STORE WARS: J. Crew vs. UNIQLO
Starting March 18th and running through April 7th, Dappered.com is hosting a bracket based tournament with the purpose of eventually crowning the all around Affordable Men’s Style Retail Champ for 2014. 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:
Strengths: The defending champ, and probably the odds on favorite to repeat. Has been one of the top leaders in men’s style for the past few years. Blazer & suit construction is terrific, with substantial chest pieces and canvassing. Many of their suit jackets, blazers, and even sweaters come in high quality fabrics sourced from English or Italian mills. Non functioning buttons at their jacket cuffs make for easy tailoring. Cuts are already modern, but they make an even trimmer “slim” cut in many styles. Sales & codes seem to now be pretty plentiful, and if you’re good at playing the game, you can land high quality goods for a very fair price. Some of their in house shoe offerings are made in Italy and/or have stitched (sometimes Goodyear) soles. Their 3rd party “in good company” offerings showcase brands outside of their own corporate umbrella. On trend but doesn’t veer into crazy-town that often.
Weaknesses: Prices sure seem to be going up. Suits are real pricey compared to competitors like Suitsupply. Basics like shirts and sweaters can be crazy expensive… ($88 for a dress shirt that doesn’t even come in neck & sleeve sizes?) until they go on sale and an extra % off code gets posted. Leather goods can feel flimsy. Their watches are awfully expensive for being quartz. They killed off the plain, but still sharp-as-hell Super 130s Ludlow Navy blazer. And as much as some like their Ludlow suit jacket/blazer/sportcoat design, it might be time to widen those 2.5″ lapels a bit, and extend the jacket tail some too. At least on the suit jackets.
How they got here: Took down GAP easily in Round 1. Wasn’t as easy in round 2, but they still beat Banana Republic by a good sized margin.
Strengths: Another recent addition to the Western Hemisphere men’s style market that has become a favorite of many. Nice and affordable basics in trimmer cuts. Producers of the best slim fit OCBD out there at present time (especially when they drop to $19.90 on sale!). Their Michael Bastian polo collaboration. Plenty swear by their underwear. Probably the strongest #4 seed in the field, and while they’re in the “web” category this year, they’re expanding their brick & mortar footprint.
Weaknesses: Quality can sometimes be just so-so (but what would you expect at their price point?). Blazers and jackets have a tendency to not just be shorter in the tail, but downright chopped. Meanwhile, the sleeves can run too long on their jackets, while the button stance is usually a touch high. Website can be a little clunky to navigate, and sometimes they put awfully similar looking products on their website… that don’t match once you get them. Great basics but… they’re basic.
How they got here: Pulled the upset when they snuck by Suitsupply in round #1. Followed that up with a solid win (57% to 43%) over Bonobos in round #2.
Your votes determine who goes on to the next round. Cast your ballot below. Voting closes at midnight ET.
Store Wars Semis: J. Crew vs. UNIQLO
- J. Crew (68%, 1,397 Votes)
- UNIQLO (32%, 659 Votes)
Total Voters: 2,056
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UNIQLO 4 LIFE. Don’t have to play the coupon/code game, don’t have to pretend like a $500 jacket is a great deal. Also, the soft construction jackets from UNIQLO have earned me loads of compliments, as have the slim fit khakis which, for me at least, fit better than J. Crew khakis at less than half the price.
I genuinely feel for those of you for whom UNIQLO clothes don’t fit. It’s great to know I can buy literally anything in a medium sight unseen and have it fit properly.
Uniqlo has some really good pieces in good sizing. Great price too! Once you get your sizing down, you can buy from them worry free pretty much.
i vote jcrew, but that could easily change if uniqlo has more stores nationwide.
I have a uniqlo store not far from me, and I’ve browsed through once. Seems like they stock a lot of basics, like an updated Gap. The store itself felt like a huge vending machine, so much so that I would not have been surprised if I were approached by a “Lost in Space” styled sales robot that dutifully asked “WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CLOTHES?” in robotic monotone.
J.Crew is leaps and bounds ahead in my opinion, not only for the in-store experience, but for the overall style they offer. 5 years ago, if someone told me my closet would be filled with J.Crew clothing, I’d probably laugh. Now, I can’t imagine a closet without it.
UNIQLO is cool and all, but I’ve spent like 30% of my entire clothing budget at J.Crew. Just saying.
Looks like we might be having another big brother vs. little brother fight. But my bet’s actually on a J. Crew/Nordstrom final, with J. Crew winning about 65-35.
And you have a jacket and a pair of socks to show for all that cash.
What more do I need?
I guess you even have an extra sock, so good point.
J Crew will win which I think is a shame. JC’s prices have crept up beyond the realm of affordable. I just see no reason to buy their stuff as the quality isn’t much better than gap/BR and for a little more money you could go get the real thing from a smaller company with more attention to detail. Most of their in good company stuff can be found on other sites that have better sales.
Uniqlo on the other hand sells good stuff for very little money. I like how straight forward they are.
I agree with how J. Crew’s prices have crept up. But quality not being much better than GAP? Disagree.
For buttons ups, t shirts, and pants I don’t notice a difference. J Crew definitely has an edge with outerwear and suiting but I think there are better non-mall store brands for both of those categories at the price point.
Same for me, but in Small. Consistent sizing and solid quality has won me over. The slim fit chinos are bomb.
i have quite a few pieces from BR and JCrew. haven’t found noticeable difference in quality. don’t know much about gap.
I have to disagree as well. I love me some JCF but whenever I put on the real deal I always do a double take at how much softer the material is.
“Can UNIQLO upset?”
No.
“Or is the champ too strong?”
Yes.
Disappointed to see this is such a lopsided round. I would have hoped that UNIQLO would have gotten more support given how well it did against SuitSupply and Bonobos, but then again the circlejerk over J.Crew/JCF over the last year or so on this site has really grown.
I really like my J.Crew pieces, and yeah, I got a pretty decent deal on them, but I also had to find them in the clearance/final sales section. It’s silly to have to sit around and wait for sale codes or clearance sales before I can feel comfortable paying J.Crew prices for the quality of item I’m getting in return. Is that really the benchmark of “affordable style?” Over last year, the prices have simply devalued the brand for me. J.Crew two years ago is not J.Crew today. And It’s not that I can’t afford them at full retail, but why should I? Very few of their offerings are worth the full retail price in my opinion. UNIQLO, I feel like I trade some of the variety and selection size for pricing that is more consistent and fairer.
Whenever I see a nice fit or a nice piece in the WAYWT threads, an item or outfit that inspires me, I find myself increasingly checking UNIQLO first to see what they have that satisfies that inspiration I have. More times than not I end up checking out other places to find what I’m looking for, but over the last year, I’ve noticed my wardrobe’s foundation is starting to be overtaken by UNIQLO, and places like JCrew, Bonobos, BB have become places where I find niche pieces that I catch while on sale.
J. Crew is great and all, especially when their suits are on sale, but I could put together an almost complete wardrobe at Uniqlo if I had to and not go bankrupt. Can’t say the same for J. Crew.
You stay classy.
I greatly prefer the trimmer fit of almost all Uniqlo pieces. I’m 5’8″ 160lbs and slim/athletic, but I’m just tired of taking in JCrew “small” shirts, polos, and pants at my sewing machine or tailor.
Having read a lot of the posts against J.Crew here, it’s clear that there are two schools of thought on style purchases. There are those who prefer to pay more for a few quality, lasting goods that fit well, and there are others that want to purchase lots of inexpensive items of lower quality. There’s no right or wrong, just personal preference. The votes indicate that more Dappered readers consider the quality of J.Crew to be worth the cost, while others would rather purchase full outfits for the same price as a JC jacket. I suspect that age and financial means play a large factor here. We’re all at different places in our lives, and years back, I would have been all about Uniqlo. At this point in time, I much prefer the quality and aesthetic that J.Crew provides.
I love UNIQLO and probably have more stuff with them than J.Crew, but I can’t argue with J.Crew’s sense of style.
I agree. Millard Drexler is a genius because he created this amazing hype machine. While many the suiting and many of J. Crew’s higher range items are very nice, most of the store is the same stuff he was selling at Gap but at twice the price.
Your post comes off as a little patronizing. Not everyone on this site is a 24-year old stretching a clothing budget. I’m an IT consultant in my thirties married to a doctor. We have no kids and we’re not hurting for money.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to spend $500 on a sports coat from J. Crew when I can get a suit from SuitSupply for the same price. It also doesn’t mean I’m going to spend a hundred bucks on a button down when there are plenty of other options there are just as well-made, or made even better, than what’s at J. Crew for equal or less money. That’s why I voted for UNIQLO.
The contest is to choose the most popular store. The winner isn’t necessarily the best store, or the cheapest, or the most expensive, just the most popular.
+1 for Uniqlo. That being said, I’ve never bought anything from Uniqlo online. If I didn’t have a few stores nearby I would go J. Crew all the way. The biggest pro for me with Uniqlo is the very consistent sizing and the fact that their size medium in tops and trousers/jeans in straight fit are spot on for me. No tailoring needed at all. FIT IS EVERYTHING.
Sizing at J. Crew has been much more variable. Plus for basics like chinos, unstructured blazers, made in japan denim, oxford shirts, sweatshirts, down vests, etc, etc. the quality and price point at Uniqlo has been more than excellent.
I like how I can roll into the Uniqlo store and for around $300 I can get 5 or 7 quality key pieces for a seasonal wardrobe refresher. Their unstructured linen blazers have done wonders for me…super versatile. Oxford shirts that fit perfectly for $30…yes please.
Honestly, while J. Crew has been an old standby for me the pricing and variable fits have me no longer stopping by the stores anymore.
Yup. I know if I get a an XL it will fit me great and, if they have something in an XL Slim, it will fit me like a glove.
If there are any complaints about quality, they aren’t from me. 80% of what I have gotten from Uniqlo has lasted better than 80% of what I have picked up from J. Crew.
Agree that some things are way overpriced at J. Crew (see the “draw backs” above) but I don’t think a blanket comparison to GAP/BR while saying it’s not as good isn’t fair.
Wait, do they make blankets too?
What is he saying that is so egregious? Besides detailing his personal experiences (which, I have to admit, mirror mine completely) he is just stating the obvious, that this site has being increasingly J. Crew focused. If I remember correctly, Joe has even addressed this before. It isn’t a bad thing.
Obviously, we all love Joe and we all love this site but the price points of featured products have been creeping up and many thriftier stores have been increasingly ignored. All this is fine. The landscape of the web for affordable male fashion has really changed since this site began and if Joe wants to feature a 25% sale at J. Crew instead of 40% of Gap, there are many places that I’m sure we all hit daily that give us a complete picture.
Besides, I like to think that the focus towards J. Crew and more expensive retailers, while of less interest to me personally, reflect growing success and prosperity on Joe’s behalf and I think we can all be glad about that.
I didn’t think sabrown was trying to be offensive, I thought it was a compliment. Maybe I’m totally wrong?
I think many of us Uniqlo folks would disagree with you about the quality. Many of the things that I have gotten from Uniqlo (especially button-down shirts, t-shirts, socks and a good percentage of what is sells for under $100 in J. Crew) have outstripped the quality of what we have gotten from J. Crew. Heck, most of what I have purchased from J. Crew in the past 6-7 years has gotten donated. I just haven’t found to be that great.
Now, when you get into suiting and higher priced items, the quality of J. Crew is better, and I agree that there are many Uniqlo shoppers don’t have the disposable income to ignore that a comparable item costs significantly more. We like the price but we also like the clothes.
But, beyond all that, just recognize that when one retailer is so easily winning the battle (like J. Crew is here) there is less of a need to ‘pimp’ your store. Uniqlo will probably lose and that spurs us pro-Uniqlo and anti-J. Crew folks to post and to be louder. This is probably our last chance to have our say or, at least, until next year.
I think you are. ‘You stay classy’ is a pretty common phrase on the internet to facetiously highlight tasteless and rude comments. It is the kind of thing you say to disarm trolls and the fact that he said it, instead of or in addition to, liking the original comment points to it being negative. I’m just not sure what he thinks is so bad about the original post.
You should really branch out from Khaki colour and try some other colours for sure, not sure why you need multiple pairs. I’m pulling for Uniqlo because it beat SS and that must mean it’s good. Jcrew i’ve already got holes in their items…although they lasted twice as long as JCF 🙂
Suitsupply in my book was the best of the bunch hands down, you can dress like a grown up, properly dress up for a date at a restaurant and have something that lasted, quality made, and great material along with timeless design all for a ridiculously cheap price.
SS4Life and I’d know because it’s part of my name 🙂
“Obviously, we all love Joe”
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWww…
Anyway, I hear what you’re saying about attention shifts. But the fact is, Old Navy used to make awesome cotton blazers. That’s not the case anymore. And GAP’s quality level (knits especially) has fallen. Some of their blazers even come up way short. I’ve got a chambray lined navy chino with a perfect tail (not chopped) from GAP that was produced… 3 years ago? Got if for maybe $70? You can’t find that anymore. There was a glimmer with with JCP’s Wooster shift. But now that’s gone. And it’s disappointing.
But UNIQLO can fill that role.
I, myself, am surprised that UNIQLO isn’t holding more of it’s own against J. Crew after the “upsets” over Suitsupply and Bonobos. Hell, I’m surprised Banana Republic got totally smoked. But UNIQLO, for a lot of us, is a big hit, or a huge miss (see the suit separate reviews from a few months back. Oy)
And thanks for the kind words, but this site isn’t about me personally. It’s about you guys. (For the record, wearing timberlands, 527s (yep… boot cut… and Mossimo t-shirt right now). I really am trying to do my best to keep the price points in check. But the constant comments of “it’s gonna fall apart/garbage/buy less but higher quality” can take their toll.
Most of my Jcrew stuff got holes in it after a year and I hardly wear it. JCF 6 months in and I had issues with a polo already.
Seems to me that their suiting is the only thing that is cheap. The rest is pretty marked up. Styling is great though, for sure.
I bet you *would* have been surprised if that happened.
Amen It’s purely a popularity contest now, the best quality for price store was eliminated first round 🙂
It appears we’ve had opposite experiences. I don’t know how you wash your stuff, or wear your stuff, but I’ve had the opposite scenario happen. Hell, I’ve popped GAP seams in the fitting room just putting something on.
I have blazers from J. Crew that are indestructible and J Crew Factory Merino V-necks that are the best feeling and fitting sweaters I’ve ever owned. YMMV… as the kids would say. I’m not here to defend one or the other. I have no dog in this fight. I’m just glad you guys still like to vote in this thing.
Their shoes look great and are priced great, Thomas Mason fabric shirts as well are priced decently.
Linen pants I have are worlds above the lands end ones I have.
So not too bad, wish they had tall sizes.
Suits are all that matter though….suits are amazing when going out on the town 🙂
But for that 30% of your budget you would have 300% more items from UNIQLO
Respectfully, I don’t think many Dappered readers are paying full price for anything at J.Crew, much less spending $500 on a single jacket (I never have anyway). I made no suggestion that everyone on the site is a broke 24 year old either, merely that everyone here does not spend the same amount on clothing — not that heavy spending is ever a requirement to look good. Some of us are thriftier than others, but if this poll was asking if you’d rather have a wardrobe of J.Crew vs. a wardrobe of Uniqlo and money was no object, I don’t think we’d be having this discussion. For me there’s literally no comparison.
I still don’t understand the obsession with Uniqlo socks (seems to be a recurring theme). Clearly Marshall’s is not as prevalent as I once thought. They have a surprisingly good selection, though I’ve tamed my sock selections in recent months.
I’d rather have one quality item than even several cheap ones.
JCrew is just too expensive for me. I own several JCF sweaters, pants, OCBD’s etc, but bang for the buck UNIQLO is very tough to beat. Best OCBD’s in the business for around $20 which is next to impossible with JCrew. Almost everything fits great, and I dont have to wait for a clearance sale if I want to buy something.
Dispensing OCBDs and t-shirts…. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz…… DING!
Don’t get me wrong, I will not buy GAP, their jeans I wore out the crotch in months.
Wash is a front loader on cold or warm depending on colour, not a whole whack load of detergent, wear is pretty casual. Front loaders tend to tangle stuff up so that could be part of the problem
I will mention that their stuff is very fitted and why I have purchased on my so maybe it’s stressed out, eg. Medium Tall V-neck merino fits great, but I can only wear a thin t under and it’s tight.
Joe, gotta be honest: the Uniqlo slim-fit OCBD is nowhere near the best on the market for someone who is fit/athletic. Uniqlo’s fit is for someone with a small chest and wide waist, sort of a reverse-slim fit. If you’re an athletic fit (chest/shoulders wider than waist/hips), the Banana Republic tailored-slim fit is the king. It also comes in tall sizes, which Uniqlo doesn’t.
Agreed on the BR tailored slim fit. One of the best fitting OTR shirts you can buy if you’re athletic.
Socks are the ONLY thing I buy from Uniqlo! I may be able to find better deals at Marshalls, but with Uniqlo I can sit on the couch, pick from a huge selection, and trust that they’ll be decently made. The Uniqlo no-show socks are the best I’ve found, and I’ve been through 5-6 brands trying to find decent ones. The Supima ones are really comfy and cheap as well.
Good to know!
I second that. I was a straight up Ledbury fan until I discovered the BR tailored slim fit non-irons. Ledbury is still great, but an as good if not better fit AND non-iorn and 1/3 the price? You just can’t beat BR.
His original post was edited by the time you read my response. He originally had a pretty tasteless alternative to “love affair” in the first paragraph. That’s all I meant by that. After the post was edited I tried to remove my comment, but couldn’t figure out how to.
I’m not saying it’s perfect (they’re way too tight in the forearms for me) but I think MOST guys like the UNIQLO ocbd. Everytime I said the JCP OCBD was the best, I got lots of “Yer wrong it’s UNIQLO WHARRRGARBL!” So, I tried em’. For twenty bucks, I’ve got two in my closet.
Tailored slim at BR is great too. But do they make OCBDS? I thought they were just making poplins in that fit?
And as always: it’s good to remember your own bias. You might think you’re fit/athletic, and perhaps you are, but maybe there are more or less fit/athletic people out there who think they’re just as or a little more/less. Perhaps you’re a total freak of nature (in a good way) and you’re not remembering those of us who are of more “normal” proportions.
It’s a moving target. You say “uniqlo’s fit is for someone with a small chest and a wide waist.” I got measured today. 41″ chest, 32″ waist. Single digit body fat according to 9-point caliper measurements. UNIQLO fits me pretty darn good. So, just keep that in mind.
Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation!