Call me suggestible. Although I was headed to Banana Republic Women & Home, J.Crew benefitted from their location at the top of the stairs of Copley Place’s second floor (the affordable shops). On a mid-November Wednesday night, I joined a good number of shoppers scoping out Christmas styles and sales. I’d seen the “Wool harbor peacoat” online in sumptuous “barely peach," $220 originally, $169.99 online, plus a 20% off INSIDER sale that ended at 11:59pm, and my goal was to try it on and decide if I should buy it.
The best thing about the coat was its long sleeves. The bright red, “dark poppy,” size 8, seemed too bright, even for me, especially since I seem to be craving lighter neutral colors, an antidote to my all-black closet. The neutral, “antique stone,” size 6, totally washed me out though. The “barely peach” would have been the perfect color. When a salesgirl named Hope (for real!) offered us shoppers bottled water, I realized the dressing room was sweltering, I was tired of the peacoat decision, and most importantly, I wasn't convinced that I needed to have this coat by 11:59pm.
Off the sale rack, I’d plucked something I wouldn’t usually wear, but that’s the fun of browsing, and you never know when you’ll be surprised. A navy (“wild blackberry”) “fan placket perfect shirt,” on sale for $49.99. The silk/cotton blend felt great and light, and I loved that it was washable, but I just don’t get that messy, wrinkled look. I’d want to steam that placket, which was all bunched up, and I’d probably ruin it. 
In my search for soft shirts to wear under winter sweaters, I tried the “textured jersey streamers tee” for $36.50, with mini-layers around the scoopneck, in a warm light gray that turns out to be “lavender.” The sleeves were strangely short, longer than 3/4 but barely hitting my wrists. The cotton was not super-soft so it didn’t feel special enough to pay full price for, but I will stop back to see if it goes on sale, because it represents what I think J. Crew does best: awesome colors.
My last item was a long luscious ombre silk scarf, originally $58, reduced to $20. It was light gray in the middle, dark gray at the ends. (Ok, I realize here it looks navy, but in the store I swear it was gray!) Since neutral accent colors are new for me, I wasn’t sure whether it was too cool on the gray spectrum, and needed to revisit it. I did get great advice from Hope on how to wear the scarf: either the ubiquitous “loop” (or “noose”), or a bow (not for me, thanks!), or go ahead and Google “scarf tying.”
All in all, a productive browsing experience, before hitting Banana Republic!
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