, with plans to open two more this year. Additionally the company plans to make the Madewell website operational for online shopping later this summer; that would be a plus as currently it is a very hip, slick and annoying place to be IMHO.