The average clothing store is decent enough for me. I would buy clothes with no distinctive marks if I could find them. Just plain material and colors.
Uniqlo
Edit: ok, they seem to be in larger cities. I'm in the Wisconsin, I was able to find that there are stores in Chicago, for instance.
More than 80% of my wardrobe is from Uniqlo, including 10 dry pique polos, 20 supima cotton tees, and 10 flannel button ups, all black. Makes getting dressed in the morning stress-free because I know I'm going to like how I look every day. The blacks do not fade — I have 5-year-old shirts that look practically as good as 6-month-old ones.
Their jeans, especially their selvedge jeans, are also high quality and priced well. Same for my winter parka, vests, fleeces, shorts, socks, underwear.
Best part: nary a logo in sight.
You have to pay hundreds for genuine denim Levis which puts them in the fashion pretentious class imo.
I really wish there were affordable clothes in Asket spirit but with fabrics Italian premium brand would choose.
Asker’s chinos are the comfiest trousers I’ve ever worn. The Egyptian cotton tees are also great.
A shirt will barely last a few months now, whilst I still occasionally wear a [much be-holed] first generation from way back when and it's kept its size, shape and still feels soft. New ones shrink and feel crunchy after a few washes. Oh, and they're about twice the price. Inflation, I guess.
i liked the free hemming on their jeans. and overall one-stop-shop for basics.
but jeans and shorts wouldn't last for a year in the seams. Even their pockets and buttons above the zippers would fail.
i haven't had that happen with other brands.
without making it a conscious choice, i just drifted towards other similar brands after consistently experiencing the quality of their materials.
That's a must for getting a decent fit for off-the-rack clothes. Even t-shirts.
Plus, they don't even put logos on their polos, which is the one place that actually-nice clothes can get away with a logo. They're not the best-constructed, but they're not terrible, and no logo. BB's polos are better-made and use nicer material but when I wear them I feel like a douche because of the stupid embroidered sheep logo. I think both favor tennis-tail though, which sucks if you like to wear them untucked.
My experience more recently is that people seem to be aware that an American traveling abroad probably agrees with most of their criticisms and they're just curious about what it's really like here.
Also, for excellent quality, US-made clothes with unobtrusive and easily-removed logos, you can't go wrong with https://www.american-giant.com/ .
Frankly, it’s vulgar.
Anecdata from just last week...
My partner wanted some new running trainers. She went to a popular high-street store here in the UK called JD Sports and said to the assistant "I'm looking for some new running shoes". In a bizarre fit of honesty the lady said:
"Sorry we don't really do running gear here, we sell more fashion items."
I'm sure her manager would have been appalled to overhear it, though perhaps the assistant is into sports herself and made an honest distinction between quality sports gear and the logo-heavy branded items in the store.
but the thesis was basically: sports wear has often influenced mainstream fashion since even like 100 years ago.
but in each generation, people find it initially shocking to see so many people wearing what is marketed and made for sportswear for leisure, or even seeing it spill into the workplace. i think the article was focusing on leggings when they started creeping into non-sports-related settings.
one of the craziest counter-examples i've seen, from the anecdote you share about your partner, was when i saw a man dressed to the nines in a really sharp/ smart business suit, looking like he had a great haircut. but for his kicks, he was rocking Nike Vaporfly 2's, which are known to only have so much life in their foam specialized for distance racing. i personally didn't think it looked at all aesthetically pleasing, but because they were relatively expensive for running shoes, i'm guessing that the man decided to pair them with his high fashion look.
Hopefully you are young enough to have been spared the indignity of witnessing a plague of fluorescent legwarmers and sweatbands escape the aerobics gyms of the 1980s. :)
I'll sometimes do this sort of thing when I travel. Lot easier to travel light when you don't need a separate pair of running shoes.
A lot of modern casual and even business-casual fashion is (or was) sports wear.
Polo shirts? Explicitly designed for tennis—it's the reason the design exists. Pure sportswear.
Oxford-cloth button-downs? Sports wear. That's why it's got the buttons to keep the collar down, and why the cloth is so heavy-weight and rugged.
Rugby shirts? Jerseys? Of course.
Sneakers, of course. Also, many other shoe designs, from equestrian and hunting sports.
What's not sports wear is often former underwear. T-shirts and A-shirts (thought the latter remain very informal, at least) were/are underwear. Arguably leggings are underwear that (somehow—this trend remains baffling to me, but on the other hand, I mean, thank god for it, obviously) became sports wear and then became everyday casual wear.
Even their “description” meta-tag makes it clear that they focus on fashion items.
> JD Sports is the leading sneaker and sport fashion retailer. With many limited edition and exclusive design from adidas Originals and Nike.
Some people want their fashion to make them blend in. Some people want their fashion to make them stand out. That doesn't mean one misunderstands it and one doesn't.
The understated stuff is usually much more expensive.
I think Vercace is the only brand I know of that's the opposite.
Find a local tailor. Pick the fabrics you want from a catalog. Get your clothes made for your body while supporting someone's small business and artistic craft.
The irony being that actual "high-class" clothing is exactly what you're describing, at least since I've been a lucid adult. Seems like there is a bit of an inverse correlation between a person's income and the amount of logos they'll tolerate on their clothing.
Still, I find it distasteful to pay extra so they don't stick a logo. So I don't.
Where do you shop and how do you dress? Most "corporate wear" mall brands (think Banana Republic, j-crew, brooks bros) sell clothes without logos. If you're into boring casual, Target sells racks of plain colored t-shirts and pants.
Seconding uniqlo, especially if you're on the thinner side. Indochino is great too, but can lean a little flashy.
Most people only think of military surplus and maybe don't want that sort of gear. But if you want super quality, plain "grey-man" gear like top-quality cotton polo shirts, very hard-wearing smart trousers there's a whole world of surplus brokers who take government contract overspill and whatnot.
Easy, https://loropiana.com/
If you want me to wear cloths with your logo on them, YOU must pay ME. I'm not going to pay you to wear your advertising.
This perhaps that comes from my days in top-level but obscure amateur/pro sports, but if I'm wearing a logo, it's from one of my sponsors, certainly not some competing brand, and I see no reason this shouldn't also apply to regular life.
I'll buy your stuff it it is good, but for me to advertise it by wearing a blatant logo you must pay me (the amount is up for discussion, but not the principle).
They were doing the same with car wraps, and again, if I support the produce and the pay is enough I'll wrap my car, but I'm sure AF not paying you to do it. Same with clothes.
All of the sports people do it. Nike swoosh. Adidas symbol. Kappa's posed back-to-back figures, etc. Abecrombie & Fitch's giant A&F on every thing. Ball caps with logos. None of this sounds vaguely familiar?
Above that, you're wearing a dress shirt, which never ever has a logo. Adidas and the like is strictly worn only by people who have lost control of their lives.
That is expensive trash, not fashion. If I go to a nice restaurant in a big city, people aren't wearing that crap.
I’m also from camp „not your free advertising estate“, and it’s difficult to find plain or ad-free clothes at times. Unless you’re strictly into suits, that is.