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| Amazon dupe // LL Bean original |
While Patagonia is the new official uniform of residents everywhere, I've actually become quite the LL Bean wearer while at work! I just love LL Bean and their warm and comfortable clothing - I bought my quarter zip quilted sweater almost two years ago, and have worn it just about every other day since receiving it (even during pregnancy, until one of my coworkers told me I had to stop once my belly was sticking out too much haha).
I ran across a very similar looking sweater on Amazon and had to see how it compared to the original! I shared my original find some weeks ago on instagram, and received tons of follow up questions, so I figured a quick blogpost would be the best way to address the similarities and differences!
First up is the original, the LL Bean quilted quarter zip. I have it in a large in the color olive. The material is nice and thick, I'd say the thickness is similar to that of a Patagonia fleece. The front and back are quilted, has a kangaroo pocket, and a quarter zip front with a leather accent. The fit is slightly on the boxier side - for reference, I'm 5'9'', so most regular sized items tend to be a bit boxier on me. It does come in petites and plus size, but unfortunately not in talls (come on, LL Bean! Help a taller girl out). Like I said, I've owned this for almost two years with weekly laundering, and it has held up super well. Occasionally a little bit of the quilting pops out, but very rarely, and it's easily fixed with a quick snip of scissors. Here's a quick snap of it over scrubs.
The original price of almost $70 is pretty steep for a sweater, not going to lie. My cost per wear is pretty minimal at this point, and will continue to drop as I continue to religiously wear it. There is a sale currently for 20% off using the code BIG20 though, bringing the cost lower to $50! They also have a great funnel neck version of this same style that would be great outside of work that I'd love to try.
I ran across this dupe version on Amazon when I was looking at an Abercrombie fleece dupe (I really want the camel!!!), and since I've wanted the grey version of the LL Bean sweater, I figured this was the perfect $25 compromise.
Of course, I don't expect a sweater 1/3 of the cost of the original to be as nice in quality, and it's not, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. It's a much thinner material than the LL Bean one - it's almost like a very thick t-shirt material rather than a sweatshirt material. Only the front is quilted, as opposed to both sides like the LL bean one (you can see the back of it here). I think where the Amazon sweater wins is in length - it has a good 1.5 inches in length on the other sweater, which I really appreciate. It just sits a little nicer, especially when I'm wearing it with jeans/leggings as opposed to with scrubs.
I've been thinking about how I can say which one of these two is better, and it all depends on what you are looking for. If you want a thicker sweater that holds up well, comes in six great colors, and comes with the backing of the name LL Bean, then obviously the LL Bean sweater is the way to go - it really is the nicer of the two options. If you live in a warmer climate, are taller, or just want a $25 sweater instead of a $70 one, then Amazon has a great dupe, knowing that the quality isn't as nice.
