J.Crew's Fall Lookbook

When the August J. Crew catalogue arrived in my mailbox the other day, I almost tossed it out.  Did I really need to thumb through page after page of oddly clashing prints or neon mono-chromatic?  Did I really need to feel bad about the fact that I don't have effortlessly wavy hair or the perfect coral lipstick?  But, I felt virtuous because I'd listened to the Economist  that day and decided that at the very least, I could enjoy a good laugh at the fact J.Crew was selling $500 skirts.   Imagine my surprise, then, when I opened the pages and saw this:

What!?!? looks from J.Crew that were actually accessible again?!?!? The end of the world must be near.  I mean, not a fan of that weird shapeless dress  in the center, and the leather shorts, but overall, these looks were all things that I'd love to wear.  I love the mix of tomboyish and feminine that you see throughout.   And, can we talk about all of the gorgeous jewel tones and the restrained prints? The last row might be my favorite.  How adorable is that skirt?  And the sweater with the peter pan collar? To. Die For.   I even briefly considered trying to pull off a baseball cap, until I remembered that it would give me terrible hat hair.   

I had to get 3/4 of the way through the catalogue before I came across something like this:

This is more like the J.Crew I've come to know and hate.  I'm so confused . . . is this their  take on "what to wear on laundry day" look?  'Cause that's the only way to justify that skirt and that shirt together.  Did they just run out of fabric? Why is she carrying her ginormous purse like a clutch? And would someone really spend $178 on that shirt?!?!?  To my surprise, when I tried to find that shirt on J.Crew's website, it's listed as longer available.  I'm hoping it's because they realized their mistake and pulled it from the shelves rather than because it's sold out . . . 

Let's go back to a happy place before our retinas are permanently damaged.

Ahhhh, sigh of relief . . . 

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On that note, the blog Capital Hill Style linked to this Forbes article a few weeks ago.  Apparently, the author's wife sent a pretty thorough email complaint of J.Crew's style to the company and . . . the CEO Mickey Drexler called her to discuss her concerns . . . Kind of cool and kind of crazy. 

*all images from J.Crew's August Lookbook