I tend to think that you're headed for trouble if you own a company and then pick a name for it that (somewhat boastfully) implies a certain level of quality in your products. The tag line's one thing...Mr. Wurst the sausage maker can include the line "Best sausages in the North of England" in his advertising blurb and everyone writes it off as a zestful piece of hyperbole caused by overindulgence in pork products...but if the same Mr. Wurst actually calls his product "Best Sausage" it tends to act as an irritant to the consumer. "It's certainly a very fine sausage", they think, "but I can't say it's the best sausage that ever lay next to a pile of baked beans and a piece of fried bread". And, instinctively, they now have a little less faith in Mr. Wurst's judgment and honesty.

Such was my mindset as I approached the online store of J Crew's sister brand, Madewell...ready to find any small flaw that would suggest the articles in question were not, in fact, well made.

Wanting to be through in my research...and being, as you know, somewhat of a sucker for anything covered in stripes...I ordered three items. #1, a striped flutter tee...which, truth be told, made the model look a little broad around the shoulders but was much more flattering in real life. #2, a thin (striped, once again) Terry sweatshirt...the cousin of which appears in pictures of my 5 year old self...it's hard to argue with the appeal of something that whispers of childhood, and summer, and the beach (even Scottish ones...where the wind blows...and actual sunshine is a rare occurrence). And #3, a pair of khaki, linen, ankle-zipped, pants...

Cynic though I may be I have to admit that all three items are keepers...basics with a little more charm than the term implies. And yet...the name still bothers me...their construction is...fine...closer to Zara than H&M...yet not quite worthy of the moniker 'well made'.