LL Bean + Rogues Gallery = LL Bean Signature

[cathpah]

Bringing this thread back to life.

Is it just me, or is this S/S collection really boring and bad? I'm usually a big fan of Signature and own quite a lot of it, but this season seems to have really fallen flat, imho.

 

[Michigan Planner]



Bringing this thread back to life.

Is it just me, or is this S/S collection really boring and bad?  I'm usually a big fan of Signature and own quite a lot of it, but this season seems to have really fallen flat, imho.

I think it's been pretty boring since right after it's inception. I have quite a few items from a few years ago and have been pleased with the quality (if not always the cost:quality ratio) but they've failed at really putting out anything unique each season. To me, the main selling point remains that you can get some of the LL Bean staples in sizes that don't fit like tents like they do in the mainline. I wish they would expand it a bit more...

My wife on the other hand really likes their women's dresses, skirts, and sweaters and keeps ordering from them.

 

[cathpah]

I think it's been pretty boring since right after it's inception. I have quite a few items from a few years ago and have been pleased with the quality (if not always the cost:quality ratio) but they've failed at really putting out anything unique each season. To me, the main selling point remains that you can get some of the LL Bean staples in sizes that don't fit like tents like they do in the mainline. I wish they would expand it a bit more...

My wife on the other hand really likes their women's dresses, skirts, and sweaters and keeps ordering from them.

I've found a few pieces each season that seem to be pretty great. I like a lot of their shirting in the fall, and like their Jackman olive suede bluchers that they released last year, but there's just *nothing* this season that's even remotely exciting. It's LL Bean, so I don't expect it to be groundbreaking or life changing, but I do look to the signature collection to be a nice twist on classics, both in fit and in material. Their current line just looks like mainline stuff this summer.

 

[bl@ster]

I kopped the Boatyard Jacket a few weeks ago and I REALLY like it. Great price, it'd be 2x that at J. Crew.

 

[Billy Brasky]

Hey all, nice seeing this thread here. I picked up the Jackman Ranger Mocs at the LL Bean outlet and love them.

As people have said here the latest Signature line stuff hasn't been quite the same once Alex Carleton left for Filson but there are some items that still work for me.

 

[Van Veen]

Is this an older LL Bean Signature label? It's too new to be vintage (+ MiChina), yet this isn't the current label (all caps sans serif logo).

(Dang that's blurry.)

 

[bl@ster]



Is this an older LL Bean Signature label? It's too new to be vintage (+ MiChina), yet this isn't the current label (all caps sans serif logo).

(Dang that's blurry.)

Yes, that was their logo when they first launched it a couple years ago. Now, it's all an afterthought...

 

[Van Veen]



Yes, that was their logo when they first launched it a couple years ago. Now, it's all an afterthought...

It's funny because Signature is front and center (first thing you see when you walk in the door) at the store near me. It's not like Brooks where they tuck Red Fleece in the back corner.

Anyway, I picked this guy up thrifting. Good replacement for a Lands End Canvas (RIP) pullover that I bought before I realized I'm actually size large, not medium.

 

[Billy Brasky]

Storming the Catwalk in an L.L. Bean Boot (Published 2020)

After more than a century in business, the Maine heritage label makes its debut on a catwalk via the most modern of trends: the collab.

www.nytimes.com

Bumping the thread, not sure if appropriate here but interesting flex by LLBean

 

[Alexidb]

It’s too bad the signature line has kinda been cut back to almost nil. I have a nice cord suit and some 20% silk flannel shirts from the first few years.

 

[Michigan Planner]

Count me as another who really enjoyed the early days of the Signature line. I still have a couple lightweight madras shirts and the Signature version of classic LL Bean chore coat in the regular rotation. And I actually have that blue sweater that @Van Veen posted above (4+ years ago!!!) and that one and a blue and red Signature Norwegian sweater are probably my most frequently worn sweaters over the past 5 or 6 years.

The Signature line was fantastic for its first few seasons and then they just let it fade away into oblivion. I think LL Bean was probably a bit late to the game with trying to market to the workwear/Americana hipster crowds. I still wish they would have taken some of the ideas from the Signature line, namely the more fitted shirts and sweaters, and carried that over into their mainline stuff a bit more.

 

[Van Veen]

Holy necropost!

But yeah, I still have that sweater and love it, especially now that I’ve moved to a warmer client. My heavy sweaters don’t get much use.

I also have a mainline, post-signature Norwegian that’s 100% wool and relatively fitted.

 

[Alexidb]

They do offer slimmer fits in some of their mainline stuff now. It’s hot or miss on some of their sizing.

 

[Billy Brasky]

They do offer slimmer fits in some of their mainline stuff now. It’s hot or miss on some of their sizing.

I'm lucky enough to live near flagship store, and still occasionally pick up signature line items. Sizing is all over the place, would never order anything online. The signature chamois are really great, have a couple that have lasted 4yrs.

Feel that local reaction to this collab is quite disappointing. There's already been a lot of criticism on almost everything being outsourced overseas, and drop in quality etc, and now that they are venturing into this world it may completely turn away the customers that are on the edge.

Side note, I actually have a MiUSA oxford button down that's 40yo (was my Dad's) that I still wear here and there.

 

[Michigan Planner]

The revival of this thread made me curious as to what ever happened to Rogue's Gallery/Alex Carleton. It looks like he moved on to Filson shortly after his stint at Bean ended.