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Ralph Lauren

clee1982

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I don’t think RRL has declined in quality, Polo tailoring probably did when they move out Corneliani (but they got cheaper too), but felt like they step up again (though hasn’t bought in a while), don’t think other really changed much?
 

dieworkwear

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People who talk about bad quality at Ralph Lauren have no idea what quality actually means.

From a guy who has more experience with design and production than nearly everyone on this website:


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mhip

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Once again, thanks for the informative replies so far, indeed very interesting to hear everyone's different perspectives on and connotations of RL.

Would also be helpful if anyone would like to share how/when they first encountered the brand and what made you (possibly) gravitate towards it?
High school...
Although the RL polos were considered pricey, and a total prep status symbol.
There was a brand called Britannia that cost less and the polos were very popular.

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ValidusLA

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I think perceptions of quality are also usually false because people have very little idea who is making what.

Most big brands are running through multiple white label firms.

One of the laundries we use for $50 denim also does 7 and Mother, charging 3x to 5x for the exact same process at the creation end.
 

clee1982

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I thought most guys on SF knows say guys like RL owns zero factory themselves, so it has to be all made by someone else.
 

ValidusLA

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I thought most guys on SF knows say guys like RL owns zero factory themselves, so it has to be all made by someone else.

Maybe SF guys have more awareness of white labeling then the general public; thst wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption.

Different companies do it differently. Some are running the same lines through multiple white label firms, each of which is running through multiple factories.

Which is what I usually think of when I see reviews in the wild that go something like, "Last time I bought this it fit perfectly, now its a a mess!"
 

Phileas Fogg

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Maybe SF guys have more awareness of white labeling then the general public; thst wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption.

Different companies do it differently. Some are running the same lines through multiple white label firms, each of which is running through multiple factories.

Which is what I usually think of when I see reviews in the wild that go something like, "Last time I bought this it fit perfectly, now its a a mess!"

Without even knowing the inner workings of garment manufacturing on an industrial scale, it makes sense. It’s a very inefficient means of manufacturing to say that “this factory is for RL, the one next door is for J Crew.”
 

ValidusLA

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Without even knowing the inner workings of garment manufacturing on an industrial scale, it makes sense. It’s a very inefficient means of manufacturing to say that “this factory is for RL, the one next door is for J Crew.”

It depends. It certainly leads to more QC issues.

We try to silo styles to single factories as much as possible.

But we are ourselves a white label firm, and our customers do use others.
 

TheChihuahua

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Pants I ordered arrived. Not bad, but nothing different from the same product I remember from 20 years ago. Returning them as they are probably 4 inches on the larger than labelled/vanity side.
 

clee1982

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Pants I ordered arrived. Not bad, but nothing different from the same product I remember from 20 years ago. Returning them as they are probably 4 inches on the larger than labelled/vanity side.

what's your size and which line? I'm size 30, other than RRL, I'm like spot on with all RL, I did find JCrew tends to have more vanity sizing?
 

TheChihuahua

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what's your size and which line? I'm size 30, other than RRL, I'm like spot on with all RL, I did find JCrew tends to have more vanity sizing?

I actually just sent a pair of j crew back because they were too big. Ralph Lauren probably ran the same as j crew.

I don’t really own a lot of casual pants, which is why I was interested in people talking positively about polo. Maybe that’s sort of how those brands run?
it wasn’t just a little big where I considered maybe getting them tailored and keeping them (I very rarely return stuff, can’t stand running to post office during the day, so if I could have avoided it I would). But they were so big they fell down, and it wasn’t really that close.
my most recent pants purchases were suits. Belvest and Canali at the same size waist as what I ordered here and they fit perfect. (Of course those are more just true waist measurements than a sizing label). Definitely a major difference

also, I measured my belt size recently and the hole I use (3rd out of 5) measures perfectly in inches to the base of the buckle to coincide with the size pants I had ordered.

they were also quite heavy for what was supposed to be a lighter weight offering.

I’m not saying they were bad as far as cotton chinos go. If you’re looking for some cotton chinos to rock with your AE strands, they would be a decent enough quality. I wouldn’t call them poorly made. But based on the positive discussion I was expecting better than the same old product I remember from 20 years ago.
 
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clee1982

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for jcrew I would stick with W&B, got a link with the RL you bought?
 

TheChihuahua

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what's your size and which line? I'm size 30, other than RRL, I'm like spot on with all RL, I did find JCrew tends to have more vanity sizing?
So I just took out the tape measurer!

my belt to the punchhole I use is exactly the size waist that I ordered.
A pair of tailored pants that fits me well is within a quarter inch of this size.
The measurement of my most recent suit purchase was the same as the size I ordered

these polo chinos were 4 inches larger!
 

clee1982

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if you want a non dress chino (this might be too heavy, I would imagine you're looking for like 9oz?), how about these?


I never ran into your type of issue in RL, wonder if the smaller size were more TTS...
 

clee1982

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also I would think this from JCrew should be good (not sure about the weight though), in my size (true waist 30) it's probably a size 29 if you ask me a blind guess (W&B for my has been inconsistently sized sometimes slight vanity sometimes TTS, though mainline has almost always been vanity and I never bought anything mainline so can't really say)


edit: or RRL..., pretty sure these are TTS ones



these ones I'm not sure, could be vanity size 2 or TTS...
 

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