Best Stores To Find Clothing Made in the USA

Clothingmadeinusablog lists their favorite places to find made in USA clothing.

We all know that finding clothing made in the United States can be very difficult. That is because only 2% of our clothes are manufactured in the U.S. in 2013. Therefore, it takes a plan in order to find these precious gems. Some tips can be gleened from my blog entry ‘Best Tips to Buying.’ One of the basic tips is that small independent stores are good bets because they do not have to buy in gigantic volumes and because of their independent nature, they are more likely than the chain store outlets to carry U.S made clothing. So visit your nearby independent clothing store and check the label.

Department Stores

Even the best department stores will carry only about 2% of American made clothing, mostly because they deal with great volumes of clothing. The worst of the department stores like Kohl’s will carry less than 0.001% American made. Overall from the best to worst goes like this: Nordstroms> Nordstroms Rack> Nieman Marcus> Barneys> Saks fifth Avenue> Bloomingdales> Macys> Dillards> Target> WalMart> Sears> JC Pennys> Kohls.

How Best To Use This Information

For this listing to have the most relevance for yourself, let me first describe, what I, personally, am looking for. First, the clothing must be made in the USA. Second, I prefer a well-constructed quality garment. Third, the item can be found at a brick and mortar store. Regarding the particular stores, I am listing stores that on an ordinary day should have certain amount of made in USA clothing. In this blog entry I tend to list more of the larger stores so that people across the United States can also utilize this list. Please be aware that many small independent stores may actually carry more made in USA clothing than many of the chains. Also, note, I live in Northern California, so not all chains extend across the United States, plus I live in a metropolitan area, so my number of choices may be much more abundant than if you live in a rural area or small town. My listing will be divided up by clothing garments. Based on the above, you can see whether my information is relevant to you.

Mens Clothing: Casual Pants

Some of the most common casual pants made in the USA are: Adriano Goldschmied (A/G), Citizens of Humanity, J. Brand, Paige, Postage At Nordstroms. Nieman Marcus: J.Brand, Rag & Bone (also found at Rag & Bone stores in New York City). Barney’s: Band of Outsiders and Thom Browne. If you are looking for less expensive casual pants, I would suggest American Apparel.

Dress Pants

Brands of dress pants (this is a very difficult item to find): Joseph Abboud, Riveira, Nuvo at Nordstrom’s Rack (if one is lucky).  There are fine dress pants available at Alan Edmonds as well as Bills Khakis. If one is lucky, one may find brand name of Fitzgerald or Madison, made in the USA, at Brooks Brothers. Hickey Freeman is a good choice for fine dress pants. Thom Browne can be found at Barneys. Nordstroms is now carrying Alex Maine pants and Hugo Boss pants (rarely) made in the US.

Jeans

Thank goodness, many brands of jeans are still made in the USA, but Wrangler and Lee no longer make any in the U.S. Levi’s still makes a limited amount in the US, they can be found in their flagship store (1155 Battery) in San Francisco. The United States makes great jeans, and especially the high quality selvedge jeans, see my link: selvedge jeans Made in the USA. Since there are so many brands of jeans to be found, my preference is going to Nordstroms Rack, they carry brands such as 7 For All Mankind, Paige Premium, A/G, Joe’s, and True Religion. One can also visit some outlet stores of True Religion and 7 For All Mankind. Blues Jean Bar also carries their own brands.

Dress Shirts

Dress Shirts brands made in the US are few, but there is  one new maker of American dress shirts. Best known for its great dress shoes, Allen Edmonds now makes dress shirts found in its stores or on-line. Other brands like Gitman Brothers can be found at small stores like Bill’s Khaki’s or Barney’s. Thom Browne, winner of my Best Dress Shirt in the United States, can be found at Barneys. Brooks Brothers carries Black Fleece but very few under its Brooks Brothers label. Robert Talbott shirts made in the USA (small amount of them are made in the US) can be found in Robert Talbott stores and outlets. If you happen to be in New York City, try and find Oxxford, makers of fine clothing since the 1916.

Casual Shirts

Casual shirts run the gamut of semi-dressy to T-shirt like design. For collared, long sleeved, buttoned up shirts, I like Freemans Sporting Club and Bill’s Khakis. For polo shirts, I prefer James Perse. Agave is another great brand of casual shirts. For T-shirts, there is a multitude to chose of brands to choose from. For T-shirts, I prefer to go to the Nordstroms Rack or Off 5th Avenue.

Underwear

Men’s underwear has a very small number of brands available. I prefer to go to American Apparel for this. Sometimes, I get lucky and find some REI underwear made in the US at REI. But my favorite is bgreen found at Eco Goods in Santa Cruz, CA. Otherwise, going on the internet and go to Flint and Tinder or Ramblers Way.

Socks

There are numerous brands of socks made in the United States. Just about all stores may have a few brands, even Walmart and Target, maybe not Kohl’s. For a listing of the various brands of socks, follow this link: socks.

Shoes

For athletic shoes, running, cross training, and tennis shoes, there is only one American brand that makes these shoes in the United States, it is New Balance. For dress shoes, there are a few choices, but my favorite is Allen Edmonds, there are more and more A.E. stores going across the United States all the time. Dress Boots – there are a few big names still around: Red Wing, Frye’s, and my favorite Wolverine, the 1000 mile design. Red Wings Boots can be found at their stores. Frye’s and Wolverine boots can be found at various different department stores and independent stores across the United States. For a list of shoes made in the U.S. follow this link: shoes.

Sports Jackets

Sports jackets are one of the articles of clothing that the United States are still one of the best at manufacturing. Many times companies have sent their manufacturing to China, just to bring it back because of poor manufacturing. The major makers of sports jackets can be found at Nordstroms, Nordstroms Rack, lesser amounts at Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Dillards. The brands include: Hart-Schauffner-Marx, Hickey Freeman, Joseph Abboud. Brooks Brothers also carries a couple of lines of brands.

Women’s Clothing

Tops & Blouses

There are many U.S. made brands in many department stores. Many brands can be found in independent stores. In some department stores, some of the US made clothing is grouped into one area. Best bets: independent stores. For department stores: Nordstroms, Nordstroms Rack, Bloomingdale, Macy’s. Much less is found in Walmart, Target, Sears, J.C. Penneys (nearly zero). The worst is Kohls. NiemanMarcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Barneys may have a better selection of the more expensive and higher quality tops and dresses. The very, very discount stores Marshalls, Ross, T.J. Maxx and Burlington Coat Factory are overall poor choices to find U.S. made clothes. If I had to chose a best store to find clothing made in the US for women, I would chose Micheal Stars.

Jeans

There is an even greater selection of jeans for women than there is for men. For this reason, I would suggest one of the Department Discount stores like Nordstroms Rack. The brands most often seen are Hudson, Paige, Not Your Daughters Jeans, Joe’s, 7 For All Mankind, and True Religion. Outlet stores of the makers of jeans like 7 For All Mankind and True Religion are also good choices to find U.S. made jeans, but not Lucky Jeans nor Levi’s (unless you go to the flagship store). Don’t forget to try the smaller independent stores as well which carry many other brands.

Underwear

Underwear made in the USA for women, like underwear for men, are in very short supply. The list is limited. Hanky Panky can be found at Nordstroms. American Apparel is always a good source of just about all types of clothing and they are always made in the United States. For other brands of underwear, please follow the link: underwear made in the USA.

Socks

There are multiple makers of socks made in the US. Most stores will carry some US made socks. see my blog entry on socks for the almost 100 brands of socks made in the USA.

Shoes

New Balance is the only US made brand that makes athletic shoes, but, fortunately, they make many different models. For dress shoes, the selection is actually pretty sparse. Hands down the best choice is Nordstroms with its brands of: Athena, Callisto, Dezario, Icon, Jack Rogers, Munro, and Onex. For a full list of US made shoes, follow this link: Shoes Made in the U.S.

Buying Clothing via the Internet

There are hundreds of companies that sell only through the internet. I have a blog entry with many links to find those garments Made in the USA at Listing of Brands of Clothing Made in the USA via Internet. Some of my favorites are Flint and Tinder and American Giant. Updated December 10, 2013

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” – Bo Derek