Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shostahoosier]

What are some the Korean brands (clothes) that are moderately priced and of decent quality.

Is there anything here comparable to GAP or Levis?

Of course I could buy GAP or Levis here but I dont want to deal with the insane markups

I went to Myeongdong and was a little shocked by the pricetags I saw (specifically at the department stores and at some of the individual retailers).

Does anyone know which of the US stores ship to South Korea?

[Steelrails]

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The Justifiable

[animalbirdfish]

Giordano (which I think is actually from Hong Kong) makes decent clothes at reasonable prices, and Bean Pole is nice, too, but not exactly moderately priced. Uniqlo - stores in COEX and Sinchon amongst other places - is rather like the Old Navy of East Asia.

[jsk]

Seconded Uniqlo and Giordano, and also add Basic House. There are stores all over Seoul.

Of the three, I prefer Uniqlo. It's a Japanese brand probably closest in style to the Gap. They have one store in NYC that's pretty popular.

[nosmallplans]

Uniqlo! It's like Gap and American Apparel mashed into one delightful little building. Lots of basic looks with plenty of color options and no logos!

Otherwise the men's department of Forever21 has decent prices and when H&M show up you should have even more options.

The problem I have is that there aren't any Korean brands that really hold any water at the international level (at least in menswear) so it seems silly to go to Beanpole and pay W300,000 for something people in other countries are gonna "What the hell is a Beanpole" at. I say buy the cheap stuff at Dongdaemun, get nice suits tailored in Itaewon, then just buy a few key items of the high-end international brands at Myeongdong.

The A-Land store at Myeongdong will be your best bet for big names. They've got APC and Cheap Monday which I see fairly often on the fashion blogs I read. Otherwise the Shinsaegae and Lotte department stores across the street should fill in the rest of the holes.

[mimis]

I like Forever21 (in Myeongdong), they have nice and hip stuff and very inexpensive.

[redaxe]

They have American Apparel across the street from Aland in Myeongdong as well.

Uniqlo is pretty alright but their jeans basically do NOT fit white people unless you have skinny little chicken legs and no butt. I managed to find a pair of jeans that fit me OK at Giordano, but I'm a 32" waist and I had to buy a 34 just so the legs would fit, even though they're "relaxed fit."

Anyone know the best place in Myeongdong to find a basic pair of blue jeans that are NOT slim/skinny/pencil-cut and will fit a guy who has some muscles in his legs?

Or, alternatively, does anyone have an estimate for when the fad of boys wearing girl jeans will end and baggy pants will come back into style?

Maybe I need to shop at more "hip-hop" type places?

[tzechuk]

Giordano is no good! At least in HK it's cheap and cheerful... the prices in Korea are way over inflated!!

[climber159]

Add ZARA to the list of decent clothing shops.

[giraffe]

I bought a few Giordano hoodies.. The seams in certain areas were falling apart and holes were showing up only after a wash or 2. The good thing about korea is that they just gave me 2 replacements but the same thing started to happen HAHA. Not a big problem though, the holes are at the seams so its easily sewn back together. I like the simple hoodie style but the price you pay for the quality you get isnt worth it. A bit overpriced even though its already cheap to begin with...

Not sure if you're a guy or girl but if you're a guy:
My favorites are Bean pole, ralph lauren, Poleham or Thursday island. You can get good deals on those brands ( or any other brand stuff) if you go to outlet stores. You can get anywhere from 60-10% off the original listed price if you dont mind wearing last seasons fashion haha. WHich is something i never cared about. Beanpole is my favorite though. THey sell thicker sweaters anywhere between 150 000-350 000 won but i usually buy them for 100 000 won or less at outless stores. Tshirts normally 75 000-150 000 won but i buy them for less than 75 000 won.
Alot of the stuff ive bought from Bean pole years ago look like new even after many washes.

Soo i guess what im saying is buy stuff at outlet stores. You can get good deals on good brands. They have all kinds of sizes but if you're overweight or huge or extremely tall, you might have problems finding sizes in outlets.

[cdninkorea]

Where can one find a Bean Pole outlet store? I'd really like to go...

[giraffe]

[Pwillig]

Bla.. Giordano clothes fit like they're made for scrawny middle school children. I wear medium, slim-fit cuts in the States, and I feel like I'm going to rip the upper back out of Giordano shirts when I put 'em on.

At least that's one less thing I can spend my mongol-bucks on.

[greasypeanut]

^ i think u should get a bigger size then. larges here = medium back home

[detourne_me]

I'm surprised nobody has brought up Who R.U. ...or umm Whoau yet.
It's comparable to American Eagle/A & F.

Also, Uniqlo is pretty much the main brand I buy here, it's simple, cheap, no logos and looks good.