C. Jane

I gave this store another chance today — the owner was at the register and muttered a prejudice and ignorant statement about the country of Brazil, as I was purchasing a pair Havaianas (they from Brazil).
The owner and staff are very rude. Very condescendent. And the store is very overpriced. I’d recommend finding another boutique that carries the same brands. This one is not worth it.

It’s 6:40pm on a Saturday and they are closed. What kind of business is this??? I’m extremely inconvenienced by the laziness of the employees. Running an errand on the Drag is incredibly annoying and takes up a lot of time with parking, traffic, etc. The least they could do is stay open when they say they’re going to be open. Worst.

Pricey.
Good variety of clothes.
Some really cute stuff.
GREAT place for jewelry if you can afford it.
Girl working was terrible.

I love c. jane!!! By far one of my favorite boutiques in Austin. I went in a few weeks ago for my first time, and completely fell in love with it. They had every line that I was very familiar with and loved… Needless to say I was very excited. The sale rack was even amazing! I was very disappointed that they had censors on the clothing. I understand that theft is an issue, but they could put the censors on the tags v.s. on the material. I could see the whole from the censor on the black dress I bought, it was small but I still. Expensive lines don’t deserve for the material to be treated like that.

I’ve been coming here for three years. They always a great selection of clothes and the staff are super friendly.
A month ago, I broke my arm and needed clothes I could fit over my cast. They helped me pick out a bunch of things that not only fit but were super cute. Thankful that I have this place for retail therapy when I need them!

I love boutiques. I actually didn’t mind the customer service. I really dislike when people are all up in my business about buying something and hover. It was a nice change of pace. The girl who worked there kept her distance but was right there when I needed some new sizes for shoes.
I love all the brands I saw and this place is for sure one of my new go-​to boutiques to shop at.

I walked in today to take a quick peek at this store. As other reviewers have mentioned, no one greets you or tries to initiate a conversation with you. So, if you’re looking for a place that’s going to coddle you, this isn’t the place. And that’s fine with me. I hate all the bullshitting that you have to endure when all you really want to do is shop in peace.
Anyway, they have a nicely curated selection of clothes — lots of stuff you’d see from the contemporary lines at Bloomingdales, Saks, Neiman’s, etc. Everything is marked up a bit higher than you’d see if you were buying them through a bigger retailer or online, but I think you’re really just paying for the store’s location. You can definitely find many of the pieces for less if you shop online (e.g., French Connection, Lover and Friends, Cynthia Vincent, etc).
The shoe selection was a bit sad (Dolce Vita and Sam Edelman), but they had some nice jewelry pieces.
Overall, they have some a nice selection of clothes. It’s a bit pricey for campus, but most of their clothes are on trend and made pretty well.

As a UT ungrad with a slight shopping addiction, it’s hard to resist the adorable clothes in the window walking to class. Due to my college budget, I’ve only made a few purchases there but I love each one of them. I agree with some other reviews about unattentive service but it has not been offputting. It certainly is not worth avoiding all the great clothes and accessories, even at their premium price.

Ever notice how the nastiest reviews always detail a ‘personal experience’ rather than an objective, non-​biased reiew?
Well…Abigail and your flock of bird-​flu seaguls — go CRY elsewhere. This store is GREAT. The employees are always happy and outgoing and always remember what it is that my wife has in her elaborate wardrobe to ‘go with’.
The owner is super sweet and a real treat for those that want the feeling of how Austin has been known for decades. This is one of the most fashion-​forward stores in a progressive city, like Austin, that deserves its clients and vice-​versa.

Cute stuff, but why the hell is an upscale store near a college campus full of broke students? I feel like they would do better someplace else.

I read about this store in a magazine and I was very excited to visit. Sadly, the young woman working did not share my enthusiasm. She didn’t say hello, talked on the phone the entire time I was there, never offered to help and when I picked up a pair of pants said she’d start me a room. She never checked on me and I walked out the door without her even noticing or caring that I left. I can’t imagine the business this store is throwing away by not simply helping customers. I bet if she took an interest and made suggestions I would have purchased several things. What has happened to customer service?

I look in my closet and cry.
Yeah, I moved from Austin, Texas, my beloved city of 14 years – and made my home in a sophisticated cosmopolitan city up north. I moved to a fantastic world-​class city of international fame. With great fashion sensibilities.
And have yet to find a place like the boutique’s boutique that is C Jane.
*cry*
sigh
PS:
If you have a problem with customer service here, I feel it is my duty to gently break it to you that you probably don’t know how to act.
Like, seriously.
Like, um, you might be a clueless, bratty turd.
(o, crap: did I just say that aloud?)

I just moved from New York City, prefer the finer things in life, and love love love shopping. When I arrived in Austin, I certainly fell in love with the vintage «Austin-​y» style and stores but I hated not being able to find the «LA/​NYC» brands that I love. You know the Amanda Uprichards, Parkers, Rory Beccas of the fashion industry. When my parents were in town I was showing them around the campus I spend basically all of my grad school time at and we fell upon C. Jane. My step mom and I being shopping fanatics obviously could not resist and I was so excited to see what I had found. I finally now have a store I can trust to have the fashion I love. AWESOME STORE!

So I like to shop and I am open to spending quite a bit of money on something that I like BUT with that I expect a level of customer service. C. Jane’s staff did not greet me, did not acknowledge me and did not assist me so I walked out empty handed.
Word of advice, if your trying to charge college students anywhere from $ 150-​$ 400 for cocktail dresses you should really consider learning how to smile and at least say hello when they walk through the door.

I second Ellen C’s Emotion with Devotion: FAIL!!!
Great… until there’s a problem! Customer service is important to me, being that I shop a lot and often make large purchases. Once I am a customer, I am a customer for life. I will definitely NOT be a lifetime customer at this sad attempt at an higher end boutique. So, they missed out on sales for a lifetime when i visit Austin, which is at least once a month. They could have had a customer for life. And all this because they refused to remedy a simple mistake on their part.
When I walked in, I was impressed by their selection. I was a little discouraged by their 30% markups, comparative to stores with similar merchandise. This is surprising considering that you can find the lines they carry at similar stores, and therefore it isn’t that difficult to find the same items elsewhere at lower prices (just an FYI.) Nonetheless, I like to shop on the drag in Austin and people seemed nice enough to warrant purchases when good items were found.
I was elated to find a beautiful Voom dress on sale… (although, you can find the same items for full price cheaper than sale prices at C. Jane, as I discovered later that day.) I had a very important event to go to that evening and was looking for a unique dress for that night. So, I purchased the dress.
I continued to shop into the day, but preferred the Voom dress to others, despite the lovely options elsewhere. Needless to say, I arrived home excited because my dress was going to be a showstopper. I showered, did my hair and makeup, and then slipped the dress on. FAIL!!! THE PLASTIC SENSOR HAD NOT BEEN REMOVED. THAT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AT A BOUTIQUE THAT TRIES TO CATER TO HIGHER END CLIENTELE ETC… It was too late to go back to the store to have it removed, and other stores around me were closed. I couldn’t wear the dress! I am from out of town and had planned on getting a dress in Austin, so I really didn’t have any other options. I had to wear a simple old dress I had along to wear after swimming. It was a little embarrassing.
I returned to the store the next day in order to return the dress as I had no need for it now. The sensor had ruined my evening already. I actually CRIED because I had nothing to wear. I was very upset being that any competent store would have NEVER left the sensor on. Besides the fact that it obviously didn’t even work as I didn’t beep when exiting! Perhaps their employees should pay attention to what’s going on instead of poking large holes through their merchandise to prevent theft… It’s also nice to know they trust their customer base. Maybe they aren’t used to repeat customers? Or maybe they don’t have many!
The salesgirls had no idea what to do. Apparently they couldn’t approve a return without manager approval, yet they couldn’t reach the manager. I was leaving town right after I returned the dress. I told them I would go to lunch and come back in order for them to process the return. It’s a little ridiculous that I should have to do that.
When I returned, I was informed that not only would they not return the dress, they wouldn’t even let me exchange it for some more practical merchandise that I might be able to wear. I no longer had a need for the dress. They said they’d be «happy to remove the sensor for me though.» Duh. I should hope so.
Any store that is reputable respects their clients and would have immediately remedied that problem. It’s not the type of dress that wouldn’t sell, perhaps that day even! They would have issued a prompt return. It was shocking to me. I didn’t expect to have any problems considering I had bought the dress 22 hours prior and obviously wasn’t a wear and return type considering it had a darn SENSOR on it!!! That would have been classy!
They wouldn’t even give store credit??? Outrageous. the staff was so incompetent that they couldn’t even do a return without contacting someone that couldn’t be promptly contacted forcing me to leave and return later???
DOUBLE FAIL!!!

One word: FAIL!
Imagine this scenario. You are from out of town. You have a wedding to attend in Austin. You bring a dinky ratty dress, just in case, because you know you will find something gorgeously apropos in one of Austin’s many boutiques. You stop at C. Jane and voila — you find THE DRESS. It’s one the most uniquely beautiful dresses you’ve seen in awhile and it’s on sale to boot! You are overcome with glee and your accompanying friend even genuinely ooo’s and ahhh’s the moment you step out of the dressing room. You purchase the dress. Your friend and you gush about the dress for hours and hours, while stopping at nearly a dozen other boutiques and forgoing other dresses you try on, because although they’re cute, you’ve already found THE ONE, so no need to overspend.
Now imagine. You’re getting ready for your other friend’s wedding. You slip on the dress, humming a merry tune and BAM, WHAT THE FAWK IS THIS?! The atrocious eyesore of a security sensor sullying the bottom of your dress. Ahhhhhh!
The aforementioned scenario is a true story/​based on actual events. Except I was the accompanying friend who witnessed my other friend’s grievous tragedy. By the time we noticed the security sensor had been left on her dress (you know, while she was putting it on before the wedding — because naturally you’d assume boutique salespeople to adhere to protocol about removing those dang things after purchase), we were miles and miles away from C. Jane and only with an hour left to spare before the wedding. Needless to say my friend was EXTREMELY furious and then that gradually dissipated into tears (look, it happens! Clothes make me emotional too sometimes, in a bad way. .. usually when I’m trying them on). Ladies, you know how it is. You have your heart absolutely set on a beautiful outfit and then someone spills wine on it immediately or your dog chews off part of a sleeve. This is kind of like that. .. you get what I’m saying?
We returned to C. Jane the next day and my friend asked if she could return the dress as she no longer had foreseeable use for the dress. She explained the whole scenario while the poor salesgirl stared as us blankly. Then salesgirl mechanically regurgitated the stores «no return, only exchanges» policy. My friend firmly, but politely informed the girl that because of another salesgirl’s oversight the day before, she wasn’t able to wear the dress as intended (instead she wore her fall back dress and was depressed about it the whole time, believe me) so there was no longer a use for the dress. Poor salesgirl tried to call the manager, who didn’t respond so we volunteered to leave for lunch and return to resolve this situation later.
We returned later and salesgirl informed us that because the item was on sale, her manager had informed her that not even an exchange was possible (not that an exchange would’ve been all that great as we were from out of town). But what she could do for us was remove the sensor? Oh sweet baby Jesus, you think??? As my friend had paid for the fawkin’ thing 24 hours ago. My friend sighed, weary with exasperation, and acquiesced at this point (as she had no other choice!) and did tell the salesgirl she wasn’t mad at her directly and personally, but highly dissatisfied at the store’s unwillingness to try to rectify their error (I mean come on, someone else would’ve bought the dress and you know, the sensor might actually be removed the next time???).
What displeased me about this whole episode was that the employees just seemed so timid and confused. I mean, they didn’t bother much to even apologize to my distressed friend, just kind of hollowly repeated the store policy every time my friend tried to convey her frustration and disappointment. Um, hello? Not saying the customer is always right, but a «I’m sorry» wouldn’t have killed ya (to the salesgirl’s credit, she did finally utter a meek «I’m sorry» when she was on-​so-​kindly removing the sensor for us). I am totally understanding of human error (I’ve been there, screwing other people’s stuff up!), but i was kind of shocked that the employees weren’t even feigning empathy or sympathy to my friend and kind of just adopting a, «Well blah blah blah policy says x and y, we are powerless creatures. .. » Bad form!
I was only going to give this place two stars due to our incident, but I settled on one star because a dress we saw here ON SALE for $ 90 (my friend tried it on and ALMOST bought it), was $ 60, regular price at Maya’s on South Congress. Um, what?! So yeah, I would highly suggest you check out Maya as they have a waaay larger selection, some of the same things for less, and I loved their salespeople. .. (will gush more about them in a proper review).
Never ever coming back here, ever.

Such a great boutique! It’s very convenient for West-​Campus dwellers (which I was during my undergraduate days) and has absolutely adorable clothes. I think the family who owns this place does such a great job buying for the store and really know the stuff their target market, the future/​current/​past sorority girls of Austin, will go for. The selection is surprisingly big and they have a lot of small, unique brands as well as common but great brands like Rachel Pally, Black Halo, Primp, French Connection, Free People, Alice + Olivia etc. They also carry Hollywood fashion tape and Hanky Panky panties, both of which I am a fan of. One especially great thing about C. Jane is their jewelry. They carry some unique and/​or local brands and most of it is absolutely adorable!
This place is super expensive, especially for students! It’s not often I make a purchase there unless my mum is in town and decides to treat me. However, it’s worth checking out from time to time because they have good sales (I got an adorable Alice+Olivia top for about $ 90, which I thought was a decent deal for such a cute item. Another sale item was a Rachel Pally ruffly shirt for about $ 70. So still expensive but you can treat yourself to something cute without completely breaking the bank.) and if nothing else, just to look and be inspired by the beautiful clothes.
For sure my favorite place on the drag and one of the more fashion-​forward places in the area.

Owned by an Austin family. The daughter lives in LA so she picks up the trends there and her and her mom deliberate over what to get. It definitely has a lot of unique stuff you won’t find anywhere else in town. The owner used to work for the Garden Room which is for middle aged women however, their main sales target are the UTexas sorority girls. You’ll still be able to find cute clothes regardless of age. They have a lot of cool accessories as well. They have a bunch of James jeans that have accumulated and you can always find those past the first few dressing rooms. It’s really an awesome boutique… a tad pricey but well worth it especially when it comes to dressy events

You don’t even know how many times I’ve walked by this place and oohhed and ahhed at the SUPER CUTE outfits displayed in the window. It’s all totally my style. I’ll agree with Michelle, though. Not the place college girls want to shop at unless Daddy pays the bills… without looking at them. They carry a lot of designer clothing and a good collection of jeans. Sometimes I find stuff on sale that I like, but it’s still pricey, given that it’s designer stuff that started out over $ 200. C. Jane, someday, when I’m rich, I will come back to you on a regular basis and purchase one of everything in my size.

So when I came to UT as a wide-​eyed freshman, I looked at this boutique and scoffed. Seriously?! A designer boutique trying to cater to an undergraduate college clientele when so many more affordable options are just a block or two away? It surely will follow the same fate as the Diesel on 22^nd…
A few years later I wandered past c. jane again and noticed some large SALE signs in front, needed a new dress, and decided to venture in. I was impressed by what I found! c. jane has a wide selection of designer brands, and frequently gets new items in. My favorites are Free People, Phoebe couture, and French Connection. They’ve also got a great selection of super cute dresses that are usually discounted. The employees here are also very helpful and friendly assisting you with finding what you’re looking for… but without being pushy!
If you’re used to shopping the SoCo boutiques, this place has a very similar Austin-​y feel. Though in an unlikely location amidst a sea of burnt orange and sandwich shops, drop in & you’re likely to come across some unique finds and friendly service!