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#1 2017-09-20 02:41:33

4F Hepcat
THE Cat
Posts: 14333

J.Press Website

Anyone know when the new J.Press website will be back online, will they continue with the online store?

How long has it been down?

Thanks.


Vibe-Rations in Spectra-Sonic-Sound

 

#2 2017-09-20 02:51:05

McGeorge Bundyburger
Member
Posts: 756

Re: J.Press Website

It hasn't been down too long, I was looking at it only a couple of weeks back.

 

#3 2017-09-20 04:37:29

Tim
Member
Posts: 289

Re: J.Press Website

Down since Sunday evening. Rumour has it on a-n-other forum that it's going to more closely resemble the Japanese version of the website and include a modernised online store to tie in with the opening of their new shop in NY.

 

#4 2017-09-20 05:00:41

GeorgieBoy
Member
Posts: 210

Re: J.Press Website

Went down Sunday evening. Thursday night, I bought 3 madras shirts for next year in the sale and they arrived Monday AM. Unbelievable work.

 

#5 2017-09-20 11:35:24

alkydrinker
Member
Posts: 77

Re: J.Press Website

^Did you buy those short sleeve madras shirts on sale for around $40 and have you tried them on?

I bought one and, holy hell, it was huge. I am a 42 Long and started with a medium that fit like a very full large. I then got a small, which actually fits nice, even in body length. I am 6'2" with a 42" chest and 35-36" waist (a true 42 Long)....never in my adult life have I worn a garment labeled as a "small," until now. The size small is somewhere near 23" pit-to-pit, and 18.5-19" shoulder.

I noticed that after I bought the medium they added language to the description saying something about it being a "full fit." I'd say the shirts went beyond full, and are mis-sized.

 

#6 2017-09-20 12:16:33

GeorgieBoy
Member
Posts: 210

Re: J.Press Website

 

#7 2017-09-20 12:27:07

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#8 2017-09-20 14:18:23

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website

That t-shirt I would wear. Everything else is gonna have to be a hard no.


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#9 2017-09-20 14:59:26

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website

haha you think?  the t-shirt is for Woof's nephew ............................................


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#10 2017-09-20 17:59:36

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website

in all seriousness I really do hope J. Press finds its way back, I wish them well with their forthcoming US website, their highly anticipated new store at the Yale Club of New York, and eventually their permanent new American flagship store in New Haven, I'd like to see them regain their former position as a reliable, dependable purveyor of hardcore traditional Ivy campus and Madison Avenue 1952-66-style American and Trans-Atlantic clothing made in the USA, England, Scotland, and Ireland for people in the academic, legal, and diplomatic professions, for businessmen, executives, people in government and the intelligence services, and anybody else who enjoys the look, including good old preppy students of every kind.

their decade-plus-long lack of direction and puzzling missteps with McNairy and the Ovadias, their bad luck with the condemnation and then the destruction of the historic old York Street building, the loss of the lease for the New York store, the disastrous York Street fashion line aimed at skinny twenty-somethings, the outsourcing, the alpha-sizing, the Canadian square shoulders fiascos, all of it has been sad to witness, maybe everything will magically be alright with them again and we'll have our old place back ......


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#11 2017-09-20 18:11:00

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website

They're trying to be cool, when their entire reputation is built on not being cool. I think we often draw a parallel with Brooks Brothers but the reality is they're trying to be J. Crew - fast fashion at slow prices with a "premium" reputation that falls apart as soon as their clothes start to. Look where J. Crew ended up following that strategy... I also wish J. Press would get back on track, they have the back catalog to certainly outpace Brooks Brothers if they wanted to... But this move seems like doubling down on a failing strategy. J. Press has no name recognition outside of fora like this, and Japan... They just can't compete as a trendy brand, and they're turning away those who know and love their name with every new development...

As much as today's Brooks makes me despair, the Brooks of 2017 seems like it's related to the Brooks of the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc... If J. Press keeps down this road I'll have to start thinking of them like Abercrombie & Fitch - related to the glorious past purely in name.


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#12 2017-09-20 21:08:02

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website

/\  ay caramba Beebs, sad but true .... hard to accept .... I wish J. Press well ... Ametora my foot ........


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#13 2017-09-20 22:46:23

Babbling Brooks
Member
Posts: 683

Re: J.Press Website

There's got to be novelty with a company's output but equally there's got to be constant supply of the bread and butter staple goods. Which are a completely unflinching in the face of trends and rely on being classics. Incontinence pants are a good example of this, and they're not in an easy market.

Brooks and JPress were late to the ivy party of 2006-2016 when they should've been hosting, they dIdnt even get an invite to their own party and by the time they did get there they were so insecure they let themselves get influenced by some real 'cool, young cats' as to try and not appear like the old creepy guy in the corner. When in fact that's exactly what we all wanted, the appeal of the look was under the radar of what fashion deemed cool and was off beat.

To come out with spray-on jackets and trousers..trying to make men look like boys was just weird and mcnairy what ever his credentials isn't a great talent imo took the worst elements of an out of date hip hop look and imposed it over ivy and prep not to any great result.

I think jpress is going to reflect van jac now which is ironic seeming as it was initially the other way round all those years ago.

If you're struggling with what 'the look' is, go back to basics, then build from there. Or do what Ralph did for a large part of that company's life and just copy classics. Understand the idea of what timeless really means in terms of design, but also play around and have fun.

Ivy doesn't have to smell of mothballs and stale urine, it should be young and dynamic that's pretty much it's core attitude if anything, but the novelty only works because of the classic form. The sweet spot is a foot in each camp and the Japanese often get the balance right but sometimes it can go a bit tits up

Last edited by Babbling Brooks (2017-09-20 23:11:10)


You can play a shoestring if you're sincere.

 

#14 2017-09-21 07:53:58

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#15 2017-09-22 11:30:09

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#16 2017-10-18 05:18:24

Horace
Member
Posts: 6432

Re: J.Press Website

Last edited by Horace (2017-10-18 05:20:00)


""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.

 

#17 2017-10-18 05:44:17

Horace
Member
Posts: 6432

Re: J.Press Website


""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.

 

#18 2017-10-18 08:40:43

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website

"Esp. if he's starting out in his 20's and he wants to make a career of it." - I want to respond to a lot more in your posts later, Horace, because you're dissecting all of this excellently - but this caught my eye... No point in making  career of it now. Back then it was worthwhile because you were a guru, as a "salesman" you had the knowledge you mention, you held the keys, you built a consistent customer base and you got love and respect because of what you were able to do for them. Now there are many, many fewer things for a salesman to do at Brooks or a Brooks-like institution, because a) there isn't a whole lot more you can do at 99% of Brooks stores that the customer couldn't do themselves by just going to the website, and b) because of culture change, people don't know the knowledge and seek it out or want it anyway (as you say). It's the same with many different industries, I think, and you're right that the problem is especially bad outside of major cities. Not just men's shops but wine shops, auto shops, etc... It ties into a larger shift in craftmanship as something to aspire to, and then the availability of products that you can be a craftsman of. There are less old-style skilled mechanics now because cars are all computers now - you can argue the same for Brooks Brothers.

Edit: c is not the letter that comes after a. I'm still working on this whole alphabet thing...


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#19 2017-10-18 12:53:03

Coolidge
Member
Posts: 1192

Re: J.Press Website

^ I don't have a lot to add to the above three posts, just want to call them out as excellent and perceptive. I am genuinely curious as to who the market will be for Press and such going forward.  The fora are a resource of customers but it's not as though all of the Press aficionados on the fora are actually buying from Press at retail.  A good 50% seem to be thrifting or showing up only at the sale. If Japan has no objection to that kind of loss leader operation, then I guess it's not an issue but you have to wonder what happens to their brick and mortar customer base in a few years...I know a few Yalies who love the place in my age group (early-mid 30s) but not, certainly, overwhelming numbers.

 

#20 2017-10-18 13:20:22

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: J.Press Website


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#21 2017-10-18 13:36:45

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#22 2017-10-18 14:22:30

mhalat
Member
Posts: 381

Re: J.Press Website

Due to aforementioned length, I'm not going to quote any of the prior, excellent, posts. But I do feel that my two cents may add somewhat to Beeb's post above.

Uneasy though it makes me feel to admit, I am, at the end of the day, a card carrying hipster, in the vein that Beeb outlined above. I worked for Vice in my teens, back when they scarcely had two pennies to rub together, and often wound up paying me for contract work in piles of streetwear. I went to art school. Very few of these experiences are directly connected to the man I am today - I did a lot of work to polish the rough edges of my character and image for the corporate world, starting right around the time I began cohabiting with a (much better) artist, and decided that a non-ramen meal from time to time would be nice. Looking for a role model to try and shape myself after, I looked to my old man, who worked in NY and HK in the 80s, and became quite the snappy dresser in his own right.

I think there is a subset of person for whom there is a need to bridge the gap between hipsterdom and adulthood - in much the same way that many of the hippies of the 60s became the Madison Ave men of the 70s-80s. It's unfortunate that most of the creatives at an agency in our time wear something close to pyjamas to work. But, I like the idea of a 1-stop shop, in which your Hypebeast stuff sits next to your clothing for grown men. Where forums play their role, and where brands can do better is in fostering connoisseurship. Many people who wear the Japanese aesthetic are connoisseurs, albeit oftentimes misguided ones. I'd like to think that the right retailer would be able to harness that otaku (obsessive/maniacal) energy, and redirect it towards Ivy; even if only a piece at a time.

But then, I'm far from the nattiest guy here, and am prone to punctuating my bleak pessimism with occasional bouts of maniacal optimism, so who knows?

Last edited by mhalat (2017-10-18 14:41:44)

 

#23 2017-10-18 14:35:33

Coolidge
Member
Posts: 1192

Re: J.Press Website

I see a not all that distant future, c. age 50, where I just bring my old suits in to a decent tailor and say "get the closest thing to this fabric and make another one cut exactly like this", continue buying custom shirts from Brooks, hope they keep selling classic Ivy ties, and hope O'Connell's somehow stays in business...though their longevity almost has to be in question too based on Beeb's analysis above, right?

 

#24 2017-10-18 17:48:11

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#25 2017-10-18 17:55:13

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: J.Press Website


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

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