Yesterday was a momentous day for me, for it was the first time I had ever knowingly crossed the threshold of a J. Crew store. It would quite possibly never have occurred to me at all if it weren't for Miss Emma Pillsbury but over the last eleven months, ten days and nine hours since I first saw Glee, I have increasingly become aware of Emma's love for this brand. And so it was with genuine reverence that I stepped inside to be greeted by neat stacks of Jackie cardigans in an array of pretty colours and as familiar to me now as any old friend.
Needless to say I was for a time quite overwhelmed to finally be making this pilgrimage but here are some things I noticed: pretty purple patent belts in a shade of african violet/iced grape that I think Emma really should own, a multitude of ruffled and pleated shells any of which Emma could wear under a (Jackie) cardi and a black ruffle-fronted coat. There were other things of course: long more-Quinn-than-Emma ruffle edged cardis, ruffled shirt dresses, sequinned skirts, cardis with ruffles and zips (Emma says no!), an almost-but-not-quite-like Rachel Berry cream and grey fair isle cardi and some colourful but too short for Emma (perfect for Rachel) wool a-line minis and metallic tweed skirts.
And while making my purchases (a bracelet and tights and incredibly not a single Jackie cardigan) I had a revelation - in the form of the nice little notice offering you a J. Crew credit card. I felt like I'd been granted divine insight into Emma's ability to buy J. Crew clothes when the nearest J. Crew store is 85.2 miles away source (no I'm not listening to those of you who think she just shops online either because it's just not the same okay?). So at that moment light dawned and I realised that Emma must of course have a J. Crew credit card (surely platinum at least) bringing with it the following privileges:
$25 Rewards Card for every $500 you spend (which for Emma is no small reward)
Cardmember-only invitations to private sales (so that Emma doesn't have to rub shoulders with the regular J. Crew buying western Ohio public)
Early access to select items (to ensure Emma gets the pieces she has been stalking online)
Complimentary standard alterations (so Emma can always look her neatest, most perfectest self)
and most crucially
Personal shopping (we’ll even open early or stay late to suit your schedule)
Yes that's right. Emma doesn't need a personal shopper to tell her what to wear but she does need them to keep that store open late so that she can drive the 85.2 miles from Lima when she's finished a long day of counselling and SAT prep at McKinley. Simply because she needs a new Jackie cardigan in the perfect shade for the outfit she has planned for the next day.
Also there was a little sign saying that teachers get a discount - which we know Emma would make good use of. I don't know if this is true at all J. Crew stores because this was a *shhh* Factory store. Which brings me to another question - is it true that they don't actually sell the same quality products as a regular J. Crew? Still when you can get a Jackie cardi for $19.99 who can complain. At that price we could all have a rainbow of them.
But I do need to go to a proper store soon because they *gasp* did not have any shoes!!!! (legitimate use of multiple exclamation marks, yes?)
I know this post can't have been nearly as exciting for anyone to read as my first shopping trip to J. Crew was so thank you if you've read this far. I just need to share one more slightly scary thought. There's no chance Emma would be so pleased with her new initials that she would have her Jackies monogrammed (for a mere $10) is there? I mean not only would she be rubbing her recent marriage in Will's face almost every day but she wouldn't be able to wear her brooches. So Emma definitely wouldn't but could Carl be wrapping a whole new set of Jackies freshly embroidered with the letters EPH as we speak? Sorry to frighten anyone. I just thought I'd bring it to everyone's attention that J. Crew actually encourage this sort of cardigan disfigurement. Can we start some sort of protection society?
Happy Winter Solstice!
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