eBay Barba Shirts PSA (Warning)

[tonylamer]

This is just a PSA/Warning for anyone looking to buy any of the NWT Barba shirts that've hit eBay in huge waves recently. I'm not talking about thrifted stuff; I'm talking about the new, pinned shirts that are issuing from "stores" New York and California. I bought 5 about a month ago, and they're all in various stages of serious decay. I'm not sure where they were sourced, but I'd like to think that Barba does better work than this.

The good: The shirts are all slim and darted, with handwork at the shoulders. (The shoulders are terrific.) Charvet fits like a box, but these fit without any bulging at the beltline--and they didn't need to be altered.

The bad:

• The buttons on one of the shirts are ALL coming unfastened--the threads that secure the button-shanks are all frayed and torn. The shirt's never been dry-cleaned; I've washed it 2-3 times by hand, and let it drip-dry.
• I don't know any technical terms, but, on two of the shirts, the collars don't close properly where the button fastens. It's like there's extra material in the collar that makes it jut out when worn. On two other shirts, the collar isn't sized properly, so you get the effect of a knotted tie ramming both halves of the collar together.
• The button-hole of one shirt (at the collar) was obliterated after a single wearing. I mean warped to the extent that the collar will no longer stay fastened. The same thing's close to happening on the other shirts.
• The seams near the gusset of one shirt have what looks like a clump of fabric (about 1" long) with knots of loose thread. And this wasn't one of the cheap "sale" Barbas--this one was bought from a very well-respected SF member who sells NWT items in his eBay store.
• The shirts do NOT iron well.
• The shirts are all darted, but the threads that secure the darts are starting to separate.

I took my chances on eBay, so I'm really not too pissed off. But it's just amazing that after 2-3 handwashings these shirts are all falling apart. I can provide pics. if there's any kind of demand.

I figured that I'd post this since I searched the site for reviews before I was buying, but I could only find a thread on which members were debating the possibility that these shirts (and the Borrellis) are knock-offs.

 

[JensenH]

Yes, pls do provide pictures.

 

[lee_44106]

What do you expect from handwork?

Human fingers just aren't as precise as machines, I guess. But that's the "charm" of the Neapolitan shirts.

At least they don't fit like a tent.

 

[GGsquared]

What do you expect from handwork?
Human fingers just aren't as precise as machines, I guess. But that's the "charm" of the Neapolitan shirts.
At least they don't fit like a tent.

This has nothing to do with handwork. All my shirts are Napoli hand made. I have never seen a loose button or dart up to the end of the cloths lifecycle.

I think these shirts are not genuine, or are the ones that failed QC, or have been in containers for years, or any combination of the previous

 

[lee_44106]

How about shoddy handwork, like made by illegal Chinese hands pretending to be Neapolitan/Italian.

 

[tonylamer]

Yes, pls do provide pictures.

Sorry about the quality, but these were taken with a phone. I've taken a few representative shots. The first picture is of one of the buttons on the front of a shirt which hasn't been worn more than 3 times. The second picture is a gauntlet button on the same shirt. The third picture shows the separate ends of two loose threads at the base of a dart on the same shirt.

The last picture shows the buttonhole at the collar of another shirt. I've worn this shirt twice.

I was a student for a long time, and I've worn and thrifted my share of Calvin Klein and Banana Republic Shirts. The construction of these Barbas is WELL below made-in-China CK, and I can remember wearing Sears shirts when I was a teenager that didn't have any of these issues.

I don't know if these are real or knockoffs, but I can only assume that the shirts that don't pass inspection at the Barba factory aren't going into the trash anymore. The economy's bad, and someone's taking their shot at making some money.

 

[plei89]

Wow that's terrible, I have no experience with Barba shirts. But my Borrelli shirts never have let me down, despite how many washes I've put them through. They hold up like a champ!

 

[GGsquared]

The pics are terrible. These cannot be products of any reputed company. I suspect they are shirts that never passed the QC, or cheap fakes.

But shouldn't this be expected? What is the ebay price and what is the full retail price? There should be a reason for the huge difference. When you pay peanuts you get monkeys

 

[Ich_Dien]

You're not having the best of luck lately are you? Why not buy from a proper source?!

 

[tonylamer]

You're not having the best of luck lately are you? Why not buy from a proper source?!

Good to hear from you again. Find me medium-spread collars and we'll do business!

And about the quality that you get for the price? Well, I know buying on eBay is kind of asking for it. But these were $130+, including shipping. That's not so far off of the retail price that you'd expect a really poorly made Asian knockoff. And these were from eBay sellers doing a huge volume business with lots of positive feedback. When I find my digital camera I'll update this thread with even uglier pics--just to warn off anyone who's thinking of buying these things that are STILL FOR SALE on eBay.

 

[NotoriousMarquis]



Good to hear from you again. Find me medium-spread collars and we'll do business!

And about the quality that you get for the price? Well, I know buying on eBay is kind of asking for it. But these were $130+, including shipping. That's not so far off of the retail price that you'd expect a really poorly made Asian knockoff. And these were from eBay sellers doing a huge volume business with lots of positive feedback. When I find my digital camera I'll update this thread with even uglier pics--just to warn off anyone who's thinking of buying these things that are STILL FOR SALE on eBay.

why don't you contact paypal?

 

[kulata]

Are barba shirts faked? Are they that well known? Probably bad batch or overall quality issues

 

[marblehouse]



This is just a PSA/Warning for anyone looking to buy any of the NWT Barba shirts that've hit eBay in huge waves recently....
[*] The seams near the gusset of one shirt have what looks like a clump of fabric (about 1" long) with knots of loose thread. And this wasn't one of the cheap "sale" Barbas --this one was bought from a very well-respected SF member who sells NWT items in his eBay store.

Could name the sellers that have been dishonest so that SFers could avoid them? Really curious to hear it may be an SFer...

(and hope you enjoy the shirt!)