Question:
I came across some nice john varvatos slacks at Off 5th. They were a great color, but at $140 I passed. Anybody have experince with the line? Am I paying for the name, or are they quality?
Answer:
Varvatos is one of those in-the-middle designers where you do pay a bit for the name, but you also get a pretty good quality product which will remain stylish for a while. Quality is a lot better than, say, Prada or D&G, and will also be 'in style' for longer, but not quite as good as, say, Incotex.
$140 is more than I would pay, but it still sounds like a good deal. What was retail, $300?
Answer:
What about JV shoes?
I've seen some of their shoes, they all said "handmade" and had handwriting for style/size.
Are these really handmade?
William
Answer:
I've found John Varvatos clothes and shoes to be quality products. However, I didn't buy a pair of his pants today for $45 eventhough the first price was $295.
Answer:
probably. They were kind of a charcoal color with faint faint stripes of varying light brown and tan shades. What turned me off was a dark red/brown piping along the rim of the pockets, which I could see causing turbulence in the morning as I try to decide whether to coordiante my shoes with the light bown threads or the dark brown piping. I have too many decisions to face at 7am to begin with.
Answer:
Don't know about the quality, but was shocked to see their new "model" for the company in the current issue of Vaniy Fair.
It is no other than Mr. Iggy Pop!!!
I am not sure how that squares with the image they are trying to project, but it is certainly out of the box marketing thinking.
For those of you that follow Mr. Pop, he was not cutting himself in the photo nor harming any living animals(that I could see).
ghw
Answer:
Their last series of ads had Chris Cornel, formerly of Soundgarden. They also had ads with Joe Perry, guitartist for Aerosmith. I think its pretty clear JV is going for a "what rockstars wear when they must wear shirts" brand profile.
Answer:
The quality I have seen at Saks has not been great but it is not too bad either...very piece specific. I find some of his textures uncomfortable.
Answer:
I have a pair of JV jeans (selvedge--surprise, surprise), a few shirts, and some cords. The quality is a step above Banana Republic or Theory, production is generally contracted in the US or Italy, fabrics are decent though definitely contemporary, and the styling fits into the "designer" lexicon. As previously stated, the value is poor at full retail, but I wouldnt hesitate to buy JV for casual wear at discounted prices.
Answer:
i concur with norcaltransplant in that at full retail, the quality doesn't justify the price but on sale, it's well worth paying for
as for this shoes, i have several pairs/boots and they're all well made, nicely constructed from what i can tell and haven't at fallen apart in the several years that i've owned and worn them, so a good buy in my book
