J. Crew Obsession

I have written in a previous post about my newfound affinity for the Jenna Lyons-helmed J. Crew.  Here's a toned-down version of an inspired look, that I rocked for a beautiful mimosa brunch with friends last weekend:

[Necklace, denim top, pleated skirt- J. Crew, Yellow silk clutch is vintage J. Crew.  Rose gold watch- Marc by Marc Jacobs.  Patent stiletto pumps- Nine West. Pointless story about these pumps:  These are a knock of the Manolo Blahnik model, which I actually own in black.  They look and feel exactly the same, despite a wide price disparity.  I was in Court the other morning for a hearing, and another attorney asked if they were Ferragamo.  These shoes are ubiquitous.  I should've just picked up a knock off version of the black pair as well.]

Here's my best impressions of Jenna Lyons, neither of which ever made it out the front door:

Style Envy: Jenna Lyons

I have never been a huge fan of J. Crew.  My friend Michael used to be a walking J. Crew ad, and he had incredible style, so I can say I am a fan of the men's line.  For the women's side, I always just lumped Banana Republic and J. Crew in the same category.  It's all nice clothes, professional, inoffensive, maybe a place where I can pop in to grab a dress shirt or suit for work; really nothing special.

Jenna Lyons is the creative director at J. Crew.  She just finished up a guest spot on Girls, as Hannah's stylish and intimidating boss.  I instantly looked up her outfits from the show, and stumbled upon her entire catalog.  Holy. Crap.  This woman is so unbelievably chic!  After analyzing the looks she chooses for herself, I looked at the back catalogs for J. Crew, and these images really clicked with me.  She really incorporates herself into her work.  Everything she personally wears could easily show up, piece by piece, on paper in the lookbook.

The way she styles herself encompasses everything I love about fashion, and so much of what I have been writing about on this blog.

Here are two separate looks incorporating a lovely fur coat.  It works so well in a formal setting, and also in a more dressed-down setting.

The layering with this fur vest is so interesting.  The cross body bag in both looks is a perfect touch.

The contrast of this plain button up shirt with patterns that I would never think to pair it with.  Somehow, it works!