Friday Shopping: Sweatshirts Edition

Embellished sweatshirts are a big thing this Fall, but I prefer the simplicity of a "message" one. Of course you have to be careful with the message, especially if you have kids. Retailers are also banking on the bewitchment for everything French so there are more and more tee shirts and sweatshirts out there with a message in French, from the neutral "Bonjour" and "Bon voyage" (you can't go wrong with that), to the more compromising "Amour, Amoureuse etc." to the profane (but oh! so chicer than its English equivalent) "Merde!" (I didn't make it up, it's by Wildfox. See for yourself here).

My absolute favorite is the Zoe Karssen "Crème de la crème" sweatshirt that some of you have probably seen on the Atlantic-Pacific blog. I love everything in that sweatshirt: the color (heather grey), the font used for the graphic and also the message, because while a bit snobbish it is a very old French expression that you don't hear that often even in France. For the longest time I tried to get my hands on it but it never popped back anywhere (it is available in black at Shopbop.com but I wanted it in grey).
So I recently ordered the Madewell "Bien Fait" sweatshirt just because it reminded me a bit of it and because I could use that $25 no minimum coupon that was around a few weeks ago. Granted, it is black and not grey but I decided to give it a try. It was backordered in my size so I had to wait a bit but it shipped at the beginning of this week.
Last week I had a quick errand to run in Soho where I saw on a billboard an ad that advertised the Old Navy sweatshirts and there was one in particular that reminded me of the Zoe Karssen one even more than the Madewell. I will go as far as to say that it's a knock-off because the font is exactly the same, even if the sweatshirt says "Heart and Soul" in plain English ;-). You can see it here (it is even less expensive now). When I got home I received a coupon for 25% so I took it as a sign and I ordered the sweatshirt in a few colors/sizes (to get to the free shipping minimum). They were priced at $10 and with the coupon they came down to $7.50 each so I had to order many!

I just received them today. I don't order at ON very often so I have to trust the reviews, which in this case said that the sweatshirt was short and that ordering a Tall size would take care of the problem. So I ordered my regular XS and a XS Tall in two colors, the "Heart and Soul" (which is a graphite grey) and the "Marshmallow white" (because I liked the friendly "Hello there").

I must have a short torso because I didn't find it short/boxy at all in the regular XS. This is the grey and I really like it:




The white one fits a bit looser in the same size and it is whiter than I though. However for $7.50 I think I am going to keep it as I see many styling possibilities:




I also ordered the "silver lurex" one and again listened to the reviewers who said to size up. I only ordered a S in this one as it wasn't my first choice but I was curious.
This one is the best of the bunch in terms of fabric content (it is almost 100% cotton, while the other colors have a high poly content that some of you may not like, even if they feel like cotton) and it is as soft as my most beloved JCrew ones. However, it is definitely too big in a S and I don't know where I would wear a sweatshirt with lurex, even if very subtle:



On the other side the Madewell one was a bit disappointing, for $75. I find it very plain. It is the same weight than the ON ones even if it is 100% cotton. I was expecting a different weight but it is a "summer" sweatshirt. The fit is spot-on and is cut slimmer than the ON:







I don't think I am going to keep it, especially after seeing what you can get for $7 at ON.

Did you try the Madewell or ON sweatshirts? In other news, the Zoe Karssen one has been re-issued and it is available at Bloomingdales with 20% off to boot. I am going to wait and see if a XS becomes available in the next few days just to get it out of my system.