Until about a year ago, I lived a 15 minute drive from Tysons mall. I now live about that distance from Potomac Mills Mall, which is an outlet mall. I really miss Tyson’s. A lot of way is sold in mall stores these days is trash, period. If you are looking for natural fibers, you need to read labels carefully, and in most places are going to be disappointed. But it is particularly bad at the outlet stores. In my experience, quality is much lower. And for the most part, stuff is not much cheaper if at all.

My kid's high school had an annual exchange with Taiwanese students and I served as a chaperone for a few planned field trips 3 years in a row while my kid was a Chinese language student.

The factory outlets were a required trip and all those kids fanned out and went insane.

I remember they really focused on Godiva chocolates.

Factory outlet shopping is most fun when you're a certain size and know what fits you, you get to try on lots of things only available online (Lands End, LLBean)

Yeah. The stuff at many of the outlets is now specifically for the outlets. That's been going on for a while now. There was an American Eagle outlet that had branded AE stuff, but specific outlet clothing as well.

I have found the polos at Brooks Brothers to be good along with 501 at the Levi's outlet to be solid as well.

To really date myself, some of the best deals were back in the day of the large department stores and you'd go shop their "basement" where the off-season clothes would end up. You could find some really nice stuff marked down considerably.

J Crew Factory in town here has good T-Shirts as others have said.

Anonymous wrote:Malls are pretty annoying places to visit. Outlets are usually mostly outdoor not mall atmosphere so that’s one positive.

Malls you have to go to the back to find the sales. Most outlets everything is on sale.

Idk is the Kate spade or coach bag at the outlet different than the one at the mall?

Are the Nike shoes different?

Most Coach bags at the outlets are made specifically for outlets and have never been sold at regular stores. You can also buy them online at their outlet website.

Usually there are a handful of bags that did come from a regular store. They usually have some minor damage or are weird colors.

Anonymous wrote:I hear that Woodbury Commons, one hour from Manhattan, still has high end designer outlets. These do not create a lesser line for outlets, I am told.

Yes, that’s true. That place still has some true outlets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jcrew Factory stores are great and the quality for most items is similar to the regular store.

No. If it says "Factory" in the name, they're manufacturing for that brand, and what they're manufacturing is always of a lesser quality than what goes in the flagship stores. Cheaper materials, sewn by five-year-olds in Sri Lanke, etc.

Agreed. J Crew Factory is nowhere near real J Crew. But congrats on falling for their tricks re: Factory.

Quality is not consistent in either brand, mixed bag at both. So if you think “real” J Crew is somehow superior, you are actually the one falling for tricks here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jcrew Factory stores are great and the quality for most items is similar to the regular store.

No. If it says "Factory" in the name, they're manufacturing for that brand, and what they're manufacturing is always of a lesser quality than what goes in the flagship stores. Cheaper materials, sewn by five-year-olds in Sri Lanke, etc.

Agreed. J Crew Factory is nowhere near real J Crew. But congrats on falling for their tricks re: Factory.

Everyone realizes JCrew Factory sells different items, but the quality and price point are good—and their online clearance prices are outstanding. My husband and boys like their t-shirts (soft and wash well) and quarter zips. Their swim trunks are good. I’ve picked up some cute sundresses there.

The reality is the real JCrew hasn’t been good since the 90s. Their quality simply isn’t worth the price. I still have some things from JCrew and Gap and Banana from the 90s that have held up well. But nearly everything I bought in the 2000s on barely lasts a year or so. It’s garbage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jcrew Factory stores are great and the quality for most items is similar to the regular store.

No. If it says "Factory" in the name, they're manufacturing for that brand, and what they're manufacturing is always of a lesser quality than what goes in the flagship stores. Cheaper materials, sewn by five-year-olds in Sri Lanke, etc.

While everyone realizes JCrew factory produces different items, the quality is still good.

+1
There is not as much difference now as there used to be. Sadly J.Crew quality has fallen over the years.

I’ve found good stuff at Vince and Theory in Leesburg/Clarksburg.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jcrew Factory stores are great and the quality for most items is similar to the regular store.

No. If it says "Factory" in the name, they're manufacturing for that brand, and what they're manufacturing is always of a lesser quality than what goes in the flagship stores. Cheaper materials, sewn by five-year-olds in Sri Lanke, etc.

While everyone realizes JCrew factory produces different items, the quality is still good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jcrew Factory stores are great and the quality for most items is similar to the regular store.

No. If it says "Factory" in the name, they're manufacturing for that brand, and what they're manufacturing is always of a lesser quality than what goes in the flagship stores. Cheaper materials, sewn by five-year-olds in Sri Lanke, etc.

Agreed. J Crew Factory is nowhere near real J Crew. But congrats on falling for their tricks re: Factory.

Anonymous wrote:Leesburg is okay as an outlet mall. I haven’t been to Clarksburg but that looks okay too. The only outlet store I like is Williams Sonoma, which is the same stuff for less. Theory can be okay. J Crew Factory is cheap stuff but okay for fast fashion. But JCrew factory stores are now in regular malls or strip malls (Rockville) so no need to schlep to an outlet mall for that.

I like J.Crew Factory t-shirts better than regular J. Crew now. The Factory line never chopped them short the way the store did.

Anonymous wrote:I hear that Woodbury Commons, one hour from Manhattan, still has high end designer outlets. These do not create a lesser line for outlets, I am told.

I'm from about an hour from there. When I was a kid, it was much smaller and you could find items from the prior collections for the designers.

I don't know when it all went to hell, but sometime in the last 30 years, the outlets just became a lesser, secondary line. Every now and then, you'll find something from the primary collection (for example, Oscar de la Renta wedding gowns will wind up at the de la Renta outlet at Woodbury), but many of the stores there have the secondary line just like at our outlets here.

Leesburg is okay as an outlet mall. I haven’t been to Clarksburg but that looks okay too. The only outlet store I like is Williams Sonoma, which is the same stuff for less. Theory can be okay. J Crew Factory is cheap stuff but okay for fast fashion. But JCrew factory stores are now in regular malls or strip malls (Rockville) so no need to schlep to an outlet mall for that.

Anonymous wrote:I hear that Woodbury Commons, one hour from Manhattan, still has high end designer outlets. These do not create a lesser line for outlets, I am told.

I worked at a high end store in Woodbury Commons as a teen in the 90s. It was amazing!!! Bus loads of tourists from Asia would come in and buy thousands of dollars worth of merchsndise everyday (we worked on commision). The products were gorgeous. I walk into Outlet stores now and it’s all garbage. It’s not worth it to me to drive anywhere let alone 5.5 hrs to Woodbury to go shopping but I do hope it has maintained its value.