Eileen Fisher at NAS - YouLookFab Forum

First, let me say that all the women that post their Eileen Fisher WIWs look incredible. Your style, your flair, your joie de vivre speak volumes. So much so that I very much wanted to emulate your style.

I cannot tell you how many different Eileen Fisher pieces I tried on. I tried on pleated harem pants, crepe straight leg pants, Milano knit pants, etc. I tried on multiple sizes in the various styles. Something was always not quite right. Sometimes the pants were too big. Sometimes they were just a little too tight. Other times they seemed shorter than they should have been.

I just don't get it. So many people really rock this stuff and I felt meh. I didn't want to spend that much money for something that made me feel I could just as easily wear yoga pants. And yes, I did think that. I had a hard time differentiating the Milano knit pants from my yoga pants. They looked exactly the same in the mirror. Exactly the same.

I decided to admire the WIWs, but to accept the fact that Eileen Fisher does not design clothes for me.

10 years ago

Aquamarine

Veteran

I ordered two items myself and was underwhelmed for the price. Back they went.

ironkurtin

I think it's like all designers. Sometimes they get you, sometimes they don't. Sometimes a collection speaks to you, sometimes it doesn't. C'est la vogue, I guess.

susan55

Active Member

I think it's all about whether your body is similar to the designers fit model that they use to figure out the proportions. EF works for me most of the time, but only the more fitted pieces. I love the look of Club Monaco, but haven't found a fit there yet!

Debbie

I love EF but her pants do not fit me. The dresses and tops work well though.
My favorite NAS piece is a EF top. Some times things just don't work. Next season may be different.

Nordstrom

Eileen Fisher V-Neck Stretch Knit Top (Regular & Petite)

$178.00 $69.97

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rachylou

We are in the same boat, Sterling. I look El Frumpo in Eileen.

Lilybean

Agreed. I feel like I look 30 years older!

Grey Rainbow

I'm with you on this year's NAS selection. I love her line and it works well for me, but not every piece is a winner. Bottoms are a challenge, and mostly just too short. For me, her pants are either cool and funky and not really right for work (super wide leg, harems, silk track pants), or casual (the washable crepe slim ankle which runs wide in the waist but is so perfect for warm weather travel). Inseams are always too short for anything but flats, unless it's one of the edgier pieces like the harems or silk track pants. The Milano pants are too wide in the waist for me, to short in the inseam for work, and too staid for casual wear. I kept nothing that I tried from this year's sale.

Deborah

I understand how you feel. It's disappointing when a you really relate to a look but the fit doesn't work for you.

Anonymous

Thanks everyone that posted. Your posts were so reassuring.

crutcher

Sterling, that is why we have Baskin Robbins and 99 different flavors..we are all different..viva la difference!...With EF, I am hot and cold...sometimes a piece will fit and look wonderful...sometimes I look like El Frumpo...I have a pair of her zipper pants that I love but the tops not so much...

Joy

I love EF fabrics but many of the tops and sweaters have too much volume and pants too short in regular even for a petite. I did buy a pair of grey knit pants that I like pegged and rolled for summer but don't think they will work well full length. I do best with the dresses and narrower sleeveless tanks that have a great neckline that is not too low or wide. EF sizing still seems all over the place, so that the size I take in a dress may not be my size in a tee or cardigan.

Janet

(website)

Sterling, I understand. I've never been drawn to EF for myself until maybe the last year, when some individual pieces appealed to me. I've tried on a few things, but the only ones I liked and bought were a simple white/metallic tank and the leather-sleeved jacket at NAS. Their cuts tend to have too much volume in the body for me, which ends up swamping me and making me feel/look frumpy. The jacket has a nicely-tailored back, which helps eliminate the frump factor, but I needed to size down to an XS in it. At 5'7" and 140-ish lbs, I'm really not an extra-small gal. The tank I have from them is a S and has plenty of room and ease. So their sizing, while ego-boosting, truly is odd. Their cuts often seem more IT or apple-friendly than hourglass/pear. I'm really happy for people who discover a designer who truly gets them! EF doesn't get me about 90% of the time, but that's ok because I find plenty of other designers who do.

Transcona Shannon

Well I'm one of the folks that truly loves EF and I would have many, many more pieces in my closet if the budget would allow. I'm a petite apple and at my current size, her petite clothes "get me".

That having been said, there are many of her items which I find frumpy and overwhelming on me. But there are pieces that have some edge and modernity to them and can be further "sassed" up with what you pair them with and how they are styled.

That's the great thing with style these days - there's something for everyone.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Sterling, no wisdom from me. EF fits can be very tricky. I have clients across all heights, ages and body types love her stuff. You just have to keep on trying her items - across various sizes - if the aesthetic appeals to you.

Gaylene

Volume is tricky, both in how it feels on our bodies and what it looks like when we see it in the mirror. Masking one's shape isn't a look that everyone enjoys, but I don't think it's really right to call the look "frumpy". It's like my calling brown a frumpy color because I've seen one too many inexpensive brown polyester pantsuits worn by my colleagues in the past. I'd have difficulty overcoming that association even if Angie herself were to put me into brown suit that looked amazing on me. While I suspect I'd always have a hard time actually feeling good wearing a mid-brown suit, I'd like to think I could still admire a brown outfit on someone who loved the look.

Sizing down an EF item to get a less voluminous look, or pairing an EF item with a more structured, closer fitting item, can sometimes make her look more acceptable to those who prefer a closer-to-the-body look, but it doesn't eliminate the emotional connotations and feelings you get from wearing clothes that drape and fold on your body instead of skim and shape.

Von

I have the Harem pants, but only because they are secretly HUGE in the butt area! LOL. My hips and thighs are NOT linen pant friendly. I love the EF tops, but in my head I can't justify the price of them -- even on sale. The Harem pants were probably the most $$ knit pants I'll ever buy, and I fully intend to keep them until harem pants go out of style and come back in style again :).

I like many things from her, but my purchases will be from the 50-65% off racks at Belks!

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