Great question Carla. I am a big fan of Sandwich. I also like Sarah Pacini. I like the look of Eileen Fisher but it doesn't work for me.
The best jeans are Fidelity, Frame and Mother.
My favourite tees are Three Dots and Caslon.
Footwear brands that work are Birks and Finn Comfort.

Probably the bulk of my clothing items are from Anthropologie, Target, Gap, Boden & Jcrew but I have a bit of Loft, BR, Old Navy & TJmaxx mixed in. Gap pants don’t fit me as well these days & I am too curvy for many Jcrew pants but do great there from the waist up & with skirts.
Shoes are all over but a lot from these retailers: Zappos, 6pm.com, Free People, Anthropologie, UO & Modcloth.

Runcarla - fascinating question. I want to read through everyone's choices!!

Gap - jeans/pants (almost all my casual pants right now)

Lucky Jeans (old only) bootcut/lola skinny will cry when they die

Theory - blazers, pants, skirts, tops, dresses. Goodly portion of work/dress clothes

Eileen Fisher - (but not in last 2 hr) tops, tunics, coats, booties, sweaters, dresses, skirted leggings

Danskin - leggings

Veronica Beard - suits/jackets - my new favorite

Ariat - boots/booties

Aquatalia - boots and booties

Coach - handbags (I don't know why, they rarely have a bag I like but when they do I'm over the moon. I'm just not comfortable with other brands. Is that weird or what? Currently obsessed with the Coach Drifter Mixed Media Top Handle Shoulder Bag

Everlane - cashmere, blazers and coats. New to me this year. very happy

Rebecca Minkoff - blazers

All Saints - leather jackets and booties

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OOoh --- nice bag, Gryffin!

I tend to like Rebecca Minkoff bags. I should try a blazer.

I also forgot to mention Elie Tahari and Reiss. I don't have many pieces from either but those I have fit beautifully.

Fun to read. Carla wow, it looks like you have a lot, it is so well thought out.

For jackets, blazers etc German brand Marc Cain,
for tops Jcrew,
jeans used to wear MAC jeans, but now Gap for a third of the price, sweaters BR and the Japanese brand Antipast,
tshirts Boden,
shoes Arche,
bags Vivienne Westwood,

I have more brands but these are the ones I check first and have the most of. And brands like Jcrew I found trough YLF, but are expensive to order.

My clothes consist 90% of Eileen Fisher and Elizabeth Suzann. I have moved away from fast fashion, and as a result buy way fewer garments, but end up spending probably the same amount.
At home I mostly wear lounge wear...leggings and comfy tops and a sports bra. These items get so much wear I know I am at pennies per wear by now.
Jeans...I had moved away from...but then I discovered Levis high waisted jeans and now have two pairs.
Shoes are mostly Sorel, Born, Earth Brand, Eileen Fisher, Birkenstocks and a couple pairs of Sevilla Smith Mules that I have worn the heck out of this Spring/Summer.

RUNCARLA- wow! I am amazed at how tight and balanced ( across designers) your wardrobe is. No wonder you always look great in your posts. I use to be a lands end and Talbots gal but lately I’m not living their stuff in style, fit, color and quality.
The good thing is that having 150 pieces ( see JUSSIE’s post and my follow up post) I won’t need clothes for a while.

I tend to have phases of liking a designer or brand and then changing my mind about it. I am a bit of a lazy shopper, so if a brand works for me, it will be my go to.
Clothing for work, I buy lots of Cue Australia dresses
Shoes, Paul Green and Albano shoes
Statement dresses, Moss and Spy
Jeans, Mother jeans
Bags, Samantha Thavassa (available in Japan and Singapore) and Kate Spade

I’ve got a lot of things from Loft and Eddie Bauer, a fair bit from ON and BR (not much from Gap for some reason) and Talbots. For shoes, a lot of Nine West, Franco Sarto, and Naturalizer, ASICS and Vionic for gear, and Cole Haan for dressier. Born used to be a go to but not any more. I used to have a lot of Boden but now I’m down to just a few things. Still a fair bit from Target but nothing new since their lines rebranding. A stash of Cookie Johnson jeans from eBay since they’re not made anymore (sob). I used to shop the Kohl’s store brands a lot but not recently. A fair number of Caslon/Halogen/Sejour pieces from Nordstrom.

There are some higher end lines getting into plus/cusp sizes that I’m really digging these days, like Rachel Rachel Roy and Sanctuary.

I am very simple - Esprit for my casual essentials, BR for work essentials, Boden for some color and print and Zara for some trendy items. I also have a lot of one hit wonders - 1-2 items from retailers that I usually don’t shop from, but for some reason this items spoke to me.

Great question, and really interesting answers.

I've wondered for a while what's up with UK designers, as the clothes seem to fit me better, and in many cases are lasting longer. Boden and LK Bennett are the top 2 labels in my wardrobe.

Next 3 are WHBM, AT and Talbots. All 3 are my go to for business casual or fill-in. (But if I sort by Source, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus jump up to the 4 and 5 spot. So I'm clearly buying more brand variety at dept stores.)

For shoes, I'm also pretty brand loyal: LK Bennett and M Gemi are my top 2.

Thanks for starting this thread - I'm going to keep this in mind as I think about streamlining my wardrobe. May help with strategy!

Believe it or not, h&m, asos, and target have been winners in my wardrobe lately. They have thinks I like, at a price point that makes sense to me and my life (even without my fruit stand job, my life does still chew up clothes sometimes).
H&M has jeans that just work well for my body.
ASOS has their longline tops and their tall range that work well for me.
Target has a lot of colors I'm liking right now, especially for tops.
I'm lucky that such affordable lines are working for me since we're building our house AND I just got fires.

Well, I lost my response so here goes again:

Bras: Freya Deco almost exclusively. They make my weird size which I can only find online, and other brands have not provided sufficient support.

Shoes: Dansko Professional clogs (more pairs than I care to admit) but I am always looking for alternatives

Jeans: NYDJ but always look at other brands

Halogen (Nordstrom in-house brand)

Topshop for fashion items including footwear. Very hit and miss.

Various other brands, but mostly sold on Nordstrom online

Exercise/gear: REI because it.does.not.wear.out. Most of my stuff is probably 25+ years old. Stitching is still strong; zipper fine; buttons still strongly attached. Only problem is fading which occurred years ago. At this point I will see if this stuff lasts 35 or 40 years. I wear and wash the items about every ten days. Any replacements will not last this long.

I look oddly frumpy in Lands End, so I have stopped ordering from them other than their flannel sheets which I don't wear. It is super easy for me to make my returns at Nordstrom so I order only from them since I don't like to shop all that much. (Fooled you, huh?) If I had to shop for something critical like a MOB dress, I would cast my net much wider.

Aritzia’s Wilfred & Wilfred Free house brands for pants. They a l w a y s fit me. It’s awesome. I live in fear they will change their fit model.

COS’s high waisted cigarette jeans, and recently, Uniqlo’s cigarette jeans. I’ve also had good luck with Uniqlo’s semi-cropped—sits about 1/2” below my natural waistline, but doesn’t reveal skin as I go thru my day unless I’m doing jumping jacks or some such—cotton & modal graphic tees. Another surprising Uniqlo score was its sleeveless rayon blouses. Button blouses that fit!! Color me astonished. The fabric is substantial and has a lovely drape.

I also look to Aritzia for its heavy wool sweaters and the occasional dress, and COS for architectural designs in dresses and tops, and gorgeous 100% wool items, especially coats.

Shoes are all over the place. If a shoe or boot fits, I buy it. Fast.

This is a great exercise that I do whenever I edit my closet. I would really like to narrow down brands to get more consistent fit, style, and save time while shopping. Unfortunately, like some of you, many brands are off my list because they don't have my size (xxs-xs, 00-0), or style (more tailored than not), or price range (under $100). So far, I've ended up with:
-JCrew
-BananaR
-Eddie Bauer for Casual
And the rest is a mix of Zara, Gap, Ann Taylor, Talbots, Express, WHBM, other mall brands. Several of these pieces are vintage or at least 15 years old, purchased second hand. The older pieces are usually of better quality.

With shoes however, I'm a faithful Clarks customer. Quality, style and comfort all in one. I pop in a Clarks every couple years, buy two or three pairs, and I'm all set. The only thing I regret is that they don't usually carry cognac and tan colors, which are my nudes.

This is a (very) old thread from last year.

JCrew, BR, Gap all seem to fit me well. Straight fits are best for me, curvy fits are not.

Probably 60% are from Nordstrom or the Rack due to easy online ordering and instore returns, plus Nordstrom notes. Vince camuto tops, BP blouses/tees.

Others I shop less frequently but know they fit:
BR for work clothes, blouses, pants, dresses, jacket
Zara for occasional trendy pants/dress
JCrew pants
WHBM pants

Of the Nordstrom stuff:
Favorites tops when I can find them on sale: Rebecca Taylor, Veronica Beard, Aster, 1State

Wish I could find a great denim brand, I have one each of Hudson, Paige and Joes and still looking

Natori feathers bras

Shoes are a mix, faves for best looking and most comfortable are: Vince Camuto, Donald Pliner boots, Sam Edelman flats, Michael Kors boots. Bp mules. Sanuk flipflops and Adidas and Nike sneakers.

Workout and lounge wear is a random mix, though trying to focus on upgrading with better quality pieces from Nike, Athleta, and Fabletics leggings.

Brands that don't fit or appeal as much:
Caslon pants, shirts, jackets
Unhappy with the Caslon cashmere I've had over the last 3 yrs, wears out in 1 season
Karen Kane
Eileen Fisher
Macy's
Ann Taylor
NYDJ

Oops! Outdated thread.