J. Crew Bridal Store Open & 769 Collection Launch

Hello-Hello and happy almost-weekend!

We jump right in to things today, starting with a look at the new J. Crew Bridal store.

John Aquino/WWD

Frequent readers are familiar with our tedious whining concerns about Crew’s ‘disdain’ for preppy, but we remain favorably impressed with the firm’s bridal line.

Crew is also launching a new line, the 769 Collection, available only in the new store. This collection will feature cocktail dresses and evening gowns, as well as tuxedo jackets and harem pants, according to the Women’s Wear Daily review of the store today. The story quotes Crew’s president, Tracy Gardner, on the store’s niche.

“… J. Crew bridal fills a price niche between David’s Bridal and Vera Wang, offering a range from $229 for a silk tricotine Sophia gown or $350 for a Duchess bow monde satin cocktail dress, to sequin gowns for $1,500, or $3,500 for a metallic Twenties-inspired tulle gown. “We’re not fancy here. We’re still J. Crew, but it’s an elevated experience,” Gardner said.

The Times also has a review of the new shop:

“… has cocktail dresses from the 769 Collection that are exclusive to the store (the one at left is $795) and jewelry pieces like Lulu Frost mesh necklaces with vintage pins and brooches attached (below, $695).” (Here are the images referenced in the Times story quote.)

Courtesy Images via NY Times

There appears to be a solid commitment to customer service, more from the WWD story:

“The receptionist in front of the store is the tip-off to the high-service environment of the store. It’s manned with four personal shoppers and six wedding specialists equipped with hand-held technology and Wi-Fi to quickly answer questions about products and locate items that may be elsewhere in the J. Crew’s multichannel distribution network. “

Shoppers will also find products from Cosabella, Leah C. veils, jewelry pieces from the firm’s collaboration with Miriam Haskell, and cosmetics from Bobbi Brown.

The store officially opens Tuesday with an appearance by Darcy Miller from Martha Stewart Weddings, so if in the city anywhere near Madison and 66th, pop in for a visit.

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In other news from J. Crew Group, merchandise from their Madewell brand is finally now available online; the e-commerce site for Madewell is up and running.

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Yesterday we talked about the single most-popular post here as we hit the one-million blog views milestone; we’ll merely say that post involved the Hamptons and Gossip Girl.  Imagine our surprise when checking WWD (Women’s Wear Daily, subscription required) this morning, seeing a sizable story titled “Summer in the Hamptons: Better, But No Boom“.

The piece looks at the recession’s impact on the area, focusing on the retail sector, noting the departure of one luxury retailer, Gucci. But there is a lengthy roster of store openings: Balenciaga, Chico’s, Juicy Couture, and many more.  One way to gauge expectations for summer? Traffic on the Jitney, which a spokesperson described in the story:

““2009 was our best year ever as far as passenger counts, and currently for 2010, we are already surpassing those numbers, month to month,”

Good news for Jitney riders, the posh Ambassador service is returning, complete with on-board movies.

If in that corner of the globe on Saturday, fans of Hamptons Cottages & Gardens can meet the magazine’s new Editor in Chief, Kendell Cronstom; there’s a little get-together at the Maidstone from 5-7pm.

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We have a few more Sales & Savings opportunities, beginning with an important note we forgot to mention in yesterday’s list of fiscally-friendly offerings:

• Select LL Bean Signature merchandise is 30% off.

• Also, Saks is doing their online-only Home and Gourmet sale. (It looks like some fab goodies from the Macbeth Collection are included.)

• And Neiman’s is promoting a special on Cole-Haan, 40% off select styles; this is also an online-only promotion and runs today (Thursday, 5/27) only, ending at midnight.

NeimanMarcus.com

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We leave you with a special Pretty in Pink today in keeping with our wedding chatter, a piece from the new Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaid collection.

On that lovely image we say g’bye until next time!

Prohibition Preppy, Quirky Preppy, An Olympic Adventure in Argyle

Hello-Hello and welcome to a Tuesday!

Loads of news tidbits today, beginning with word that J. Crew is opening another standalone Mens store in the city, on Madison, right across from the Womens store.

Also J. Crew related, the Alexa Chung for Madewell collection was shown yesterday at Fashion Week.

Elizabeth Holmes/The Wall Street Journal

In her review of the collection Elizabeth Holmes at the Journal writes:

“… the fledgling brand’s buzz factor rose considerably Monday evening with the début of Madewell’s partnership with Alexa Chung , the model turned television personality who is a fixture on the social scene’s best dressed list.”

As the photos indicate, this was more of a presentation than the standard runway shows we frequently show.  The pieces were very appealing, especially for those a little younger than TP.

Refinery29.com

More from Ms. Holmes’ review:

“The clothes were inspired by the 1960s, Ms. Chung said, which was evident in the short shorts and tea dresses. The colors were fairly soft, in tans and blues and grays, with the occasional pop of bright red or black velvet.”

InStyle UK

The line holds lots of promise. There is no word on Ms. Chung designing any future collections beyond this initial group.

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We were fascinated by a headline for a post on The Thread, a WNBC fashion blog: “Preppy Prohibition with lots of bling“.

Robert Mitra/WWD

The headline was for the review of next fall’s Lorick collection. More specifically, the review reads this way:

“The collection evoked a highly styled, Miss Havisham-in-prep-school glamour and a fun-loving elegance that seemed pulled out from a fantasy dress-up trunk.  These are the sugar plum fairies about which J. Crew dreamed.”

This is so far over our head we aren’t attempting any explanation about the fairies or the preppy prohibition.

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In a post last week we mentioned our interest in a new line, Callula Lillibelle. The line officially debuted this weekend.

In our post we originally showed the sketch on the left; now we believe the dress on the right syncs up with the sketch. (Yes? No?)

We very much like several styles shown by the new label.

Sweetheart necklines and three-quarter sleeves on a swing coat will snag our attention (and affection) almost every time.

We think these two also match up.

This is what WWD (Women’s Wear Daily, subscription req’d.) wrote about the fashions:

“Calling it a “desk to dinner” label, designer William Calvert and his partner, Melanie Fraser Hart, presented a début contemporary collection of just that — well-cut coats, stretch suiting and ladylike day and evening dresses, all of which will retail under $400.”

Earlier in the week WWD asked designers what inspired their vision for this fall’s collections; here is the response from Callula Lillibelle’s founders:

“It’s that buttoned-up decadence that speaks to us all. It’s a wardrobe for January Jones, our modern-day Tippi Hedren.” —

Courtesy AMC-TV via WWD

No wonder we found the collection so appealing!

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We discovered another new label, Wendi Reed.

From WWD’s review:

“Known for knits, designer Wendi Reed made a strong first step into wovens with a quirky preppy collection of tweaked schoolgirl dresses and separates like a navy riding jacket decorated with a stack of men’s bow ties.”

There are delightful touches in many of the designs, we are eager to see how this label fares going forward.

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For today’s Olympic Moment, we have a stellar Adventure in Argyle:

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

That is the Norwegian curling team at practice in Vancouver.  According to this report the team had nary a clue they would be sporting such distinctive styles:

“Team Second Christoffer Svae ordered the argyle golf pants for his team over the Internet before they headed to Vancouver. The team had no idea they’d be wearing anything other than the standard black trousers until they opened the uniform box.. and beheld the gray, red, white, and blue pants that look somewhat… harlequin-like.

Here is the team in another, but similar, style.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

The pants are definitely creating buzz, being referred to as “shagadelic” and “rockin” in many stories and blog posts.  The headline for this Canadian Press story isn’t as lighthearted:

“Norwegian curling pants worthy of a fashion violation more than an Olympic medal”

Now that seems a bit harsh, there’s no need to get one’s whiskers in a wad.

Some readers may have already guessed what brand the curlers are wearing: Loudmouth Golf, sponsor of the always-colorful John Daly. We show the pants as seen on Loudmouth’s site, on the left the Dixie-Y model, and on the right the Red & Gray-Y.

Perhaps the writer should be grateful the teams isn’t wearing the Cherry Bombs (L) or the Pole Position pair from Loudmouth.

Mr. Svae shows his good nature in the CP story:

“Curling officials confirm there is nothing to prevent the Norwegians from wearing the eye-popping pants during Olympic competition as long as they are team colours.

“There’s actually no rules against (the) pants but it probably will be after this,” admitted Svae.

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And one quick reminder…

… tonight the new champion will be crowned at Westminster!

PHOTO CREDITS:

• Giovanni Giannoni/WWD: Callula Lillibelle
• Kyle Ericksen/WWD: Wendi Reed

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.