Not even Angelia Jolie can save St. John from the hole it’s dug for itself.The 44-year-old company had earned a devoted following among ladies who lunch and do business — such successful business, in fact, that they bought more St. John knits, to the tune of $400 million.But the conservative cut of the clothing apparently rankled the new owners, who lopped out the company founders, including lead designer Marie Gray and her daughter, longtime model Kelly. Instead, Gisele Bundchen took over as model … and a couple of weeks later, Angelina Jolie.The old guard, revolted (the adjective), revolted (the verb). The new designs wasn’t the sort of look that the core customer would be comfortable wearing. Like these outfits from the Spring 2006 line:Yes, you can see lawyers, real estate agents and travel agency owners showing up to a meeting in one of these looks, can’t you?Since then, the replacement designer left the company, and the chief executive who launched most of the changes is gone, too. Marie Gray is back as a consultant and it appears the company is going to try to, as the Los Angeles Times wrote, "right the ship" again by returning to its classic roots.So take a good look at these St. John ads. They won’t last long …

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