Uniqlo > Rugby > J.Crew > H&M > BR > A&F > Gap ... - Page 9

BR's okay. That being said, I never have, or intend to buy anything from them. But for mid-market business-prep crap, you can do worse. Sometimes I wonder if I would like Uniqlo less if there were more of them......Okay, no I don't, I probably would.

Club monaco: ridiculous retail prices, BUT... good sales, good invintory, and add-on 20% student discount to sale items

I'm not a fan of BR's rather flavorless aesthetic. Gap markets it as some sort of luxurious, high-class label when it does little or nothing to merit that distinction, and moreover, the quality on many pieces is marginally better than Gap's despite the huge markup.

It seems to be the type of place recent college grads go to get 'nice' clothes when they've never had to put any thought into what they wore previously. It's hard to put together an outfit from BR that isn't either ill-fitting or completely bland and 'business-casual-looking'.

Basically, if I was stuck in Montana or something with no alternative, I could pick a long list of shit that'd be worse off for me than BR. Uh.....none of you guys live in Montana right?

Club Monaco is absolutely beyond reproach if we have Old Navy and Aeropostale up for discussion. I'd sooner have my life sponsored by American Eagle than have to shop at either of those places. Just god-awful.

I have this terrible habit of checking labels on my coworkers clothing (when possible) to see what they're wearing, and this one guy I know who totally hates spending money on clothes has a nice-fitting, flannel shirt-jacket thing from Club Monaco. Don't have any other opinions on it, but it fits him damn nice. Of course, he's a ninja master at dressing nice in cheap shit.

1. Wait till you get to the point where you can recognize a brand by the cut and fabric - and can remember what season it's from.

2. You can and should outsource your ninja mastery. A good alterations tailor is essential.

I went into Uniqlo and found it very un-inspiring. I did get to play some free Galaga though, which was nice.

See, I found BR's quality, fit and pricing to be terrible, so much so that I haven't shopped there in years.

Some of the old Safari-ish stuff was great, too bad they chnaged to be all "V-neck sweater over a white tee and khaki-ish pants".

Do they still sell pants in Waist-short/reg/long sizing? because it didn;t work if your inseam was over 32"





On the other hand, I actually like the gap. Saw some nice sport shirts there last year and have had a lot o luck with cheap coldweather gear from them.
Like BR I've always found there tees/sweaters/pants to be of poor quality and to fade and fall apart quick.

^ I wish I could kill you How does that work? In most brands, short is 30-31", regular is 32-32.5", long is 34ish. (I'm asking in all seriousness, I have zero experience with BR except for a button-up I purchased on eBay before I had any idea their stuff all runs large.)

I've had BR shirts that have lasted me years. For the price I paid the quality is fine. Plus "fit" is highly subjective. I would argue for me it's one of the few places I can get a long sleeve casual shirt that actually fits right. Most other brands will either be too short in the arms or way too baggy if I size up to compensate for them. Large-Tall is a blessing.

You should bury BR solely for selling cotton-silk blend knits. I'd rather walk 2 blocks to J.Crew and grab 100% merino for the same price.

I agree that style wise, gap beats BR easily this year, but the fabric of Gap shirts, flannels are still crap. I bought 2 or 3 shirts online a few months ago for like $20 w/ discount and ended up returning them all. BR's knit is shit, but their slim fitting shirts are decent. I do keep some Gap lambwool military sweaters though.

Gap and BR are getting blander, but I find when they do hit it, it's good value. Gap's 'meh'-ness has always been it's safe-zone. BR has always been the non-threatening yet trendy-ish 'just out of college/young professional/I moved to Brooklyn but want to dress Manhattan' in a suit look. It's totally 'middle' but that's okay.

The basics I used to buy there (merino wool, occasional pants and belts), I no longer do. I can get either better and more interesting, or cheaper, elsewhere. I grew up more.


Word. BR should burn for those blends, so should JC for pushing anything cotton/wool blend. WTF?
Just get Macy's house brand (Club Room) merino for $29.00 and it's exactly the same as BR and cheaper than Gap or HM. Or get Uniqlo. $19.95 for lambswool? Nice.

I swear, for staples like that, once I looked beyond BR and GAP, I found so many better options, I felt like a sucker.