The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew by Maggie Bullock

4.0 AVERAGE

lbnyc87's review against another edition

3.75
funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced
c_e_r_98's profile picture

c_e_r_98's review against another edition

3.75
informative slow-paced

cmollyw's review

5.0
informative fast-paced

fanntastic's review against another edition

4.0
informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced
kylehepp4267's profile picture

kylehepp4267's review against another edition

4.5
Very interesting history of retail and fashion and influencer culture in the American zeitgeist. I’d recommend this as a follow up to Selling Sexy (The history Victoria’s Secret) and Glossy (a profile on the founder of Glossier). 
rosa_inverno's profile picture

rosa_inverno's review against another edition

4.0
I love a corporate rise/fall. It's my true crime. This one was particularly interesting to me even though I never really wore much J Crew. I always saw it as an expensive brand for some reason, which made the discussions of affordability or lack thereof interesting.

I particularly enjoyed the discussions of the development of preppy fashion and the effects of the modern fast fashion, rapid trend cycling on the fashion landscape. 

whpha2's review against another edition

3.25
informative slow-paced

lifeoflindsey's review against another edition

4.0
Apparently I enjoy corporate case studies (for companies I find interesting)? Would probably rate 3.5 for the overuse of the moniker “merchant prince.”

emyers613's review against another edition

5.0
This was a great, informative book that I enjoyed tremendously. It's so fun getting a peek behind the curtain of the fashion industry - while yes, J. Crew isn't fashion it did work very hard to be, and it is completely embedded in the cultural zeitgeist. I myself have shopped a J. Crew for many years, and had no idea that all of this was brewing behind the scenes.
sarahkorn's profile picture

sarahkorn's review against another edition

3.5
medium-paced
Listened to the audiobook. I thought this was okay. I really liked the beginning and the thoughtful cultural analysis of economic class and how ready-to-wear prep clothing helped promote a specific ideal. I would have liked more of that and less about IPOs and the company's seemingly endless financial struggles, which got old after a while. Emily Cinader and Jenna Lyons are by far the more interesting characters in J. Crew's story, I didn't care so much about all their seemingly inept male CEOs.

The reflections on the evolutions of retail were somewhat interesting, but definitely written for an audience that lived it firsthand. Catalogs were pretty much done by the time I had my own spending money (I'm more the Madewell generation I think). Thought it was interesting as J. Crew is really making a comeback but not as juicy as I had hoped