Unless you’re new here (welcome, if you are!), you are probably well aware of my love for James Perse. I could write sonnets & odes, or wear nothing but James Perse for weeks. No matter how hard I try (not very hard, really), I cannot NOT love everything coming from that design house. I like to dream of dressing up and wearing pretty frocks, but James Perse is what I WANT to wear every day – my lifestyle is ultra-casual, but also chic & put together. Overall, James Perse, with some Inhabit cotton or cashmere sweaters thrown in for good measure, is what I want to fill my closet.
At this point, I’m not even sure how many James Perse items I have, many more than 30. My oldest is actually a mid-calf length asymmetrical hemmed, back-tie skirt from 2003 or 2004 (I thought it was my cami or tube dress, but I had forgotten about this skirt!). I wore that skirt every few days for many years, and overall it’s held up nicely, except for one small hole in the right side – easily covered up with a shirt. I’m always pleased with the quality and how well all of my pieces hold up to constant wear. Yes, I’ve had a couple shirts also develop holes, but they’re always easily camouflaged and never get any bigger (why is that I wonder?). Compared to Gap or even LnA and other expensive t-shirts, my James Perse hold up better and NEVER come apart at the hem (HATE HATE HATE that!!! some of my LnA tees are doing that.)
Anyway, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite places to buy James Perse, and some tips.
My favorite places to buy James Perse:
Shopbop – they have a nice selection – love the views and images on the models and that they have all the sizes (I usually take a 4 in dresses & skirts, and in some tops)
Revolve – they have a HUGE selection but not a great range of sizes anymore – they don’t have any 4’s and find their labeling mis-leading. Yes, a size 3 is a M-L, but if you’re hippy at all (like me) you’ll NEED a 4 most-likely in any skirts or dresses. also, there’s a very big discrepancy in sizing depending on material so a 3 in one style may fit better than a 4 in another.
Tobi – they often have significant coupon codes (actually now, they have 30% off with code TOBICANDY) so I always used those codes to stock up on basics. They do take at least a week to ship though, so you need patience!
James Perse – hands down, the retail site has the best selection of color & sizes of basics like my favorites, the Casual T, and the long tank top, but they are missing some of the styles other boutiques carry. Also, if you sign up for their newsletter, they sometimes will send out 15% off $100 coupon codes. Actually a very lovely reader sent me her code yesterday because she wasn’t going to use it and I got myself two dresses (I don’t know why I didn’t get the code…). And I heard that people who were signing up yesterday or today were getting the codes immediately, so if you’re not already signed up, do it NOW!!
 Long Luxe Dress: $165 |  Fleece Dress: $195 |
Tips & More places to buy
Doe-sf is going out of business and is offering 40% off with code “nextchapter”. I’m not sure when this expires, but they have a couple of pieces of James Perse, including this dress, which tempted me, but I decided against it.
There’s a James Perse sale on Rue La La tomorrow – starting at 11AM EST. You may know, I’m not a big fan of sample sale sites, but I do always check them out, just in case there’s something I can’t live without…
Check my list of online boutiques that sell James Perse for a HUGE list (admittedly, it’s been a while since this list was updated, so there are many sites missing and many listed that probably don’t sell JP anymore. sorry.)
It’s TOTALLY worth your time to go through all the different sites that sell James Perse to get a better feel for the look of the item on a person. All the sites show the items in different ways (James Perse just lays them out, which I hate. I always look on other sites first to see what the item looks like, before buying at JP.com) and in some, the colors look different. For Example, take a look at this draped raglan top at Nordstrom (left) and at Revolve (right) – there’s not a huge difference, but one looks more slouchy than the other, and on other sites, the top doesn’t look nearly as long as it does here.
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It helps if you understand your body and can compare it to the model’s bodies and know what the differences are and how it’s going to fit you. I know I’m shorter than all of them, and have a short waist, so the tops/dresses are always going to be longer on me than on the models.
Check out my Outfit of the Day category for LOTS of James Perse outfits (you can also do a search). Also, if you have ANY QUESTIONS about the fit of James Perse, or anything at all, please ask!! Either post a comment here, or send me a note. I’m also thinking of adding a section specifically for James Perse fit questions, what do you think about that??
Do you have any tips on shopping for JP you’d like to share?
I laughed at “I could write sonnets and odes…” How about a thesis??? You should seriously consider that.
Now that you’ve got me hooked on J.P. also, I totally agree that the casual tee is the best ever! And I’ve tried Zooey, Gap, Splendid, Velvet… Personally, I love the idea of creating a “fit tips” section for a lot of your faves. You’re the (wo)man, Grechen! lol
mmm james perse – you should truly set up a fansite 🙂 with a rotating gallery of all your different JP looks!
.-= miss sophie´s last blog ..oldies but goodies =-.