anabella

I like White House/Black Market, I always find something there..

http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/store/home.asp

anabella

These guys have nice clothes too but no shops so I'll never get to buy anything from them, I can't buy clothes without trying them on..

http://www.xoxo.com/style.php?view=a...tegory=juniors

Englishmum

Neither can I. I'm petite (5'2"/158cm) and size 6, 7 or 8
depending on whom is the manufacturer!

I was given a $100 gift voucher for Ann Taylor for Christmas 2006 and had it for exactly one year before finding anything I wanted to buy in their petite range and have just used it to buy some winter woolies!

My best friend here is the #1 Fit Model in NYC. She is the 'perfect' size 8 for a lot of the fashion industry manufacturers in the US and fits for the Gap, American Eagle, Talbots and sometimes for DKNY, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren etc. How wonderful that clothes are made to fit perfectly for her size, and when the designers are happy that they fit her they then give the go-ahead for the factories in the Far East to make up anything from 100,000to 500,000 of say, jeans or dresses!

However, even she thinks that the US fashions are totally boring; she says that the fashion chains just don't want to take risks here and have too many unsold items on the racks, so play it safe with what they know will most likely sell. People are more fashion-conscious on the East and West coasts, but in the main they have to cater for customers in say, Idaho or Kansas whom aren't too concerned about fashion, but these customers are the main staple of the companies' income.

She also told me that a major problem right now in the fashion industry is that with global warming the seasons are erratic. This past Autumn was unusually warm and the stores were left with racks and racks of cold-weather clothes which just didn't sell. They have to get them off the floor when the new season's stock arrives and have to discount heavily, which is really damaging to their profit margins. The Gap has been losing millions apparently, due to this.

PS: she likes to buy most of her clothes from Zara too!

Bob

Have both of those in the local mall, both rather nice, though I agree, tad pricey for every day stuff..

looselips

I like their stuff too. I mainly shop there, Nordstrom and Zara.


I am constantly surprised at how my friends back home all rave about Abercrombie & Fitch. I am asked to send stuff back all the time (I blame the Beckhams and Jordan). I feel positively geriatric going in the stores being served by 19 year olds not to mention the stench of cologne in there makes me gag.

C.C

I loved the Crown Posada...............We called it "the post office" because of how narrow the place was but I loved. How well do you know the Toon???

another bloody yank

I remember the first Aberchrombie and Fitch store I ever saw, it had to be back in the mid 80's. They sold fancy stuff like decorative elephants made of leather, and chess sets, and leather sofas and other home decor stuff like that. The kind of stuff you would find in a mahogany and leather "gentleman's library room" kind of place. The clothes they sold were mostly tweed and courdoroy, with those ropey sweaters. It sure has changed.

ugacrew

Do you remember what Banana Republic used to be like? I remember it looked like a shop catering to those going on safari. I remember the entry way for my particular branch being flanked by two huge elephant tusks. THAT store has since changed too.

another bloody yank

I do remember that. I think ours had a jeep or something in it and everything was OD or Khaki.

penguinsix

My wife can't stand the styles here, and most of the things don't fit her (she's a size 0 or 2 or something). We've been buying most of our stuff online direct from Hong Kong and Tokyo with http://www.yesstyle.com/ which is pretty cool if you like those fashions.

She definitely stands out in boring Washington DC where men and women are all in the same shade of grey suit.