G: Quality, Sizing and Word of Mouth

I just think it's either not stressed at the sewers, or not within their skill set.  How does one NOT look at a pattern and see it?  How does management not correct it, or stop making patterned shirts?  Seriously, I still buy shirts from "lesser" places and get more joy - or is it less disappointment  - than I read about online with some of these guys.

I had to give on the whole KS model for now as I wanted some new gear for the upcoming spring/summer.  Hopefully, I'll get my LD by summer (please, it better be sooner) and I'll know if I'm ever going back.  I may not at this point.

PS - I wore my TS shirt today - forgot the name of it - and my wife was going nuts over it.  I guess I've only worn it under a jacket or something.  It is nice.

I'm getting formal wear now as I have a couple industry things this month, including an awards show.  Tuxes are easy compared to denim and flannel for some reason...  

Can I say x100 on this post?

I look back to all the G shirts and I don't believe I will pick up any one of them if they hang in a store for the current G's price. $140 for a indigo button down shirt? Seriously, I will not even go with that if it has the RRL or EG label on it.

I think many just don't look at them that closely. I didn't notice the problems with mine until I saw people on the web complaining about them, then I went and looked and noticed the flaws. Then I looked at other similar shirts in my closet, Lucky, Banana Republic, etc, and they are all dead perfect. So I compared my Gustin shirts using the other shirts as a standard, and was disgusted the way the Gustins fell short. 4 of the 5 I had went straight back for a refund. Kept one that wasn't too bad, but far from perfect. Then this week the worst of the lot shows up in my mailbox, as if to mock me, lol.

I've purchased 6 pairs of their jeans over the last year, and all were great, measured right up to spec, no problems whatsoever. But the shirts, what a joke!

For sure, some of my best scores have been TS last calls.

To follow up on the Orange plaid I posted the other day: Ren immediately offered to take the shirt back for credit, which was great. I was a little bummed they asked me to send it back, as it's not that convenient for me to go to USPS, but I suppose if they don't have the shirt in hand they won't be able to call out the vendor.

In my email I made the point that it's easy to see from reviews that the vendor Gustin uses is skewing the fabric into alignment during construction of patterned shirts. I said that after having this issue on 2/2 patterned shirts I would be backing out of the Monster Twill unless he could offer me some assurance that things would be different, or at least confirm they'd brought it up with the vendor.

He didn't directly address this issue but did say that they're not doing it on purpose. I proceeded to back out of the Monster Twill (now closed) and will not be backing patterned Gustin shirts again unless they change vendors or I see some kind of communication around the issue. I'm sure they take this seriously, but with no public statement about it they're leaving me with no reason to have confidence in them.

Again, love my jeans, love my work shirts, love my solid shirts, love my chore coat. 2 for 2 completely unwearable patterned shirts = clear vendor issue.

Based on my (limited) experience I assume the shirts come already bagged from the shop as the construction QC should fall on them. The idea that they would not QC things before letting them out the door seems absurd - if a shop told me that they don't QC their products I would end the conversation right there and move on.

I would expect Gustin's part of the QC process to be similar to that of a retailer: looking over the bagged shirts to make sure they are labeled and tagged correctly, all the buttons are there, and other checks related to shipping people the item they ordered.


While there were several QC issues with my orange plaid none of them are visible when the shirt is in the bag. I really think all the blame here falls on the vendor except for the radio silence around the issue, which is Gustin's problem.

Hey all, my son wants the Gustin 'Boner jeans. Anyone care to comment on sizing of these? Run true or?

Thanks!

Thanks! Are these things suppose to shrink?  Stretch?  I should know more, but since I don't want them myself, I've not paid attention...

So here's the reply I got from Gustin explaining why their patterned shirts are all hosed:

"We spoke to our production manager yesterday about this and something clicked. We realized that the normal cutter was on vacation when these last shirts were being made which may be the cause of this alignment issue. We're just as upset about is as you care because we're ending up taking a loss on these items. We'll do our best to make sure you're taken care of.

Ren"

I wish it was something like "we realized our cutter was smoking meth"

"we spoke with our production manager and something clicked. our normally incompetent cutter was on vacation, and the temp was surprisingly worse. of course the sewers noticed, but they didn't say anything and instead tried to cobble shirts together using the mess they were given. and yes...the button sewers should have noticed how bad the shirts looked, but really they're just trying to make their button quota. oh...the qc person 'inspecting' the shirts upon completion...well we saved $2 per shirt by not hiring one. we wondered why the guy folding and bagging the shirts was chuckling to himself all week...and thanks to your inquiry we now know."

my GxB came in on the low side, the shy side of 33 on a 33 tag, the brown x black herringbone jeans came in the same way. I haven't put enough wear on them to say whether they soften up over time, and I haven't been able to commit to wearing either of them enough to test it. So I mostly use them as "nicer" pants and break them out for occasions rather than daily wear.