Jcrew New Arrivals (Part 1): First Impressions and IRL Pics

Today I had some time to waste after lunch so I thought that I would quickly check out the Jcrew new arrivals (I had to take my daughter to a bday party at 4 but since it was pretty far from where we live and she didn't want to nap I figured that we could go earlier in the neighborhood where the party would take place and just stroll around until she would fall asleep. Of course I had a plan in mind because there are two Jcrew stores in the area). Well, actually we ended up getting stuck in the Rockerfeller Center store for more than two hours because by the time I was ready to go to the register it was raining like hell outside so I just got back into the fitting room for another round of try-ons ((my daughter fell asleep between the first and second round of try-ons, she probably decided that it was better to sleep than watch mommy taking pictures in fitting room. In fact she even said "Basta foto" (Enough pictures) before passing out). Not the worst day to be stuck in a Jcrew as the new arrivals were all on the floor, the store was half empty and I virtually tried EVERYTHING that yielded some interest to me.
Please pardon my shoes in the following pics, I realize that thongs are not the best shoes to showcase fall merchandise but that's what I was wearing and it's better than barefoot (I did ask for a pair of flats at some point but I took few pics with the flats and they don't look good, so thongs they are).

My fave from the new catalog (the one item that I immediately felt in love with) was the Ribbon-front top. Believe it or not, at 12:45 pm it was already sold-out in my size (0) at the Madison Avenue Collection store, so I was relieved to see that they had it at Rockerfeller Center. They only had the champagne color and anyway it was the one that I was interested in:



First, there is no side zip and I hadn't realized that it's a V-neck (sort of). Well, that must be because it doesn't look that way on the website. The fit is a little bit odd, I think because the hem it's supposed to hit at the hips (at least if I have to believe the website pics), while it's clearly longer on me (the result is that if your torso is not that long and your hips are slightly wider than they should be the hem is going to get stuck in the hip area and not flow all the way down and it almost does it on me). However it's so Chanel-esque that I decided to forgive its sins (at least for now) and I bought it.

I tried it with the Stretch Twill Minnie Pants in black. These are tough to pull off IMO since they are not a bit forgiving (in fact the opposite of flattering), as you can see in the following pic (I have one that it's even worse), but if you can they could be a nice addition to your wardrobe:



I have to say that I was trying a 0 and I realized only after that the store was also carrying a 00. I tried them quicky in the gray (coal) because they were available on the floor and they looked better but I hadn't the time to try also the black. I might go back and try the 00 in black even if I had the feeling of wearing ski pants.

Next, the Francis cami. I have to say that the Francis delivers its promise. It's very feminine, perfectly executed and the fit was great (ie, you don't need to order a petite if you usually wear a 0). I don't remember seeing all the colors but I was only interested in the deep rose and dark charcoal. Here is the deep rose (that I like more IRL than in the catalog):





They also had a printed version that I believe is retail-only. Very cute and work-appropriate but a little bit springy IMO. Here is a zoom of the print:



I liked the Francis more IRL than on the catalog but I have a deja-vu feeling about it, I don't know if it's because of the Victoria (that, incidentally, I only own in the long-sleeve cotton version) or because of all the ruffles that we have seen everywhere this past season. I have seen those ruffles before!
Anyway, the dark charcoal is my favorite:



I'm wearing it with the new Toothpick ankle cords in dark charcoal. What a great pants! Seriously genious to make a pair of cords that look good with flats, I only wished that they had made it in more colors because the only one that I seem to miss in my "cords collection" is the dark aubergine (which I'm not a big fan of). In store they only had the navy, black, warm maple and dark charcoal. I'm curious to see if the soft ochre resembles more to last year's acorn (that I have) or gold (that I don't have, regretfully). Anyway the dark charcoal is the most likely candidate at this point.

While I was at cords I wanted to try on the vintage matchstick in the new wisteria color and here I had a big suprise: I had to size down to a 25 in the matchstick while I usually wear a 26 (and I'm not at my skinniest at the moment, in fact I gained a couple of pounds in the last two-three weeks). Moreover they are not stretch, while last year's version was, so I should have sized up if any. Initially I kind of refused to try the 25 but when I did, it was clear that it was my size.
Anyway because of the weird sizing, I prefer to wait and see if I'm still a 25 when it's actually time to wear them (one of the problems of buying too early in the season is the risk that what you bought won't fit any longer when in season).

Are you feeling tired? Once more and I'm off.
Here comes the Velvet Eden jacket, a favorite of many (at least a "virtual" favorite). I already knew that it won't fit me right (their jackets never do, there are too high-waisted) and I don't get to wear velvet jackets much (I have a black one from an Italian brand and that's enough) but I wanted to try it anyway out of curiosity. I tried the dark blossom and the harbor gray. First of all let me tell you that the dark blossom is a darker not to say completely different shade than the pink that is showed on the website:




I felt a little bit like one of the Three Musketeers (where did I put my sword?) Anyway, this was the one I look good in, which I hadn't realized when I was trying it. The harbor grey is just horrible on me (here with the vitage matchstick in weathered wisteria in the "wrong" size):



This is definitively a pass for me even on super-sale...

I think it's enough for today, I have other pics (mainly tees) but I'm going to write another post, hopefully tomorrow.
What do you think? Is there any of these new arrivals that you can't wait to try on? Any that you liked in the catalog but like less after seeing these pics?
If you have any question I will be happy to answer if I can!