STORE WARS: J. Crew vs. Lands’ End Canvas
Starting March 13th and running through April 2nd, Dappered.com is hosting a bracket based tournament with the purpose of eventually crowning the all around Affordable Men’s Style Retail Champ for 2012. For a full introduction see this post. The bracket on the right will be updated as the tournament progresses. Click on it for the full size. Make a case for your preferred competitor in the comments section, but don’t forget to vote at the bottom of each match up. On with today’s showdown:
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Strengths: Much like Banana Republic, J. Crew is a brand that if you wore nothing but their clothes 24/7, 365, you’d look much better than most. From t-shirts to tuxes, they cover it. Their Ludlow Fit suiting and blazers. Outerwear of all types. The “in good company” selections. Their extra 30% off sale codes/events. Students and Teachers get 15% off full priced items, in-store, with a valid school ID.
Weaknesses: On average, they’re more expensive than their main competition, and they sometimes command an eyebrow-raisingly-high markup just by putting their weight behind an item. Lapels on the Ludlow are a little trim for some. Ties are rarely more than 2.5″ wide. The in-house upgraded brand “Wallace and Barnes,” which has different stuff, which might be more durable(?), for a higher price. Lots of “imported” and “made in China.” They’re an industry leader with confidence, but some of their product descriptions can come across as borderline arrogant. Their “free shipping at $150” promotions are priced laughably high.
How they got here: Brushed off a vocal challenge by eBay in the first round.
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Strengths: Last year’s champion. Nice, upgraded casual basics for good prices, and those prices can get dirt cheap when on sale/clearance. From blazers to shirts, shoes to pants, you could put together an entire outfit of just them. Handwritten thank you notes to first time customers, which has played a part in developing what appears to be a solidly loyal customer base. Despite some complaints, the ultra-cheap, Alden-Indy inspired Crosby Moc Toe. Their waxed cotton trip bag. Their guarantee. Not only is one of their models an SI Swimsuit model, their swimsuits have appeared in the issue as well.
Weaknesses: They seem to have lost a bit of their way, or perhaps they have some new strategy that reduces the number of items they produce and raises overall prices ($100 for a cardigan? $100 for… cargo pants?) Blazers can fit a little big sometimes, and this season’s blazers look to be running real short in the tail. Overall the brand is more fitted, certainly more so than Lands’ End, but not a true trim fit most of the time. Used to run sales and codes often. Now it’s more like a free-shipping-at-$50 code every once in awhile.
How they got here: Casual crushed dressed up, with a trouncing of Brooks Brothers in round one.
Your votes determine who goes on to the next round. Cast your ballot below. Voting ends at midnight ET.
UPDATE: And the champ moves on, guaranteeing there won’t be an all J. Crew final.
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Store Wars Rd. 2: J. Crew vs. Lands' End Canvas
- J. Crew (46%, 701 Votes)
- Lands' End Canvas (60%, 906 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,513
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As far as straight up clothing selection, J Crew has Lands End beat, but Lands End always has good and affordable stuff, clothing or otherwise, and definitely one of the best customer services out there. They get my vote.
Let’s see Jcrew factory vs. Jcrew in final!! People at Jcrew will all be simultaneously having orgasms if it were to happen! ha ha
J. Crew sold me my favorite corduroy blazer, so my vote is going that way
J. Crew pretty much owns my closet, but I don’t expect it to beat Land’s End in this round.
The placement of the apostrophe in Lands’ End will never stop bothering me.
I love both stores but J.Crew provided me with my plaid blazer, one of my absolute favorite pieces. LEC fit is a little too hard on me–large is huge, medium is okay but tight. The pants are all right but they all seem to be high rise, whereas I prefer medium.
No retailer has fallen more over the past 1 to 2 years than LEC. Sizing changed. Materials changed. All for the worse.
And anybody who buys LEC at full retail is out of their mind. A selvedge shirt goes from $129 to $79 to $29. A wax cotton jacket goes from $250 to $125 to $90. And they’re still questionable purchases even at those sale prices.
J.Crew is over-priced, but not as much as LEC due to its quality. Its outerwear and accessories still kick considerable rump.
I don’t know that I’ll ever bring myself to spend the kind of money that J. Crew asks for. Nice stuff, but wow. On a budget, it’s impossible.
LEC was a pure godsend to me these last few months.
Land’s End gets my vote. Good price point, generally good quality stuff and unparalleled customer service.
I was a huge LEC advocate last year. But this year, I’m gonna have to go with J.Crew only because of the selection from J.Crew Factory.
I vote LEC for the same reason – I will vote for J. Crew Factory all the way, but J.Crew is just too expensive. Obviously the clothes are nicer, but trying to judge holistically (quality AND price) LEC wins. Although with their lack of good sales recently, it’s close.
Of course I have come to the conclusion after reading this site for a while that most of the readers make more money than me, and obviously this is a HUGE factor in which brands you prefer most
I have more things from Land’s End because they are cheaper but I have more things that I really like from J. Crew because they are better. I’ll always have a place in my heart for the cheap and plentiful but as I get older, I inch towards quality even though I can’t afford it all the time. J. Crew for me.
Just cast my vote and see that it’s dead even. One of the best parts about LEC last year was the prices, which actually started in a reasonable place. That hasn’t been the case this year. I tend to think both brands start overpriced for their quality, and it’s only when they come down that I find myself shopping at either one. But if I was forced to pay full price, I would opt for J. Crew.
Keep in mind that J. Crew Factory is a separate entry this year, so don’t consider them when casting this particular vote.
Don’t what’s going on with my computer/browser, but the page won’t let me vote. I can see the vote totals thus far, but I never get the option to cast one myself.
Pretty frustrating. Is anyone else having this problem?
J. Crew Factory has it’s own spot on the bracket. It’s like voting for Goodwill because you like the stuff on eBay.
On topic, I’d vote for LEC if I could, but for some reason it appears that the poll is closed. I drool over J. Crew from time to time, but I can’t afford any of it; even on sale it tends to be a bit much for my budget most of the time. Factory is a bit more affordable for me, but between J. Crew and LEC, LEC fills my closet, while J. Crew merely fills my wishlist.
I guess there’s more than one Land. But then there should be more than one end to those Lands, so it should really be the lack of pluralization in the End that bothers you.
Lands’ Ends.
LEC has definitely gone way down in quality and way up in price. Avoid.
JCrew, on the other hand, is consistently high quality. Just got my Chino Ludlow summer suit and love it!
I like the LEC stuff I have, but the quality and the fit both aren’t there yet. I’ll take a J Crew equivalent every time.
Actually, if I had never tried to buy a sportcoat from Lands’ End Canvas, I’d have a much higher view of them. But that sportcoat was just…the sizing was so bad, I literally couldn’t tell what the fuck they were thinking. All the way to Sears to return it I was like, “What the hell?”So yeah. J. Crew. You get what you pay for, and if you catch them on a sale you can get amazing, amazing clothes for not much more than LEC.
LEC has some of the best customer service you’ll ever find. If I’m going to make an online purchase and it doesn’t meet the minimum amount, I just contact Lands End and they ALWAYS give me a free shipping-NO MIN code that I can use. This works perfect when I see an item that might be an on sale and impromptu purchase of only a couple bucks. They get my vote.
But they’ve acknowledged it was a printing error made in the early stages of the company’s development, and it was too expensive to fix. 😛 Supposed to be named after Land’s End in Cornwall.
Too tall for Lands End Canvas, but J Crew beat eBay in the last round so I’m betting against it.
I’ve just discovered I’m petty and bitter…!
LEC’s fit and materials cancel out price and customer service advantage. JC may be expensive, but you always know you’re getting a sweet piece of cloth–probably the sweetest of any retailer in the bracket. That said, I bet JCrew Factory wins it all, cause it’s got the best of both worlds.
Land’s End Canvas has yet to catch up as far as styling goes, but their selection has became strong enough that you’ll certainly find a bargain worth owning in the face of J. Crew’s insistently high prices.
So the period placement in “J.Crew” doesn’t bother you at all, then?
I lose sleep over it.
Why do you say j. Crew is superior based on quality? J.crew is machine made clothes made somewhere in asia, just like LEC. Except a lot pricier. Some stuff is of italian fabric, but not any cheaper than an actual Italian brand. Most of their sales are bogus anyway, and if you like the style more than LEC, that would be a fair argument; but quality isn’t one.
What’s not much more? Double the price? And at j. Crew’s price point, there’s a lot of other good stuff out there, so they don’t really stand out to me. To each their own, I just don’t see the appeal with j. Crew.
This should be the final two matchup IMO. J.Crew wins on style, quality, and fit; LEC wins on wallet. Add Club Monaco (see you next year) and this is 90% of the chain stuff in my closet.
My vote would be J.Crew but it looks like the voting is closed as of 1:49 PDT.
I don’t believe the voting is closed Ron, although some have seen sporadic issues with the ol’ ballot box (hey, it’s free, right?) The things that are in place to prevent ballot box stuffing can cause a very small % to not be able to vote for short periods of time. Maybe give your browser a restart or try later in the evening?
Thanks Joe, it worked. I voted for J.Crew but am waiting for a package to arrive from LEC (based on last weeks recommendations).
It seem like most of the comments are For J. Crew, yet the % don’t reflect that? Boo, J. Crew for the win!
Try each brand’s respective peacoat and tell me that quality isn’t a difference.
Or chambray shirts.
Or madras shirts.
Or sweaters.
Or etc. al.
I work right next to a JCrew and one of the few Sears that carries LEC. They have taught me an important: not all Asian clothing factories are created equal.
Looks like the LEC PR dept. is making the difference via social media campaigning. (Shades of Indochino last year!) Too bad the J. Crew folks aren’t paying better attention.
Of course, what I really want is for J. Crew to LOWER some of their prices every once in a while for us dedicated Dappered readers …
Objectively speaking, J.Crew sells much better clothes. But when you can get staple items like chinos and oxford shirts from LEC for $12-15, it’s hard to feel as much enthusiasm for the prices at J.Crew. This vote is too hard – I will have to sit this one out.
I’m a little surprised with the voting so far. The LEC stuff strikes me as a little uninspired and not that different than their main line, so I’ve never actually purchased anything from them.
I actually like the LLBean Signature stuff better than the LEC, but the one thing I ordered from them (flannel suit jacket) was not a good fit for me and the fabric was meh. The J.Crew Legacy Blazer I ordered at the same time was far superior on both counts. I was a bit lukewarm on the Ludlow fit at first (everything was a bit more form fitting than I was used to), but now I love it.
I totally agree about J.Crew pricing, but when they have their across-the-board sales (like BR), then I think the prices are reasonable. If not, then eBay is an excellent source for lots of J.Crew sample stuff at good prices… check it out.
Quite the tossup. As many others have said, I really like almost all of the J.Crew line (whereas LEC is somewhat less universally appealing to me), but I simply can’t afford J.Crew as much as I’d like to be able to. Sure, LEC is getting more “expensive” in MSRP, but their sales are just as door-blowing, so you just have to wait and bide your time. My vote, after much consideration: LEC.
Cheers,
Ben
Excellent! Glad you were able to vote. Hope the LEC stuff works out for you.
Whoo! you go Lands End Canvas.
Wow, rookie move on my part. Forgot that they split them up…Oh well looks like LEC will still carry the day in spite of my brain fart…Thanks for the heads up though guys…
I agree. Working there meant I spent all my money on their clothes. But I always hear good things about LEC so I’d be surprised if JCrew pulled off this one.
I’m telling you guys … LEC learned their lesson last year, so this time they are getting the vote out through social media. Not a true Dappered voter representation in my mind, but I can’t say that LEC’s tactics are breaking any official rules.