The new Banana Republic - YouLookFab Forum

Banana Republic just released its fall collection, and Marissa Webb's hand as new creative director is so obvious. The clothing and the styling are both edgier than before. They went a different direction than J Crew - more downtown, less heritage / preppy.

I'm rooting for this to succeed because I really like Marissa Webb as a designer (her own fall collection was great). But... I like a lot of the shapes but I'm not actually inspired to buy much. A lot of the fabrics are synthetics that I don't personally like. And overall it feels a tiny bit too downtown for me. Still, I am excited to go to the store this weekend and check it out in person.

I'm curious what you all think of the styling in the photos. They moved towards super-thin, long limbed models in exaggerated poses for the lookbook, but more normal looks for the individual items. Before, their styling was blah - I often felt the clothing looked better on me than in their photos, which is not the usual situation! They definitely upped the style quotient but are they trying too hard?

http://bananarepublic.gap.com

10 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

I really, really like this new direction. Even the styling is inspirational. then again, I have always liked the downtown look.
I was at their store two days ago and checked out some of the new things. I already have a huge wish list I did not like the fabrications of blazers, the quality did not seem good, but everything else felt similar to their usual quality.

crutcher

Banana Republic has in the past been a fine store...I hope under new direction, this will again be true...

Marlene

I like it! I hope this new direction "sticks" and continues on.

Thistle

I may be alone on this, but nothing there struck my fancy. The skirts seem too short, and there is a lot of leather and faux leather. Definitely not designed for the corporate world as once it was. At least, not corporate America in the Midwest. Although, it's still early. Perhaps others will show how to style it.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

I'm glad that they're going away from J Crew / preppy, A because that's not my thing and B J Crew pretty much has that corner sewn up.

When I was at the mall the other day i stopped by the BR and honestly it didn't look that different to me. I've not purchased that much from them recently but that's because I felt like the quality didn't correspond to the price more than any style quibbles.

MsMary

Thistle, I thought the same thing your did -- their definition of "work wear" is very different from mine! LOL

That said, I kind of love the new looks even if I won't be wearing the sequin mini to work. I will look forward to seeing them in person when/if I decide to venture back into shopping...

Anonymous

I saw a few of the pieces in the store the other day, and despite being an admirer of Marissa Webb's work and style, nothing looked very interesting to me. Let's just way the website makes the clothes look far better than they do IRL.

It might be too early yet to tell though. I did try on the gored and flared leather skirt but it was WAY too short for anyone over 30. Gorgeous leather though. The faux leather front sweater looked really cheap - as did a few of the other pieces. Fabric quality was just not there. Again - let's hope for more of her pieces coming in soon that are not skimping on quality. Banana R is so frustrating in that regard.

Greyscale

Lisap, now I'm tempted to try that leather skirt - my legs are really short so most skirts are much longer on me than they're meant to be. I agree on the quality concerns for the faux leather and other pieces.

Niki Lea

Thanks for linking to this! I had no idea they were changing direction. Took a look and I really like a lot of what's there. A couple of the blouses in particular grabbed my attention. The silk popover blouse, colour block riviera blouse, and heritage sequin front tank all look like items that would get mileage in my day to day life.

I'm about 5"5" with longish legs, and the size 4 fit me beautifully but was well above (like 3-4") my knees. Would work with tights in the winter, but that short look is not what I want anymore. Go try it on though - it is pretty lovely!

Nicole D

Interesting...definitely seeing a difference. Not lusting after anything yet - like the perforated skirt but already have one of those from Club Monaco.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

I'm reserving judgement until I see the stuff in stores on clients. So far though, I like what I see.

Diana

I like the new stuff although I agree with you about too much synthetic materials. The last couple if years I've pretty much only bought basics (my conservative black suit, black sweater, tees) from BR and have not been impressed with most of the other stuff, so I'm glad to see this new direction. I'll definitely go check it out in person soon.

carter

What the heck happened to the Hampton fit pants?? Those were the ones that fit me best. The only ones I see are on sale. Are they going away?

UmmLila (Lisa)

They're already doing 40 percent off full priced items this weekend. The stuff must not be flying out of the stores yet.

MRL

BR has been the backbone of my work wardrobe for the past few years. I like some of the pieces in the new collection, but I agree about the skirts being too short and a some of the items are just too "edgy" for me. I'll proceed with caution.

bj1111

The only thing attractive to me at their price point is a pair of navy chinos.

The Roland mouret collection was not bad, but dumbed down. The lace skirt was the best of the lot.

I stopped by the flagship store yesterday. It was so crowded that I found it rather overwhelming (it's in a touristy shopping area).

The flared leather skirt is as nice as LisaP said, and a reasonable length on my very short legs. I already have a leather skirt that I rarely wear, so I didn't jump on it, but it's tempting (with the 40% off).

The black trench coat was also very nice! I almost bought it but it's a bit more feminine than my dream trench coat so the search continues.

It's not a coincidence that my two favorite pieces are the most expensive, though. I didn't find any tops or sweaters that I loved. The fabric of most of them was uninspiring - not cheap quality, just more synthetic than I prefer.

It's possible their sizing has deflated a little (a welcome change for me). I tried my usual BR size of 0 for the skirt and it was good but a 2 might have fit more as intended. And for the trench, I'd go with the small instead of XS to give more room for warm layers.

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gardenchick

Thanks for the report. I like the trench coat. I actually ordered that red short sleeve shirt that Angie mentioned a few days ago; I'm curious to see if I'll like it.

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catgirl

I love the quilted leather skirt. But I can't stand their "here's a discount code that doesn't work on anything you want" policy.

Classically Casual

I agree 100% with Alaska Girl on their screwy "promotions". I swore off BR, but dropped by to check out the burgundy sweaters Angie posted. I took a bunch of stuff into the dressing room, and the SA promised that it all was 40% off.

I only wanted some slacks after trying it all on. As a different SA was ringing it up, she told me that they weren't on sale. Before I could get a sentence formed, she changed her mind and said they were on sale. Yikes! It must be really difficult to work in that kind of environment. It's certainly challenging to shop there if one cares about the cost.

ironkurtin

I haven't shopped BR for almost 15 years. At some point they just stopped speaking to me, I felt like the quality dropped, and I stopped looking. But for many years I was a devoted Banana Republican, and the $19 rack was my happiest place.

How fun would it be if they circled back?

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