Retail Therapy 168: Barn Jacket Babygirls

Retail Therapy by Sunday Scaries

The hosts dive into a wide array of fashion, lifestyle, and pop culture topics, starting with the massive scale of J.Crew's barn jacket campaign and its saturation effect on consumer desire. They transition into a

Key takeaways

• J.Crew's barn jacket campaign reportedly cost upwards of $3 million and featured over 160 celebrities including Chance the Rapper, Spike Lee, and Dave Franco, creating a saturation effect that made some hosts hesitant to purchase it.
• Rollercoaster safety is a growing concern after recent evacuations at Coda Land in Austin and lawsuits surrounding Six Flags' X2 ride, prompting discussions about public trust and extreme new models like Bakunawa.

Main topics

• J.Crew Barn Jacket Campaign
• Rollercoaster Safety & Theme Parks

Notable quotes

I think it's just a really cool piece standalone. I think the cut, it looks great. The pockets are interesting to me.

Conclusion

The episode offers a blend of sharp retail industry analysis and lighthearte

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Thank you. Speaker 1 (0:13) Welcome back. Retail therapy. After a quick fall break, we've returned to the studio. My name's Will DeFries. With me today in the studio, as always, is one Barrett Dudley. Speaker 1 (0:28) How's it going, Will? It's a wet day in Austin, Texas, man. Yeah. Starting to feel and look like fall, even though we're not quite there yet. I Speaker 3 (0:36) mean, I'm prepared to say it. False fall is here. false fall is officially here. It Speaker 1 (0:41) kind of is. Yeah. Yeah. I'm dry. I mean, I, you can see me right now. Yeah. Yeah. You're, Speaker 3 (0:45) you're short coding up. Um, notably that's not the J crew barn coat. I guess you weren't invited to the, uh, to the, to the barn coat Austin shoot. I've got some gripes. I've got some gripes, uh, that I will air out later today. But yeah, yeah. Weekend, ACL weekend one looks to be rainy, but also looks like it's not going to get above 80 degrees. You know, I think I think I'll take that trade. I fear I fear it's going to be a balmy 79, though. It will be. It will be. It will be. But, you know. 79. Pair of hunter boots. I ordered some, you know, tromp around in that mud. Do I need some hunter boots? You might. You might. Is it shocking I don't have hunter boots already? Speaker 3 (1:26) No, they're not super practical. Like this is I feel like a bit of a dumb dumb because like. Speaker 3 (1:33) I don't want to ruin a pair of sneakers. I don't want to even ruin a janky old pair. And everything else I have that's mud-worthy is like a Merrell Hydro Mach or something like that. It's got a lot of holes in it. I don't want mud just seeping through at every step. So I decided that it was worth ordering a pair to have to stomp around in out at the festival. And now I, as an old head here, as Unk, I was there in 2009. at at acl mudfest see that's crazy the dillo dirt situation Speaker 3 (2:09) People rolling and slipping and sliding and covering their bodies in human feces. I was there, Will. I was there. I mean, what a lineup in 2009. It was, yeah. Speaker 2 (2:21) Any co-hosts of any of your podcasts? Speaker 3 (2:25) Did they do did they like mud themselves? Yeah, I don't did they Speaker 2 (2:30) There's a Speaker 3 (2:31) famous Ross Bolland Speaker 2 (2:32) story about the Dillo Dirts. Oh, yeah, that's right. Speaker 1 (2:36) We have Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon. Speaker 1 (2:42) Levon Helm? John Legend? Look at this. He's going in Mali Speaker 3 (2:47) ghost lane observatory on that on that sit on that. Speaker 1 (2:50) Yeah. Yeah, Arctic monkeys. Yeah I mean, if they just ran back this lineup, that's one that I'm very interested in going to. If they ran Speaker 3 (2:58) back pretty much any lineup between the years of 2009 and 2015, people would lose their fucking minds. Speaker 1 (3:03) I'm really glad you said that as someone who moved here in 2015 and has wanted to go to ACL less and less and less every year. Yeah. I mean, it is what it is. You know, we live in a live Speaker 3 (3:12) nation world. Speaker 3 (3:15) We got a we got a feed though. We got to feed the zoomers. We got to give them their their pop music and I'm not above that I you know, I'm Like to fight my way into some sort of visible vantage point Speaker 1 (3:27) for for Charlie this Speaker 3 (3:28) weekend I can I can Speaker 1 (3:30) definitely click into a pop girly mode, you know I have a guilty pleasure playlist that I put on regularly but Speaker 3 (3:35) the Speaker 1 (3:36) duas and the Sabrina's Speaker 3 (3:37) and the Charlie's I think have essentially that's where That's where that dinero goes instead of to the classic Sunday Heritage Act at this point. Okay, Speaker 2 (3:46) and the authentic organic growth of Stella lefty, of course Hey, Speaker 1 (3:52) you Speaker 2 (3:52) know what? Let's leave Stella left. I'm muting Speaker 1 (3:55) any Stella lefty conversation Stella is just Speaker 3 (3:57) she is just out there and she's making her music the only way that music the only way that she knows how I think some of these comps are like big reaches and Look, I don't know what sort of help or assistance she has tech-wise, monetarily, but the fact of the matter is she makes bangers, and you really can't argue with that. Yeah, I Speaker 2 (4:20) can say that I do enjoy her songs. I haven't listened to any. Speaking of music, what do you think? She was in Texas, officially the number one. Officially Speaker 3 (4:30) the most popular song of all time. Yeah. Again, it's just facts, Randy. I don't know what to tell you. Is the killer Speaker 2 (4:36) still in the top 10? Speaker 3 (4:41) Yeah, people there's been a lot of conversation around like just like how monoculture is dead Speaker 3 (4:47) And this is something that people have said for several years now. But like... Speaker 3 (4:53) Okay, here's another example, talking music. This past weekend, watching SNL, the debut episode of SNL for the season, season 51. For the first time ever, I heard a Cat's Eye song. I know I've heard the name Cat's Eye. Speaker 1 (5:12) Yeah. Speaker 4 (5:13) But zero familiarity with who Cat's Eye was. Speaker 3 (5:18) As aforementioned, I'm Unk. I'm Unk too. I get it. I'm also out of touch a little bit, but this is just going to happen more and more. There are many, many, many, many people online saying they've never heard of Ella Langley. Speaker 2 (5:34) Doja Cat being one of Speaker 3 (5:35) them. Speaker 3 (5:37) Like we I think we know that what we live in Austin, Texas like yeah We've heard that song even if it's not one that is on a single playlist of mine But I Speaker 1 (5:45) just don't think we're going to the right bars that are playing cat's eye and stuff like I think cat's eyes getting played in like Are they though? I don't know. Speaker 2 (5:53) Here's the thing. I'm on two. I'll admit it. I know who Tate McCray is I don't think I could tell you a single Tate McCray song. No, Speaker 1 (5:59) I've never lived like I'm Speaker 2 (6:01) not trying to know your Randy you would Speaker 3 (6:03) take Tate's out there and she's Speaker 1 (6:06) She's really doing it. I'm not trying to be anti like popular music guy. Yeah, like I I haven't listened to choose in Texas on my own or on Speaker 3 (6:14) purpose Speaker 1 (6:15) Yeah, yeah Speaker 3 (6:15) at Speaker 1 (6:16) all. Mm-hmm Like I've never considered tossing it on a playlist. I don't have anything I don't have any issue with it, but like it is one of those songs where I'm like, how has this song? Resonated at the level that it has I think we we Speaker 3 (6:29) sort of stumbled into this when we were talking about this a couple weeks ago, but like It really was just a down summer for music. Speaker 3 (6:38) There just wasn't. I mean, that's that that's really what happened. There wasn't anything else. Speaker 4 (6:44) Yeah. Speaker 3 (6:45) The number two song right now on just to go back to the charts, number two song on Spotify, Top Songs USA right now. Speaker 4 (6:53) is a song called Nicole Kidman by Speaker 3 (6:54) Adela. Ever heard of it? Because I have not. Speaker 4 (6:57) No. No. Speaker 3 (7:01) No. Speaker 4 (7:02) Would Speaker 3 (7:02) you like to know the number three song? Yeah, I would. No. BB Wow by Karol G. Never heard it. Speaker 2 (7:07) Never heard of either of these Speaker 3 (7:09) two. I know who Karol G is, at least. Speaker 3 (7:12) Earrings by Malcolm Todd. I'm familiar, but I can't sing it in my head. That's number four. And then number five. You ready for it? Is Speaker 2 (7:22) it Mr. Brightside? It is. Speaker 3 (7:24) The summer is so down. This summer is so down for music that Mr. Brightside by the Killers is the number five song Speaker 1 (7:32) on Spotify. It is climbing Speaker 2 (7:33) charts too. It was nine, I think, last time we looked. Speaker 1 (7:37) I think we should all band together and keep it. And Speaker 2 (7:39) get Speaker 1 (7:39) Mr. Speaker 3 (7:39) Brightside back to number one? Speaker 1 (7:41) It's like, you remember on TRL when people would band together and make sure that the Bloodhound Gang was number one on TRL? Yes, Speaker 3 (7:48) yes. Speaker 1 (7:48) I think we need to do this. Speaker 3 (7:50) Let's get it back to number Speaker 1 (7:51) one Speaker 3 (7:51) and get it more weeks at number one so that it becomes the most popular song of all time because that's a worthy- It legitimately Speaker 1 (7:56) just already Speaker 3 (7:57) - Speaker 1 (7:57) That's a worthy track. It already is the most popular song of all time. We need to make it actually official. Have you heard the new Brandon Flowers song that everyone's been loving? I've not, no. I highly recommend checking out the final song on his new album. Okay. I think I've been a critic of Brandon Flowers' solo stuff in the past, because I'm like, man, just give us the hits. Right, right. But I saw some chatter and decided to dip in, and yeah, I totally get it. Totally get it. Speaker 3 (8:27) Can I take a moment to just talk about something very non-retail therapy coded for a second? Sure. I just have nowhere else to tell anybody about this, but I've recently slipped into a new silo of the algorithm that I'm going to call coaster talk. Okay. Okay. Roller coaster? Yeah. Hell Speaker 2 (8:46) yeah. You're talking to the right guy Speaker 3 (8:48) over here. Okay. I'm glad because it felt very Randy coded. But I never really hear Randy talk about coasters or anything like that. So I wasn't sure, but it did feel like it might be something Randy was interested in. I Speaker 1 (9:02) don't know what's Speaker 3 (9:03) wrong with me Speaker 1 (9:03) because I was hoping you were going to start talking about actual coasters Speaker 3 (9:06) for drinks. Well, y'all tell me that this is not the most insane roller coaster you've ever seen in your entire life. Is this AI? It's not. It looks computer generated. Okay. Speaker 2 (9:15) It's a generated mock Speaker 3 (9:17) of what the ride will look and feel like. This thing goes 400 feet in the air on this little curl up into the air. Speaker 3 (9:28) Wait till you see the seats. They're all spinning in like a little pod. It absolutely terrifying nightmare fuel stuff here. Here's how this happened. We've got a new theme park in Austin called Coda Land out at the racetrack. Speaker 1 (9:43) Did not Speaker 3 (9:43) know this. On the opening weekend, the big fancy ride out there, which like does like a little like it, you know, it's one that like tilts you fully vertical and then drops the train. It got stuck twice and people had to be evacuated. So I got served this real, look at this thing, by the way, look at right here, look, look right here. What it's doing. That's Speaker 2 (10:02) like something I've rollercoaster tycoon where the track. Yes. And Speaker 3 (10:04) then, and you, and, but you, for you, you don't get the physics right. And all the cars fly off and you kill everybody. Yeah. This 400 feet in the air, by the way, absolutely not. Um, no, for, for, for those not, not watching with us, this is called, uh, Bakunawa and it's coming to six flags. Great adventure. The Speaker 1 (10:24) extreme spinner. Speaker 3 (10:25) The extreme spinner. So there was this video of these people being evacuated from the roller coaster at Kodaland. And again, they're like 250 feet in the air and they have to walk on a railing. that only has a rail on one side and there's no harness or anything. It's this tiny little narrow Speaker 1 (10:47) track. I've already backed off of roller coasters at my age unless my son is adamant that I go on one with him, which hasn't occurred yet. That alone, I think I saw the video of people being evacuated and I just scrolled past it because I don't want to see that. Speaker 3 (11:04) Well, if you had watched it and then hung out in the comments for a solid 20 minutes like I did. You would now also probably be a part of Coaster Talk. So here, I can Speaker 1 (11:12) continue Coaster Talk if you'd like me to. Speaker 3 (11:14) When Speaker 1 (11:15) we were in Munich last week, last Monday, I put on my lederhosen. As one does. It was early. Decided to tromp over to the Oktoberfest where we had a bunch of tables reserved. And I just didn't do any research on Oktoberfest before we went there. Literally just thought it was people drinking beer. Had no clue it looked like a giant fair. Did not know there were rides. Okay. Like, didn't know you could get funnel cakes, stuff like that. Had no clue. Everyone starts drinking some beers. You know, we'd been at a wedding for about three days, so I was kind of done, like, power drinking at that point. Speaker 3 (11:52) Yeah, yeah. Well, that's why you need the Weissenkoks, right? Speaker 1 (11:54) Yeah, exactly. I did some. Pretty fun. Very pure over there. You don't need to do that much. And so... Speaker 1 (12:05) Like probably a stein and a half in Sally looks me and says I'm going on a roller coaster I was like, I don't think you should do that. I Think that's a bad idea like this either ends with like the coaster getting stuck Her going on the coaster and then coming back being like my neck is killing me. I have to go home Yeah, or something worse She goes has a great time Decides that she would like to go again and I'm like, okay I'm going to tag on. I'm going to tack myself onto these other people that we're with. And you go do your own thing with your people then. Cause I'm not doing roller coasters. Um, about six hours later that day, there was a post from New York post on Instagram about a roller coaster killing somebody. And, uh, it was the roller coaster that she was riding on. No way. Yes. It crushed one of the workers. And I was just like, okay, I don't think I can justify me going on a roller coaster anymore. And I'd really prefer if my wife didn't either. I'm not trying to call someone from Oktoberfest in Germany being like, hey, something happened. Yeah. I got to get home. And we got to get this body home. Was this like Speaker 3 (13:11) an old school wooden coaster? Or was it like a modern metal track? You're hanging down. They're doing the loops, all that. Somewhere in between. Speaker 2 (13:21) It was like a carnival one where they set it up. Yes. Okay. And so it crushed the worker too. They weren't a rider. Speaker 1 (13:27) Yeah. Speaker 2 (13:28) I can continue. But still, like, Speaker 1 (13:29) if you're on a roller coaster that crushes a worker, you still don't want to be on that roller coaster. No, no, yeah. Not a lot of silver linings there. Speaker 2 (13:36) Yeah. Well, Speaker 3 (13:37) so, you know, with the stall outs at Cotaland, like another one, so another very famous roller coaster called X2, which is at Six Flags Magic Mountain, was just recently announced that they are closing that one down for good because, like, after years and years and years. there's like this whole lawsuit where like people like are saying that it caused traumatic brain injuries and deaths and not in like the way like you it broke your neck while you're on the ride and you died like years down the road it like did some you know it it had its effects were revealed and you know, you had some spinal fracture and like, I don't know. Six Flags says that they're just taking ultimate precaution and they like, Speaker 1 (14:17) they're Speaker 3 (14:19) basically closing it because public trust has obviously been lost regardless of. No one's going Speaker 2 (14:23) to go on it regardless. Yeah. Of Speaker 3 (14:24) what actually was happening. But, but yeah, coasters are in a weird spot and like, I like, I, I enjoyed going to Astroworld every summer when I was a kid in Houston, but they definitely feel. Speaker 4 (14:38) scary now. Speaker 3 (14:40) Nah. Nah. Speaker 2 (14:41) Nah. You guys are just old. We're just old and washed. Yeah. When we went to Banana Ball this past weekend, it's in Arlington. And of course, Six Flags in Dallas is right there. Six Flags over Texas? Six Flags over Texas. Yeah. And we Speaker 3 (14:53) had Speaker 2 (14:53) discussed that my girlfriend and I were going to maybe go on Sunday morning, but it didn't open until noon. And I was like, all right, if it opened at like 10, we can get a couple of rides in there. But Fright Fest. is going on right now and might head down to Fiesta, Texas, San Antonio to go visit the old roommate and go do some coasters. So yes, Speaker 3 (15:11) I Speaker 2 (15:11) haven't gone on a coaster in a while, but a big coaster guy and I got coasters coming soon. Speaker 3 (15:15) Would you ride Bacanawa? Yes, I would. Speaker 2 (15:17) Yeah. Speaker 3 (15:18) Oh yeah. Okay. New Jersey is where Great Adventure is. That's Speaker 4 (15:21) where Speaker 3 (15:21) Great Adventure is. Okay. I mean, it does look pretty, you know, looks like quite an achievement. Yeah. For a... For the, oh, this is a term I learned, Thuzzies. Ooh. If you're a Thuzzy, if you're a rollercoaster enthusiast. Speaker 1 (15:35) We're Speaker 3 (15:35) 15 minutes into this. And now you can place your chip on your retail therapy bingo card that you did not think you were going to be able to pop down, but retail therapy covers rollercoasters. There it is. There it is. Somebody probably got a bingo off that one. Speaker 1 (15:49) I don't know if we Speaker 3 (15:50) do. I don't know. I put a Speaker 2 (15:52) big stack on Kelshi. I don't know if Speaker 3 (15:54) we do. Speaker 3 (15:58) All right. Well, you know, DM me if you want to talk. Yeah. Speaker 1 (16:02) Talk coasters. Hit Barrett up if you want to. If you're a coastie. A thoozy. A thoozy. If you're a thoozy. Speaker 1 (16:09) Should we hear from our friends over at The RealReal? Of course. All right. You guys know about The RealReal. I know about The RealReal. I used to send stuff into The RealReal on the regular. Speaker 1 (16:20) I'm trying to think of words that don't start with R because I'm worried I'm going to get myself twisted. The RealReal is a phenomenal place. Not only is it great for buying, it's also great for selling. But no one does resale like RealReal. They drop over 10,000 new arrivals every day from brands like Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, Cartier, and so many more, all up to 90 % off. Hey, they got low on the RealReal. Stop. Come on. Come on, dude. I still have a jump scare whenever I see that word because of the call out that I got. I've known about the RealReal since like legitimately since the day they started and had worked with them. Now I am much more on the buying side, even though part of me is like, wait. When I clean out my closet over the next week or so should I be should I be separating some stuff out and sending it in you? Speaker 3 (17:07) I mean maybe yeah, I Speaker 1 (17:09) mean I've been such a fan of them that I've even hit the the retail location in New York City Did a little pop around there almost was very close to making some immediate cops and I always enjoyed my time Surfing Speaker 3 (17:23) around the Austin store while it was while it was here So if you have a location in your city great to go pop in as well But yeah, you could spend all day on the website. I've mentioned that I like going straight into the editor's picks where I just pulled up this gorgeous jacket from our legacy. Yeah, yeah. They got lots of new arrivals, new stuff every single day. Speaker 1 (17:47) Every single day. Every single day. And like I said, it's also easy to sell on there. When you sell to the real world, they do everything for you from photography, copywriting, shipping, pricing, customer service. So you just sit back and get paid. That sounds pretty nice. That sounds pretty nice. Ooh, I've always thought those Cartier nail bracelets are kind of sick. They Speaker 3 (18:04) are pretty sick. Kind Speaker 1 (18:05) of sick. Yeah. I think we're going to have some bracelet talk later today, actually. We Speaker 3 (18:09) might. Speaker 1 (18:09) Yeah. Speaker 1 (18:12) Yeah, please go check out The RealReal. They're the most trusted name in authenticated luxury resale. With over 10,000 new arrivals daily, no one does resale like The RealReal. And now, get $25 off your first purchase when you go to therealreal.com slash scarys. That's therealreal.com slash scarys to get your $25 off. Start shopping now at therealreal.com slash scarys. Ooh, get a little Birkin. Is Speaker 3 (18:39) that a little Speaker 1 (18:39) Birkin bag action? You get a Birkin on The RealReal? Oui. Speaker 3 (18:42) I do know women love shopping for women that are into handbags and men for that matter. But like handbags, it's a good spot for handbags. I Speaker 1 (18:50) have a close relationship with my sister-in-law, which means that I get caught in a lot of group texts between my wife and my sister-in-law where I'm just kind of, no pun intended, an accessory. And the RealReal gets a lot of bag links dropped in there. Speaker 1 (19:06) I will admit, I am a big fan of looking at bags. I just enjoy it. The store I used to work in, we had a bag that was, I think, $15,000 at the time. It was like all Cayman, like really badass looking. Yeah. And it had been sitting there for a long time and everyone kept touching it, looking at it, thinking how cool it was. And finally... our boss just said, whoever sells this gets an immediate bonus. Like, if you get rid of this bag, you get the bonus. And sure enough, sure enough, the girl who called me out for saying Loewe wrong on the Sunday Scaries podcast was the one who sold it. And I'm Speaker 4 (19:41) a Speaker 1 (19:41) little jealous. Speaker 1 (19:44) Not great at slinging bags. As for the real, real to-do. Speaker 3 (19:48) You're just I'm just I'm just having these little reveries about about my time working in a high-end retail shop and I miss it Yeah, Speaker 1 (19:55) I miss it. I kind of want to go back. I might start picking up some shifts over at uh, bye George Yeah, like I think I'd love Speaker 3 (20:02) just a Sunday afternoon shift. I know I know we we sold we we carried greedy boots back in 2013. Okay, like they've experienced like quite a They've got they had a cult following then they've got a real cult following now because they you know online made everything easier over the last decade but like There was a whole thread on Style Forum dedicated to Guidi boots. They're really hard to find. And so I would just like post what we had on Style Forum and I was just like slinging Guidi boots through Style Speaker 1 (20:29) Forum. Dude, that's what you want out of your sales associates. I didn't have that kind of drive. I started Sunday Scaries instead. Speaker 1 (20:39) Damn, yeah, they're so... Shout out Gweedy. If you saw the spelling I just did to look these up, you'd be disgusted by me. Did you go G-W? G-W-E-E-D-Y. Came up perfectly. Came up perfect. No, that's how... I've been saying Speaker 3 (20:54) Gweedy. Yeah, that's how Dave Ruff says greedy. Speaker 1 (20:57) Yep. Right? Yep. Yeah. You know, I usually ask you where you want to start today, but I think we're already a little behind. Yeah, okay. No, when it comes to this news story, and I think we just got to get it done. Okay. Which one? J.Crew's barn jacket campaign. If you've been online at all over the last week or so, you've definitely seen this campaign. Speaker 1 (21:22) They got everyone under the sun, apparently, besides retail therapy, to put on a barn jacket. And I can't even begin to go through the list of people that they have gotten for this campaign. I have so many questions about this that I don't know if you even have answers to. And I'm sure you have questions as well. Yeah. Speaker 3 (21:44) Yeah. Speaker 3 (21:47) I saw an Instagram post that Speaker 1 (21:50) was trying to assess what they think they spent on this Speaker 3 (21:54) campaign. Speaker 1 (21:54) That's the question that I see popping up most. How much did they spend on this campaign? And Speaker 3 (21:58) this Instagram Speaker 1 (21:58) post, which Speaker 3 (21:59) was very well put together and looked professional and edited, suggested around $3 million. And everybody in the comments was like, it had to have been so much more than that. Because we're talking about... Because every single person that they put in a barn jacket also posted on their own social media feed. Yeah, it's gotta be more than that. And you're talking about people with massive followings. Some of these people have millions of followers. Some of these people that do that type of product showcase or that sort of PR stuff can charge six figures for a post. Oh, yeah. Speaker 1 (22:38) Oh, yeah. Chance the Rapper at 18.2 million followers. Like. Yeah, I Speaker 3 (22:44) mean, he's not getting $15,000 for an Instagram post. I Speaker 4 (22:49) mean, I Speaker 3 (22:50) hate to... He's what? I'm saying he's not getting some standard 15 grand for an Instagram post on his 18 million follower feed, I don't think. Speaker 1 (23:03) No, he's probably getting... Speaker 1 (23:06)