Elizabeth Suzann Clyde culottes (size 8, short) | holiday gift from my mother
Elizabeth Suzann mules | sold out
Ilana Kohn Phoebe top (small) | Use my referral link at Garmentory and get a $20 account credit 🙂
I. Love. These. Pants. They’re noisy, and might be hot this summer, but I just love them.
That is all.
But speaking of Elizabeth Suzann…who ordered a piece from the Alabama Chanin collaboration??
*raises hand*
I wasn’t going to. You may recall I mentioned that I wasn’t too excited about it, but that was before I saw the items modeled. Gets me every time. And yes, I was glued to Liz’s instagram live for the try-on sesh and discussion about the pieces. That kind of stuff really gets me excited to spend my money at Elizabeth Suzann LOL. Not that I feel like it’s a “marketing ploy,” I think it’s just excellent PR and customer outreach, and works naturally with the ethos of the company, and Liz herself. I get a big kick out of the connection I feel with Liz and the other ES employees on Instagram, and she knows that; it’s part of the brand. And it’s working EXTREMELY well for her BTW.
I ordered the Marlena midi in ochre, size medium. I know, color! I love the Marlena shape, and my raw silk marlena dress in black, so was really curious to try it in the cotton jersey.
I am a little conflicted though, because I’m trying to get away from buying much more cotton. Even organic cotton (and Alabama Chanin’s organic cotton has pristine ethical and sustainable credentials) uses a lot of water to grow compared to linen and silk. I do love cotton though…so organic cotton is better than conventional. At least there’s that.
Did anyone get anything? I know that it all sold out almost instantly and a lot of people are frustrated about that. I was ready, and logged into my account before launch time and just checked out as soon as I could, so I guess I was one of the 300 lucky ones…I’m surprised it sold out so fast I guess, I would have thought more people would wait since it will be available year-round starting in May. But then again, there’s nothing like the idea of “scarcity” and “being first” to get people to hit the buy button. It’s not pretty, but it’s true. And I fell for it too!!
I didn’t buy anything, but I love Alabama Chanin and her entire cottage industry. Her company grows the cotton and every part of the process is sustainable. She has helped to bring jobs back to her small town in Alabama that was once a clothing manufacturing hub. I have a few of her pieces and they are really beautiful. I just love her entire story and her slow clothing movement pairs nicely with Elizabeth Suzann’s.
I so wanted a top (or two – Marlena and long sleeved Eva) in that beautiful plum color. I got home at 5:30 PM and everything was sold out. 🙁
People were certainly frustrated by the speed at which the presale sold out lol. I find it interesting when this happens that there are people who immediately blame ES for our frenzied consumerism. Liz is not responsible for the fact that grown women are grouchy they didn’t get to pre order a tank top so they can have it a few weeks before other people get their tank tops. I mean I get it, I probably love clothes and ES way more than a healthy person should but they’re just clothes and people were legit PISSED.
Haha. Yes. Well said 🙂 ES is certainly not to blame. They are doing pre-sales, etc better than ever before. What I am afraid of is that people just bought a ton of stuff without thinking and/or that could be resold at a markup on eBay or posh mark or whatever. The market is so strong for ES right now because of the wait time. Honestly I wish they would do something about that. It really seems like they should be able to predict demand better by now. The lead times are tiring…
I am *so happy* that you mentioned it will be available year round starting in May. I missed out and really wanted the Marlena in Ochre, so beautiful. I am more ham happy to sit tight and wait until May 🙂
I didn’t spring for the collab. I was so, so tempted by the long sleeve funnelnecks because I feel like I’m on an eternal quest for the perfect turtleneck. But I’m also trying to stay away from cotton, especially jersey. And I was too torn between the black and the plum. Both so good! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the dress. I have more than enough jersey dresses to last me a good long while, but this one looks so lovely. 🙂
I was a little bummed to see the lead time go back up to 3-4 weeks, I’ll admit. I don’t mind waiting for something to be made to order if I think it’s special, which I do, but I hope it stays under control with spring coming so we can actually buy things for the season in which they were meant to be worn.
Hi, love your blog, in fact found ES thru you. Own the l/s linen Harper tunic in black, love! And have not yet received the Parabola dress in ivory linen. I am slightly obsessed right now with ES , and was able to grab two items from the AC launch. A black sleeveless mock neck, and the s/s boatneck in ivory. I am NOT a s/s tee person, but there was something about the photos of it that were so elegant and fashion forward, kind of a Japanese flair almost. We will see if that translates in real life. I can’t wait to hear about your dress! About ES, I am a former ladies clothing retailer, and have been very frustrated by the lack of decent, quality, wearable clothes. I do buy some EF, but much of it is matronly, even tho I am in my 60s, I do not dress old. But I love most if not all of ES. She is brilliantly filling a niche where neither size, nor age matters, is stylish, affordable but not “cheap”, and quality. Not easy. If she is to continue to grow, I think she will need to work out the timing , customers will tire of waiting months, especially when you can’t try on and may exchange, but it does sound like she is aware.
Seeing some people’s reactions took me back to when I was upset about missing out on the grab bags because I literally had no idea just how few there were, but I learned a lot in that experience about not getting overly attached. The fact that the pieces will be back in May and that I don’t need any of those pieces 6 weeks from now made it so my approach was “yeah, it’d be nice to grab a Marlena Midi!” but all it meant when I missed it was that I got more time to save up for the purchase.
People WERE legitimately pissed, and I agree, it’s in no way Liz’s fault. I was however, a little put off by Liz’s insta video afterwards where she was like “I was in my PJ’s ready to be here all night and we sold out in 4 minutes! Wow!” I mean, c’mon. *I* even figured it’d sell out in less than 15 minutes and I don’t even work there.
Although I wonder how they kept track of what was most popular if they had 300 of everything and everything sold out? I’d love to learn what they use to figure out the bestsellers in that bunch.
I read somewhere that AC had the capacity to produce 300 total garments, so when 300 were sold – ES was sold out. I think they planned to look at the breakdown of which styles/colors were most popular from that 300 count to plan for stocking a permanent collection on the ES website.
I ordered the Marlena midi in plum. I have the dress in raw silk (black) and went up a size based on the size charts and the description that the dress is “fitted on top.” I love my Marlena from the old Signature collection and wanted a similar, loose fit in the cotton dress. I am really excited for this to arrive in April and hope it works out. If not, I’ll return to ES. While I do check eBay regularly for old ES styles, I’m disappointed at the huge mark up some people attach to the discontinued (and even current) styles. I don’t want to pay above MSRP for any of these garments, but especially if the additional profit is going to a stranger on eBay and not the team who designed/produced them.
oh, i didn’t see that story! yeah, they should have thought…
i read/heard the same thing that melissa did about capacity, but literally, if everything sells out in five minutes, how do you tell what’s a bestseller?? i mean…
yes, agree on EF too – still a lot of it is rather “matronly” although i appreciate quite a bit of it 🙂
i have grown pretty weary of the wait times…i wouldn’t mind waiting a week, but 4-6 weeks is too much, even 3 is a lot. it’s an exercise in patience. perhaps that’s what we need, but on the other hand, ES isn’t the only game in town. i know we’re devoted and i appreciate the brand/quality more with every piece, but if I want a pair of linen pants for my weekend in orlando on march 17th, i’m going to have to go somewhere else, which is frustrating….the wait times are probably legitimately a way to temper the growth of the company a bit. without them, they’d have a lot more business i think. maybe.
girl. i have more than more than enough jersey dresses to last me a good long while LMAO!!!! but that is a weakness i guess…
and i don’t have one in ochre 🙂
Yes, I agree. Maybe “slow” does win the race, over time. And maybe her thoughtful process, while a bit frustrating now, will prevent the cycle of self destruction we see so often…… a wildly popular line, growing faster and faster, trying to keep up with demand, expanding too quickly, then lower quality and loss of control……and the company implodes! BUT…..there must be a happy medium. Seems like a year since t ordered my P dress?!
yes, a happy medium is all i’m asking for. 2.5 weeks 🙂
Sorry, since I ordered…..
I was frustrated when I saw that everything was sold out within five minutes, not because I wanted to be “one of the first,” but because I won’t be able to buy the long sleeved shirts until May, similar to how the Rhodes sweater didn’t come to full sale until mid-February. I don’t understand why these collaborations are always mistimed for the season. I think these frantic presales contribute to an unhealthy relationship with ES clothes, which seems to run counter to the company’s philosophy. If you’re going to release a collection, just release it when you’re ready, like with the Signature Gen 4 launches. Don’t turn it into a race.
I’m really glad to hear you say that ES will have more of these items in stock later. I never bother to look because I think it’s out of my price range. But your Marlena dress is BEAUTIFUL….in ALL colorways! And the price is actually quite reasonable, IMO.
Good point, Grechen. The much greater demand seems to create an ethical dilemma. No one would want ES to cut corners to just churn out more garments, then she just becomes another “sort of” ethical company. But the clothing “scalpers” really piss me off!
I’m guessing that they put in an order of 300 pieces total but didn’t specify how many of each item they would order. That way, they could cap the sales but also get a sense of which items were the most purchased.
I was very proud of my multitasking. I stealthily opened my laptop, logged in, and hit “buy” on a plum Eva Tee, all while sitting in a poetry reading!
oh! yes, well then that would make sense.
and excellent stealth online shopping 🙂