too old for hollister or american eagle?

[AlexMorgan]

I'm in my mid 20s
not talking about their t-shirts with their giant logos..

but things like solid color tees, flannels, non-ripped jeans, basic polos with very small logos or hard to see logos.
lately they're becoming cheap with tons of 50% off and even 70% off..
$10-15 long sleeve polos, $10-15 plain henleys, $20-25 flannel shirts, etc.

those are H&M prices.. (perhaps cheaper)

or should stick to another brand at that price range (recommendations?)

 

[Wo Cao]

As a guy who is also in his mid-20s, I would advise you to start switching out of the AE/A&F mindset as fast as possible, no matter how good their sales appear to be.

Everlane makes good, inexpensive basic tees and sweaters.
Uniqlo makes good, inexpensive Oxford shirts. I really love their Oxfords.
For polos, I really like Polo's Custom Fit Mesh. The price is quite a bit higher, but the quality is really good.
For jeans, I'd suggest moving into more mid-range stuff like Naked & Famous, or even start making the move into raw denim. I have a pair of N&Fs that I've been wearing for almost 2.5 years now, and I still get compliments on them. Look for jeans that have more classic designs and therefore won't go out of style. No ridiculous pockets, no pre-torn holes; just clean, elegant styles.
I have older pairs of Uniqlo jeans, and they're great (also in the $50 range if I recall), but I'm not sure if the quality has changed since I bought them a few years ago.

 

[AlexMorgan]

As a guy who is also in his mid-20s, I would advise you to start switching out of the AE/A&F mindset as fast as possible, no matter how good their sales appear to be.

Everlane makes good, inexpensive basic tees and sweaters.
Uniqlo makes good, inexpensive Oxford shirts. I really love their Oxfords.
For polos, I really like Polo's Custom Fit Mesh. The price is quite a bit higher, but the quality is really good.
For jeans, I'd suggest moving into more mid-range stuff like Naked & Famous, or even start making the move into raw denim. I have a pair of N&Fs that I've been wearing for almost 2.5 years now, and I still get compliments on them. Look for jeans that have more classic designs and therefore won't go out of style. No ridiculous pockets, no pre-torn holes; just clean, elegant styles.
I have older pairs of Uniqlo jeans, and they're great (also in the $50 range if I recall), but I'm not sure if the quality has changed since I bought them a few years ago.

I got a few Uniqlo jeans, they are indeed pretty nice!
what do you suggest for flannels.

on a side note..I was in Japan recently and its pretty interesting
the US audience loves Uniqlo (maybe Muji too) but not so much AE/AF/Hollister
the Japanese audience thinks Uniqlo and Muji are just ok, but love AE/AF/Hollister..even 50 year olds are wearing it

 

[sneet]

If there's no branding and you're okay with the quality, there isn't a reason you need to buy it on the perceived demographic. Both have started to sell very standard, unbranded pieces and while it's no EG they're certainly nicer than H&M.

 

[AlexMorgan]

If there's no branding and you're okay with the quality, there isn't a reason you need to buy it on the perceived demographic. Both have started to sell very standard, unbranded pieces and while it's no EG they're certainly nicer than H&M.

some of the stuff have a small amount of branding (like hollister having a little bird). I'm avoiding the ones that have a huge one or even medium sized bird.
AE is getting better in that alot of their things have none at all other than the inside tag.

what's EG?

 

[crosswound]

If you love ae why not just keep buying it?

 

[Wo Cao]

I got a few Uniqlo jeans, they are indeed pretty nice!
what do you suggest for flannels.

on a side note..I was in Japan recently and its pretty interesting
the US audience loves Uniqlo (maybe Muji too) but not so much AE/AF/Hollister
the Japanese audience thinks Uniqlo and Muji are just ok, but love AE/AF/Hollister..even 50 year olds are wearing it

That is very interesting! I also noticed something similar with my Chinese classmates (minus the Uniqlo aspect). I think some American brands have done a really good job of projecting themselves as "cool" abroad. You'd be surprised by how many of my foreign student friends are absolutely obsessed with GM cars, for example.

Uniqlo makes decent flannels as well, but the ones I got ran pretty large (I have a 40.5" chest, and I fit in a size S without any tugging). I bought a really sweet purple and black flannel from them earlier this year for $15 on sale. I've bought the rest of my flannels online, and they haven't exactly been cheap. It's an addiction, man.

If there's no branding and you're okay with the quality, there isn't a reason you need to buy it on the perceived demographic. Both have started to sell very standard, unbranded pieces and while it's no EG they're certainly nicer than H&M.

I agree with this as well; AE tends to not be as flamboyant as A&F or Hollister. Some of their basic tees just have the little eagle logo embedded in the left side of the chest, and it's hardly noticeable. Most of their stuff, however, is not quite so understated.

My friend from Shanghai and I went into H&M with one of our female classmates, and he took a look at the tags on one of the shirts and said "hey, that's where we (the Chinese) have our clothes made! I can buy ten of these in China for this price!"

 

[AlexMorgan]

$15 for flannels is great! I hope Uniqlo has that sale again.
right now its $30 and the thing I hate about their site is that stock runs out fast.