Costume National sizing.

Originally Posted by macuser3of5

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Yoox makes me happy re: Costume National, **** is so cheap.

I have noticed they have a lot of shirts in now at quite low prices (relatively speaking). I wonder from what season and year they are from. I imagine they're more than the usual yoox one year 'out of date', as they seem to be cheaper than usual for CN on yoox.
I quite like that range of CN jackets they have. The laced detail on the sleeves being less vulgar than you'd expect.

Yeah, I have no idea which season those $90-$100 shirts are from. Nothing on the runway that I can recognize, anyway. On the subject of these shirts, what do you think of this style?



On one hand, I dig the polo-style button front on an otherwise normal dress shirt... Reversely, part of my nagging paranoia thinks it would look like an odd compromise, and the way the button front ends (not sure what to call that, the little 'tail') is somewhat odd.

Originally Posted by macuser3of5

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Yoox makes me happy re: Costume National, **** is so cheap.

That was my impression as well until I switched to the Italian version of the site and saw the prices there. Some pieces, especially in the F/W collection, seem to be less than half the price compared to the international storefronts!

Originally Posted by mattjames

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I quite like that range of CN jackets they have. The laced detail on the sleeves being less vulgar than you'd expect.

I like those as well. I'm actually quite tempted to use my 15% superstar coupon for this, but I have little experience with CN outerwear. I wonder if a 48 would be too short/small as I'm 6'2"/~158lbs with just under a 38" chest..

By the way, does anyone know what the difference is between the CN "City" suits and the regular ones? I thought the City suits were an older style made back in 2003 and a bit cheaper than regular ones , atleast they were back then... but now they seem to have reemerged in new collections again

The reason that CN (and some other italian brands) are cheaper on italian yoox is partly because CN is cheaper in Italy than abroad, and Yoox tries to price them at approx 30-50% off retailprice in each country. Many items are also cheaper in Italian yoox because the shipping cost and customs fees are non-existant. The actual shipping price of Eur 8 we pay for delivery is just a small fraction of what they are charged by UPS so the rest of the shipping is embedded in the yoox-price. Yoox also makes a smaller profit on sales in US (unless they have priced the item higher there) because they pay the customs-fees for the customers, so that is embedded into yoox-usa prices

Oh, and the new "cheap" shirts are mostly s/s 2006 by the way, i bought one of them at luisaviaroma summer 2006... i think yoox decided to lower prices for CN overall, as it usually went far down on sales earlier - better for them to get rid of inventory faster

Originally Posted by Babar

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I like those as well. I'm actually quite tempted to use my 15% superstar coupon for this, but I have little experience with CN outerwear. I wonder if a 48 would be too short/small as I'm 6'2"/~158lbs with just under a 38" chest..

I asked yoox what size their model wears and was told, "We inform you that generally our male models wear the size M which is like the 48 Italian and 38 UK."

With all his muscles I thought the main model they use would be bigger than that. I'm sure he is probably at least 6 foot tall. Those jackets are short, but I think you'll be alright.

As for the 'polo' front shirts, for what it's worth I quite like them.

I'm 5' 9-10" ish and my CN jacket sleeves are about 3/4" long before tailoring. I say go for it, the worst you'll lose is $5 to restocking.

Originally Posted by macuser3of5

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Yeah, I have no idea which season those $90-$100 shirts are from. Nothing on the runway that I can recognize, anyway. On the subject of these shirts, what do you think of this style?



On one hand, I dig the polo-style button front on an otherwise normal dress shirt... Reversely, part of my nagging paranoia thinks it would look like an odd compromise, and the way the button front ends (not sure what to call that, the little 'tail') is somewhat odd.

That's an interesting look. For casual wear, it won't hurt you. However, the front is too long for the model.

I don't have tons to add here (pretty much everything said has been spot on), but I'll just add that buying CN online is tough because their cuts and silhouettes vary so much by garment. This is one reason why CN is so expensive at retail but so cheap at discount; the fit can be really odd and hard to wear. It's another reason why CN is one of Yoox's most returned brands.

I've got a 32 inch waist and am a 48 in most every brand. For CN, depending on the garment, I've had everything from a size 46 to a 50. Pants are the worst; sometimes a 46 fits like a 28inch waist, sometimes like a 30. Sometimes a 50 is like a 32, sometimes like a 30, othertimes like a 36. Generally, it is about a 33.

Jackets, too, can be odd. I've had blazers that were spot-on for a 48, while size 50's sometimes were so tight across the chest and arms that my 10 year old cousin probably couldn't have fit into them.

In short, the answer is give CN a try in your usual size. If the size is wrong and you really like the garment, then you can perhaps determine if you should size up or down for that given garment in a return. As such, be sure and try it on WELL within Yoox's return period so you can get your money back. I've found that if you just keep the garment and then decide later to re-sell it, CN has abysmal resale value...

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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As such, be sure and try it on WELL within Yoox's return period so you can get your money back. I've found that if you just keep the garment and then decide later to re-sell it, CN has abysmal resale value...
That is actually a very good, and useful, point to make. CN does not have the resale value of Dior Homme or even Helmut Lang. Or Banana Republic. I've seen cotton/silk dress shirts, NWT, go on ebay for around $50.

Originally Posted by macuser3of5

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That is actually a very good, and useful, point to make. CN does not have the resale value of Dior Homme or even Helmut Lang. Or Banana Republic. I've seen cotton/silk dress shirts, NWT, go on ebay for around $50.

Unfortunately I learned this the hard way. I had a Lang cotton tee from a few years back that I got on sale for $40. I wore the thing for a while, then hung it in the closet, and later decided to sell it after buying some new items. My initial price on ebay was $20; I expected it to sell for $25 or so. Somebody bid it up to $110. Needless to say, shortly thereafter, I sold a bunch of my Lang that I didn't wear.

CN, though... I had a grey blazer, retail $1400, I paid about $200 but never wore it (and thought I got a GREAT deal at that price, haha). I also THOUGHT I could make it work, so I just hung on to it instead of returning it, even though I knew I should have. Anyway, later I couldn't even get $150 for it shipped and, as such, it hangs in my closet still...

Since it is so easy (and free) to return stuff to yoox, I think I will be best served buying in two sizes and then keeping the one that fits the best.

Originally Posted by mattjames

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Since it is so easy (and free) to return stuff to yoox, I think I will be best served buying in two sizes and then keeping the one that fits the best.

That, my friend, sounds like a good idea (I've done that myself...)

I think they do charge a $5.00 "restocking fee" (or they used to, anyway), but even that is negligible in getting a great fitting garment at closeout.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. When CN is on, it looks like a million bucks. When it's not... eh... you know how that goes (I remember trying to squeeze myself into a pair of 48 CN linen/cotton jeans once that had thighs that wouldn't fit most men's ankles).

I had heard word of a restocking fee, but that seems to be for US customers, and doesn't apply to me in the UK.

Originally Posted by mattjames

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I had heard word of a restocking fee, but that seems to be for US customers, and doesn't apply to me in the UK.

Even more reason to buy two, then.

I just received a suit by CN from Yoox, it's one of them in the autumn winter sale (1-button, peak lapel) right now and it's canvassed!!!
I was expecting an excellent cut (but fused suit) but i just tried the pinch test and compared to a known canvassed jacket i have, and there surely is a third floating layer in the lapels, area around the buttons (i can actually feel where the canvas ends in this section, it seems to end a bit below the bottom bottom so it dosent go all the way down). I cant tell in the chest though, i've never had a good technique for pinching there, i cant tell the difference from the canvassed jacket though (which i suppose is a good thing)

The thing is i ordered another suit from the s/s now on yoox and that one wasnt canvassed (it also had "city" tag inside) so maybe they have different quality-levels just like gucci has

Oh, and the pants were not tight at all, they were fairly slim but not even close to for example Dolce & Gabbana where it feels like im ripping the pants when sitting (in same size).