Tuesday, April 14, 2009

J.Crew: Double-Serge Bow Pencil Skirt Review

This is J.Crew's Double Serge Bow Pencil Skirt (item #11646), which retails for $110, and is available in this blue-green color (true aqua) and an orange color.

The skirt is made of a nice, somewhat thick double-serge wool. I believe it fits true-to-size. I tried this on in my regular J.Crew skirt size, and I think it fit well - not super tight, and not loose. The skirt has off-seam pockets in the front, as well as a center "bow", which is sewn on, but could easily be detached if you are handy with the scissors or a seam ripper.

There is nothing very special from the back, but the darts are nice to give a little bit more curves than some of the straighter pencil skirt shapes that have come from J.Crew this season.

There were no petites available in-store, so this is just a tad bit too long for me. I couldn't really get away with buying a smaller size and hiking the skirt up, because I'd probably have to wear a shirt untucked with it, which would defeat the whole purpose of the cute bow.

Speaking of which, here is a close-up of the bow. I wasn't sure what to think of this initially, but I thought it was cute in person.

I initially didn't get this skirt, but after I saw it styled at our Boston JCAs shopping event, I picked it up (happily, it was on sale). I'm pretty excited to wear this skirt around. I think it's a nice, simple skirt with an interesting detail. I also love the aqua color. Please note that it is a bit more green in person than in the pictures.

What do you think? Do you like this skirt? Do you own it in the aqua or orange?

9 comments:

ashley April 14, 2009 at 10:03 AM  

this skirt is so pretty! i love that color! i hope you post your outfit when you wear it! i'm excited for our shopping trip! i hope we find some great stuff! and i hope that sorbet sweater finally goes on sale!!!

ps: you should make a polyvore of what that sa was wearing!!!

GingerSnap April 14, 2009 at 10:58 AM  

I wish this came in petite...It is so darling!

cmf221 April 14, 2009 at 9:04 PM  

i love this skirt. i got it in aqua at the cambridge store -- it was $98 on the tag less 25% using the red card. i saw it later in braintree and it was $110 on the tag. weird!

Anonymous April 15, 2009 at 12:44 AM  

I picked up the 100% cotton and unlined version of this skirt (11648) during the Shop with a PS promo. I do love it very much but also wish it had come with a lining. The cotton fabric is a little thin, so there is a bit of problem with VPLs. The length is fine, BTW, for petite ladies out there. I'm only 5'2" and this skirt hits me at the lower knee.

My PS suggested pairing this skirt with the Perfect Fit Tee in Tropical Aqua and the Snow Leopard cardigan. While I like this color/print combo, I find the look a bit fussy, probably because my Snow Leopard is the ruffled Tartine version.

I prefer to dress the skirt down by pairing it with a black and white cotton gingham blouse from Forever21 and a pair of gold kitten heel thongs. It also looks great with a white scoop neck tee and a khaki jacket (i.e., Keagan).

I wonder if this skirt will appear online during the April rollout, I'm told it's a store only item, but you never know.

How did they style this skirt at the Boston shopping event?

LL

1MadScientist April 16, 2009 at 7:33 AM  

i have this skirt in orange...i couldn't decide which i liked better, the orange or the aqua but the sales woman convinced me orange is my color! i thought it was really cute, but after wearing it for about an hour at the office it became very wrinkly...any suggestions on how to stop it from wrinkling? oh and in response to kate i paid $110 for mine too! i wonder why different stores have different prices...

i wore mine with the linen holly jacket.

JTS April 18, 2009 at 9:33 PM  

@ashley - I will try to remember to post my outfit - I am still debating getting it shortened. I am so tempted to pick up the sorbet sweater with the red card... :)

@GingerSnap - I know! I wish J.Crew would realize that short girls like to wear skirts too!

@Kate - The same thing happened to me, but it rang up $98 in Braintree, but I didn't have the Red Card when I bought it (hadn't come out yet) - but I was able to use my student discount at least.

JTS April 18, 2009 at 9:41 PM  

@LL - Was the other skirt the same design? I don't think I ever saw it, but it sounds cute (except for the VPLs of course, hehe).

The PS at Copley paired it with one of the striped broadcloth work shirts, the sorbet stripe cardi (the purple and green combo), and a belt. She looked super cute, but I tried on the same combo, and I didn't like the shirt under the cardi because the sleeves were too puffy to be under the sweater. I like your styling idea, too! Nice and simple, but still with some cute touches!

@1MadScientist - Orange is just okay for me (as in, for my coloring), but I did like it! It was so bright and fresh! I can see how it would become wrinkly - I actually don't have any tips for keeping things from becoming wrinkly like that. :( What about some light starch?

Anonymous April 20, 2009 at 4:39 AM  

The cotton version looks exactly like your wool version. It also came in the same two colors, aqua and orange, in-store. I'm guessing the double-serge must have a smoother fit, but the cotton one will surely get more wear in the months to come. :)

LL

JTS April 22, 2009 at 7:18 PM  

Hi LL - I have never seen the cotton one! I bought a bunch of cotton pencil skirts this season, so the double-serge was a nice change. Plus, my office is always FREEZING, so will come in handy in the summer when they crank the AC :)