5 Fantastic USA Brands I Cannot Wait To Shop At!

I have never been to the American continents (continent?) and its a sad state of affairs. I desperately want to go but I have not managed to make it to yet. One of the saddest parts of this travel situation is that there are some amazing USA brands I have not managed to get my hands on. These are completely USA brands that are not available in Europe or atleast very difficult to procure in Europe or Asia. (Not that I haven’t tried!).

(And since I have never been to the USA, I am using Satarupa’s pictures from her trip earlier this year!)

1. Everlane: From what I hear this is where you need to go for quality basics. I keep scrolling through their clothes online. The clothes go perfectly with my aesthetics – think COS but a little more wearable (eye-roll). Freshly starched cotton shift dresses, breton striped tees, striped tee dresses, basic jumpers for work – solid, good quality basics. The one thing I am slightly doubtful about is the fit but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

What I Love: The transparency. You know exactly how much the material for the shirt you bought cost. Seriously. You know how much the buttons cost, how much the labour cost and so on. You know the exact amount of profit the brand is making on that shirt! You also know the the factory where the particular item is made – where it is located, you can see pictures of the factory, how many employees it has, the owner of the factory (and what his dog’s name is) and so on. I also love the fact that most of the materials seem to be cotton, silk or poplin. Just lovely!

Currently Loving: The perfect white summer shirt dress.

2. Need Supply: I remember falling in love with a pair of overalls on the website (as you can tell I am an overalls fan). I felt it was completely obnoxious of me to order a pair all the way but I was completely obsessed with the pair. For whatever reason they did not end up getting delivered and the store refunded the payment made so I can attest to the fact they have good customer service. I would love to go and shop at their store one day – guilt free.

What I Love: The great customer service aside, I love the ‘easy to wear but a little more interesting’ fashion. Most pieces are polished but easy to wear with an interesting detail that makes it stand out. What I don’t love is that they appear to have just one store in Virginia and none in a touristy city that I may even end up going to like New York City or so. Sadly, realistically I know I may not end up ever visiting the store.

Currently Loving: These crazy fun earrings and this high-low dress. I am not a fan of the high-low aesthetic but loved this summery dress.

3. Reformation: I absolutely LOVE this brand! I love their website, the pictures, I love their dresses, I love their message. Their designs are very simple and vintage inspired but not ‘costumy’. Clean, slick lines and lots of colour and print options.

What I Love: Everything. And especially the fact that they are so transparent and detailed about their clothing. Reformation is basically about a reformation in the clothing industry – they use sustainable practices to make their clothing. They use vintage fabrics and provide details of the water, dye and how eco-friendly the material is etc. Their prices are of course, steep compared to high street brands. However, this is what it costs to manufacture sustainable clothing outside a sweatshop – I am on board. I don’t know when and how but I will be getting hold of a Reformation dress in the near future. No question.

Currently Loving: I WANT THIS DRESS SO MUCH!

4. Madewell: Gap but better is what I think of when I see Madewell’s clothes. I have heard and read a lot about Madewell – everyone seems to love it. However, I do find them expensive. Also they do claim they ship worldwide but the sizes are in US sizes which really annoys me and its completely unfeasible once you include shipping and taxes.

What I Love: Fun, fashionable clothes which are easy to wear. Also like their jeans recycling drive – anything that clothing companies do to help gets a thumbs up from me. And the most important fact is that unlike Need Supply, they have stores all over the USA so its definitely a real prospect.

Currently Loving: I liked this beautiful, understated ikat skirt although to be honest, I am a little suspicious if this is actual genuine ikat since it doesnt mention its made in India. Also, loved this jumpsuit.

5. Target: Satarupa highly recommended Target and mentioned she got some fantastic deals. She said she got some really good workout and gym clothes for $10-20 which look to be of a decent quality. She bought some sports bras and yoga pants and said they are definitely cuter than most of the stuff at Nike and a lot more comfortable!

What I Love: The prices of course! And they seem to have stores all over so actually shopping in a brick and mortar doesn’t seem to be an impossible task. Also the fact that they have absolutely everything you could possibly need in the same store holds a lot of appeal. Satarupa had some luggage constraints but she said next time she would love to do some shopping at the home and decor sections.

Currently Loving: I liked these leggings in fun prints which are not too wild (let’s just say I am not a neon fan).

If you live in the USA or have a brand you love which I skipped, please add to my list! Which are the cool brands I missed out? Have you shopped at any of the brands I mentioned – thoughts? We have lots of opinions about shopping – online shopping, tricks to shop at Zara, summer dress shopping, how to avoid ugly clothes and other things you should NOT buy (for a fashion blog we seem to have a lot of ‘do-not-buy lists!).

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Ta!

– Anisha