Is this a case of extreme photoshopping?
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| catalog picture |
Could this be the same dress below? I hope not...
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| IRL picture |
But I am seriously afraid it is, because the photographs below proof how the real life orange translates to purple when you apply a blue filter:
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| Orange pants are OK |
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| but purple pants seem more 'luxe' |
I don't like how they do it. But that's not the only problem with the dress.
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| Too short! |
This dress has been in my B& M for some time. I always walked straight pass it since in my mind it was a tunic, a beach cover up or something like that, and I don't need any of those. I only wanted to try it after I saw the catalog image, since many JCAs seemed to be interested. I am afraid many of us imagined a different dress from that catalog picture.
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| back view |
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| I am not sure about all those apples |
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| You cannot let it down because of the stitching |
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| $150 would make you think it is a dress |
Ema has a great review of this dress HERE, check it out, she has some other interesting items as well.
Do you like this dress or are you disappointed? Do you think this is the dress from the catalog image?
I tried it before in 6 and it felt very tight in the chest, so I thought I'd give it a try in an 8, especially since this seems to be my J.Crew dress size this year.
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| Size 8 |
Now the chest fits (barely) but the bottom is huge. Whitney called it 'burlap sack' and she is so right.
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| It fits in chest... |
Maybe if you are pear shaped this would be much better fit? But it would still be a wrinkled mess at the end of the day, I am afraid. And it is scratchy.
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| The color is gorgeous. |
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| Not for me, I am afraid :( |
See also Whitney's review HERE.
Oh well. I still have my white Attache, in superfine cotton, from last year.
Circle eyelet dress
Some sizes of this dress are waitlisted until 07.09.2012. Is it worth the wait?
When I saw it on the hanger it did not look too promising. But I have been proved wrong in my judgement. I had a strong suspicion that I would look absolutely laughable but I am not easily deterred once I decide to do something. Did I detect a doubtful look on the SA's face? What does she know? It may be gorgeous once on...
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| But she was right :( |
I tried size 8 and this would be a correct size, if I wanted to be so charitable (no way!).
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| Oh no! |
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| Goodness gracious! You have gotten sooo big my dear! |
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| Was this an inspiration? |
Please J.Crew, if we are talking doll outfits, how about at least looking for some cooler, more fashion forward dolls?
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| Chole (13 inch Les Cheries Doll) |
But maybe if you are shorter, younger and size 2 this dress would work? Maybe it is just not for me.
If you want to see the dress I actually liked a lot, check out my review of Ralph Lauren's dress in my previous post.
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How do you feel about catalog photoshoping? Do you like any of the dresses?
Please share!!!
Thank you for posting this post because I've felt this way about JCrew for years, their use of using Photoshop make their clothes beautiful in their catalog however upon visiting a B&M I'm terribly disappointed and walk out empty-handed 80% of the time. I love JCrew but feel terribly deceived too.
ReplyDeleteYes, wouldn't it be better to be pleasantly surprised instead? I feel like J.Crew used to be like that. I would order things that did even look that great in the catalog but I knew they will most likely look bettre irl.
DeleteSigh..
Ugh, mystery dresses are SO annoying. You get your hopes up and then it's totally different irl. Also, they (meaning the entire world of fashion/beauty products) need to start crediting the name of the photoshopper alongside the photographer in catalogs, magazines, etc. I wonder if there are any images left in circulation nowadays that are not 'shopped?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what J.Crew was thinking with a jute dress. I mean, I know that the rising costs of cotton and poly fibers might cause a brand to think outside the box, but come on. Jute rugs aren't even all that comfortable to stand on, let alone wear.
I don't even know with that Circle Eyelet dress. Maybe it was actually created for Crewcuts and the patterns went to the wrong factory?
I know Whitney, I really liked that picture of a dress, it seemed good length nice color, etc. I guess that was just a fantasy...
DeleteAnd making dresses from rugs? Not.A.Good.Idea.
lol about Circle Eyelet, I don't know who they have in mind.
i actually like the bright orange dress on you. i think with gold flat sandals you'd fit right in to palm springs! but it is a bit short.
ReplyDeletei've loved that linen dress but my goodness it is an awful fit. love the color though.
the last one is typical of most dresses i see lately. they are made for size 0 teens or young 20's. they look like little girl dresses on a woman's body, imo.
looks like you (and prob a lot others) saved some money today!
I wish I was living in Palm Springs, I loved it there, even if it felt like 140 degreess when I was there in August!
DeleteI don't know why they make those little girl dresses, I don't think many 20-year-olds want to sped $228 on the doll shaped dress.
Enough withhe apples already! I don't know who can or even wants to wear those. The apple pumps are already on FS and they just came out.
ReplyDeleteI had high hopes for the blue dress, but it's a mess and the color is so misleading.
Thank you for the awesome reviews!
I am with you A. Giant apples don't seem cute, just juvenile!
DeleteI actually laughed out loud when I saw the Cabbage Doll outfit. Yes, the dresses do look alike.
ReplyDeleteThanks! There is nothing like making people laugh :)
DeleteJ.Crew has always misrepresented the clothing on their website, but it is really getting out of hand these days. I am finding it more and more difficult to get excited when I see new items online because I know they will more than likely be very different in person. Usually not for the better, either. I would also like to know why in the world they are making Orange apples? To me the dress would have at least been cuter in a true apple red.
ReplyDeleteI do think this is getting worse. And I never thought about it but yes, why orange? Come to think of it, purple apples would have been even stranger, but I guessed we thougth this was floral or abstract print :(
DeleteThank you for this! It is very helpful. I now know I'm not the only one who is puzzled when seeing items in real life - usually totally disappointed because the catalog item was entirely different than what is in store. The dress length issue is unnerving as is the color confusion. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteJulieStyles, yes, why don't they just show the dress as it looks irl, anyway people will eventually see it and I think it is worse when you expect something much nicer. I wish they will also list model height and the size they are wearing. And no pinning please.
DeleteThis is too funny! You are bang on! I thought of colours when I got my neon azalea tshirt, which was GARISH compared with the same colour in the school boy and the jackie cardigan!
ReplyDeleteI am so sad when I do not know what the colour will really be like and when I am unsure, I do not buy. The "fancy" photoshopping simply makes me admire the item as an arthouse picture, but nothing more!
I think the first dress does not look badly, but the others make you look so much less than you really are! love the cabbage patch comparison!
I agree, neon azalea was scary, I got the Blythe shirt that I did not even take out of plastic, it was so blinding. nd on the website it was the most beautiful shade of delicate pink.
DeleteThat proves that they do know what is appealing. Why not just make it?
Saw the dress in the store today, came home, read this post - have we done some kind of mind meld?What are they thinking?
ReplyDeleteI may have liked Empire waists in paintings of the Empire, but JC's version never ceases to annoy me.
We must be long lost twins...
DeleteYes, they do look fine in those paintings but I bet they were better quality too :)
This whole post made me laugh and nod in commiseration ajc. What on earth are they thinking with the photoshopping and some of the silhouettes? Who are they dressing? If they want to dress 20-year-olds, that is perfectly fine, but consider that they cannot afford the crazy price tags. Argh, it's all so frustrating. The apple dress silhouette does look cute on you for a beach cover-up, but I agree on pretty much all your points. Thanks for sharing and the laughs. (Cabbage patch doll made me snort out loud!)
ReplyDeleteTHanks shopwithm, I don't know who they think they are designing for, I don't think this is the Luxe customer either.
DeleteEven whe you are college student, I don't think you want to go back to lookingt like a 5-year-old.
I could not help myself with the Cabbage patch doll, these things are so ugly and cute at the same time...
Thanks for posting. I am mostly a catalog customer and I have been skunked so many times by catalog and website photos that misrepresent the color of the item. The gulf between photo and IRL has caused a lot of returns for me. This "arty" blue lens is a case in point. C'mon--it's a catalog! Accurately depicting the merchandise is not merely an issue of customer satisfaction, it's about fair business practices!
ReplyDeletehexicon ITA, if I want artsy I will look at art. I want the realistic garment representation to help me make a judgment when I place an order, that's all.
DeleteThanks for these reviews. I have been shopping online for so many years that I have gotten a pretty good idea of what silhouettes work on me and what won't. But I still have to make guesses with the colours, especially now that J. Crew has switched to the blinding white background on their website. It's too bad they can't be like Brora, and mail out cards with the season's colour palette on it - that would really help with the colour accuracy.
ReplyDeleteHi Louise, I don;t like the white background either. I wish they would send color swatches, but it will never happen.
DeleteBut they could at least list the model height and size she is wearing, many sites do. Of course you DO NOT want to do it if you actually want to mislead the customer. Have the they been reading us and decided they can serve anything with the crewlade??
Ha! I tried on that navy dress today and hubs said I looked like a ten year old girl en route to a party.
ReplyDeleteRight Tabs, we don't mind looking younger, but not that much younger ;)
DeleteThanks for sharing the pics, AJC. Wow! I can't believe the difference between the colours IRL vs the catalhog. Thank goodness for the blogging community for presenting things as they are. I hope JC takes note of this when they do their "research" (by reading this blog and others). There's no B&M here (yet), so it has been years of guessing what colours I'll be seeing when I open a package. This latest redesign of the website and catalog is so not helpful to shoppers who don't live near a store!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw this dress I could not believe my eyes, and this just does not seem fair and honest to have it photographed like this.
DeleteUPDATE:
ReplyDeleteIt is official. This is an email that I received from J.Crew responding to my earlier inquiry about the apple dress:
"Thanks for your patience as we researched to find out more information about the dress you’ve seen. This is the Big Apple Print Dress in Mela Red, item 65227. I have learned that it is not actually purple as it seemed to appear via the link you provided. It is actually red and I hope this information is helpful. This dress has not actually arrived to us as of yet; however, you’re welcome to call our Personal Shopper team at 1-800-261-7422, if you’d like to place it on a pre-order."
Hmm, no I don't think I am interested, thank you very much.
Oh man you made me laugh so! hard with the pic & "Goodness gracious..."! ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteI have also laughed at my own reflection...
DeleteSuch a great post....the only thing "up there" in terms of annoying is the pinning of clothes on the mannequins in the stores. I get all excited to see nicely fitting clothes (and maybe pants that may fit me?) only to find a bevy of pins behind...
ReplyDeleteinvisible pinning should be outlawed methinks
DeleteOh this post is funny. I don't know J Crew is doing in the dress department these days, but clearly it's a mess. I tried that dress on and will be posting the review in the next day or two. I'll be sure to link here.
ReplyDeleteit is a mess Gigi, I wish they will send somebody to clean it up!
DeleteOMG Thank you so much for reviewing the Circle Eyelet dress. I've been obsessed with it ever since it appeared on the website, and I've been stalking all my local stores to see if it would show up. I was just about to take the plunge and order it online (I rarely order dresses without trying them on first) and then I noticed that the estimated ship date moved to sometime in July. I literally almost threw my computer off the desk until I saw your review. Thank you for saving me the money!
ReplyDeleteChristine, I am happy if I saved you a disappointment! I sometimes feel reluctant to post a bad review because I always think that maybe it is just me. But I see that Tabitha and few others have the same impression, so I am afraid it will not work for many.
ReplyDelete