Banana Republic, Pottery Barn/West Elm/Pottery Barn Teen, The Gap et al | steviegee's Blog

I am sitting here thinking why my jeans from the Banana Republic have started to wear thin after only about six months. Then I remember that I had another pair that did the same thing a couple of years ago. As I start to think further I realize that most of the clothing I have from the Banana has looked good but the quality is dreadful, pockets tear, seams come undone, buttons fall off, shoes are poor leather and the boots are god awful. I wonder why I buy from there and then realize that most of the clothes are gifts. Banana seems to have got a good little niche market selling yuppie clothing but really it is style over substance. In future I will have to remind family members to avoid Banana as I would like to wear my things a little longer before taking them to a cobbler or  seamstress.

This leads me onto to the rest of the yuppie companies from San Francisco. Perhaps the king of them being The Gap. I have had very similar experiences with them but at least they are cheap so I don't feel quite so aggrieved but I now restrict myself to buying only plain tee shirts from them. Then we have Pottery Barn and it's many 'departments'.  Pottery Barn itself has been churning out the same heavy monstrous furniture for years. There catalog design has remained the same and at this point it is looking really tired and old fashioned. In an attempt to attract the newer hipper consumer they introduced West Elm. The best said about their stuff is that is burns well. Cheap knock offs really poorly made. Finally we have Pottery Barn Teen their stuff seems to be suited only to people in McMansions, it's heavy, impractical designs seem to be aimed at 'waspy' white mothers whose cookie cutter children are interested in pink ( for girls) or blue (for boys).

I am waiting for newer fresher companies who can relegate these 90's dinosaurs to the bargain bin and cheap strip malls they now belong