Thursday, February 23, 2012

Material, Girl: It's Supposed to Be Silk!

There are lots of nice things about not living in a large city. Relaxed pace. Less traffic. Lower cost of living. Friendly neighbors. But...I do miss the shopping. I used to live in Washington DC, just a short Metro or car ride away from pretty much any shopping opportunity that my heart desired. Now, the closest big city is over an hour's drive away, and it takes 45 minutes just to get from the interstate exit to the mall - a distance of about 1 mile. As a result, I do a lot of my shopping online (especially my personal retail crack, J.Crew). Online shopping is unsurpassed in terms of variety, but there is a much greater margin of error when it comes to the fit, color, and quality of what you see and what you get. There is only so much you can know about a garment from a little picture on your computer screen. Mistakes tend to happen. Free shipping and discount promotions are your friend. My most recent strange online experience involved this lovely blouse:


J.Crew Talitha Blouse in Vintage Berry, $110.00

The online description says:

"A clean silhouette rendered endlessly feminine in silk. Dress it up or down with equally effortless charm. We couldn't help but hide a contrast interior trim for a secret bit of wit—tucked into trousers or pencil skirts, it's our go-to blouse for polish on top."

I agree with J.Crew's description. It's not always easy to find pretty, colorful blouses to wear to work, especially those without buttons in the front which can pull and gape over my chest. And silk blouses feel divine and drape so beautifully. Imagine my surprise when I pulled my new blouse out of the box, and the tag read: "100% Rayon."


Oh, HELL NAW.

There is nothing wrong with rayon per se, but if I'm going to shell out $110 for a top it's going to be because hundreds of little silk worms died to make it. I'm willing to pay cash for their sacrifice. This blouse didn't feel like silk, either...it was sort of stiff and crispy. I was ready to call J.Crew and read them the riot act for selling me a sow's ear masquerading as a silk purse, to unleash my Appalachia and say, "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining." But I decided not to act like trash and keep my cool. I'm glad that I did, because the customer service representative was very sweet and apologetic, and was baffled as to why I would have received a rayon blouse, or a silk blouse with rayon tags, or whatever the heck it was. She immediately credited my account for the blouse and shipping fees, and then offered to send me a replacement that would be hand-checked for quality at the warehouse before it was sent to me. Now that's the J.Crew I know and love.

I'll probably never know exactly what happened with the mysterious Rayon Talitha blouse, but J.Crew corrected their mistake with minimal stress on my part and I'm satisfied with that for now. I'll be glad to get my new top in the mail so that I can wear it and enjoy the gorgeous feeling of silk on my skin.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

6 comments:

  1. turquoise22February 24, 2012 at 1:38 AM

    OMG, hell to the no! I can't believe it's rayon. I also live in an area with very little shopping (no malls & local excitement consists of a Target) so I rely largely on the descriptions online. Do tell if your replacement is in fact silk. You have me very curious...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WhitneyFebruary 24, 2012 at 6:30 AM

      Honestly, I'll be really shocked if anything besides a nice silk blouse shows up at my door. A few other. Commenters on The Mothership had either purchased a Talitha blouse like mine or had seen them in stores, and they all said that the shirts are silk.

      Delete
  2. xoxoFebruary 24, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    I was bummed when I read your comment on JCA and now seeing that tag has me concerned. My Talitha in bright berry should arrive today and it better be silk. Like you, I have a challenge to find pretty blouses without front buttons. A lot of them seem to be too matronly or too twee. Did you try this one on to see how you like the shape? Wondering if those puffy sleeves will make me look like a linebacker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WhitneyFebruary 24, 2012 at 8:23 PM

      Haha, I don't think you'll look like a linebacker :) The fabric is so fluid and the blouse is cut in such a way that the shoulders don't "puff" as much as "swish". Also, the neckline is somewhere between a boatneck and an open crew neck, and the way that it exposes and highlights the collar bone is very pretty and feminine. I got the Royal Paisley on FS + 30% discount a while ago for, like, $45 bucks (it's a blend) and I liked the fit so much that I decided to buy the Silk Talitha when it came back into stock. If I get the replacement blouse and there's no more funny business, I'll probably also buy another one in navy or wreath.

      Delete
  3. UnknownFebruary 26, 2012 at 7:06 AM

    rofl...This was the funniest post I've read tonite/this am. I have seen the blouse in-store and only seen silk ones. How WEIRD that you got a rayon one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WhitneyFebruary 26, 2012 at 3:53 PM

      Thanks :)

      All I can think is that a different bolt of Vintage Berry fabric got mixed up in whatever factory in China these tops are made or something. It took two days for me to receive the shipping notice for the replacement blouse, so I believe them when they say that they had someone hand-check my order for accuracy. My orders usually ship within 24 hours.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)