What is the next step up from Brooks Brothers?

[mirinjobra]

I'm looking to buy some nice sweaters (not cashmere) and dress shirts but from what I've been reading, BB quality has gone down. What's the next best thing?

 

[Clouseau]

Crooks Brothers

 

[Dirt]

If you like trad American style, try J Press.

 

[mirinjobra]

If you like trad American style, try J Press.

Meh, didn't really like it. Is there anything else on the same level as brooks brothers? Maybe I should just shop at Nordstrom?

 

[starro]

Seeing how there are a ba-jillion expensive stores, and we know nothing of your preferences, my best advice is to buy from the merchant that's ever so slightly pricier than Brooks.

 

[Caustic Man]

Who said Brooks quality has gone down? In what sense?

 

[mirinjobra]

Seeing how there are a ba-jillion expensive stores, and we know nothing of your preferences, my best advice is to buy from the merchant that's ever so slightly pricer than Brooks.

I am not the type of person who pays a higher price because I think higher price = better quality. That wasn't my question - my question was what is the next step up. I'm sure there are brands out there that are better than BB for a lower price, but if I have to pay more, I don't mind.

 

[comrade]

If you like trad American style, try J Press.

Also: The Andover Shop; O'Connells; Ben Silver; Eljos (VA) even Paul Stuart

 

[starro]

I am not the type of person who pays a higher price because I think higher price = better quality. That wasn't my question - my question was what is the next step up. I'm sure there are brands out there that are better than BB for a lower price, but if I have to pay more, I don't mind.

What's quality to you? At the end of the day, a shirt is pieces of cloth held together by thread. Any decent maker can guarantee that the thread will not fall apart in the shirt's lifetime. So after that what do you prioritize?

 

[comrade]

Who said Brooks quality has gone down? In what sense?

Brooks Quality Decline:
My pajama example. For several decades I bought BB oxford cloth pajamas.
I have some that are close to 20 years old. When the pajamas purchased in
say 2010 started falling apart before the pajamas from ten years earlier it was
obvious that there has been a quality decline. BB went from US pajamas in the
90s to Chinese made by the 2000s. The first Chinese were IMO as good as the US made
but the later ones were those that fell apart. I now buy pjs from LL Bean.

 

[Texasmade]

I went bespoke after BB. I use Hamilton which is a local shirt maker in Houston.

 

[comrade]

Hamilton has a good reputation. Barney's offered their bespoke shirt service
some years ago. Hamilton doesn't make tailored clothing does it?

 

[Caustic Man]

The reason I ask is that the word about town says that BB has been making a concerted effort to correct their falling QC and quality standards over the last decade. If anything their quality is supposed to be going up. And from my anecdotal experience, it is. Maybe they aren’t at the level of an Oxxford but they aren’t department store garbage. At least not anymore.

 

[philosophe]

O'Connells in Buffalo for excellent trad items.

 

[Texasmade]

Hamilton has a good reputation. Barney's offered their bespoke shirt service
some years ago. Hamilton doesn't make tailored clothing does it?

I know they do offer other tailored clothing but haven’t really tried them out other than shirts.

Shirts are true bespoke and they said dress trousers are as well. I know they also make suits and sports coats but I don’t know if that’s MtM or true bespoke.