32 thoughts on “Thoughts?

    • Anonymous says:

      Banana Republic is actually a term for Pinochet-Esque Fascist regimes in South America. It is kind of weird they named it that.

      • Anonymous says:

        All the cash-crop exporting, Central American, US satellite states are called ‘Banana Republics’. American companies own lots of land there and it’s an open secret that they determine elections there. Read about Dole and Hawaii if you have any doubts of this actually happening.

        • Anonymous says:

          If you mean how Hawaii became a state then yes, it is similar because the rich banana plantation owners paid the US army to overthrow the monarchy because they were being taxed heavily to work there.

  1. Anonymous says:

    I think they a couple things that are decent if on sale, and from what I remember they’ll have 40% off sales occasionally

  2. Anonymous says:

    They actually make ok pants that are good as essentials, don’t get anything from there at retail price because the quality does not match the price. Also, do not buy any of their specialty stuff like jackets or bombers or whatever because they are never worth it. Go into the back if you visit a brick and mortar to see the marked down stuff that is more reasonable. Like the anon said previously, the markdowns are sometimes like 50% and can make a trip worth it. BR is a subsidiary of GAP and have a rewards program that works at either store if that interests you.

    Happy hunting op

    • Anonymous says:

      This. Their polos are also great if you’re /fit/.
      And I have to add, I love the return to their roots they’ve taken in marketing recently. Stuff like picrel is so refreshing compared to the generic business casual front they’d been putting on for the last 15+ years. I only wish they cut their pants higher for a more authentic safari look instead of shilling low rise garbage, but at least their lookbooks can provide decent inspo now.

        • Anonymous says:

          >Did they rip off the Seinfeld version of J. Peterman. Ugh.
          Other way around

          >The original Banana Republic was founded by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in 1978.[2] The couple was known for acquiring interesting clothing items that their travel-related jobs brought them in contact with.[3] They eventually opened a store in the Mill Valley area of Northern California.[4] They were known for a hand-drawn catalogue of items with traveler/explorer stories printed alongside, and their safari-themed retail locations.[5][6] The Zieglers recount their adventures in the first ten years in their memoir, Wild Company, published in 2012 by Simon and Schuster.[7]

          >Gap Inc. acquired Banana Republic in 1983 and by 1988 the founders, Mel and Patricia Ziegler, lost creative control,[8] eventually rebranding it as masstige, an accessible mass luxury clothing retailer. The literate articles, hand-drawn catalog, and eccentric tourist-oriented items were phased out and were replaced with more luxurious, but not unique, items for which the brand would be eventually known for, currently replacing higher quality materials for mass quality lower cost fabric standards.[9]

          • Anonymous says:

            Wait.
            So J. Peterman is the high-end version of Banana Republic and they’re both now owned by Gap?

          • Anonymous says:

            No, I’m saying BR did the safari/hand drawn catalog thing first. JP did his own version of it a decade later. BR subsequently got bought out by gap (press F) and while JP did go bankrupt, he relaunched the brand with a kickstarter and not via buyout.

          • Anonymous says:

            The couple that founded BR. J Peterson was a different guy who started an entirely different company with a similar style to the original BR.

            I used to get the BR safari/hand drawn catalog mailed to my house in the 80’s.
            I bought some shirts and a rucksack, I think.
            It was kind of like a travel diary with gorgeous drawings of people, places and wonderful clothing that was more than what I could afford as a teenager mowing lawns for school clothes money.

            sovl

          • Anonymous says:

            The prices seem cheap now but at the time they were a lot for me to pay

            So J. Peterman is a real guy who copied the BR style and then Seinfeld created the J. Peterson character based on him?

            I don’t watch Seinfeld but I understand he is big in the American zeitgeist

          • Anonymous says:

            >So J. Peterman is a real guy who copied the BR style and then Seinfeld created the J. Peterson character based on him?
            Yep. And recently J. Peterman relaunched his clothing line which still sells things using drawings and travel themed writing.
            >The prices seem cheap now but at the time they were a lot for me to pay
            Well yeah, everything is expensive as a teenager. And not to mention the dollar was worth more then. I just ran the numbers and if the value of the dollar was the ONLY thing that changed, those pants in the bottom left of the catalog would cost $120 today. Add to that the rising cost of materials, labor, marketing, and the ‘made-in-USA’ premium and you’re looking at $250 minimum today for pants that used to cost $39.

          • Anonymous says:

            >So J. Peterman is a real guy who copied the BR style and then Seinfeld created the J. Peterson character based on him?
            Yes, and to make everything weirder, John O’Hurley who played J. Peterman on Seinfeld was apparently a major investor for the company’s 2001 re-launch.

          • Anonymous says:

            I used to get the BR safari/hand drawn catalog mailed to my house in the 80’s.
            I bought some shirts and a rucksack, I think.
            It was kind of like a travel diary with gorgeous drawings of people, places and wonderful clothing that was more than what I could afford as a teenager mowing lawns for school clothes money.

      • Anonymous says:

        I’ve found myself visiting their store more often since they changed it up. It’s nice that it’s a bit different and fun. It’s also nice that the store isn’t all gayed up like most of the other stores in the mall, although they are still owned by (Gap).

          • Anonymous says:

            uh yeah I guess it reads kinda like that, although I doubt a marketer would call out the parent company (gap) as being pozzed globohomo shit.which, as it turns out, is the reason I don’t really like banana republic all that much.

            I mean, as far as mall stores go, it’s above most of the rest. for me it’s mostly because they have the only chinos that really look good on me and the store isn’t plastered with gay stickers and pins that say I suck cocks and eat cum and shit out cum (which was how the Body Shop was last time I visited, and when I saw that display I just put all the shit I was gonna buy on a shelf and walked out).

            Personally if money were no object I’d buy my chinos from a made in USA manufacturer. Since it isn’t I’ve been to banana republic a couple times when they had sales, but I’m thinking of just using ebay instead and looking up the same chinos since now I know they fit me well.

            hopefully you’re sufficiently convinced I’m not a shill. I’d love to have store that wasn’t cheap global junk that I could actually visit in person but it seems like those don’t exist, or they’ve been forced into the luxury price bracket. it’s sad when 30 years ago I would have just went to the store and bought something good that was made in my own country and pay $39 for it.

          • Anonymous says:

            >uh yeah I guess it reads kinda like that, although I doubt a marketer would call out the parent company (gap) as being pozzed globohomo shit.

            They would if they were on LULZ, it’s called knowing your market.

          • Anonymous says:

            I guess they would, although I’d still find that hard to believe. every time I’ve seen a shill they did a terrible job. And I don’t think they’d slander the parent company. They’d probably say something like "hey sneeds, check out this based shirt from ourguy GAP" or some really stupid shit like that

            anyway back on the topic, somewhat–I was considering Bill’s Khakis but, for one thing, they’re expensive. Not prohibitively so, but on top of that I don’t know where I’d try them in real life, which is the problem. Stores like banana republic actually exist so I can try the stuff on, and all the non-pozzed brands exist nowadays only online. And I won’t buy something without trying it on unless it’s something very simple like a t-shirt. Definitely not for pants.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Made in China shit…I’ll just save up a bit longer and buy brands I like. I can’t believe this company is still in business…how!?

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