Boss basic stuff is not quality.
I think Henry talks about Boss Selection when he is talking about cut off for upscale Boss clothing (Also not sure if he includes it or not).

I am not sure if Henry would include it, but Zegna would be my starting point, if you were serious about building a wardrobe for the long term.

Boss covers a huge range which is why I said nicer Boss stuff. I'm not familiar enough with the brand to know what the nicer sub-brand are. Boss has really been going crazy with the number of sub-brands which is likely close to double digits now. Some are overpriced garbage designed to attract people who want the name but can't afford the nicer stuff.

Obviously Zegna would make the cut. My favourite and nicest pair of pants are Ermenegildo Zegna. I expect they will go the same route as Boss and start offering a million sub-brands some of which will not be very good. There are a lot of brands out there but names like Armani, Dior, Prada, and Dolce&Gabbana have penetrated public culture so that is why I listed them. If I said I really like Hilditch & Key's shirts no one would have ever heard of them.

Eyecrazy2,

Not too small. I mean if you know you are not going to see the same people on different outings you can be strategic but you really never know that you won't run into people. You don't want to be the guy that has three outfits and rotates though them. People will notice and the defeats the whole point. I'd say the minimum is going ten days without wearing the same outfit.

As I said in the other topic dressing well requires a commitment to a certain kind of lifestyle that has expenses. You can't just throw these shirt into the washing machine, you can't be getting snow salt on pants, and you likely can't drive in really nice shoes. All of this requires additional expenses so if the clothing is already going to be stressing the budget then likely not a good idea since there won't be resources to keep from ruining the clothing.

Also with respect to jeans they should have a very minimal role in your wardrobe. That is considerably more of a role than I used to grant them. There is a very small limited number of scenarios where wearing jeans is acceptable.

http://www.tresbienshop.com/categories/

http://www.parkandbond.com/clothing

http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/StoreFront

scrolling down on the tresbienshop website I gradually lost my initial donotwant reaction

and then it came back with a vengeance.

Tres bien has lots (75 percent) of weird **** nobody should wear but does have some gems for high end casual ear.

My wardrobe is mostly what you see in park and bond and epaulet.

Okay henry has convinced me. High end it is. I'll just look at it as an investment.

Yeah, those sites looked v solid, esp in the shirt and shoes depts.

so this is a $350 shirt

I don't know how you guys are affording this kind of clothing (taking into consideration a student budget). I know most of you are professionals now and have the disposable income to use on expenses such as nice clothes but as a student I can't really justify spending $200 on a shirt..

I agree. and i think spending $350 on that t shirt is absolute lunacy

Does anyone really want to become like this?

I am a professional now, but I too can't justify wasting so much money on clothes. It doesn't make you a better person, and it doesn't make a difference to most people.

Expensive clothing is placebo, within reason.

If it fits right, has good character, and looks good then id rather look at other spots to dump money down the ****ing drain.

I assure you it is not a placebo.

How would someone who likely has no interest in the details that make a garment high-end know how to identify said garments? It's not like the layman can stand three feet from a shirt and say "wow, hand sewn button holes, nice touch!". People are producing shirts with high-count single stitching, MOP's, good fabrics, etc. at lower prices than ever before; the difference between a $75 shirt and a $275 shirt is made up of little details that the owner is going to notice, and if those around him aren't as persnickety about their clothes then they don't notice and don't give a damn about any of that.

I don't believe that is true but I'd be happy to be wrong. Where can I buy shirts made of good fabric for $75?

I think all that needs to be said is,

When I die, bury me inside the gucci store

yeah i always get this as well, i just dont get it.

agree that those tshirts are not only dreadful but also way overpriced. nobody should ever pay anything near that for a tshirt.

was just sharing some sites with good stuff.

I'll probably regret this since some of you bastards will probably start bidding against me.

But check out ebay for high end fashion brands.

Look up Dolce & Gabbana as an example. You can easily pick up clothing for $100 or less.

When the bitches see D&G on my shirt, they jump on my dick.

like wtf, at least get the lyrics right. Its ball so hard ****** want to fine me, not find me. Jay z got fined 50k for visiting I think kentucky when he is part owner of the nets, its illegal for recruiting purposes.

Also buying D&G because the name is ******ed, they have some nice pieces, but high end fashion isnt high end because ever single piece a top designer makes is liquid gold.

Ball so hard mother ****ers want to fine me, but first a ***** got to find me.

So much fail.

Buying stuff on e-bay for low prices means that you are almost certainly buying fakes.

D&G is a sub-brand of Dolce&Gabbana and as we discussed above these companies will sometimes create sub-brands to cash in on idiots who want to be plastered in logos but can't afford the quality items. That is why I excluded Armani Exchange and Armani Jeans. Armani Exchange is decent but it is about the same as the nicer mall clothing and you are paying a premium for the name that really is not justified.

Quality items do not have logos or if they do they are almost unnoticeable. Anything that has a large logo or is plastered in logos is sold to scam stupid people who are looking to buy a brand and know nothing or they are counterfeit items sold to the same demographic.

Logos are douchey and you should never wear anything that is plastered in brand identification.

Dolce&Gabbana decided that the D&G line was leading to brand erosion so ended the line a couple of years ago. That greatly increases the odds that any new D&G items are just counterfeits or at a minimum old stock from when the lines was cancelled.

i've only been half-reading the last few pages but my main thoughts:

-i actually don't think brand names are very important and not nearly as important as the quality of the clothes. obviously, these things are usually linked, but at the end of the day the main goal is to look sharp. this is why i always suggest buying shirts/pants you can afford and then getting them heavily tailored (hint: getting pants hemmed is not nearly enough).

if you browse the sites i listed earlier, you'll see that the vast majority of **** in my closet is made by labels 99% of the population has never heard of. as henry says, you should NEVER have a logo on your clothes (although i think polos are ok) , so it really doesn't make a difference what's on the tag since nobody will know. of course, some people will have a problem buying a $200 plain blue button down without the fancy name scawled across the front.

also, for those of you on a student budget: i suggest club monaco and suit supply for things like blazers, oxfords and trousers. also, i think if you're wearing a button-down shirt out it should always be a button down collar unless you're wearing a tie (in which case i think you should have a cutaway or spread collar)

the main takeaway from the last few pages should be to always try to look your best. dressing down and making yourself look worse/like **** just so you fit in and look like the rest of the guys in your school is absolutely ******ed. this topic has been brought up before but i seriously challenge anyone to dress like an adult for a few weekends and watch how much things change w/r/t girl attention and respect from peers in general.

Brands are only important for the inexperienced. They are basically training wheels until you learn to shop.

Also the other reason brands are important is availability. Living in NYC this isn't an issue for you and likewise people living in other cities like that. For people who live in cities with smaller populations you simply don't have access to quality clothing except for the very big names. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and has a 1.2m population and it is next to impossible to shop here. You pretty much have to go to Montreal or Toronto.

Would shopping at a place like Moore's be good for starting a closet on a student budget? I need to dress more business-like and am looking for a place to shop where I can gradually improve my closet. I live in Saskatchewan so there if you think Ottawa is bad then you have no idea haha. Only reason why I'm suggesting Moore's is because they keep spamming me with BOGO free deals which is pretty good on my budget.