It was fine for my college guy too…until he found better sources, and could ask for them for Christmas!
Only issue I’ve ever had with Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack is trying to return certain Rack things to Nordstrom brick and mortar stores. I don’t think I’ve ever sent a return to either store via mail.
My kids dad had his shirts custom made in Italy. He always had his initials sewn on bottom of the shirt. My kids thought all men’s shirts had initials there. My son in law is also introduced to the same shirt maker and is getting his dress shirts made there. They do fit well and in the high end ready made shirt range. SIL also gets his suits made by the same store. He doesn’t need too many suits or dress shirts (only for special occasions), so it’s not too bad.
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I routinely buy things online at both The Rack and regular Nordstrom and always return to the closest Rack store. No issues.
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Can you share where? This sounds like a great option.
He comes to US few times a year to take orders and take measurements.
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Update-I brought home a few different shirts and the winner is the Nordstrom trim fit. The best news is that he was fine with a non-button down collar. I have been trying to break him of this requirement for over 39 years!
Thanks for all the help!
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Thank you!
I have had shirts made in Hong Kong (never tried in the US) and purchased at BB, JosBank, Tyrwhitt, and Costco among others. Pre-Pandemic, it was important for my clothes to look expensive (though I always prefer that they not be expensive). Otherwise, my clients (except those in Silicon Valley) spend their time thinking: How come this high-priced consultant is dressed in a way that is inconsistent with my image of how he should be dressed? I’ve actually tested a couple of times and remarkably, discordant dress did distract. So, I always wanted nice suits and shirts. In London, I would wear suits with no tie usually and in Asia dark suits with ties … . The dress code has been loosening a lot in part because people have been Zooming and seeing each other dressed casually for 2+ years (though the loosening started before the Pandemic, I think).
Because I am traveling, I really preferred the non-iron versions. I found the non-iron shirts at Costco were actually great. Better than BB or Tyrwhitt and less expensive than JosBank. I have never bought a shirt or even gone shopping at Nordstrom’s, though I brought my son there to buy a suit and shirt for his wedding this summer.
I don’t need any dress shirts at the moment, but I have not seen dress shirts (at least spread collar ones) at Costco since the Pandemic. YMMV.
@MADad, you are correct. Retailers have separate, less expensive and typically lower quality products at outlet malls.
ShawSon, who is a co-founded of a venture-backed startup, buys all of his clothes including dress shirts at Costco or wears corporate swag (his co-founder has very elevated taste and the swag is much better than ShawSon would have ordered).
How does one dress shirt or suit “look more expensive” than another, at least in the eyes of those clients who seem to care about such things?
It’s the stitching, fabric, and how it hangs on someone.
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@ucbalumnus, good question.
@oldfort, absolutely. Fabric (softness, quality of material), stitching and how it hangs (I think they talk about drape).
Also, with suits, sewn through button holes. How well lined up the pieces are (e.g., pinstripes).
With dress shirts, interesting fabrics. Tasteful monograms. In the UK and a little bit on Wall Street, cuff links are a clear delineator of classiness (but I don’t have the patience for them).
On Wall Street, Hermes ties used to be a big deal. Not sure now.
I’m no expert really, but for my work, it helps to understand how people think and so I am a bit of an anthropologist whenever I go to a company or country. So, I observe.
Fabric and fit as mentioned. If you consider sheets - high thread count sheets look and feel different vs low thread count sheets. They have a noticeable sheen, feel softer, and look softer (they drape more readily vs stiffer sheets).
That’s because they use finer yarns to achieve the higher thread count. Same deal with dress shirts - finer yarns in higher quality shirts impart a noticeable gorgeous sheen for those that care (can you tell I used to be one of those guys that cared?). They also drape better because the material is finer and softer. There’ll usually also be small details such as mother of pearl buttons, maybe yokes and gussets, more detailed stitching, etc.
Same deal with suits - finer yarns have a distinctive look. You see numbers like “super 180s” describing the yarn. You pair that up with nice details like stitching, fabric alignment, cut, pockets, collars, etc and for those who care it’s easy to tell a nice suit at a glance. For example if you’ve ever watched “Suits” it was always obvious to me that Harvey’s suits cost 4-figures while Mike’s suits were more standard, probably in the $400-$600 range.
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