Specialty retailers. The high street. Chain stores. The mall. Whatever you want to call them, these are the places that most of us do the majority of our shopping. (I may own a Chanel bag, but my jeans are from Uniqlo.)
Which clothing stores offer the right mix of well-made, gently-priced, well-designed clothes? To rank the world’s best, we tapped our string of correspondents–from Los Angeles to Paris to Tokyo–to tell us which stores they enjoy most. As usual, our methodology is loose, but fair: We factored in fabric and construction quality, price (as it relates to quality), overall desirability, and accessibility to a large audience. And we only considered stores that sell clothes for both men and women. (No discount, department store, or boutique retailers were included.)
Click through for our ten favorites. Which would top your list?
Most Popular Stories
Comments [33]
Popular Stories
The 10 Best YouTube Hair Tutorials
The 10 Best YouTube Makeup Tutorials 
Fashion's Most Stylish Guys Give Mark Zuckerberg an (Almost!) Hoodie-Free Makeover for Facebook's IPO
Style and Substance: 10 Ladies Who Have Proven You Can Have Both
10 Beauty Boards You Should Be Following on Pinterest
To me, one of the best things about Uniqlo is that they offer free onsite hemming on their pants! So much easier than taking them to the tailor! Great list though!
I bet the ladylike theme that was really, really big over at j.crew is on it’s way out. Although, I went to a small party last week where three girls arrived wearing predominately blonde-lace outfits, so maybe doubtiness is here to stay.
I think you mean dowdy ? before you insult women’s fashion choices you may want to learn to spell.
I didn’t say it wasn’t cute, who says dowdy can’t be cute?
iPhone autocorrect spelling can be annoying, but it wasn’t responsible for your grammatical errors.
American Apparel is for suckers
This was a great story to flick through while enjoying a hot beverage. Thanks Lauren! Alas, we in the Southern Hemisphere have not had access to many of these brands (aside from ordering them along with the astronomical – and I mean it – shiping costs, buying them on trips abroad or giving travelling friends shopping lists). Looking at a lot very well dressed people on various fashion blogs, I think Zara and H&M are the two brands that keep coming up, so I would vote for them. (I believe Zara is about to come to Australia, but if it is as pathetic as the new Melbourne Gap store, I’m not holding my breath).
what about Club Monaco?!
Is Canadian. Is overpriced. Joe Fresh would be more deserving, what they have done is very impressive.
club monaco is not canadian…ralph lauren bought the company a few years ago
club monaco is not canadian…ralph lauren bought the company a few years ago
I just hit up the COS store in Berlin. it was a dream and I don’t really ever feel like shopping elsewhere again!! Too bad I’m only in Europe once a year or so.
It drives me crazy to shop in H&M. Most of the clothes are kind of lame. There are truly nice pieces mixed in, but I don’t have the patience to wade through the not-so-great ones to get to the good ones.
Urban Outfitters — disagree. The knockoffs are enough to turn me off.
J.Crew — most definitely! I always find something magical.
http://glamkittenslitterbox.blogspot.com/
how are knock-offs cons? i seriously don’t understand why this website constantly and relentlessly bitches about them, when that is precisely how the trickle-down of the fashion industry works. always has and always will.
There’s a difference, and no small one, between Urban Outfitters making a camel blazer because camel has been all over the runways, and their direction reproduction of an original Proenza Schouler sweater, for example. Can you not see it?
love weekday
http://aysegulsblog.blogspot.com
love weekday
http://aysegulsblog.blogspot.com
shouldn’t this post be called world’s best CHAIN clothing stores?
I agree. Gap has fantastic pants. And the Jeans fit like a dream.
what about forever 21???? i would of put that instead of cos because 1. i have never heard of it and 2. cos isnt even in the us so whats the point of posting it!!!
I believe, to quote the article, the point was “to rank the world’s best”, not just the best in the US. Over here in Europe, we’re pretty fond of cos. Just because you have not heard of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of ranking here. The products are of superior quality and design to the likes of Forever 21, and still reasonably priced.
I love love love H&M,Massimo Dutti, Zara,Asos,Gap and Mango…visit http://iscariotteh.wordpress.com/
Very nice site.
Please visit my site – Haine femei, haine dama, haine online – nikydesign.ro
Why is US behind the rest of the world re good, reasonably priced, fashionable brick ‘n mortar stores? And why don’t the likes of Zara, H&M realize that, in the US, many of us shop online. Thank you, Topshop and Urban Outfitters for realizing this.
you forgot Anthropologie!
they only sell women’s clothes. Had to be both women’s and men’s.
Can not stand American Apparel’s Ad campaign.
i really disagree with the american apparel pick. their clothes are often of terrible quality & fall apart easily. although i do enjoy a few basics from them (deep v-neck tee shirts, leggings for yoga), i would not put american apparel in the top 10 amidst truly fashionable stores like zara, COS, etc. not to mention, the store has lost so much popularity, we’ll see if it survives another year.
This post is great…Weekday seems very fun. Although you mention many times the word “knockoff”, but I think it’s not really a con. For us who can’t afford designer brands, it’s sometimes okay to buy similar products with lower quality and price. Also, your comment on Zara about quality is faux, their prices are higher than other fast-fashion brands but not “higher quality” imo. COS is just amazing. I just love it. But the shop(Le Marais-Paris) is always packed with people…my only complaint.
Yaaahh, I Agree With American Apparel, Gap, Topshop, H&M & Zara I Agreee.
StyleNonsense.blogspot.com
Urban outfitters? Don’t see how that made the list if we’re truly considering the price to quality ratio. I find that their quality is comparable to f21
Zara Cos and J crew are the best from this list
Always like the comments more then the post..
you mean too old to shop there?