J.Crew | Blog

05/10

Bottled Genius

a few spritzes of Lavett&Chin® Original sea/salt texturizing mist, and
suddenly these ladies in our office have Greek goddess-y, beachy waves—without
a shoreline in sight.

The Backstory
Hairdresser-turned-stylist Brent Lavett is one half of Lavett&Chin (the other half is his
partner, Nan Chin), and he knows great hair when he sees it. He grew up in Southern
California and began surfing at a young age, so that just-out-of-the-waves hair is
something that has a permanent place in his mind. “I’ve always loved the texture you get
from being in the ocean, so I wanted to bottle that and create something that’s actually
beneficial to the hair and scalp.” Brent produced the first batch of sea-salt texturizing
mist back in 1999 and has reintroduced it just for us, using specially sourced ingredients
like rose flower water, Maris sea salt and algae extract. (It should also be said that Brent
is something of a J.Crew veteran, having worked on our Style Guide shoots for the past
14 years.) And if these gorgeous J.Crew ladies’ goddess-y locks above are any
indication, it’s clear that his motto—“If something is important, do it perfectly”—applies
to this wonder texturizing spray as well.

Photography by Bryan Derballa.

To shop Lavett&Chin Original sea/salt texturizing mist, click here.

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how to diy hair and makeup hair and beauty fashion photography
02/15

The Close-up: Beauty Notes

the cherry on top of our fall 2013 presentation looks?
the models’ head-turning hair and makeup (that lip!).
here’s how to get the complete look…

The Face: Fresh and Flawless
1. Prime skin with Laura Mercier Radiance Primer mixed with moisturizer to create a
clean, flawless look.
2. Dab lots of RMS Living Luminizer along the cheekbones for added definition and a
pretty glow.
3. Brush translucent powder over the chin and under the eye as necessary to give skin
a smooth finish.

The Eye: Au Naturel
1. Prime lids with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.
2. Curl lashes (no mascara is needed for this look) and apply RMS Living
Luminizer generously at the inside corners to open the eye area.
3. Fill in brows with pencil for a full, strong look.
4. Use an eyebrow brush to sweep brows upward, then set with Tweezerman
Brow Mousse.

The Lip: Bright and Bold
1. Make sure lips are well moisturized by applying a generous dose of lip balm (we’re
partial to good ol’ Aquaphor).
2. Color the entire mouth with a Maybelline lip pencil in #50 ‘Red’.
3. Apply Hourglass Icon lipstick in ‘Icon’ liberally over the entire mouth
for killer shine.
4. Finish with a dab of RMS Living Luminizer at the bow of the lip for a perfect pout.

The Hair: A No-fuss Chignon
1. Spray small sections of hair with texturizing spray (we’re a fan of Bumble and bumble’s), then smooth slightly with a hairdryer and a round brush.
2. Spray hair with L’Oreal Elnett Strong Hold Hairspray to create even more texture.
3. Create a two-inch part over the center of the left eyebrow.
4. Gather hair back into a ponytail at the center back of the head and secure with an elastic. 5. Twist hair as if into a chignon, leaving some ends free. Secure the messy chignon with
bobby pins.
6. To create volume, use Kiehl’s Silk Groom Serum to smooth and lift a section on the
right side of the head, then secure with a pin.
7. Spray head liberally with L’Oreal Elnett hairspray and use fingers to gently lift out some flyaways from
the top for a casual, messy look.

See more action from our New York Fashion Week presentation here.

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hair and makeup diy how to fashion week
02/13

The (Last-minute) Romantics

if you’re anything like us, you may have nearly forgotten that tomorrow is
Valentine’s Day. here, a few tips for our fellow procrastinators from some of our
office lovebirds. P.S. most J.Crew stores are open until 8pm (hint, hint…).

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BODEGA FOR FLOWERS
Union Square Greenmarket, which is open until 6pm on Wednesday.

BEST PLACE TO ORDER FLOWERS IF YOU’RE FEELING FLUSH
Belle Fleur. Order by 2pm on February 13th for delivery on Valentine’s Day.

LAST-MINUTE LINGERIE
Forget La Perla. Just steal his button-down.

LAST-MINUTE GIFT FOR HER
Never underestimate the power of a sparkly bracelet.

LAST-MINUTE GIFT FOR HIM
The fastest way to his heart could be through his sock drawer.

THE ONLY SWEATER WITH A HEART ON IT THAT
HE’LL ACTUALLY WEAR
The PLAY Comme des Garçons® cardigan. We see tons of guys wearing this around
our office. (Bonus: You can totally steal it from him.)

BEST RETRO VALENTINE
Afraid to profess your love? Let a pack of Sweethearts do the talking.

VALENTINE 2.0
Send a valentine (or valentines—we won’t tell). We’re partial to the
assortment from Paperless Post.

MAKE-OUT MIX
“Fade into You” by Mazzy Star
“Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones
“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes
“Skinny Love” by Bon Iver
“Take My Breath Away” by Berlin
“Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak
“She Found Now” by My Bloody Valentine
“Latch” by Disclosure, featuring Sam Smith
“The Truth” by Handsome Boy Modeling School

PICTURE FRAMES ARE SO 2011
We love the Memorybox from Printstagram, which will turn all your Instagrams
into mini-prints. And StickyGram turns your favorite Instagrams into magnets for
your fridge.

BEST WAY TO FAKE A HOME-COOKED MEAL
A trip to Eataly. (We suggest the rotisserie chicken or fresh-made pasta.)

OR COOK DINNER—TOGETHER
If you have a pint-size apartment, woo each other (and escape dish-washing duty)
by making dinner together somewhere else. Check out the cooking class
schedules at Haven’s Kitchen, Sur La Table or the Brooklyn Kitchen.

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valentine's day fashion style diy tips
08/02

DIY Design: the Chambray Heart

we’re wearing our heart on our sleeve (literally) for this adorable
patch our associate stylist, Allison, sewed onto our favorite chambray
shirt. download the PDF to get instructions on how to make it yourself…

DOWNLOAD THE PDF >

SEE OUR FAVORITE SHIRTS >

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Design Inspiration DIY
05/16

D.I.Y. Design: Soludos Espadrilles

we enlisted some 770 staffers to decorate their own pair of Soludos®—
what started out as blank canvases ended up being very stylish works of art.
here’s how they chose to express themselves…

Clockwise from top left:

“A painterly sailor stripe is classic J.Crew. I swiped on this really great indigo fabric dye, then I added bleach to give it a faded look at the creases to mimic worn-in denim (of course!).”
—Aubrey, our denim designer

“Picasso always donned these shoes! With a Sharpie in hand, I thought of him as I drew these Spanish tile patterns. Then I decorated them with bright embroidery thread.”
—Tracy, our prop stylist

“I sewed a chain of rhinestones onto the soles of mine. My inspiration speaks for itself!”
—Allison, one of our women’s stylists

“I think the accents on gold-leaf teacups are beautiful, so I painted the toes and soles of my Soludos this rich metallic color. It offsets the red perfectly, for a fun reinterpretation.”
—Jenny, one of our web designers

“A doodled version, using a Sharpie, of the anchor print we used throughout our women’s summer collection.”
—Aaron, one of our women’s designers

“Alison and I love this peach color. We just brushed on watercolor paint to get the tie-dyed look.”
—Catherine (with Alison), two of our web designers

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Design Inspiration diy
05/02

D.I.Y. Design: Hat Trick

one of our supertalented stylists, Allison, gave our men’s baseball cap a chic makeover
with a swipe of paint. it resulted in some pretty cool pattern play—so cool, in fact,
that the hat ended up in the pages of our May Style Guide. here’s how you can D.I.Y.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
A baseball cap (like this)
ruler
pencil
gaffer tape
sponge brush
primer (like this)
cup(s)
acrylic paint (Allison prefers this kind by Liquitex)

(All art supplies can be found at dickblick.com or at your local art supplies store.)

Step 1: Measure 1” away from the center seam on both sides of the hat. Make sure you measure underneath the bill and the back of the hat so that the stripe extends as far as the eye can see.

Step 2: Tape it off. Since the hat is round, cut notches in the tape so it will stay in a straight line around the curves (this is very important!). Make sure the adhesive is firmly stuck to the surface of the hat before moving on.

Step 3: Using your sponge brush, paint on the primer—it gives the hat a rubbery, nonporous texture, which takes paint really well.

Step 4: Blend the paint colors of your choice in a cup until you get the shade you’re going for. (Here, Allison mixed white, teal green and hunter green.)

Step 5: Paint! Then, let dry, preferably overnight.

Step 6: When you’re sure that it’s completely dry, gently peel the tape off.

Hat’s off! The finished product.

D.I.Y. obsessed like Allison? Check out one of her favorite sites, Design Sponge, for more inspiration.

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Design Inspiration DIY
12/09

D.I.Y. Design: Caught Blue-handed

our crewcuts designers set up shop in a Brooklyn backyard
to try their hand at indigo-dyeing our kids’
Converse® Jack Purcell® sneakers.
here’s how they created these one-of-a-kind kicks…

Indigo’s origins: Indigo is a natural dye that comes from the indigo plant and has a long and beautiful history as a dyestuff—it was mentioned in manuscripts found in India that date back to the 4th century BC!

The dye process: An indigo dye bath is a little finicky to prepare because it is a natural plant material and is more sensitive than a chemical dye bath. It’s important to presoak(1) the items that you are dyeing so that the dye can penetrate the material properly. The trickiest part of the process is getting a specifically desired level of saturation or evenness—we had a lot of happy mistakes!

Why so blue: We’ve done bright colors before, but this time it was really about the ritual of the indigo dye itself—the craftsmanship that goes into making and maintaining the dye bath; the natural, spontaneous results of the hand-dyeing process and the saturated, inky blue color inherent only to this special process.

Fun fact: The bath is actually a green color(2) when prepared—it’s only after the dyed item comes in contact with the air that it oxidizes and reveals the blue color(3).

Wear and tear: A cool part about using indigo versus other dyes is that these shoes will age like your favorite pair of jeans, with dye loss at points of wear (think whisker marks and weathered knees). They get so much cooler with age!

For big kids: Who knows, there may be an adult’s version soon. We dyed a few of our own garments and shoes with supercool results—the men’s and women’s design teams have been ogling us for weeks!

These blue beauties will be available exclusively at our Prince Street store starting today!

(Post by Rob S., Liz K., and Elsinore C.)

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RANDOM MUSINGS kids' diy
10/03

Mask Party

Web designer and mask marauder Rachel
gives us the skinny on her customizable, downloadable
Halloween masks (for kids and kidults alike)

One of the highlights of working on the Web design team? Using our collective store of markers, pens, tape and ribbon for impromptu craft sessions—like the one where we decorated the Halloween masks I made for our crewcuts site.

For the original inspiration, I pulled from some beloved classic Halloween motifs like the Marx brothers, masquerades and Alice in Wonderland and combined them with playful, surreal optical patterns. The heart mask is my favorite. (I think it might also reveal a subconscious longing for this Comme des Garçons sweater?)

Download the pdf here, then show off your creations on our Facebook page.

(post by Rachel Domm)

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RANDOM MUSINGS kids' diy
08/31

D.I.Y. Cute

just in time for back-to-school, one of our stylists
shares her tips on personalizing Jack Purcells®
for little ones (we’re jumping on the bandwagon too)

Get inspired:
The shoes above were inspired by Gauguin’s paintings in Tahiti and ikat textiles from Uzbekistan. Check out the V&A museum for more ideas.

Design:
Keep it simple! The shoes have lots of nooks and crannies, and the rough canvas makes detail nearly impossible. Take into consideration the lines of the shoes and consider how your design will fit in with the stitch lines, piping and lace holes.

Color:
Use Prismacolor markers, and buy extra since they run out really fast! You’ll have to go over your pattern multiple times to get saturated colors.

Add texture:
In keeping with your inspiration, find sew-on beads, rhinestones, prong-set studs, etc. (don’t bother with stuff you have to glue). Changing the laces to a unique trim also helps add a custom touch. Each kid’s sneaker takes 1 to 1.3 yards per shoe, and you can find lots of trims and things here.

In love with these one-of-a-kind shoes? This pair and others are available at our crewcuts Tribeca store.

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RANDOM MUSINGS kids' diy accessories
05/24

As anyone who dreams of Elle Decor on an IKEA budget knows, filling a space with art isn’t exactly easy on the wallet. So when I saw how much of the decor at our new Fifth Avenue store was D.I.Y. (and good D.I.Y. at that), I harassed our store decorator Ruth for her tricks of the trade (then proceeded to spill her secrets on our blog…).

Ruth’s philosophy, it turns out, is more Marcel Duchamp than arts and crafts (sorry, put the pipe cleaners away)
—repurposing everyday objects as works of art. Here’s her process in a nutshell…

Step one: Scour flea markets, vintage stores, eBay, your parents’ attic, etc., for everyday objects that look like
they could moonlight as works of art.
How can you tell? Look for “pieces with sculptural silhouettes, eye-catching textures and/or colors with a story behind them,” says Ruth. Among her finds for Fifth Avenue were vintage chalkboards, jettisoned letterpress letters and industrial gears, an old-school glass beaker set and stray pieces of driftwood—even a stack of National Geographics from 1959 made the cut, thanks to those iconic yellow spines.

Step two: It’s all about presentation—if you treat it like art, it’ll look like art
(it’s The Secret meets Architectural Digest, if you will).
A good rule of thumb is that everything looks better in a frame—think old letters, your childhood stamp collection—or under a bell jar. Alternatively, try arranging found objects of different shapes and sizes into little still lifes, like Ruth did with an odd assortment of wooden finials (ornamental accents you might find at the top of a bedpost). And always go for the unexpected. Case in point: The Fifth Avenue store displays paintings facing the wall because Ruth fell in love with the color and patina of the backs of the frames. And we’ve already shown you her huge textural mural of vintage gloves.

Basically, it’s all about seeing things with a new eye. And if you’re like me and would like that eye to belong to Ruth, check out the
Fifth Avenue store for some more inspiration.

(post by Alexandra Andrews)

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RANDOM MUSINGS art design diy