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Affordable Men's Style

#StoreWars2013 – Where Style and Brackets Collide

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Store Wars:  March 19th – April 8th 2012

Welcome to year three.  Sixteen retailers enter this tournament and only one will finish unbeaten.  Our selection committee has chosen 16 of the top retailers in the affordable men’s style world.  Unlike that other bracket based tournament which happens around this time of year, you, yes you, have a direct say as to who wins and who loses.

The tournament begins tomorrow, with a different head to head match-up each weekday until one champion is left standing.  You pick which store you prefer and click to leave your vote.  Sometimes it won’t be easy to decide.  The store with the most votes at the end of the day moves on to the next round.  The comments section will be open for you to debate the merits of each side..

Store Wars Bracket
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There’s some new names in this year’s tournament, and their seeds are a bit higher than other rookies in years past. But it’s been a big year for new names in the world of men’s style.  Let the pre-tournament kerfuffle commence.  Did the committee get it right?  Which “bubble” retailers got unfairly left out?  Predictions?  It all goes in the comments below.

Region 1 – Stores and Seedings

1. Banana Republic  2. J. Crew Factory  3. Bonobos  4. jcp  5. Target  6. Gap  7. Amazon  8. Indochino

Region 2 – Stores and Seedings

1. J. Crew  2. Nordstrom  3. Suitsupply  4. Macy’s  5. Brooks Brothers  6. Lands’ End Canvas  7. ebay  8. Thrift Stores

Comments

  2. Jcrew and Jcrew Factory? Abit of overkill there
    Why not just include Nordstrom Rack as well?

  3. I disagree its overkill and see them as valid seperate entries. jcrew does offer better fabrics on things like blazers, and factory can get crazy cheap.

  4. I agree with Miles. I’m a frequent J. Crew Factory customer, but have never gotten anything from J. Crew. In my mind they are as separate as Gap and Banana Republic.

  5. agree- J. Crew stuff is typically not slim enough for me so if I do pickout items its typically from J. Crew Factory (ties, pocket sqaures, sweaters)

  8. I know Bonobos isn’t gonna make it to the finals, but damn if I’m not going to pencil it in there.

  9. Agreed – range of products, good fits (that have gotten better in the past 1-2 years, especially for suits and blazers), constant sales to bring prices into a reasonable range for the quality, and the availability of brick and mortar locations. BR will be hard to beat. Although I see the constant sales as a weakness for them too. If there are sales every week, you know everything is over-priced to begin with. Playing the discount game is frustrating.

  10. If it were up to me J. Crew Factory would be the champion, but that’s because I have a physical store nearby. If I had to order everything online I might think differently. But I do get annoyed when the “original price” gets jacked up online so a “30% off everything” sale isn’t really 30% off everything. I think there should be a law against that practice.

  15. J Crew Factory is what J Crew was only 2 years ago. Regular J Crew has gotten crazy expensive. Factory seems to have basics, and some higher end things, but even at full price is reasonable. the sales are even better. I think I might abondon J Crew Classic in favor of JCP and JC Factory. I just can not justify paying $100 or more for a flannel shirt. I don’t care if it says “wallace and barnes” on it!

  16. BR can get a bit frustrating with the sale exclusions too. As you mentioned above J Crew Factory raises the price and then has a 30% off sale, but it does include all the items (or very few exclusions).

    I see it coming down to BR and J Crew Factory with J Crew factory making it to the final.

  17. Since I’ve only been on the site (faithfully) for the past three months, I’m new to the Store wars concept and must have missed the voting criteria. I’m not criticizing too much, just critiquing for next time – I realize this is all for fun, it’s a great way to kill 30 minutes of my day! But this cannot be as simple as to who I think is the best when presented with the head to head match-up. There must be some sort of criteria in which to judge the two contenders. Again, I’m new so maybe I missed the post that explained all of this- but it seems biased to have auction sites against conventional retailers since auction house prices should, on average, beat a conventional retailer for demanded goods. Seems reasonable to pit like retailors against one another (like the Target vs. JCP- hard to believe that’s luck of the draw whereas Nordstom vs Ebay… hmmm…) if not pit like stores/vendors have standardized categories to judge the two contenders- thus the voting populace uses the same standards while the actual scoring is still subjective. Seems like certain stores are trying to get knocked off by the committee. I suppose you get my comments from somebody every year … this year it’s me.

  20. Since everyone’s talking about potential winners, I’ll just put out my $.02 and say that I think some early losers will be Indochino, LEC, and Macy’s. These businesses just haven’t been impressing recently. LEC used to be a go-to for their uber-cheap sales – wasn’t it even the Store Wars champ a couple years back? But lately it is just overpriced and gimmicky.

    Also, I’m glad H&M didn’t make the cut. I know some folks live for H&M, but of all the “dirt cheap basics” companies out there, H&M’s quality control, cost-to-value ratio, and sizing consistency have been by far the worst in my experience. Shopping in an H&M isn’t worth the effort of fighting your way through throngs of suburban tweens to really awful club music. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

  22. Their J Crew brand stuff isn’t ridiculously expensive. It’s not cheap either, but it’s not outrageously priced. Their “partnership” items are always way overpriced,

  23. I don’t think LEC is overpriced, but their stuff just hasn’t been that good looking lately. Their design team isn’t putting out much I want to buy.

  24. BR is my choice for sure. BR accounts for over half of my wardrobe and spans the gamut (dress/casual shirts & pants, suits/blazers, etc.) whereas other retailers I only use for certain items (ie J. Crew only suits/blazers, Bonobos only chinos, etc.).

  25. Same gripe, but replace CM with Uniqlo. Don’t think they would make it to the ‘ship, so it’s whatever; motivation to do better in the regular season next year.

  26. I’ve come to realize that Good Will’s value is measurable by the region you are living in. Obviously, its selection is directly dependent upon those who donate to it. If you live in Arizona, the selection of clothes is going to be quite different than shopping at a Good Will on the East Coast… it’s a double-edged sword.

  28. Ok, here’s my prediction. If it had any bearing on personal preference, I think it might be different, but here’s how I think it’ll play out.

  29. I love the idea of Indochino, to the point of creating a business plan for an affordable MTM clothing Brick and Mortar store, but I don’t think they earned their spot on the bracket. While I like Banana Republic, they too are way overrated. My JCP gingham shirt for $10 clearance is just as nice as my $30 BR gingham shirt bought at 50% off (MSRP $59). Also BR’s suits aren’t too different from the more expensive Mens Warehouse/ Jos. A Bank fare, but they do belong in the tourney. I think many of the comments about J.Crew Factory are spot on. I’ve been hesitant purchasing clothing on Ebay, but I’ve purchased at least 5 pair of shoes on there in the last 12 months. I would like to see J.Crew Factory vs Suitsupply in the finals, but I predict BR vs Ebay.

  31. Final Four prediction: Banana, Bonobos, Brooks, Suit Supply

    With Brooks Brothers going for the win, possibly…

  32. I agree. BR is about 70% of my wardrobe. Oddly enough Indochino is my go to place for suits as I have had good luck with them. Hate to see them together in the 1st round.

  33. I like this bracket, very much–most interesting match-up seems to be jcp and Target. Of the bubble “stores” (I.e. Express, etc.) which made it? I can’t seem to remember? But either way, I’m looking forward to a deep run by J. Crew. Possible dark horse? jcp, of course! Awesome idea Joe!

  34. Bonobos vs gap?! My two favorite stores! Gonna have to lean bonobos, their jeans are spectacular in fit. I’m hoping bonobos takes it, but I’m suspecting j crew factory will make it a competition.

  38. I believe Zara was left off the list because it’s seen as fast fashion at overly steep pricing for what you get. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the general attitude towards Zara. Not sure whether that perception is accurate or not because I’ve never purchased from Zara.

  39. It’s a shame that Uni decided to modify its fits so drastically to accommodate the less-svelte US crowd. I think they would’ve scored better (at least on here) had they kept the fit of their garments more in line with the original fit (in other words, their Asian stores).

  40. JCP would’ve had a shot if it didn’t have to see BR in the 2nd round. I predict a BR vs. Suit Supply final

  41. haha I know! Awful sometimes, aren’t they? Sure, every now and then you can get lucky and really get a steal, but I’ve generally found location is an incredibly important variable.

  42. I can SEE it coming down to this, but again, I feel like they are the same but different. Want a navy striped nautical sweater in a cozy cotton? About a month ago J Crew, JCF and JCP all had them. I priced it at J Crew, it was in the $75-100 range. JCF has something almost the same for in the $50 range. I found pretty much the same thing at JCP for…. $18. NOT on sale!

  44. Wow, Uniqlo got screwed. Far more stylish than JCP, Target, and Gap, with a similar price point.

  46. Uniqlo should of been on there, but unfortunately, Gap still beats it as we aren’t all the size of a hobbit. =P

  48. I’m 6’1.” Nice to know I’m the world’s tallest hobbit. Gap’s baggy aesthetic hasn’t been useful for me since I was a senior in high school.

  49. JCP all the way! Not really, I would like to see them do well because I used to work there but I would pick BR over them anyday.

  52. BR & JCP get my votes for most improved fitting and style. Still love J Crew but don’t remember seeing them do anything really cool (ala BR Mad Men or JCP Wooster). Would have liked to see Club Monaco on here too.

  54. Hard to shop in-store when there isn’t a LEC store within at least 200 miles of me (the farthest their online store locator will look). And this ain’t some rural backwater – I live in a 3-million-person metro area.

    A store’s online presence (or lack thereof) is a huge factor in its Dappered appeal. If the only way to get good deals at a store is in-person, and the only way to shop in-person is by living in a major coastal city, that renders a store irrelevant for a lot of guys here on Dappered. Maybe LEC still offers some killer deals in-store, but I’m not going to give LEC a Store Wars pass for deals that aren’t available to me.

  55. THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
    I live in Springfield of freaking Missouri! Thrift shopping is borderline paying for garbage over here, not the mention the super shady thrift stores…

  56. At 6’5″ I would have to agree that yes, you are haha. Just kidding, in any case, the list is the list. I enjoy GAP’s slimmer offerings, I just don’t care for clothes made for petite men. Good that we all have choices though, despite our various dislikes.

  57. But there’s the hipster/vintage factor as well. So, yes, stuff on the coasts or big cities may be better, but its also more picked over by hipsters, vintage clothing stores, etc. Sometimes, small town goodwill/resale is a good thing.