Doing the Crew

Doing the Crew

October 8th, 2010 @ 8:43 am by Ms. Sloth
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J. Crew, that is.

After falling in love with their Dune gown, I decided to make an appointment to try it on. See, up until recently, J. Crew only offered their wedding gowns via catalog or online, but now a select group of stores have bridal boutiques. There is one about two hours away, and it’s totally worth the trip to try on this beauty:

Source

But calling for the appointment was quite the daunting task! And I sure didn’t expect it to be.

First of all, I called from my desk. (Don’t judge—I was eating lunch at the time, so I was technically taking a break.) A man answered and I arranged the appointment through him. I just figured we’d arrange a time and I’d give my contact information, but it was much more than that.

He wanted to know which dresses I liked best, so that they could be sure that they had samples in stock for me to try on. That was refreshing.

And then he wanted to know my size, which is when it got a bit embarrassing. I sit in an area with three other girls. It’s pretty close quarters. We’re all friends, but they are all fit and skinny, and I’m already very embarrassed of my weight gain. So I basically had to whisper to the guy on the phone what size I am and then let him know that I have a very large chest so I might even have to go a size bigger.

Then he asked me what bra size I wear. Unfortunately, a male colleague was at my coworker’s desk, right next to me, so I again had to whisper to the man on the phone what size I wear. It was pretty embarrassing.

But the fact that he asked these questions also made me feel confident. They obviously wanted to be prepared for my visit.

Unfortunately, the J. Crew trip turned out to be pretty fruitless. Their gowns are absolutely beautiful—so well made and fabulous. Unfortunately, most of them are pretty low cut and strappy, which just doesn’t work for my bod. I’ve got a rack, y’all, although you’ll have to take my word for it because I won’t be posting any photos of myself in the J. Crew dresses. (This is a PG site, right?)

Would you consider J. Crew’s simple wedding dresses, or are you looking for something more formal?

Tags: philadelphia, wedding-dress |

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24 Responses to “Doing the Crew”

1 2 Last

Bee

Mrs. Trail Mix (message) 6,328 posts, Bee Keeper

Bummer!! I made an appt and tried on a few at JCrew too but none of them were special enough…

10/8/10 @ 8:48 am (reply)

Member

andy113 (message) 332 posts, Helper bee

none of the j. crew dresses (or most of their clothes for that matter) are very friendly to busty/curvy people, so i’m not all that surprised to hear about your experience. currently having a huge problem w/ getting a BM dress for a friend’s wedding. the dress she chose looked pornographic on me, even when i ordered up. so i’m bummed. i have to either get extra fabric and drastically alter it or go with another dress that looks pretty dowdy (but have the bust space). when i visited the store they told me the dress she chose has cups sewn into it that only fit a B and C breasts (this would have been GREAT information for them to put on their website or tell the bride beforehand!). i’m sure you’re fine something much better fitting/appropriate for you!

10/8/10 @ 8:57 am (reply)

Member

bRooklynRocks (message) 3,767 posts, Honey bee

There’s actually a J Crew bridal a few blocks from where I work. I like their dresses and I like very simple dresses but I think I’d like something a bit more formal for a main wedding dress. Maybe for later on during the reception? I do love the dress you put up on your post.

10/8/10 @ 8:57 am (reply)

Member

BeadFloraJewels (message) 80 posts, Worker bee

I think JCrew dresses would work well for an informal wedding or a beach wedding

Definitely bummer that you couldn’t find anything… hope you got a good road trip from it.

xoxo,
Fen

10/8/10 @ 9:00 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

That dress is beautiful! Sorry it didn’t hold the girls in very well.

10/8/10 @ 9:02 am (reply)

Member

moderndaisy (message) 6,607 posts, Bee Keeper

I can totally relate to being asked personal questions on the phone at work while you are surrounded by people right next to you quietly listening to every word. I usually don’t take personal calls at work for this reason (which is probably why offices were designed this way). If I HAVE to make a personal call during the day, which happens quite often given normal working hours, I take my cellphone outside although that isn’t a great option either since NYC is so LOUD I can barely hear the person on the other end.

10/8/10 @ 9:10 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Elephant (message) 6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

That stinks that the dresses didn’t work out, but very cool (although embarrassing at work) that he asked for that information so that they would be prepared for you.

10/8/10 @ 9:23 am (reply)

Member

crayfish (message) 4,844 posts, Honey bee

My gown was J. Crew. I, too, have a large chest, and had to have it let out. Their bodices do run quite tight. I’m usually fine in a J. Crew Large/12 regardless, but for my gown I was a 12 with an extra inch and a half let out in the chest. Love, love, love their fabrics. The gowns are really beautiful and are high quality! (I wore the Lucinda ballgown!)

10/8/10 @ 9:33 am (reply)

Guest

Elizabeth

Well thats a bummer that the dress didn’t work out. I loved the J.Crew bridal collection. The prices were just what I was looking for, the fabrics were better quality than I found in many bridal shops that I had visited, and I had previously had great experience with J.Crew, so I was eager to use them for my wedding. Unfortunately, I had a horrible time even trying to schedule an appointment with the J.Crew bridal near me. They told me their soonest appointment was one month out from the date I called “and NO walk-ins are allowed.” I understood that it wouldn’t be that day or even that week that they could schedule me in, and that they didn’t want someone to come in off the street, however I was very surprised that they wouldn’t be able to even accept me into the store for a month. I’ve worked my share of retail and sales positions and know that you don’t turn down a sale. But, they obviously have more than enough people purchasing that it doesn’t really matter. At that point I realized that I would only be purchasing my dress from a business who valued my purchase. In the end, I had my mom make a dress based on my designs with the silk of my choice. I and am eager to wear it for my October wedding!

10/8/10 @ 9:36 am (reply)

10.

Guest

CarMar

Ah! I love that dress! I almost returned my dream designer/lacey/very fancy dress when JCrew came out with that one. Swoon.

10/8/10 @ 9:37 am (reply)

11.

Member

Violet Violet (message) 985 posts, Busy bee

Ugh, I hate when that happens at work! Thankfully I made my appointment at the JCrew boutique via the internet. Sadly none of their dresses worked for me either.

10/8/10 @ 9:48 am (reply)

12.

Member

TheFutureMcBride (message) 4,479 posts, Honey bee

I’m sorry you spent all that time for something that didn’t work. I can’t wait to see what you ultimately wear.

10/8/10 @ 9:55 am (reply)

13.

Member

tinylittlebird (message) 1,695 posts, Bumble bee

I actually really like the J.Crew, and I had looked at a few of their dresses for myself and my maids online several times.

However, at the end of the day, the closest place to see them in person is a 6 hour drive, so it really wasn’t worth it to me. I am also very busty, and I don’t like empire styles, so there were only a few styles I would have considered anyway.

Also, I would have considered them for bridesmaids, except that 2 of my maids are VERY busty (Bestie/MOH and Little Sister) and they both requested straps if at all possible.

Unfortunately, it seems the J.Crew has discontinued several of their styles with straps, and that one weird one w/ “sleeves” looks like it has a v-neck that goes down way too low… Needless to say, without taking them with me to try them on, I just don’t feel like it’s worth the hassle.

10/8/10 @ 10:05 am (reply)

14.

Guest

katie

Sorry none of the dresses worked out for you, but I absolutely loved my clearance priced Sophia! (I most definitely do not have a rack!)

10/8/10 @ 10:07 am (reply)

15.

Member

jgoulart (message) 1,069 posts, Bumble bee

That stinks that they didn’t work out for you. They look so pretty in the site pics. I hate when that happens.

PS - I planned 75% of my wedding from my desk. I have a boring job haha.

10/8/10 @ 10:22 am (reply)

16.

Member

Miss Peach Tree (message) 339 posts, Helper bee

I have a substantial bust and loved the J Crew dresses, though in all fairness I wear a size 2 and had to order one size up to fit my chest.

I ended up with one of their more expensive dresses ($2000 instead of $500) but I love it! It is a beautiful Italian silk that has a very elegant but relaxed feel.

I live in NYC where they have the special bridal boutique and it was the best bridal store I went to, absolutely phenomenal, plus they have some boutique exclusives there, too.

I know I sound over enthusiastic but I really love my dress and al ot of the others I tried on and I don’t want anyone too be discouraged from checking it out if they are thinking about it.

Sorry it wasn’t a good fit for you. I know trying to dress big boobs can be a challenge :\

10/8/10 @ 11:00 am (reply)

17.

Member

BrianneG (message) 938 posts, Busy bee

I went with a friend (I’m the Best Woman in the wedding) to J. Crew so she could try on dresses. We all ended up finding dresses there but she took her J. Crew dress back and ended up with a Jenny Yoo. The Dune wasn’t as impressive in person to me, but maybe the sample was just a little well worn. The flowers were pretty droopy. The other dresses were nice, but not special enough, even for their backyard wedding.

I’m happy to be in a J. Crew bridesmaid dress but I wish it hadn’t cost $250.

10/8/10 @ 11:08 am (reply)

18.

Bee

Mrs. Pashmina (message) 190 posts, Blushing bee

I loved all their dresses online but when i tried them on a lot of them didnt work on my body type either. im small on top and big on bottom. the dune was one of my major dress contenders though! it seemed to make my lower half poof out too much though. so glad the opened up a store now!!!!

10/8/10 @ 11:13 am (reply)

19.

Member

MissMeg (message) 353 posts, Helper bee

I also tried on jcrew dresses…. they were ok, but I definitely was not in love. I’m glad they have them in some stores now though to try on. I was OBSESSED with them online, but had a much different experience when I finally saw them in person. They store was great though and they were super helpful! Even though I didn’t find my dress I had a great time looking