J.Crew For The Man In Your Life

My boyfriend could care less about the clothes he puts on everyday. Because he works from home, his job does not require him to look or a dress a certain way. His style is my style, or what I can convince him to like.

One would think that this would make it easier for me to shop for him, but it doesn’t.  He hates v-neck shirts and sweaters and half zip anythings. He is not a fan of wool and he is not a hoodie person either.

Here are a few of my favorite Mens items from J.Crew that I think he would like. After I write this post, I am going to email it to him so he can see what items I think he should own.

For the guys, what are some of your favorite items? For the ladies, what are some of your favorite items for the man in your life?

Short-sleeve broken-in pocket jersey polo, $42.50, Item 13191

My boyfriend actually owns the short-sleeve broken-in pocket jersey polo in many colors. We purchased them during the summer final sale, where he able to get his size in most of the colors for less than $10 each. I like them because they still have the look of a regular pique polo. He likes them because they don’t really wrinkle and they are super soft.

Cotton-cashmere crew neck sweater, $59.50, Item 86212

I really like all of the cotton-cashmere sweaters at J.Crew. My boyfriend prefers the crew neck because he hates v-neck. These sweaters are prefect for throwing on for any winter event. They look really nice paired with jeans or khakis.

Sherpa track jacket, $75.00, Item 97401

The Sherpa track jacket is perfect for him during the warmer fall months when a heavy winter coat is still not necessary. My boyfriend’s cold threshold is higher than mine. In fact, he is still sleeping with the air conditioner on at night. (It is November and we live in Philadelphia.) On those warmer days, he can just throw this on and be out the door.

Wool university coat, $235.00, Item 96037

I am really trying to convince him that he needs a new coat this year. His current one is two years old. The wool university coat would be a perfect replacement. I have touched it in stores and I think he would really like wearing it. I haven’t purchased it yet so I am not sure how the fit is. Too bad the outerwear sale a few weeks ago did not apply to Mens outerwear.

Regular-fit vintage cord trouser, $72.00, Item 96096

The regular-fit vintage cord trouser are actually on promotion in the stores. They are on sale for $39.50 instead of $72.00. Because of this, I purchased them in three of the four colors for my boyfriend. They didn’t have his size in the fourth color or he would have that one, too. He really likes cords and I really liked this pants because of the trouser look. The pockets are flat in the front and back and looks much cleaner all around.

Vintage fleece sweatpant, $49.50, Item 81249

I would really like to buy the vintage fleece sweatpants for my boyfriend because he is always complaining that he does not have enough lounging around clothes. I think these would be great for those lazy weekends. They look super comfortable. I love that they still have pockets on them.

J.Crew Plans for Another Mens Only Store

I found this article today over at Racked. I guess J.Crew is really trying to capture the male shoppers.

Breaking: J.Crew Men’s Joining Topshop on Broadway by Leslie Price

This is some mind-blowing late-in-the-day news right here: J.Crew will be opening another men’s shop (a la their Liquor Store location) in Soho. The store will take the space that currently houses Universal News at 484 Broadway, which is right next door to the giant Topshop store set to open in March. From DNR: “The size and opening date have not been determined, but it is expected to debut in early 2009.” Will it beat Topshop? Probably.

Reading of J.Crew’s New Book

J.Crew Tells Men What They Should Know by Leslie Price

Last night, J.Crew hosted a reading of their new book What a Man Should Know. The venue was the rare books room at the Strand, a suitably dusty and removed space on the third floor of a building next to the store at 826 Broadway. The little red volume, penned by British author Max Blagg and illustrated by Hugo Guinness, was stacked about the space.

Well-dressed guests, among them J.Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, flipped through it while sipping from complimentary cocktails or noshing on little short rib-filled pastries. Then, Blagg stepped up to the podium to read through a few of the 50 things a man should know (example: A man should know what to say to a sommelier. Not much. Let him impress you with his knowledge, and find you a wine that is both delicious and reasonably priced.) The tips were well received, but the laughter really began when Blagg moved on to selections from a ribald work-in-progress.

Timex Military Watch™ for J.Crew

Timex military watch™, $150.00, Item 10884

Inspired by military watches from the 1940s, Timex reached deep into their archives to create this handsome timepiece just for us. A fusion of traditional elements and modern materials, the dial features a bold, distinctive font and a sharply contrasting bright red second hand. Stainless steel watch case with luminescent hands that glow in the dark so you’ll always know what time it is. Nylon strap. 50M water resistant. Diameter of watch case: 1 1/2″. Five-year battery life. Import. Timex is a registered trademark of Timex Group USA, Inc.

Here is another collaboration between a well-known brand and J.Crew. Earlier this year, J.Crew debuted Rolex watches on its website.  This time, Timex created an exclusive military watch for J.Crew.  At $150, this watch is very nicely priced.

I am considering it as a gift for my boyfriend. I think it has a great look and feel.  Would you consider this for the special man in your life?

What Is That J.Crew Model Wearing?!?

Patchwork sport coat, $595.00, Item 97061

Classic-fit wool-cord patchwork pant, $298.00, Item 96068

Now we all that J.Crew is known for their madras patchwork during the summer time.  But it looks as if they are have created a fall version.

The patchwork sport coat is being featured as a Collector’s item.  While I do feel like the jacket can be beautiful if coordinated properly, the pants are just a little too much for me.

The sport coat will probably be at the new Mens Tribeca store, while the pants are available only through the catalog and website.

What are your thoughts on these items?  Would you purchase them for the special man in your life?  Would he ever wear them together as a suit?

The Trophy Tavern Graphic Tee from J.Crew

Limited-edition Trophy Tavern graphic tee, $52.00, Item 98676

The limited-edition Trophy Tavern graphic tee in the Mens Collection stirs some controversy.  The tee features a print of a fictional Trophy Tavern at 259 Bushwick Avenue, with a logo evoking the real establishment, Northeast Kingdom.

Read the article below to see what a J.Crew spokesperson has to say about the graphic tee.

On a $52 Shirt, a Hardscrabble Name
by Saki Knafo

The apparel chain J. Crew, which has stores in malls around America but none in Bushwick, Brooklyn, recently unveiled a black T-shirt featuring a picture of a deer’s head and the words “Trophy Tavern” and “259 Bushwick Avenue.”

Just over a week ago, a picture of the shirt turned up in the message box of Jeremy Sapienza, an editor of an online blog named BushwickBK.com.

“I just can’t understand what possessed J. Crew and its designers to think that anyone would think that it is cool,” Mr. Sapienza, 28, said one recent afternoon in the dining room of his Bushwick apartment. “If it was on the rack for 20 bucks, O.K. But $52?”

After receiving the picture, Mr. Sapienza posted it on his blog above a few lines of invective. “Nobody who lives in Brooklyn would be caught dead in this,” he wrote.

Readers’ responses were equally unambiguous. “Why, O why, do people think it’s cool to act rough and tumble?” mused someone using the name Dresden. Another reader, Vanessa Watts, later reached by phone, dismissed the notion of mass-produced T-shirts bearing arcane local references as “kind of silly.”

“If it’s something that says 11216 on it, you don’t know what that is if you’re buying it in a Macy’s in the middle of America,” wrote Ms. Watts, a hospital administrator who recently moved from Bushwick to Williamsburg.

For the record, the J. Crew shirt is not available at stores in middle America. A “limited edition” item, it can be found only online and at the company’s high-end specialty store on West Broadway in TriBeCa, according to the company.

But it was not just J. Crew’s clean-cut image, or the shirt’s cost, or what some perceived as the company’s exploitation of a poor neighborhood’s hardscrabble reputation that bothered Mr. Sapienza, Ms. Watts and others. It was the fact that as far as anyone could tell, neither the “Trophy Tavern” nor the tavern’s address, 259 Bushwick Avenue, exists. There is a building at 249 Bushwick Avenue, and there is a building at 265 Bushwick Avenue, but they are adjacent, with nothing in between, according to Mr. Sapienza.

“Some weird numbering anomaly,” he said.

Mr. Sapienza has a theory: Assuming that the company deliberately decided to use a nonexistent address, the shirt designer must have known about Bushwick Avenue’s numerical quirk. Which meant that the designer was probably one of the innumerable fashion-oriented people who live in Bushwick.

Some readers of his blog agreed. “This is happening in all the fashion houses b/c their graphic designers can’t afford to live anywhere else in NYC,” wrote Ms. Watts, whose husband works as a graphic designer for Calvin Klein.

Lance Lin, a spokesman for J. Crew, said the geographical assertion, at least, is accurate. “Many of our designers live in Brooklyn, including Bushwick,” he said. Apprised of the objections raised by Bushwick locals, he replied: “We created a graphic that we felt best reflected the attitude of the location and that was as geographically correct as possible.”