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Is Hugo Boss everyone's stepping stone info finer menswear?

FidelCashflow

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Despite everyone here professing a disdain for it, pretty much everyone here has purchased clothes from them at one point. Maybe it's because it's entry-level priced for fine menswear. But like a tricycle, people outgrow it and move on.
 

merkur

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..
 
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jmix1

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My first "high quality" suit and dress shoes were Boss. I'm just happy I didn't pay full retail.
 

musicguy

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Having just bought my first good suit (RLBL) I can also vouch for RL.
 

nate10184

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I still can't find a pair of pants that fits me better off the rack than HB. Otherwise I've never bought anything from them.
 

icedmocha

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I have never owned a suit, however my dress clothes have always been Brooks Brothers. Never found a reason to look elsewhere.
 

robbie

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I would say Stafford or whatever JCPenney's house brand is.

I have been given 3 Stafford suits by various family members/church ladies in an attempt to see me in a suit every time I walk through the church door.

Pretty much every guy I knew in HS/and College had a black or navy Stafford suit that a family member bought for them with the intention of them wearing a suit more often.
 

freshcutgrass

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Disclaimer: My opinion is tainted, as I was employed by Hugo Boss back in the late 90's. I was "forced" to wear the stuff, and still have a closet full of the stuff, although I haven't purchased any of their stuff since I stopped working for them.

At the time, Hugo Boss was better dialed into the mood of the day then now. Part of this was how they branded themselves (high profile sports sponsering, celebrity dressing, advertising appeal, etc). At the time, there was definitely a "Boss" fit, and it just seemed to appeal to a lot of people...a large percentage did seem to look good in a Boss suit.

This is a German company, and very, very anal about every detail and aspect of their operation...what you see and what you don't see (man, could I tell you some stories), so the more you were exposed to their 'mission values", the more you were impressed....rather than just how you thought the clothing looked from a basic consumer retail standpoint. Every model of every product they made, was given an actual name, which reflected the personality of that item.

This is also a very big company, with a far more comprehensive line of products than the average person will ever know or see in the average retail outlet (especially in NA). The average American is generally only aware of the Black Label basics, whereas there is way more than that. NA buyers tended to want to pick and choose items in a line, whereas Hugo Boss was very controlling about representation of the line, so more often than not...they refused to sell anything in the line to the buyer, which meant only a small choice of lines ended up in stores (if they didn't politely throw you out of the showroom and drop your store completely).

They made some pretty outrageous stuff back in the day...and i saw all of it...from the $1200 backgammon game, to the $5000 Baldessarini mink gloves. They had some very cool stuff....just not stuff the average person would ever be aware of.

Because of such a huge repertoire of products...some were great and some were mediocre. Their shearling was as good as it gets...ties were very nice...they had very luxurious double ply Scottish cashmere sweaters....the old "Golf" line was of much higher quality than the Black Label.

Because most Hugo Boss products fell in the upper middle-of-the-road end of the fashion spectrum, and NA sales were much different than European, costs became an issue...suits were always made in Germany, and flown everywhere in their own containers. That became difficult, so they started manufacturing some of the stuff in eastern europe and so on. Shirts also saw the same fate. A lot of casual wear from HK instead of Italy, Switzerland, etc. Licensed products tended to dilute quality.


I think RL would be more accurate for most people.
Most Americans maybe.

RL & Hugo Boss represented two ends of the spectrum at the time...people tended to gravitate to one or the other....Americans more towards RL...Europeans more towards the fashion forward or modern classic of Hugo Boss (the Hugo red label was much bigger in Europe than it ever was in NA).
 

ChriO

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One of my first sports coats was a Boss and my first suit as well. When I was about 22, with 5.5 and 121 lbs, Boss was about the only company that offered coats in more or less my size and was widely available. Boss is one of the brands that is all over the place in Germany. I estimate that about 80% or more of all shops selling menswear have a range of Boss clothing.
 

GBR

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Permit me to be one of (Many?) that has not purchased a single item from this over-hyped label.


I think that your premise is groundless.
 

brittain

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it was for me. when I graduated college I bought a Hugo Boss suit. When I left the army and started to have to wear suits on a daily basis, I started buying plenty of their shirts. then I discovered SF and learned that I could find better stuff if I just quit paying full retail.
 

ppllzz

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me too, i have a pair of boss pants, and a boss shirt
 

osc

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+1 for me. After purchasing a lot of Boss, I found this forum and now have been enlightened. Being enlightened also has got me spending a LOT more (but on better quality items at reduced prices thanks to the deals to be had on this forum) - Thanks and Cheers!
cheers.gif
 

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