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Do you have any brand recommendations?
by vyaa 9mo ago
Do you have any brand recommendations?
- bakies 9mo agothey gave two :) my own recommendation is spend some money, and look at tags. I shop at JCrew and higher end fashion companies, but still check material and care labels.
- helterskelter 9mo ago$.02: - American Giant is pretty good for their pullover hoodies. They'll wear out at the cuffs first, but I've kept a single hoody in use for like five years with some repair stitching. - Standard Issue makes good waffle knit shirts. They'll last a few years depending on how often you wash them. - Duluth Trading makes some good cotton shirts and boxers. Quality has declined slightly, but they're the best plain cotton shirts and boxers I've found so far. - Big John makes denim jeans on old Levi looms. They even use cotton stitching. - Carhartt makes some okay dressy dungarees. Their work pants are worthless these days though (in my experience). They've been pivoting to lifestyle for a few years now. - Filson in my opinion has declined, but they're still pretty good. The socks are great, but they're overpriced. (Only posting this because I've struggled finding decent clothes myself and it's hard to tell what's good when you're shopping online)
- Loughla 9mo agoDarn tough for socks and Brunt for hoodies, I would add to this list. I'm hard on clothes and they survive me.
- banku_brougham 9mo agodarn tough live up to the name. pendelton wool socks, icebreaker, smart wool all burnt out pretty fast.
- lemoncucumber 9mo agoThey also have a lifetime warranty which is great. With enough use their socks still eventually wear out, but you can get a new pair for free.
- 0_____0 9mo agoI am stunned by DT's longevity. I'm finally starting to wear thin the back of the ankle/heel from shoe friction in one set, after about 6 years, with a total of about 8pr socks in rotation. Including about 15,000mi of use cycling.
- boc 9mo agoFarm 2 Feet is my favorite for socks!
- irishcoffee 9mo ago> Carhartt makes some okay dressy dungarees. Their work pants are worthless these days though (in my experience). They've been pivoting to lifestyle for a few years now. Carhartt are the most durable clothes I own. Whatever Levi’s did, their jeans went from lasting years to literal months before they would rip. Had the same 3 pairs of Carhartt work pants for half a decade with no end in sight. Maybe something changed between 2020 and 2025, shrug
- nwallin 9mo ago> Maybe something changed between 2020 and 2025, shrug It's my understanding that this is the case. I could be wrong; I hope to be.
- stratosmacker 9mo agoI can’t believe I’m chiming in on HN about work pants… The B01 are the only pants still Union made in the USA. AFAIK they still are durable as hell, I’m wearing them now. The rest (mostly stretchy but some normal ‘washed’ duck) are imported and the quality is traded for fashion/lifestyle
- jerlam 9mo agoThe Levis's brand doesn't mean much anymore. They sell the same style (model number) of jeans at completely different price points for different stores at varying levels of quality. You can buy Levi's at $30 at Walmart, $40 at Costco, $80 at a Levi's store, or $100 at Nordstrom. How Levi's Sells the Same Jeans at Different Prices | Levi's 505 Teardown | Industry Secrets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPdGhZHT7JU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPdGhZHT7JU
- helterskelter 9mo agoI used to swear by them but I ordered like half a dozen pairs of their standard double fronted work dungs and they fell apart in the washer after 2-3 cycles. This was 2022-2023. It was weird, seams weren't stitched properly, the fabric was lighter, etc. I saw comments on their site which shared my experience. I think this around the time they shifted production outside the USA (memory is hazy). If you see a "helmets to hardhats" decal on the inside of your pants on the pocket lining, they're US production. I've switched to Bailey's "Wild Ass" brand of denim work pants for my physical laboring needs, but you have to wear them with logging suspenders.
- stuxnet79 9mo agoRather than focus on brand, I'd recommend developing a better eye and learning how to identify durable, high quality fabrics. While looking at the brand might be a good heuristic to rely on in the short term, the temptation is too high for vendors to take advantage of their brand power to offload cheaper fabrics for higher margins, I'm looking at you H&M and UNIQLO ...
- trimethylpurine 9mo agoIt's even more complicated. Many brands don't manufacture their own products. Or only manufacture some of them. They license to many manufacturers, typically. The same manufacturer may make the same or similar products for multiple brands too, even further complicating things. As you've said, you really can't judge by the brand.
- oslem 9mo agoH&M is awful, but Uniqlo has some great products that will last. I’m a big fan of a few of their t-shirts, especially the heavy cotton tees. You really gotta get your hands on each product to know what’s worth the money though.
- Centigonal 9mo agoUniqlo does still have some gems, but it's been rapidly enshittifying. My uniqlo clothes from 2019 are incomparable to what they have today. Some of their stuff is still good, but it's a game of roulette every time, because they'll replace products with very similarly branded new versions that suck.
- stuxnet79 9mo agoThis matches my experience. 2019 was about the last time you could walk into a Uniqlo, grab an item at random and walk out with something reasonable. Just after that we had Covid and the everything bubble which broke a lot of companies. Uniqlo was one of the casualties. They either had to dramatically increase the price or lower the quality of their stock. It is pretty obvious which choice they made. You get what you pay for.
- 65 9mo agoSnow Peak has high quality clothing that isn't absurdly expensive. It's very nice and fits well. If you want something higher end I also like Norse Projects. If you want lower end look at Champion - specifically Reverse Weave.
- iamacyborg 9mo ago18East if you want cool shit made in India
- Vrondi 9mo agoSupima Cotton t-shirts from Lands End are great. Or, "100% Pima Cotton" from anyone else.
- fratlas 9mo agoNudies jeans are worth the premium (ish) price, and have lifetime free repairs. Extremely comfortable too. Going on 5 years in my current pair
- ck45 9mo agoT-shirts from Muji
- piffey 9mo agoOutside of what has been mentioned here (thanks folks for some new brands) I've found clusters in Canada and Portugal of great clothing brands making quality products with good materials: Canada - Anian (https://anianmfg.com/ https://anianmfg.com/) for wool products. - Reigning Champ (https://reigningchamp.com/ https://reigningchamp.com/) for cotton tees. Portugal - La Paz (https://lapaz.pt/ https://lapaz.pt/) - Isto (https://isto.pt/ https://isto.pt/) - Portugese Flannel (https://www.portugueseflannel.com/ https://www.portugueseflannel.com/) I also like this site No Man Walks Alone to find quality brands. It is about learning how to spot quality though in stitching and fabrics. Wish there was more educational materials out there on this.
- ohyoutravel 9mo agoA shop like http://blueowl.us http://blueowl.us (slightly more focused on jeans) or https://witheredfig.com https://witheredfig.com both will give you lots of ideas of great brands. They’re both basically anti fast fashion. Recommend order from them directly, but worst case give some ideas. I invested in high quality tee shirts and pants and have been wearing them for almost a decade.
- Newhouser 9mo agoOutdoor brands (Patagonia, Outdoor Research, Fjällräven, etc.) surprisingly have some high quality items, especially when it comes to trousers and t-shirts. There will be limited choices but I've found that my purchases from those brands have lasted way longer and took more abuse than your regular retailer products do/did.