Dear readers, I’m not a self-proclaimed Madewell expert or an obsessee, but I love a good garment from the store. I’m not 100% familiar with all of their styles and labels, but while secondhand shopping throughout the years, I have become familiar with 3 of their most popular and most manufactured clothing brands.
Madewell was introduced in 2006 by the J. Crew brand and has grown vastly in popularity ever since. Locations have popped up in many locations throughout the DC area, bringing a classic J. Crew-style boho touch to the nation’s capital. While their clothing is to die for, I can’t seem to shell out money to satisfy their prices. As a young professional, I just can’t spend oodles of money on expensive clothing. It just isn’t practical for my type of lifestyle. However, I still love Madewell and have made a conscious effort to find their pieces at Goodwill — and I’ve been incredibly lucky. Madewell clothing is very well made and super dynamic. It’s versatile and can be worn 100 different ways.
Shirt and vintage shoes from Goodwill
I love black clothing (they can be worn with virtually anything!) so I picked up this Madewell brand beauty at a fraction of the original MSRP. What I love about this item is the detail. Close up, you can see that this item has little cut outs/holes that are all in tact. I’ve been trying to find a lot of work clothes lately, so at first, I wasn’t sure if the little holes were work appropriate. However, I took a chance, and no one noticed that they were actually holes. So thankfully, that was a good thing. Coworkers thought they were just cute little details.
The tiniest of details!
I’m a big fan of peplum of all kinds. I’ll wear anything from overt peplum to slight light peplum; this piece was something I had to pick up. For me, peplum gives me a bit of an hourglass or curvy shape, which provides some variety when I wear straight skinny jeans. With this most peplum tops I’ve seen, their necklines have been very high — which is a good thing. It allows me to wear chunky statement necklaces, adding a little spunk to an ensemble.
Another full body look of my Madewell outfit
While this item is great for work, it’s also very summer appropriate. The fabric is light and airy, so when I walk home from work, I don’t break much of a sweat. The tag on this item is the simple classic Madewell logo so it’s obviously from the Madewell store. Madewell tagged clothing is only exclusively sold at Madewell stores….and secondhand stores. This line of clothing at original price from the store can range from the $20’s, up to hundreds of dollars.
Have you ever seen this tag or a version of it, above? It’s called Broadway and Broome. Like the mentioned brand above, this item is only sold at Madewell stores. This line’s items are on the more expensive side and come in fabrics such as silk. It manufactures shirts, blouses, skirts and dresses, but I’ve mostly found their dresses to be my favorite. They come in simple classic cuts, with vibrant colors. Since a lot of their garments come in silk, you do have to take good care of them and hand wash them or take them into get dry-cleaned. This brand’s dresses can cost up to $200+ at full price. At Goodwill, I’ve seen them (even new with tags!) for only $9.
Hi-Line jacket and leopard wedges from Goodwill
This Hi-Line jacket is my favorite score by a Madewell house brand. What I love about this piece is that it’s a super comfortable cotton motorcycle style jacket that I can wear out no matter the occasion. It works super well with every outfit because it has a simple cut and basic black color. On a Super Saturday Sale day, I scored this piece for around $3.
Hi-Line Clothing Tag
When I first saw this tag, I Googled it and couldn’t find the brand anywhere. Hi-Line was nowhere to be found. But alas, I found it in the Madewell store. It seems to be that Hi-Line is Madewell’s brand for basics and a lot of solid colored clothing. Whenever I’ve seen item’s with this label, they’ve usually been tees, and tanks of solids and/or stripes.
Have you seen these labels at Goodwill? Next time you go shopping, will you search for these clothing tags?
Love pink and black combo!
Thanks, Ruth! You’re super supportive!
Thank you for this post! I have a Hi-Line tank that I couldn’t remember where I got it, and now will try sending it into ThredUp rather than scrapping it.