Men: It Might Not Yet Be Time To Make That Century 21 Trip

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Enticed by Tuesday's coverage of crazy womenswear deals at Century 21, we took the plunge into the menswear departments. There's good news and there's bad news. Though the maze-like department is full of names, names, names, the double/triple/quadruple markdowns we found for ladies don't seem to have reached the boys room.

Yes, there was a ton of black by Rick Owens DRKSHADW. We liked conservative outerwear and slinky silk pajamas from Lanvin and were slightly intimidated by racks of sportswear by both Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Tons of less-crazy Love Moschino paled in comparison to the racks of fantastic dress shirts by Liberty and Viktor & Rolf. As for Margiela and Westwood, we only spotted tees, and those were just a few racks away from a small cache of printed tops from Claiborne by John Bartlett (a mere $20). Of course lots of quality usual suspects were available as well: Original Penguin, J. Lindeberg, Ben Sherman, Modern Amusement—even one lonely Acne jacket.

Most pieces had been marked down at least once, many twice. But prices were as marked and no additional discounts were piled on at check out. And some of the most enticing racks—many labeled "Spring Collection" (whatever that means at a place like Century 21)—offered no markdowns at all. So that mustard rain trench by Galliano was still $1000, and a dress shirt by Sonia Rykiel's long-defunct menswear collection was still around $100. Conclusion: Lots to like, nothing quite worth buying. We're off to Barneys next.
· Why It's Time To Make Your Semiannual Trip To Century 21 [Racked]