Doin' it well

Okay, in all fairness, I actually have a love/hate relationship with J. Crew. I loved them when I was younger because being preppy was easy growing up in a small town. I mean, let's face it, J. Crew can get pretty expensive. Growing up in the Dallas suburbs means you've experienced what it feels like to have brand names be the focus of your shopping adventures. It wasn't until I reached a certain point in my life where I didn't care what brand names I was wearing - I wanted to wear things that I loved because it worked with my style.

What I hate about J. Crew is how expensive they are. I mean, understandably so. They use beautiful fabrics that pretty much guarantee to last a long time. Personally, I like to shop their sale because everything goes on sale at one point or another (though they can still remain a bit pricey). Not everything is super expensive, but it's the beautiful pieces that I lust over that tend to give me price shock.

Now what I love most about J. Crew can be said in few words. I'll let the pictures do the talking.







The styling!! Who would have thought a tweed jacket, paired with a hoodie, distressed jeans, and a chunky necklace could work so well? Even the simple outfits, like the long sleeve white t-shirt with the skirt and belt combo have been executed so well with the model, the hair, and the accessories. I get a lot of style inspiration from J. Crew and because they're out of my budget, I love finding similar styles around the web from different retailers that I can afford with J. Crew's styling in mind. Ideally, this is how I would dress everyday... minus about half of the pastels. They obviously have a vision and it has me totally smitten.

Every month I look forward to their catalog. Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the February 2010 issue.





I MEAN REALLY! The penny loafers. The anklet socks with oxfords. The arm loaded with bejeweled bracelets. The mustard skirt and yellow belt. So many elements. So much love!

P.S. I recently found out that J. Crew's sister store, Madewell, is collaborating with Alexa Chung (basically my style hero) for a Fall 2010 collection. I'm already saving up my pennies.