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" Among the most interesting things in today&amp;#039;s Times story about Amazon entering the luxury fashion world is this: Chief Executive Jeff Bezos prefers Prada jeans. Even though he can&amp;#039;t name any other labels he&amp;#039;s wearing. Which, for a business man trying to get into the style game, is like that moment when Sarah Palin couldn&amp;#039;t tell Katie Couric which newspapers she reads. Nonetheless, Amazon is working hard to convince their shoppers the site shouldn&amp;#039;t only be a place for books and electronics and gifts, but also for expensive threads and accessories you might buy yourself (full-price ones, not those you see on their flash-sale site, myhabit.com). And the corporation already has many things working in their favor, according to the latest story: Amazon can set prices competitively, they can shoot photographs of the clothes in a manner that&amp;#039;s quick and realistic, helping shoppers envision them in their own closets. They can pay to sponsor the Met Gala, instantly inserting themselves into the fashion conversation, as they did last night. And Amazon is so large, they can essentially take a loss on shipping costs \u2014 something smaller, fashion-forward boutiques selling online can&amp;#039;t do yet. The logistics are on their side. But the aesthetics aren&amp;#039;t there yet. Even as the company focuses on beautiful photography of models moving in the clothes, showing how they function and flow, that does not a luxury purchase make. And while Amazon has been successful in courting brands like Jack Spade, the online experience (as you see above) still looks so low-budget that a shopper might wonder whether he&amp;#039;s buying counterfeit clothing. Because, if you&amp;#039;re going to buy more than a Kindle&amp;#039;s worth on shirts, you want to feel like you&amp;#039;re in an environment where your money is recognized. This is why mrporter.com, parkandbond.com, and thecorner.com seem to spend as much on web design as they do on their seasonal buys: It makes brick-and-mortar shoppers feel welcome, the online equivalent of those nice couches in the new Ferragamo store. Or even an attempt to mimic the service \u2014 dressing rooms, free tailoring, a bottle of water, a sales girl&amp;#039;s flirting abilities \u2014 that the best emporiums offer. One thing Amazon has going for it is the ease of purchase: They&amp;#039;ll gladly save your credit card, billing, and shipping information so you never abandon your cart full of items. And Bezos is a known genius when it comes to scale, distribution, and stocking product. But much of big-box online retail is still lacking that undefinable thing called &amp;quot;taste,&amp;quot; which isn&amp;#039;t just Amazon&amp;#039;s problem: This weekend, Target quietly launched the first edition of The Shops at Target, an attempt at working with small stores around the country to offer a selection of boutique product online. The clothes look nice. But the problem when purchasing them is that Target&amp;#039;s website, even in these new sections, still looks like the kind of place where you should be buying cereal in bulk. Until the web&amp;#039;s largest retailers fix their windows, so to speak, it will remain tough to court America&amp;#039;s most clothing-obsessed customers. If only because it&amp;#039;s still tacky to admit that nice dress you bought your wife on Amazon was &amp;quot;Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping,&amp;quot; when there&amp;#039;s already a better word for that at Barneys: complimentary. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a13958/amazon-high-end-fashion-050812/?src=rss>