BIG40 = Extra 40% off J. Crew Sale Items
J. Crew Sale events like this one are always a bit of a moving target. The Friday before last they were running a 50% off sale items code. But the size selection for almost all of those sale items = nada. It was the worst size selection in recent memory. But now, this extra 40% off BIG40 code is happening during a restock of sizes AND an infusion of plenty of tempting new-to- sale items.
Warning: There are a LOT of “final” sale items hanging about this time. Final sale items mean = no returns. But as is usually the case, despite the graphics implying that the code works solely on those final sale items, they work on returnable, regular sale as well. Sizes can go quick, but unless otherwise noted, picks below are limited to items with at least a decent size selection at post time.
Single Button Ticket Pocket Pima Cotton Ludlow Blazer – $209.99 ($398)
Was lucky enough to catch this in store, and at first grope, I honestly thought it was wool. It’s not. Instead, it’s a super soft,Italian Pima cotton. About as far from chino as cotton can feel. Real luxurious. Just a single button here, and combined with the ticket pocket it’s a bit more rakish. But the subtle herringbone pattern should go great with jeans. Dual vent. Ships free, and doesn’t appear to be final sale yet. 36, 38, 40, and a few more sizes available at post time too. This one seems to be coming and going from the sale section, and last week, it didn’t seem to be there.
Ludlow Topcoat in Herringbone English Wool – $191.40 ($475)
Nice price. And the herringbone pattern means that it’ll stand out a bit even if you’re wearing it over a solid charcoal suit. Moon Mills Wool from the UK. And don’t think of it as a “I can only wear this when I’m dressed up coat.” Wear it with everything.
Brushed Twill Button Down in Mini-Herringbone – $35.99 (475)
Three picks so far, all three with herringbone. But this one is a tiny, micro-herringbone on a soft brushed twill. A casual shirt for sure, but one of those not-quite flannels you’ll reach for when the weather turns extra crisp. Just Large, XL, and XXL available at post time.
Slim Vintage Oxford in grey stripe – $38.70 ($69.50)
A casual, super versatile OCBD in a lighter looking “mineral” grey stripe. Plus it’s in their slimmer fit. Huge plus there for many.
Alpaca Shawl Collar Sweater – $77.99 FINAL ($148)
Nice marled navy color, a wool/acrylic/alpaca blend, and a shawl collar/keep-the-neck-warm style. A hooded sweatshirt, minus the bulky hood. Final sale though, so no returns.
Ludlow Elbow Patch Sportcoat in Colburn English Tweed – $143.99 FINAL ($348)
Dang. Nice price. But it’s final sale. Moon Mills, English Tweed too.
Ludlow Double Vent Sportcoat in Italian Herringbone Wool – $179.99 ($328)
Honestly, between this and the tweed above, this is probably a safer play. An extra $40, yes, but these aren’t final sale at post time. That, and J. Crew’s Italian wool sportcoats seem to be more flexible than their English wool counterparts. The navy ticket pocket Moon Mills Sportcoat (also on sale, but limited for sizes) is blanket thick. Tough to wear when the temps hit 50.
Rustic Merino Wool Elbow Patch Striped Sweater – $59.99 ($128)
Some just don’t like the buttons on the neck. They’re a pretty traditional detail, but a handful of guys think they look feminine. Nah… wear it casually and they’ll blend in easily. Elbow patches are a nice touch too. Also available in the earth-tone “mushroom”.
Broadmoor Quilted Vest – $59.99 FINAL ($138)
Good for those late winter/early spring light hikes where 20 minutes in you wish you didn’t have sleeves on your jacket (funny how a vest comes in handy at those precise moments). Far from bulky, but still quilted with a small amount of loft. Button tabs at the back give it a more fitted look and feel. Final sale.
Wool/Cashmere Waffle Sweater – $47.99 FINAL ($98)
The perfect mid-point between a sweater and a sweatshirt. There’s plenty of times where you want to layer up and look decent, but you’re still just getting a beer with a pal, or watching a movie at home. Crewneck + the waffle texture + the Wool/viscose/nylon/cashmere/rabbit hair fabric walks that line. There’s also a colorblock option, but sizes are moving quick on those.
Cashmere V-Neck – $101.99 FINAL ($225)
Some of us just won’t ever find the markup on cashmere over merino wool to be worth the (hugely) greater cost, but there are guys that just love their cashmere. Fair enough. More than a couple colors and a good size selection to pick from here on J. Crew’s flagship cashmere sweater. Also available in slim, but sizes & colors are real limited.
Vintage Cord in Slim-Straight – $24.99 FINAL ($75)
More than a few color options here, but sizes are all over the place. Slim-Straight is “straight through hip & thigh with a narrow leg“. But, if you’ve got calves, you might feel like you’re in tube socks socks instead of pants from the knee down. Final sale too. Tread carefully.
Double Breasted Topcoat in English Wool – $419.99 ($895)
Good Lord. That’s a lot of coat. It is end-of-season coat clearance time, and this one is now half off. Cut from English Fox Mills wool with leather covered buttons. A major investment, but the kind of thing that’ll probably feel like a flexible (& warm) suit of armor when you put it on.
Wallace & Barnes Wool Skiff Jacket – $95.99 FINAL ($248)
Hard to get more classic than that. Thinsulate equipped options available as well. No returns though.
The Name’s Bond. Broke Bond: Ludlow Shawl Tux Jacket & Pant – $644 ($790)
Just the pants are on sale. Jacket is still $525 (!?!). But, it’s still some kind of discount on a midnight blue shawl collar tux. Pant waists are starting to drift into the slim/skinny-guys only category.
The Extra 40% off Sale items code BIG40 doesn’t expire until this Tuesday, 2/25… so there very well could be more items added to the sale section over the next few days. Once again, keep an eye out for “final” sale items, which you can’t return.
You had me at “rabbit hair”
The vintage cords are included in the 50% off sale that’s still going on, so they’ll show up as $24.99 in cart with the BIG40 code. I picked up the mercury and acorn colors last go round and really like them. Just wish I could figure out if the ink color is navy or black.
Great call. Updated above, and I’m with you on “ink”… no clue if it’s navy or black.
In for the herringbone topcoat. I bought too much outerwear this past season! You and I have a love hate relationship dappered!
Ink is a DARK navy. Almost black. I picked them up awhile ago, but have struggled to find items to wear with them consistently because of the inbetween black and navy color.
I picked up this quilted shirt jacket thing that I’m sure ill get entirely too much use out of for 88 bucks
Picked it up a month ago and like it, but not as much as the Barbour quilted jacket. It is a nice in between of shirt and jacket though so it serves a nice purpose in early spring/fall.
same here, I was initially impressed with the charcoal topcoat, but didn’t get to buy it the entire season. Now that they’ve gone out of stock I settled with the herringbone
FWIW, I picked up the MacAlister Brickman boots for ~ $120 before the 40% off from my local J. Crew store. Online, they are not on sale but in stores, they had quite a few pairs available for sale.
That was my fear. If they’re that close to black I won’t wear them enough to make them worth the buy even at $25. Thanks for the heads up.
Anyone know how the university coat runs?
How heavy is the topcoat? How long can you get away with wearing that?
I think it’s going to take me a while to come around to elbow patches. Is this a fad that comes and goes, or is it a detail I don’t have to be afraid to have on a staple piece?
I’ve been wanting something in herringbone all season. Glad this showed up before all the winter inventory is cleared out. I’m guessing I have maybe 1 month to wear this before the weather starts warming up. Good buy for next fall/winter. I think I will promise myself this is the last piece of winter outerwear I buy for the next two years. Need to build up my spring/summer wardrobe now.
I’m on the east coast, and I think March is when it starts getting warmer. I’d say we have a couple weeks to a month left. Of course this past winter season was an anomaly with all those snow storms. I just checked the weather and it looks like it is snowing three times this week. I primarily bought it to wear for next winter but I hope I get it soon so I could get a few wears this season.
My feeling is… elbow patches are supposed to be patches to a worn and loved garment… they don’t look right on a brand new jacket.
I own the herringbone, but with the Thinsulate. Great topcoat ! The fit is slim and snug. I recommend sizing up if you plan to wear it over a suit or blazer. I wear size 38R suits, and I had to return the coat in size 38 and the rarely available 39R. Finally went with the 40R, because I wear it mostly with suits to work. The fabric is a heavier weight and is warm (at least with the Thinsulate). I really like it, a lot. I wanted a coat in darker grey or charcoal. I didn’t go with the wool cashmere coat because the heather grey was too light for what I wanted to wear it with.
So relieved the blazers are out of stock in my size. I’ve been saved from repeatedly checking my bank account balance, looking over upcoming bills, wringing my hands, negotiating with myself, and convincing my wife. It’ll be a better start to the week.
I usually wear a 40/r and all that is available in the Ludlow elbow patch sport coat is 40/l and 40/s. I cannot remember if anyone said anything about how easy this jacket would be to tailor. Any help here?
it’s like any other detail that started off as functional, really. i don’t think they’re so much a fad (like, say, epaulets) as a mainstay every-once-in-a-while detail of the preppy brands. plus they’ll keep your elbows from sliding around on your desk.
Yes! That is exactly what I couldn’t put my finger on when trying to express my elbow-patch-thoughts. Thank you.
Damn… they didn’t have the blazer or topcoat in my size. I do have that Navy Thompson Sportcoat from Thursday on the way though… I’m anxiously anticipating your review.
The 40L is longer in the body as well as the sleeves. I personally wouldn’t risk it; the investment in tailoring would likely outweigh your savings.
Early word gives a 40 time of 4.52s. Needs a bit more speed if he’s going to start this season.
“…at first grope…”
I have the ink. It’s a very very dark blue IMO.
I hate that their final sale items can’t even be exchanged. Really want to pull the trigger on the Ludlow blazer (how often do you see 36s on sale??) but it’s risky…
I doubt it’s any harder to alter than any other jacket. Having the sleeves shortened wouldn’t be a very heavy lift cost-wise, but shortening or lengthening the body would probably cost plenty. There does seem to be some extra fabric lining near the bottom hem of the garment – they usually provide that on sleeves so they can be lengthened, but I’ve never tried to have the body of a jacket lengthened. Is that what the extra fold of fabric lining near the bottom hem is for? At most it would buy you a half and inch.
I’m tempted by the topcoat for $191. I’m 5’8″ – does anyone know if I’d be better off with a short or regular? They still have 40S left.
Anyone have first hand experience with that skiff jacket? The Thinsulate version is calling my name…
You can easily have them removed with a seam ripper. You can do it at home or have a tailor fix it without undue drama
thanks! thats what i got it for actually. I’m always too hot, so I like rather light layers.
Jaaaassoooon……Jaaaaassssonnnn
Stopped by the store during lunch. The 36s was too big. 34s fit very well, but good luck finding that on sale (or even in stock).
Definitely short. I’m about the same height and have 38S and it fits pretty nicely.
I picked this up in olive a few weeks ago and really like it.
Does it look weird over a buttondown?
I have the Skiff Jacket. I am 5’11”, 170lbs, 15.5 neck, 34 sleeves and wear a 38R suit. I had orignally purchased the Medium Skiff Jacket, but it was too boxy. Sized down to a small and it is VERY fitted. Almost too trim but very acceptable.
I bought the J Crew brushed twill herringbone shirt when it was on sale a month or two ago. After two wears (no laundry) one of the shoulder seams blew out (on top, like where my parrot would sit if I had a parrot). It wasn’t an Incredible Hulk thing at all, it just came undone. I’m kind of pissed about it. The material is super duper soft, which can be nice, but it felt fragile from the get-go. Turned out it was.
No I wore it out a couple weekends ago over a button down and it looked good (I think)
Thanks for the answer. I decided to pass because that’s a little too much cash to part with on final sale for something I haven’t tried on.
I can easily get similar clothes at 85% discount from Blair discount coupons from online coupon island.
Today’s sale is even better, picked up the Thinsulate version in small (I’m almost exactly your size, William) for $85 shipped. JCrew should pay you guys a commision.