Recommendations for 'basic' clothing

[Guest itsmeJT]

i hate americans fuck you all

[jasonm]

you will probably see an american apparel around soon enough. they just opened one in halifax and windsor.

i dont think any of them (in canada at least) are considered to be a flagship they're all the same.

[lemons]

The flagship American Apparel store is on Broadway in New York City.

[dk7m]

The flagship American Apparel store is on Broadway in New York City.

I always thought American Apparel was based out of Los Angeles

[Loop]

http://www.americanapparel.net/storelocations/metroareas.asp?metroareaid=20

Hopefully that link should work, if it doesn't just go to the American Apparel website and click store locations.

I've been to the Carnaby Street outlet and it seemed pretty well stocked.

[zelah]

gap has these good lightweight thermals that arent quite "waffle knit". 2 for $30 here. probably comparable price over there

[bleedxslow]

you will probably see an american apparel around soon enough. they just opened one in halifax and windsor.

i dont think any of them (in canada at least) are considered to be a flagship they're all the same.

He means London UK, not London Ontario.

[sbbbjm]

DON'T BUY AMERICAN APPAREL FULL PRICE -- order from one of the discounters in supermarket -- and i say that with the utmost conviction. they just opened one in houston and i went to try on there hoodies, windbreakers etc and the quality is so shotty. loose threads hanging everywhere, crooked seams, stripes not lining up on seams and not being perfectly horizontal bc they sewed the shirt crooked, one medium being bigger than another medium . . .

i know its all made by people who are payed 10x's more than what they pay sweatshops but i would expect the quality to show that.

i have several tshirts that have twisted seams and one shirt i bought and washed had the thread unravel and make a hole under the arm after one wash in the machine. they also shring a WHOLE lot when you wash em and dry them

now i can handle twisted seams and can deal with shrinkage and just buy bigger shirts but all this ontop of the other issues i've had . . . i may continue to buy them bc of the more fashion foward fit, color, and patterns . . . but i won't pay regular price

[LordOak]

^ true true man. AAs quality control is bonkers. they make some nice looking stuff but as soon as you wash it it becomes something else entirely.

its a shame that one of the few brands that care about the people they hire are also a brand that dont care about product they put out.

but I will most likely continue to buy from them.

[bigsteve101]

if only cardigans were for wholesale =\

[mixedup]

agreed. of the 5-6 items i've got from american apparel, 2 were returned (one shirt had a button that fell off leaving a hole where it was, the other was a sweatshirt that was washed once and the cuff started coming off the sleeve!). i also have a band t-shirt that developed a couple small holes after 1 wash. and their sizing is inconsistent.

on the plus side, the retail store exchanged with no questions asked. but the quality is crap!

[Dchill]

remember a.a. is very basic and you do get what you pay for. Try James Perse, Adam+Eve, or Velvet for Men.

[johnmilner]

If you don't dry AA stuff in the dryer it fits better, lasts longer and the seams don't twist and unravel. None of their stuff is preshrunk, so if you must use the dryer it's almost worth it to buy a size up.

[jiomitori]

I've had negative experiences with t-shirts from Perse and Adam+Eve too. The material is very thin, even thinner than AA, plus they are constructed with sideseams, plus they cost 40 bucks a piece. Perse fits like a box, A+E fits okay but it looks like you're trying too hard, plus it has this annoying logo on the back of the neck. If they cost the same I'd still take AA, and they cost about a fifth or fourth or third of the price (depending how you're buying).

I know AA isn't perfect but I haven't been able to find anything better, and I've looked at at least a dozen brands (adam+eve, James Perse, Calvin Klein, Banana Republic, GAP, Uniqlo, DKNY, Hanes, AAA, etc.)

[votefornara]

Base Control

[Fingathing]

Do Uniqlo run big?

[Fingathing]

Hmmm I was going to buy some basics in small however, I wanted them fitted.

[viv1984viv]

from my experience of uniqlo in london they run pretty big, fitted they are not.

I only tryd on the t shirts with japanese prints, dunno about the rest.

why not try NEXT or good ol marks and spencer, theyre kinda half decent and do come up smaller than unqlo, im soooo pleased with the next slim fit tees.

Zara are pretty good and slim.

[lemons]

I work for american apparel and I would agree with the sentiments here. After going to the Soho Uniqlo store today, I would say that their product is probably superior to that of AA. However, where AA is slim fitting, Uniqlo is sort of standard american fitted. You can size down to accomodate for that though, which is what I did.

[jasonm]

He means London UK, not London Ontario.

i really am a full blown idiot.

[derdankhund]

I would agree with questioning James Perse. I've had two tees from him; one held up well, and the other split a seam before the first wash.

As for basic stuff, I've found a lot of nice basic stuff from mainlines from US, UK, Japanese big name designers, but it does take a bit more looking to sift through the amount of chaff out there...

[Dchill]

How about alternative apparel?

[Arethusa]

I really question the working conditions in American Apparel's factories. If they treat their workers so well, why are they producing such shitty garments? The quality issues are indicative of rushed production— the same kind of rushed production you find in, say, a Jamaican free zone using borderline slave labor for Jockey Caribbean. What they pay their workers may be documented and numerically verfiable, but I really wonder about the working conditions beyond pay.

[xcoldricex]

didn't you see the video you they play in the store!? they all look so happy sewing tshirts!

[Servo2000]

How about alternative apparel?

I'm still interested in the burn-out tees or whatever that guy was asking about a while ago from these folks.

[GoodHustle]

I've got one alternative apparel t-shirt and it's much nicer than my american apparel tees. The alt. apparel tee is much thicker but still pretty soft, and it has held its shape pretty well after multiple runs through the washer and dryer. The sleeves are a bit short, though, and the tee runs a bit long...maybe that's how this particular tee is supposed to be, I don't know much about their different cuts. Any way, I wish I could get more alt. apparel tees but I haven't seen them in any retail stores.

[thelion1856]

DON'T BUY AMERICAN APPAREL FULL PRICE -- order from one of the discounters in supermarket -- and i say that with the utmost conviction. they just opened one in houston and i went to try on there hoodies, windbreakers etc and the quality is so shotty. loose threads hanging everywhere, crooked seams, stripes not lining up on seams and not being perfectly horizontal bc they sewed the shirt crooked, one medium being bigger than another medium . . .

i know its all made by people who are payed 10x's more than what they pay sweatshops but i would expect the quality to show that.

i have several tshirts that have twisted seams and one shirt i bought and washed had the thread unravel and make a hole under the arm after one wash in the machine. they also shring a WHOLE lot when you wash em and dry them

now i can handle twisted seams and can deal with shrinkage and just buy bigger shirts but all this ontop of the other issues i've had . . . i may continue to buy them bc of the more fashion foward fit, color, and patterns . . . but i won't pay regular price

yeah so true, i always wondered how they stay around when pulling shit like that. i dont fuck wit them no more.

[MilSpex]

Get Visvim apparel from Hideout. It`s all real clean and basic.

[theswarm]

aa is on carnaby st,uniqlo is on regent st

[theswarm]

howies blank t's ans sweats are pretty good,organic cotton etc..

www.howies.co.uk