Dress Clothes Brand Preferences?

[OverVolt]

I'm not much of a dress clothes person. But by far some of the nicest shirts I have now are actually Kenneth Cole Dress shirts from men's warehouse.

When I was younger Nautica, was all the rage if you wanted a quality dress shirt circa ~2005. I feel like the brand quality is constantly changing. Some brands have seemed to sell out to lower quality and I can pickup what I grew up with thinking was a nice brand of dress shirt and it doesn't even come close to meeting my expectations.

Lately I've been upping my dress quality so I was just curious on OTs combined thoughts/experiences with dress clothes over the years.

Lately I've noticed:
Kenneth Cole seems to be making quality stuff lately.
Chaps shoes have really soft soles for comfort but wear quickly.
Leather belts don't last nearly as long as they used to. I'm seriously burning through belts at a ferocious rate.
Dockers ain't what they used to be as far as I can tell.
Izod was always kind of a middle brand for me but seeing as a lot of quality has declined Izod is actually pretty decent now.


Have you guys ever noticed similar trends? The quality is just not what I remember it being like maybe a decade ago.

Kind of how Kenneth Cole surprised me lately, what am I missing in terms of good clothes these days?

 

[MrSquished]

www.jackthreads.com

Although I haven't shopped there much in the last year. Like as in twice. And I have noticed since then a lot of their stuff is all their branded clothing vs anything else. Before that the stuff was good quality, fit to size and felt like it would last. No it's not gonna equal something you'd get handmade from a tailor at home. That's for shit sure.

 

[BoomerD]

For me, clean blue jeans and a shirt with buttons is dressing up nowadays...but most of my "dress shirts" are Kirkland Signature brand from Costco.

https://www.costco.com/mens-dress-shirts.html?refine=145506+750427

Nicely made from quality fabric...inexpensive. (hell, most of my t-shirts cost more than these dress shirts.)

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Buy yourself a quality belt that is stitched and not glued together.

Allen Edmonds makes some of the finest mens leather goods (belts & shoes). They last a very long time - damn near a lifetime if properly cared for - use shoe tress, never wear 2-days in a row, condition and shine your shoes. For the price they cant be beat.

 

[John Connor]

Anything Italian and rhymes with pastrami.

 

[sdifox]

Nautica swems to fit me well and they haven't skimped on material.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Dress Shirts: Don't really care, they are all fairly equal
Dress Pants/Slacks: Brooks Brothers
Dress Shoes: Allen Edmonds

Department Stores (Macy's, JC Penny, etc... typical places) are the WORST place to get dress clothes.

 

[NutBucket]

Anything Italian and rhymes with pastrami.

What about Valentino?

 

[evident]

When i used to wear kenneth cole back in the mid 2000s, all their stuff was crap quality. I bought two pairs of shoes from them that fell apart in less than a month of not so strenuous wear. As for dress shirts, you need brands that fit you well off the rack and stick with them. Most dress shirt brands that you can find in department stores and tj maxxes (nautica, cole, klein, etc) are are oversized and i'm usually swimming in them.

 

[nakedfrog]

Make sure the leather belts aren't "bonded leather".
My Perry Ellis slacks seem to hold up quite well.

 

[OutHouse]

https://www.ctshirts.com/

http://www.us.thomaspink.com/

 

[NutBucket]

Make sure the leather belts aren't "bonded leather".

Exactly. If it's genuine leather it will last decades.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I've recently went back to Dockers for work pants. They aren't slacks, bit of a thicker type material. Very comfortable, but I'm not sure how long they're going to last. Shirts, I just get whatever looks nice. To me they all feel the same whether it's Kirkland or Ralph Lauren. I just won't get a dress shirt from say Target or Walmart unless I'm in some sort of pinch. For shoes, I personally like GH Bass, but I think their quality has gone down in the last few years.

 

[Darwin333]

https://www.ctshirts.com/

http://www.us.thomaspink.com/

$200-$300 for a cotton dress shirt

Just checked the first link, $50 a shirt is a hellofa lot more reasonable and they customize collar and sleeve length, I just might have to give them a try. Thanks.

 

[pete6032]

You're a plebian if you buy clothing from stores. I have all of my attire made by a 23 year old hipster tailor who is also a cobbler. He works out of an old industrial building that's been converted to studio spaces.

 

[repoman0]

The majority of my nicer clothes are from banana republic. Good fit for me and I've found them to be high quality and hold up well over time.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

There was some crazy Perry Ellis sale around Black Friday. I got 3 belts, a tie clip, a pair of slacks, and 2 dress shirts for $40.

Never bought their stuff before but quality was pretty good after I got them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Lands End used to make nice dress shirts, if you went up a step above the cheapest ones. Smooth pinpoints, sturdy Hyde Park oxfords.

Maybe they still do. Nowadays I just wear their polos instead. Ain't no one got time for buttons!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Buy yourself a quality belt that is stitched and not glued together.

Allen Edmonds makes some of the finest mens leather goods (belts & shoes). They last a very long time - damn near a lifetime if properly cared for - use shoe tress, never wear 2-days in a row, condition and shine your shoes. For the price they cant be beat.

Funny, I ordered two pair of shoes and a belt from them this morning. Cost $750 shipped. Hope they are worth it.

I usually shop at Macy's but their quality is hit or miss on some things. Might have to start shopping at Nordstroms or online.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

$200-$300 for a cotton dress shirt

Just checked the first link, $50 a shirt is a hellofa lot more reasonable and they customize collar and sleeve length, I just might have to give them a try. Thanks.

I can vouch for CTShirts as well. Damn good quality, and if you catch them at the right time they have sales of $30 per shirt. Simply can't be beaten.

 

[Murloc]

it's nice that clothes are cheap in the US, too bad it can't be like that here.

Leather belts don't last nearly as long as they used to. I'm seriously burning through belts at a ferocious rate.

leather alone doesn't mean much nowadays, there are all sorts of quality levels for mass-produced goods. The cheap stuff is basically thick paper made with shredded leather instead of wood pulp.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

it's nice that clothes are cheap in the US, too bad it can't be like that here.


leather alone doesn't mean much nowadays, there are all sorts of quality levels for mass-produced goods. The cheap stuff is basically thick paper made with shredded leather instead of wood pulp.

Yup. There's a wide range of "leather". The random "italian" name doesn't mean quality at all.

 

[ViviTheMage]

shoes = www.allenedmonds.com

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Funny, I ordered two pair of shoes and a belt from them this morning. Cost $750 shipped. Hope they are worth it.

In my consulting hey-days, it was Allen Edmonds, wool slacks, Abboud dress shirt, and a Jhane Barnes sport coat on the daily. Now I work for a tech company and its Levis, Nike's and a hoody. I do wear my Long Branch Allen Edmonds boots on rainy days.

My 6-pair of Allen Edmonds still look like new after hundreds of wears, even had one pair resoled. Cedar shoe trees every day, and don't forget to clean, condition, and shine your shoes once a month. The AE shoe cream works very well and get yourself a quality horse hair brush, just use an old sock for cream application.

 

[lothar]

Shirts: Charles Tyrwhitt (I refuse to wear any other kind/brand of shirt)
Shoes: Allen Edmonds
Pants/Slacks: No preference, I've been fine with Perry Ellis lately the past few years and would likely stick with them.