[Coach]

I had a conversation with someone recently about a clothing store that he had labeled as the Ikea of clothes. Supposedly there is one on Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Soemthing like B&L or something similiar to that I just can't remember the name.

Any help?

Thanks

[paul w]

H&M?

edit: both are swedish, are found all over the world, have cheap stuff and their store openings cause mass hysteria.

[BasketofPuppies]

There's another one on State Street.

I thought Old Navy was The IKEA of Clothes: trendy, cheap, and tending not to last long.

[OB1]

Uniqlo?

[Apple Pro Underwear]

i find H&M better than old navy

H&M makes clothes I can wear at work without looking like 1. a kid, 2. an intern, 3. like a californian office

and i find old navy makes clothes to benefit husky folk. everything fits me oversized and loose so they don't care about fit that much.


I find H&M to have some fruity looking stuff, but if you look around and find some normal looking stuff in style, it's cheap enough that you can wear it for a year and relegate the outfits to reserve status when you get sick of it without feeling guilty. i find the quality to be very acceptable.

i would not buy things that you know you need for years there though. i would invest the money in buying it somewhere where quality is better.


I live in NY. I spend the bare minimum on clothing but I find it easy to stay "cool" if you make good purchases and pay attention.

[Mastrap]

Love uniclo. I'm stacking up on t-shirts every time I'm in the UK. Great sweaters too.

[paul w]

Then there's Muji, which is Japanese. If they ever open stores in the US, watch out.

[AB^2=BCxAC]

It's totally H&M.

We have about 10 of them in NYC. Reasonably cheap compared to Urban Outfitters and Club Monaco.

[iCol]

How about Zara?

http://www.zara.com/

[angelmb]

Originally posted by iCol:
How about Zara?

http://www.zara.com/

hehe, his owner, Amancio Ortega, is so far the 'king of rich people' here in Spain, they have a factory where I do live, I am really surprised how much success his business has nowadays.

[ManOfSteal]

Prada.

[finboy]

Originally posted by BasketofPuppies:


trendy, cheap, and tending not to last long.

You're kidding, right? The IKEA stuff that we have is unbelievably sturdy. I expect it to last for years. Their design work (in terms of strength and materials use) is unreal.

[wdlove]

If they are expensive they should be longer lasting.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by Coach:
Supposedly there is one on Michigan Ave. in Chicago.

Michigan and Pearson, right across from Watertower. I could throw a rock from my place and hit it.
It is designer knock-offs. They look at clothes that are in style and produce poorly made versions of them. I haven't actually set foot in there but I have not heard good things about H&M in terms of quality. Apparently it may be fine at first glance but anyone who cares about clothes can tell its cheap if they get close enough to it.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by finboy:
You're kidding, right? The IKEA stuff that we have is unbelievably sturdy. I expect it to last for years. Their design work (in terms of strength and materials use) is unreal.

lots of people consider IKEA to be ghetto fab...

but i personally bought some of their nicer desk sets. One of the customizeable ones... IMO, the money saved is in that i have to put it together and the finish on the wood could be a little bit thicker/richer. but in terms of quality... i think it will last forever. if i wanted to spend more money and paint it over with a finish or pay somebody else to put it together for me that would jack up the price a lot.


in other words, i paid for some of the premium IKEA products and I find it to be a great value.

[The Windozer]

Damn Swedes. All "Ooh, look at us with our world reknowned chain stores!" Well, I'll choose my fjords over that any day!

[Timo]

Originally posted by finboy:
You're kidding, right? The IKEA stuff that we have is unbelievably sturdy. I expect it to last for years. Their design work (in terms of strength and materials use) is unreal.

Ikea is like Frank Gehry's architecture, or Viacom's businesses -- half is fantastic, half is junk. Come to think of it, this is probably true of all name things that get a little too big. Anyway, as always, the trick is in differentiating.

[Mithras]

Originally posted by angelmb:
hehe, his owner, Amancio Ortega, is so far the 'king of rich people' here in Spain, they have a factory where I do live, I am really surprised how much success his business has nowadays.

My wife lives and dies for Zara.
But yeah, iCol, definitely in the same vein: trendy, "cheap", and falls apart after two months.

[Timo]

Originally posted by The Windozer:
Damn Swedes. All "Ooh, look at us with our world reknowned chain stores!" Well, I'll choose my fjords over that any day!

Heh, the Swedes may yet discover what Americans already know: world-recognized brands like McDonalds and Coca-cola invite as much scorn and skepticism as envy in other countries.

For example, Ikea is currently busy wrecking a number of historic buildings on the Brooklyn waterfront to make way for its latest furniture depot. Half the people around are enticed by the idea of the coming jobs and low cost furniture, while the other half sees extra traffic and money that doesn't circulate in the community.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by Timo:
...the other half sees extra traffic and money that doesn't circulate in the community.

Long live nationalism! Trading with other countries? That's unpossible!

[BasketofPuppies]

Originally posted by finboy:
You're kidding, right? The IKEA stuff that we have is unbelievably sturdy. I expect it to last for years. Their design work (in terms of strength and materials use) is unreal.

No. The piKEA robot breaking down gag--or was it just its wheels falling off?--on an episode of Futurama didn't come out of nowhere.