Banana Republic or Club Monaco

[vincent]

I thought these two brands were similar in quality and price.

Are there any differences between the two?

At the end of the day, I would never buy from these two brands. I consider them to be knockoff brands.

 

[VMan]

'Nanners tends to be a bit more conservative, uses somewhat decent fabrics (wool/cashmere sweaters, premium line of cotton dress shirts), and targets a slightly higher age group. Many of the clothes can be worn in a professional setting.

In my experience, Club Monaco is trendier, many items are not really office-appropriate , quality is lower, as is the price. They are targeting a younger group, and some of the clothes are Am-Jacky.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by VersaceMan

'Nanners tends to be a bit more conservative, uses somewhat decent fabrics (wool/cashmere sweaters, premium line of cotton dress shirts), and targets a slightly higher age group. Many of the clothes can be worn in a professional setting.

In my experience, Club Monaco is trendier, many items are not really office-appropriate , quality is lower, as is the price. They are targeting a younger group, and some of the clothes are Am-Jacky.

correct, exactly what i was going to say.

i dont mind shopping at banana because they do have some quality stuff with a little sensibility in the lines. at a good discount, i can walk out of there with half dozen items and have no problems wearing them to the office.

i once had a 30 dollar gift certificate for club monaco and i had difficulty using it there. everytime i went to SC i walked into club and always walked out disappointed. if there was something decent, it was at their retail price, 40 or 50 dollars more than what i would consider paying for it. i even couple of times tried to convince the salesclerks to just give me cash back for it.
now i dont know if it is just the SC club monaco, but i havent gone back since i slowly used up the gift cert.

 

[kitonbrioni]

In comparison, I say Banana Republic is better in style and selection.

 

[thisisme]

how does zara fit into this equation and MEXX if anyone knows about that store/brand

 

[nelly]

I prefer BR over Club on every front except jeans. Club Monaco for some reason always seems to only have things in white, black or navy. Also, I think CM fits a little tighter (I'm a medium at Banana but large at CM)

 

[mack11211]

BR better for officewear. CM I would not trust for tailored clothing, but they would be better for slightly trendy casual wear. CM is in the same design copy school as Zara, Mexx, H&M in that they are trying to find what's hot, make it cheaper and get it in there. Mexx and H&M do this faster and better, H&M being the king of it.

Not sure how Mexx works in the rest of the country and world but in NYC they made a weak impression, quite in the shadow of H&M.