Critical Shopping

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This week, Jon Caramanica visits Belstaff's new Upper East Side boutique. The venerable workwear brand is trying to move from fusty to modern, sort of the way Barbour did, but according to Caramanica they're struggling to get the tone right. The menswear is almost too dandyish, he reports. And here's his take on the women's section: "These clothes were luxurious but hard. They seemed designed to repel hugs." [NYT]