Wendy Sherman peered into the J. Crew store at the Mall at Short Hills, and frowned.

“It’s all really boxy. Not really flattering,” Ms. Sherman, a literary agent from nearby Livingston, N.J., said on a recent afternoon. One mannequin jauntily wore a bright pink jacquard shell over a pair of blue ikat-patterned shorts while another paired an oversize bright blue sweater with a blue-and-white horizontal striped skirt. “I mean, would you wear it?” she asked.

A loyal J. Crew customer, Ms. Sherman had, nonetheless, exited the store empty-handed after picking up — and quickly putting down — a $70 shirt. “It was cute,” she said, “but it will go on sale soon enough.”

These days, Ms. Sherman’s glum assessment pretty much sums up many of the problems facing the retailer. Boxy styles. Strange sizing. And customers who loathe paying full price when many items are either quickly discounted or can be bought online for less.

On Wednesday, the reckoning began. The company announced that it would be eliminating 175 jobs and that the head of women’s design at J. Crew had departed. He was replaced by the head of women’s design at Madewell, the smaller but fast-growing hipster brand at J. Crew.