Finding Quality At Any Price - Part 2 of 4

Casual Dresses and Separates

As I pointed out last week, these days, finding quality clothing can be an Alice in Wonderland proposition. Some of the well known labels can be, if not actually shoddy, certainly not as high-quality as you have a right to expect at their price point.

Conversely, there are some labels that offer quality that you’d expect at a much higher price - last week I profiled Banana Republic’s tailored goods as one example.

This week, I’m looking into casual dresses and separates. This is a daunting task as these categories are literally and figuratively all over the map. I’m going to do my best to identify labels that manufacture quality garments that are worth their price.

I should also mention that all of the prices I quote are new-in-store and that as of now, the beginning of April, all of these labels, at all price points, are starting to go on sale.

First, Casual Dresses - High Price Point

There are a number of competitors in this market, names you know well and some less so. One of my favorites is Johanna Ortiz.

Johanna Ortiz was born in Columbia and many of her designs reflect a Central and South American influence. You’ll seldom see a solid fabric from this label. She works in wonderful, colorful prints, often tropicals, florals and Native American influenced patterns.

I admire her planet-consciousness. She almost always works in natural fibers - mostly cottons, sometimes linens and silks and occasionally recycled polyester. Her quality standards are very high.

Although she designs a lot of maxi-dresses and maxi-skirts and bare midriff tops, she also makes midi and, occasionally, mini-dresses and a wide range of other garments, from gowns to wide-leg pants and swimwear.

Her price point for dresses is wide, but never inexpensive. Her maxi and midi-dresses run from $750 to $4,500.

Next up in the Mid-Range position is Cara Cara

Cara Cara is a label that, like Johanna Ortiz is planet conscious. They manufacture high quality dresses, from Mini to Maxi in wonderful, colorful prints. Their silhouettes tend to the romantic, but aren’t overly fussy.

The vast majority of their garments are made from cotton poplin although I have seen a couple of dresses in linen.

Cara Cara’s price point is surprisingly consistent. Mini-dresses run at $350 - $400. Almost all of the midi dresses I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a lot) are priced at $695 and Maxi Dresses are priced from $695 to $895.

Cara Cara has found a solid slot, they stay in it and do a really good job at it.

I’d like to give Honorable Mention to a label that doesn’t fit perfectly into any of the categories I’ve mentioned, either last week or this. It’s called Self Portrait.

Self Portrait found their place in high quality guipure lace. They make beautiful dresses in various lengths in the $350 - $500 range. I’ve rarely seen them go above it. Their dresses are pretty, feminine and well made. I often choose Self Portrait dresses for my weekly Pinterest line-up and I have one of their dresses in the “Fashion” section of this website this week

Finally for dresses, we come to the hardest category to even define - lower range dresses. 

I can find a cute dress for under $50. It will be cut from polyester and won’t be well made, nor will it fit well. But, there are hundreds of branded labels and house labels in the $200 - $400 range. I’ve sorted through them and come up with two I think have higher merit than most of the others.

The first is Ganni. They make a full range of clothing and accessories. Their dresses are made from a wide variety of fabrics from wool and silk blends to polyester. Unlike Johnna Ortiz and Cara Cara, Ganni does not seem to have taken a stand on planet preservation.

I’ve chosen Ganni because their dresses are fun and fashion forward. They’re reasonably well made, although not as reliable in either fit or quality as you’d hope. But, they’re never shoddy or plain awful as some labels I’ve seen at similar price points.

Although you can find garments from Ganni at over $500, a great many or even most of their dresses fit neatly into the $200 to $400 range.

Next up is Rixo. Like Ganni, Rixo makes a range of garments but they’re best known for their clean-lined, slightly retro dresses. Their fit and quality are acceptable to very good.

They use some silk and wool blends but their go-to fabric is viscose, a bio-degradable fabric similar to Rayon with a very nice drape and hand. However, although most of their dresses are unlined, when they are lined, they do use polyester.

Their price point runs reliably in the $250 to $375 range.

And now for Separates. Since this takes in a vast array of garments, I’m staying with shirts, blouses and knit tops (excluding T-Shirts), skirts and pants.

First, the Tops.

As with all clothing categories, there are many names to choose from. But I’m going with Khaite for the highest price slot. They aren’t as well known as labels like Alexander McQueen, but they bring a quirky design point of view that stops short of bizarre.

Khaite designs a full range of clothing, but I really like their line of tops. They use a lot of knits with creative details that appeal to me and maybe will to you, too.

They cut from silk, cotton, wool and, particularly for their knits, viscose, usually blended with polyester that never exceeds 15-18%.

You can get into a Khaite plain cotton shirt for around $600 (not on sale), but for the most part, you can expect to pay between $1000 to $1500 for a high-fashion blouse, shirt, knit top or bodysuit. Not cheap, but their quality is the highest, as you have a right to expect at this price point.

For my Mid Range Tops, I’ve chosen Lafayette 148 New York. They produce a range of clothing, but I like their tops better than anything else they do. They’re mostly updated classics, but when I say “updated,” I mean very updated. Because most of the time your top plays a supporting role, a chic updated classic shirt or blouse may be your best choice.

They cut in silk, cotton, linen and blends of silk/cotton, cotton/linen, etc. I’ve occasionally seen a bit of polyester in some of their blends, but it’s low percentage and infrequent. Their quality is as good as anything in the market.

Their prices range from $250 to around $500, although I did see a $900 leather shirt this season, but only one.

For our Lower Priced Tops and Bottoms, I’m recommending Anthropology. Aside from T-Shirts (which I’m not counting), they have a wide selection of cute tops, reasonably well made in cottons, Rayon, viscose and, here and there, some polyester.

They have some solids, but most of their (non-T-shirts) are done in pretty prints in a wide range of colors.

Their price point runs in the $100 to $!75 range.

Their skirts are much like their tops— pretty, colorful and made in the same types of fabrics as their tops and at the same price point. They have all styles and lengths from a mini-pencil skirt to a wide, tiered maxi. 

Their Pants are mostly denim, but not just jeans. They also have a few drawstring and non-jeans cropped pants. Most are woven and knit cotton and well made.

For Higher and Mid-Range casual skirts and (non-jeans) pants, I can’t do better than refer you to the high and mid-range dress and top manufacturers identified above. They all make skirts and some pants in the same fabrics and to the same quality they put into their dresses and tops.

I’ve avoided offering guidance on Jeans and T-shirts because, in our fashion climate, you need no guidance. You know whose jeans fit you and t-shirts are everywhere, mostly made of cotton. I’d feel silly trying to offer opinions on any of that. Besides, I’m making it something of a mission to try to guide you away from the Jeans & T’s For All Occasions culture.

Next week we’ll have fun with Gowns.

- Gabrielle