Torn Dress, Banana Republic -1
I don’t particularly believe I’ve torn anything that I own other than old pajamas, so it came as a surprise to me that my relatively new Banana Republic shirt dress got torn on Wednesday night.
Notice the reversed L-shaped tears
I came home from a dinner with friends and had accidentally stretched the dress with my knees just a tad. I heard a classic quick “rip!” and noticed that the last button on the bottom had partially torn in an “L” shaped fashion. I was in such a shock, that I’m still not quite sure what to do or think about the situation. I’m guessing that “thin cotton” feel that I loved, which felt so light and airy was also super weak!
It’s a lovely dress, and I really didn’t think the fabric would tear so easily, especially at the buttons - of all places! No wonder this is dry clean only. So now what? Put in a few stitches to keep it from tearing? Put clear nail polish?
Tis a sad day for me and my dress.
The worst is that this brand isn’t particularly “cheap” fashion either. Buyers beware!
Banana Republic shirt dress: $134.00. 100% cotton, Made in China.
How old before it gave way: 2 months
Fashionphile: Banana Republic and Le Chateau
Even I, sometimes, have a hard time resisting the impulsive purchase, combined with other excuses as factors in a certain shopping purchase.
In January, I had needed a cheap clubbing dress that was easy to handle and that I wouldn’t mind have alcohol spilled on it if the occasion arised. I also didn’t want to spend on something too expensive for fear of ruining it in the club, thus had to settle for, for a lack of a better word, a throwaway dress. I don’t go out clubbing that much anyway, so the chances of buying something cheap and fast are seldom.
Le Chateau Shift Dress - $60
Made in China
Le Chateau usually has something for every occasion for a low price and pretty cheap quality. Perhaps not as low as H&M, but it’s low enough to put a sales rack of $10+ dresses. I had found one to my liking: a silky shift dress with a black and royal blue butterfly print on it. It came with a black sash belt, making it easy to play on volume. The neckline was wide enough for me to have an off the shoulder look, or if I didn’t move much, would barely rest on my shoulders. It looks great with black tights on, and I can mishandle it as much as I want and it wouldn’t wrinkle too much.
Banana Republic Shirt Dress and Office Dress - $134 and $160
Made in China and The Philippines
Lately I’ve fallen in love with BR again as their Spring Collection has rolled out and I’m finding a slew of really cute tailored-like fitted dresses. There are so many to choose from, it was difficult to pick which ones I should buy.
I ended up with a black cotton shirt dress that is remarkably resistant to wrinkling. The model wearing it doesn’t do it justice though, as she is as flat as an iron board. I don’t have many day dresses and the shirt dress I bought from Theory last summer is great, but is prone to fly with the wind at times, which is inconvenient being bare legged. It has concealed buttons making it for a smooth look with a skinny, sturdy fabric belt.
The second dress I got was a thick rayon/nylon, lightly capped sleeves office dress. It looks rather plain but it would be ideal to wear for work in the summer. Though it fit everywhere else, the length is a tad to long, going past my knees by about 2 inches. Since I have pretty short calves, hiding my knees makes me look even shorter, so I might have to get this one trimmed.
Total spent: $354.00
You can check out the total I’ve spent so far during the year by going to Pricephile.
Image credit: Banana Republic
Happy Holidays!
I just wanted to wish my readers and passerbys a Happy Holiday!
I am currently in Houston with my family for the next couple of weeks. Reporting on fashion here will be a little difficult considering that this city is the Disney World of chain stores.
Here’s one peculiar thing I noticed here: there is only ONE American Apparel store in Houston. In Montreal there is at least 4 American Apparel stores in the near downtown vicinity. But I can understand why this chain may not be very successful…Houston is considered one of the fattest cities in America. From my understanding, AA is a chain that caters to a certain demographic, and that seems to exclude the overweight.
My recent experience at Banana Republic had the store assistant literally dismantle a mannequin sporting this really nice slate gray cardigan because it was an XS - the only one left in the store.
BCBG is also carrying slightly tamer versions of their Hervé Léger bandage dresses oddly enough. Making real Hervé Léger dresses less special. Why would you want to pay $1000 on an Herve Leger dress when you can get something similar, owned by the SAME company, for a fraction of the price? A look at the online website doesn’t reveal this, you would have to shop at Dillard’s to see the knock off collection. Max Azria is shooting himself in the foot with this move.
Bakers, a Montreal equivalent to Aldo shoe stores, carried a trendy line of shoes, but made of the worst quality. The leather looked cheap and tattered on the edges and the soles stiffer than cardboard.
Speaking of Aldo, they’re also turning more and more like Nine West and Steve Madden by copying a pair of Michael Kors’ Berkley T-strap sandals, with their Tavira shoes. What’s funny is that the MK version is only $129, and the Aldo shoes are $90.00. Knock offs are getting more and more expensive!
More updates to come soon hopefully.
Enjoy your holidays!
D.C. is for De.li.Cious Part Deux
Bethesda Area
This is another district in D.C. where old money rules and where you’ll find freestanding luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tiffany & Co, and Cartier lining up the streets. Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s reign over as the department store moguls, while the J.Crew and Banana Republic store windows display a large range of classic preppy American lifestyles. I realize that Montreal lacks free standing stores like these, I’m guessing there’s not much of a market for it.
Max Mara
There aren’t any Max Mara stores in Montreal…are there? I haven’t noticed. Either way it was my first time checking out this brand in its marble settings. The style and collections weren’t quite of my taste, it was directed for an older demographer (30-45 maybe), sportswear consisted of linen shirts, business suits, earth toned colors, the cuts weren’t as tailored as I had hoped. Despite this, I expressed my opinion to Susan, the sales woman, and she was nice enough to tell me to check out Co-op Barney’s New York next door, and wanted to refer us to another store in Dupont Circle (she forgot the name though), for something more young and urban. It’s unusual to hear sales people refer you to the competition, so I appreciated that she wanted to help me. Now that’s service. I’m really starting to like the service in these luxury stores.
At Susan’s recommendation, I indeed made a stop here. I had never heard of this branch of Barney’s, but after taking a look around, it was clear that even the almighty Barney’s has succumbed to the accessible luxury market and established a more affordable store for the young and trendy. Marc Jacobs (he’s everywhere I swear!), Helmut Lang, J Brand jeans, the lot. I did end up buying a strapless jersey dress with pockets by Velvet (made in the USA!). Only to find out later on that I could’ve gotten the same dress at Cusp for 10 bucks cheaper as it was “on sale”. However Cusp didn’t have the color I wanted, which was black, so I’m not too distressed for missing out on a $10 discount.
This is D.C.’s mega mall that’s split into 2 seperate buildings. Tyson’s Corner is your generic mall where the massive flock of consumers stroll, browse and crowd the walkways. You’ll find the usual fast fashion lot of H&M, Mango, Zara, etc. I wasn’t really interested in this mall since I could find most of these brands back at home, albeit much more expensive.
Tyson II or Tyson’s Galleria has all the expensive luxury brands you can think of - Chanel, Dior, Ferragamo. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bloomie’s also made up as the major department stores. Surprisingly though, or perhaps I was expecting too much, these luxury stores don’t carry clothes, they’re mostly accessory stores which hold the items that people would be willing to splurge on - mainly bags, wallets, sunglasses, shoes and jewelry. If you were going to look for clothes you’re better off at the department stores. You can already tell that Tyson II has a smaller, more specific crowd. I’ve seen tall models walking around (was there an event going on?) and an overall different atmosphere. Clothes however weren’t of my taste, by demographic the buyers are well aware that the people who have the dineros are the baby boomer generations, so there wasn’t anything fit for a 20-something like myself at my size. I’m not much of an accessory person either, and I’d have to think twice before splurging on $500 shoes.
Overall there’s plenty of shopping to do in D.C., my auntie even suggested that I should visit Pentagon City (about one metro stop from, where else, the Pentagon!), however I didn’t have time to go all way there. There’s also the touristy Union Station for some outlet shopping. But my best bet if you’re ever in D.C. is to visit Georgetown, it’s just a lovely place to see and hang out. I was told that D.C. isn’t really known for any local designers (a shame), however the small boutiques bring in different international brands so there’s always something new to discover.
Shopping More Consciously
After reading interesting bits about counterfeiters being arrested, Italian houses employing illegal chinese manufacturing laborers, and many luxury houses shipping their productions to China, India and Mauritius, I’ve just gotten a whole lot pickier about shopping for clothes.
Made In Labels
I made a round at the Rockland Centre today, being a completely picky shopper. I checked “Made in” labels, rubbed the fabric between my fingers, and turned skirts, dresses, jackets and pants inside out to check what they were made of. Though now I know that some “Made ins” are completely false (produced in China, assembled in Europe, carrying the European label), it’s gotten a lot tougher to decipher what’s of quality what isn’t. Not to say that everything China is poorly made, there are different grades of quality in Chinese goods (and some of them are of very good quality), so it’s really a question of knowing your fabric, looking at the seams, the stitches, the craftsmanship. Not that I would be an expert in fabrics, but we all learn as we go right?
Here’s a roundup of what I found in some of the stores I visited:
BCBG - Lots of stuff made in China, shoes made in Brazil. Quality is to be questionable, especially at such a high price. I’ve already bought 2 dresses from them at $300-$400 a pop. One of them has sequins sewed near the neckline but it’s been dropping sequins all over the place after only wearing it twice for 2 weddings. Disappointing to say the least. Aside from the dresses, their jackets, shirts and pants, looked flimsy, I’ll have to ask my BCBG-nut friend of their clothe quality.
Banana Republic - Made in China, and The Philippines. Quality is better and appropriately priced for some of their clothes. I checked out one orange dress with a polyester lining but it looked flimsy as far as being attached to the dress itself. I have a skirt and a shirt that I’ve had for over a couple of years, so far the skirt looks worn and the black faded (lining still there amazingly), the white shirt needs constant ironing, otherwise the buttons are still on, a good sign.
