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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Anatomy 101 (or if the dress fits, wear it)


Today, I am sharing a actual letter one of my daughters sent to J.Crew. I enjoyed it so much and evidently J.Crew also did as with in an hour of sending it off: to the great internet customer service email address in the sky, they responded. I am happy to report, she now owns the dress and wears it beautifully*

"Dear J Crew Customer Relations,

While I admire Jenna Lyons and her dedicated team of stylists as much as the next person, this obsession with mini cropped pants and shapeless sweaters has got to stop. I like to think of myself as a reasonably-sized, non-anorexic American person, but over the past few years the silhouette of J Crew’s designs has excluded me. Which is fine; these things happen, and there are other fish in the seas
So close, but yet so far...

However. This year, for a brief and glorious moment, I thought that Jenna Lyons had stopped her pursuit of dressing every tall, thin woman who bothered to flip through the catalog (which has a beautiful layout, this holiday season—kudos to the designers). The reason for this was the discovery of the Flared Ponte Dress, item # 15874 (link to product page).

At last, it was the dress I had been hoping for, for all of my admittedly short professional life: modest, well-formed, attractively fitted. When I first tried it on, I was delighted to discover that the waistline actually hit me at my waistline (usually it hits at my rib cage—has anyone in your company taken basic anatomy?) and, more importantly, I could actually move my arms without warping the line of the garment. Do you know how hard it is to find a dress that is comfortable to type in? Probably not, judging from the bulk of J Crew’s clothing options. Let me tell you: it is a rare and precious gift.

Due to the “recent professional” part of my life, it took long enough to save up the money for this dress that it’s no longer available. I ask, with all due politeness, what gives? I realize this dress might have been considered a risk for you at J Crew—it is so unlike the rest of the clothes you manufacture—but did you not realize that women like me have been hoping desperately for this kind of dress? Did you conduct any market research before it sold out?

All I wanted was to have a plain black dress to wear to work. I wear a size six, I’m 5’ 4”, I don't think I'm asking for the impossible. I thought you had my back, J Crew; I really did.

If there’s any hope of your making this dress again, please let me know. I’ve been let down before, but like a fool, I’ll come running.

Sincerely,

K.R. McEneely"

*Please note: The young woman pictured in said dress is not my daughter (though my daughter is just as, if not more-so, lovely.

1 comment:

  1. Glad she got the dress! I'm sure she looks stunning in it! What a great letter, it's so very true on fashion today.

    ReplyDelete

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