If you’re a regular around these parts, you’re probably aware that mall brands are making good menswear again. Hell, you’re probably familiar with the mall brand renaissance regardless, by virtue of guys looking a lot better these days than in the past, a rising tide with the Gaps of the world acting as the moon to your closet. Everlane wasn’t the first name I associated with that type of good menswear, but on a random trip there this past week I began to suspect why: its raddest stuff is hidden in the women’s section.
Not in a “I wish they made this in my size” kind of way, either, but in a “hmmm that would absolutely fit me and maybe even better than the one I want” kind of way. When I poked around the brand’s Brooklyn store, it was the Mariner Rugby that caught my eye, a boxy, cropped riff on the scrum stalwart that looked as good as any of its counterparts on the men’s floor upstairs. The only downside was a lack of buttons on the placket—hence the Mariner moniker—but I rarely button those anyways. I tried on a medium, my usual size in men’s clothing, and it fit me like a, uh, pretty dialed men’s medium.
For most well-adjusted folks, that pleasant revelation might’ve ended with a lucky find in a surprising place. But I’m a Real Shopper (derogatory), and I couldn’t stop there. To wit: the cashmere V-neck sweater folded on a table I otherwise would’ve ignored that started singing to me like Aglaope. A size large fit me like I wished most of the sweaters I already owned did: loose and louche, with a hem that hit just below the waistband. (Do I need another V-neck? Look, I don’t know—does my dog need a second treat after a walk? These are weird times, let me have this one.)
The V-neck encounter persuaded me to give the Crew Cardigan a shot, because a) it’s a crewneck cardigan, which are harder to find than you might imagine, and b) I now understood that knitwear was literally on the table. As you might expect by now, it worked spectacularly well, particularly when I went with a size large, which fit me like…a men’s size large.
For the sake of journalistic integrity, I swung by the men’s section shortly afterwards. But for reasons unbeknown to me (probably data, it’s always data) there was nothing really comparable over there—plenty of solid, reliable stuff, to be clear, but nothing that called my name like a mythical Siren. If you dig Everlane’s general proposition—nice clothes, fair prices—the men’s assortment is worth checking out regardless. When you do, though, I’d suggest budgeting enough time to linger by the women’s section, too.
