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

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

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.

Co-Op Barney’s New York

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.

Tyson’s Corner and Tyson II

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.

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.

Tristan – Made in China and Canada. Style wise, it’s my favorite store. They have this gorgeous royal blue crepe shirt made of 100% silk from China. Very unique texture, love the styling, the stitching looked good, but one look at the buttons and my hopes were dashed. The thin, flat iridescent buttons were badly sewn on, the first button looked like it was about to fall off. I’ve had my share of badly sewn buttons, if the buttons don’t look solid, I don’t buy them. The Made in Canada items looked better and felt nice, but I don’t know if their buttons are just as poorly sewn. I’ve also had a white shirt with organza ruffles at the cuffs, ripped off in not even a day, haven’t worn it since. Quality is to be questionable.

Mango – Made in China and Vietnam. I admit upfront: I hate this store. It’s everything a fast fashion store could ever possess. Cheaply made garments of today’s trend du jour at a pretty expensive price range. One thin double breasted cream jacket made in Vietnam cost $90 when I’m pretty sure it was made for like $5. I’ll never shop at this store.

Le Chateau – Made in China and Canada. The Canadian equivalent as a fast fashion store, and a highly successful one at that, somehow the quality appears to be better, or maybe that’s just the general pleasing aesthetic of the store, but I wouldn’t count on it too much. I bought my favorite coat from this place, a military styled turquoise knee length jacket. The only problem are, once again, the buttons. Like many other places, they use cheap threads to keep the buttons on, and have had to resew 6 of the 20 something buttons several times. Quality is dubious here.

Josef – Made in Canada. Finally! A fashionable store with Made in Canada labels, and it shows (too bad I couldn’t find a website to go with it). I touched one dress with a mock white collared shirt and dress bottom, the fabric felt thick like it would last me a good while, the lining was properly sewed on, and it looked like one of those wrinkle free dresses. It was $175. There was another gray, sleeveless office dress with a belt, also had good lining, $200. Though the pieces of this store were basic, I found the quality to look very good (at least I hope it is). Will definitely return to this store.

Stores with surprising quality

Forever XXI - Ok, we don’t have this store here. Yes, it’s the American equivalent of a fast fashion store. However, I’ve bought a couple of things from them, and all are Made in USA. A polka dot strapless dress, laced hemline, nice lining, and seemingly wrinkle free, could not ask for a better summer dress than this. Orange double breasted petticoat, buttons fall off, not surprised. Cropped gray pants, after a year it’s starting to show some light lint fuzz. For a fast fashion store, there are a few gems to be found here.

MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) – I’ve written an article on Gloss about this store. And I wanted to say in detail how much I love the hoodie I got from them. During winter I wear it 5 days a week, no joke. If any store would know anything about quality fabric, it’s MEC. Some brands like Pantagonia have their stuff made in China, but all MEC branded items are Made in Canada. The hoodie, made with Polartec technology, will never ever make lint fuzz or balls. I don’t know much about how to describe its texture, but it’s smooth on the outside and lined with fleece on the inside. Best $110 I’ve ever spent. I’ve considered getting it in another color, but haven’t gotten around to buying it yet.

A Brand With Surprisingly Bad Quality

Lacoste shoes – I’m sure it’s more their licensee’s fault since Lacoste’s specialty are their famed polo shirts. And the licensee for Lacoste makes many of their shoes in places like Vietnam and Thailand. My flat ballerinas cost a whopping $145, made of leather exterior, and after a year of wearing it and traveling around, the leather wore off at the tips, and for some reason the stitching of the trims busted. I loved these shoes, but I won’t buy from Lacoste again for footwear.

Again, it’s not to say that everything made in third world countries are poorly made. I’ve seen knock offs made of the highest grade in quality, popular brand names (like Puma) made in legitimate factories in China, still make comfortable shoes. However, work conditions, and most of all, salary, are drastically different in these countries than they would be in Europe or North America. Why pay an italian worker $18/hr to make garments when you can pay $0.10/hr in China?

This was my personal assessment of the mid-ranged clothing stores today. I’d love to inspect further for higher end garments just to see if their quality is better, made in China or not. Of course I’d probably have to spend a small fortune, but there’s nothing quite like shopping for research.