Brooks Brothers Great Gatsby Collection

Fading Fast said:

Okay, so I figure, I live in NYC, I have to go see the Gatsby collection at the Brooks Brothers flagship store. For perspective, my general opinion of BB is that its clothes are worth half of full price; which is why when they go on sale (as they always do) at 30% off, they are only marginally over-priced at that point and, if you can’t wait for the inevitable 50% season-ending sale, can be bought. Also, in general, the quality is not great, is all over the map and is inconsistent from line to line, product to product and season to season (with a few exceptions like the OCBDs and some suit lines [maybe]). That said, it was off to see the collection.

Other than the evening wear, the menswear is all on the first floor in the back neatly displayed with the movie trailer playing on a flat screen and some period décor to create the ambience of the twenties. Before I got there though, I was twice accosted by commission salespeople both aggressively and almost belligerently asking if they could help me. I am fine with being approached, but in a low-key, sincere-attempt-to-help manner, not in a how-much-can-I-ring-the-register manner. (The Ralph Lauren Polo flagship store in NYC does this much better.) How can a store like BB not have trained its salespeople better? Although, normally, the strong, more professional salespeople move up to suits, etc., so this is not the cream of the crop; however, since this is the main floor, it makes a bad first impression.

Ironically, once I got to the Gatsby collection, there was only one salesperson their, folding shirts, who ignored me the entire time. As others (who understand clothes and historically accurate details much better than I do) on the board have noted, the clothes are interpretations of 1920s clothes, not an attempt, at all, to create historically accurate reproductions. The suits, jackets and pants seemed cheap to me – odd puckers, no pick-stitching, bad hand-feel to the material. It struck me, that even with great tailoring (not something BB is capable of anymore – the few things I buy from it, I always take to my own tailor, as BB commits the unpardonable sin of not really wanting you to try on your altered clothes when you go in to pick them up and, if you insist, you have to hunt out the tailor yourself as the salesperson will hand you the altered clothes and then disappear) these items would still look cheap. All that said, one must see a pale pink pinstripe suit in person at least once in one’s life to truly appreciate its go-to-hell verve.

The shirts were consistent with BBs other equivalently priced shirts – and it is (once they go on sales) and opportunity to get some 1920’s inspired shirts at reasonable prices. I love that they had several with collar bars through the collar (with the appropriate holes sewn in). Also, the ecru “golf collar” shirt is substantial in weight and could make a nice with- or without-tie shirt for a cool summer evening.

Finally, the Regatta and the “Tipped” blazers weigh a ton and would only work in an Alaskan summer (I image) or winter anywhere else. I was stunned by how heavy they were. This pretty much comes through in the pictures, but these are pieces for confident wearers who want to make a period-esque statement.

As with everything Brooks Brothers: basically, an over-priced, flawed attempt, that does produce a few items that, once they go on sale, are worth acquiring.

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Edward said:

I *love* that pink jacket! If only I could find something like it here!

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cpdv said:

Not going to lie I would without hesitation if I had the money to blow on it wear the pink linen suit.

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Baron Kurtz said:

I can see it being rather more popular in Europe, and large urban metropolitan centres in the US, than elsewhere. Regent Street store was jammed when I went past today.

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