J. Crew is going back to basics

J. Crew is going back to its roots.

Judging from the latest style guide online, the company is focusing on basics.

The retailer has assembled the selection in a list called  "The Always" list  - "as in the pieces we'll always wear and love," as the brand explains on its website. Meaning, not the trendy, over-the-top ensembles that caused the brand's sales to spiral downwards steadily for the past year.

Earlier this summer, one customer went so far to write a letter to the brand, asking the once-beloved retailer to correct where it had gone wrong.

She wasn't alone - the brand had been alienating its core customer base.

Given the selection of classic blazers, button-ups, and jeans, it's likely the brand heard frustrated customers' prayers.

"Nothing can change the simplicity and timelessness of a perfect blazer-it is at once familiar and made fresh by changing the context," Jenna Lyons said in an email interview with Vogue.

To highlight how the brand has gone back to its roots, the company has utilized models that covered its style guide in the brand's heyday, Fashionista notes.

This is what J. Crew had been known for - and where experts knew the company had to look to salvage its reputation.

 Mickey Drexler had promised on a recent earnings call that a September 14th rollout would show drastic improvements.

"Our job is to give them what they expect," Drexler said on the call.

"We said on the last call, 2015 would be difficult, and we're doing the best we can do to get the business moving forward," Drexler said on the call, later adding, "I did say to the team, the only one who really matters here in terms of judgment is the customer."