Couple brands I here no mention of here...

1. Guess
Which falls under a mall brand, which subsequently becomes the target of SF hatred. Before I knew how to find better designers cheaply over the internet, my closet was entirely Guess. Out of all the stores at your typical mall, Guess kinda just seemed to be the most fashionable for its price. I still do peer in there sometimes the rare occasions I actually find myself ever going to a mall. I always liked their flashy premium denim, and I have a few beautiful T-shirts from Guess that I still wear to this day. One of the things I found most appealing about their tops was that they focused more on patterns and textures rather than just obnoxious pictures (most of the time, not all the time), and the fact that whatever design they used on a shirt, it went all the way around, not just the front half and coming to a sudden halt at the shoulder and side seems.
I was also really impressed with their line of footwear this year... they had a pair of dark desert boots that for some reason I did not snag for $50 in my size when they were on promotion. My fiancee has a couple pair of their boots and she finds them awesome.
I have heard absolutely no mention of Guess on SF whatsoever. Without blindly grouping it with the rest of the crappy mall brands, what's your opinion of their line?

2. Aqua VII
California T-shirt brand. So far, I've seen them in Nordstrom's and Buckle. It can easily be placed with the contemporary big, flashy douchebag picture T-shirt lines such as Affliction and Ed Hardy, but I actually find Aqua to be a bit more tasteful. The designs are always very intricate, and most of the shirts are frayed around the edges to give it a really nice worn-look. And even in spite of that, they hold up really ******* well. I've had a black and white Aqua shirt that has lasted me about three years now, and the wear is only complemented by its original fray. Easily my most favorite T-shirt that I own. I only wish Aqua shirts were a little cheaper than $70 per shirt, but then again, I'm not surprised with the quality.
Again, I've heard absolutely no mention of Aqua on SF. Underdog brand IMO, undervalued.

Originally Posted by CrazyJew

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1. Guess
Which falls under a mall brand, which subsequently becomes the target of SF hatred. Before I knew how to find better designers cheaply over the internet, my closet was entirely Guess. Out of all the stores at your typical mall, Guess kinda just seemed to be the most fashionable for its price. I still do peer in there sometimes the rare occasions I actually find myself ever going to a mall. I always liked their flashy premium denim, and I have a few beautiful T-shirts from Guess that I still wear to this day. One of the things I found most appealing about their tops was that they focused more on patterns and textures rather than just obnoxious pictures (most of the time, not all the time), and the fact that whatever design they used on a shirt, it went all the way around, not just the front half and coming to a sudden halt at the shoulder and side seems.
I was also really impressed with their line of footwear this year... they had a pair of dark desert boots that for some reason I did not snag for $50 in my size when they were on promotion. My fiancee has a couple pair of their boots and she finds them awesome.
I have heard absolutely no mention of Guess on SF whatsoever. Without blindly grouping it with the rest of the crappy mall brands, what's your opinion of their line?

2. Aqua VII
California T-shirt brand. So far, I've seen them in Nordstrom's and Buckle. It can easily be placed with the contemporary big, flashy douchebag picture T-shirt lines such as Affliction and Ed Hardy, but I actually find Aqua to be a bit more tasteful. The designs are always very intricate, and most of the shirts are frayed around the edges to give it a really nice worn-look. And even in spite of that, they hold up really ******* well. I've had a black and white Aqua shirt that has lasted me about three years now, and the wear is only complemented by its original fray. Easily my most favorite T-shirt that I own. I only wish Aqua shirts were a little cheaper than $70 per shirt, but then again, I'm not surprised with the quality.
Again, I've heard absolutely no mention of Aqua on SF. Underdog brand IMO, undervalued.

I don't get..... I also heard that Abercrombie and Fitch is mall brand.

What is so bad about mall brand? Is it because they are cheap? Some of the jeans that Guess or Abercrombie and Fitch jeans sell cost over 100 dollars each.

Would Armani Exhange, True Religion, or Diesel considered mall brand just because they have stores inside the mall?

You answered your question yourself in your post.

the members of SF tend to shy away from the "graphic tee" as the "graphic tee" is commonly associated with the less tasteful parts of society.

personally i think guess is overdesigned and most of the time gaudy and almost always tacky. before i knew anything about anything i bought cloths there. i dont think a single piece lasted more than a month...the boots lasted a week before the heel popped...it popped! i dont think ive even heard of something like that happening before.

the aqua brand you talk about can also be overdesigned and their quality is also suspect.

just sharing my 2 pence

your free to wear whatever you please, just mind i usually have security encourage the "street urchins" out of my shop =P

uhh people on these forums like high end brands like lanvin jil and margiela, not guess... how can you even compare guess to lanvin?

queue Uncontrol........................

Well that's what I don't really understand, TBH.

I think a lot of people on SF refuse to acknowledge mall brands because of their commercialism. While I will confidently say that A&F, AE, Aeropostale, etc. all that bullshit is tasteless and boring, I would not say Diesel or Guess are part of that same group.

The reason I bring Guess up is because as I think back to a few years ago, I thought Guess was the ****. I couldn't understand why it was so cheap yet so well-fitting and designed. I recently went through my closet this morning and threw out about 6 Guess shirts, but only because they have outlasted any shirt's expected lifetime. Yet despite my early obsession with Guess, I never see any of their stuff for trade on here. Which is kind of disappointing really. Some of there top-line stuff is really nice but a tad too expensive.

PM jet. he kops guess all the time.

Originally Posted by dinogj

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You answered your question yourself in your post.

the members of SF tend to shy away from the "graphic tee" as the "graphic tee" is commonly associated with the less tasteful parts of society.

personally i think guess is overdesigned and most of the time gaudy and almost always tacky. before i knew anything about anything i bought cloths there. i dont think a single piece lasted more than a month...the boots lasted a week before the heel popped...it popped! i dont think ive even heard of something like that happening before.

the aqua brand you talk about can also be overdesigned and their quality is also suspect.

just sharing my 2 pence

your free to wear whatever you please, just mind i usually have security encourage the "street urchins" out of my shop =P

I understand your point of view. It is "younger," and not as mature as the better-structured fundamental pieces created by SF's favored brands. But as for no piece lasting more than a month? I'm not sure if you were washing them wrong or what, but like I said, the shirts I threw out this morning have lasted me about 20+ wears through at least two years, and it's only because they've shrunk far too small now from too many washes. And the boots... well, that would be my fiancee's high heels, and they've lasted more than a year now too. Maybe you just had a streak of bad luck?

Originally Posted by CrazyJew

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I understand your point of view. It is "younger," and not as mature as the better-structured fundamental pieces created by SF's favored brands. But as for no piece lasting more than a month? I'm not sure if you were washing them wrong or what, but like I said, the shirts I threw out this morning have lasted me about 20+ wears through at least two years, and it's only because they've shrunk far too small now from too many washes. And the boots... well, that would be my fiancee's high heels, and they've lasted more than a year now too. Maybe you just had a streak of bad luck?

Im 20 and I think guess is "too young" /highschool junk. I only see it on guidos.

In regards to the comment on A&F: just because they sell denim for over 100 dollars doesnt mean its *worth* over $100. A&F and other mall brand of that "style" are for highschoolers, thats what they are made for, and thats who wears it. I've never seen anyone over the age of 18 wear anything from those brands and look age appropreate/ worth knowing.

The mall in my area has brioni, Burberry, Gucci, LV, Hugo Boss, etc...guess those are mallbrands too? The statement about deisel is invalid. Armani exchage is a eurotrash brand with bad quality

Edit: True Religion is for mexicans and Guidos from 2006, not the good kind.

Originally Posted by bdeuce22

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PM jet. he kops guess all the time.

Don't forget their diffusion line, Guess by Guess.

Originally Posted by dinogj

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Im 20 and I think guess is "too young" /highschool junk. I only see it on guidos.

In regards to the comment on A&F: just because they sell denim for over 100 dollars doesnt mean its *worth* over $100. A&F and other mall brand of that "style" are for highschoolers, thats what they are made for, and thats who wears it. I've never seen anyone over the age of 18 wear anything from those brands and look age appropreate/ worth knowing.

The mall in my area has brioni, Burberry, Gucci, LV, Hugo Boss, etc...guess those are mallbrands too? The statement about deisel is invalid. Armani exchage is a eurotrash brand with bad quality

Edit: True Religion is for mexicans and Guidos from 2006, not the good kind.

When I was in high school, people were definitely not wearing Guess. Maybe the scene might be different in the north as I live in a pretty southern-oriented part of Florida, but my school was entirely AE/A&F/Hollister etc. as I remember right. I started wearing Guess my senior year and constantly got compliments, mostly because I stood out from everyone else wearing a damn A&F patch in the center of their chest.
I don't really understand how people link guidos to certain entire brands. Burberry, Gucci, Vuitton, etc. are all also way out of an average person's price range! I've never seen a single thing in Burberry, even on sale, that I would want to bother to afford. For some reason Zara is guido, AX is guido, Guess is guido. What, because it's more flashy than a monotone T&A button-down it can only be worn by fist-pumping Jersey kids?

I used to wear some Guess... their stuff fits me pretty well but unfortunately most of it is plagued with extremely gaudy designs.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Man

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I don't get..... I also heard that Abercrombie and Fitch is mall brand. What is so bad about mall brand? Is it because they are cheap? Some of the jeans that Guess or Abercrombie and Fitch jeans sell cost over 100 dollars each. Would Armani Exhange, True Religion, or Diesel considered mall brand just because they have stores inside the mall?
Price means nothing if the product is still a *************, ass cheek embroidery /= stylish. And Armani Exchange is A) complete trash and B) not at all connected to the Armani brand except in name, and definitely a mall brand. True Religion is most certainly a mall brand, and Deisel ranges from ****** mall brand to mediocre affordable basics

Originally Posted by CrazyJew

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I think a lot of people on SF refuse to acknowledge mall brands because of their commercialism. While I will confidently say that A&F, AE, Aeropostale, etc. all that bullshit is tasteless and boring, I would not say Diesel or Guess are part of that same group.
Yawn boring made in China of crappy material ****

Originally Posted by CrazyJew

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When I was in high school, people were definitely not wearing Guess. Maybe the scene might be different in the north as I live in a pretty southern-oriented part of Florida, but my school was entirely AE/A&F/Hollister etc. as I remember right. I started wearing Guess my senior year and constantly got compliments, mostly because I stood out from everyone else wearing a damn A&F patch in the center of their chest.
I don't really understand how people link guidos to certain entire brands. Burberry, Gucci, Vuitton, etc. are all also way out of an average person's price range! I've never seen a single thing in Burberry, even on sale, that I would want to bother to afford. For some reason Zara is guido, AX is guido, Guess is guido. What, because it's more flashy than a monotone T&A button-down it can only be worn by fist-pumping Jersey kids?

AX is just eurotrash =P but yea. I guess its more about the flashiness than then brand, its just that certain brands are more "flashy" than other. The general zeitgeist on this forum is that understated and well fitting is much more powerful and tasteful than flashy. There are other communities online with differnt tastes (like the gothninjas on stylezeitgeist, or the hipsters on 4chan's /fa/ as an example) where brands like you discussed will be, uh, discussed.

though sometimes quality can be overlooked, many times pieces from H&M, Zara, or Gap are great additions to our wardrobes because of how they fit, how unassuming and cheap they are.

Yawn boring made in China of crappy material ****

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Kind of an ignorant dismissal.

Theory is made in China. Does that make their clothes crappy material **** too?