& Other Stories vs Frame: which top wins?
Both land in the luxury tier — the & Other Stories Mulberry Silk Blouse at $169, the Frame The Gillian Top at $348, just $179 apart. Here's how they stack up, head to head.
| & Other Stories | Frame | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $169 | $348 |
| Material | The brand's own listing says the current version is "crafted from 100% mulberry silk" with a lightweight, semi-sheer finish; one owner notes the silk is on the thinner side rather than a heavyweight weave. | Retail listings state 100% silk with a dry-clean-only care label; construction details are a ruched puff sleeve, stand collar, and button front. |
| Fit | Runs long and straight in the body — the brand cuts for taller frames and offers no petite range, and one owner wished the sleeves were an inch shorter. US sizes run 0-14, and forum posters advise going a size up if busty. | The retailer listing calls it true to size with a relaxed fit that hits at the hip, but owner reports split: several found it runs big through the body while one found the arms too tight. If between sizes, decide whether sleeve room or body drape matters more to you. |
| Quality | A long-term owner who wore hers at least monthly for about a year says she "cannot fault the quality," even after repeated machine washing against label advice. The trade-off is a thinner, semi-sheer silk, not a heavyweight one. | Owners rate it 4.3 of 5 across ten reviews and consistently praise the drape and print quality; the one recurring construction complaint is the stand collar, which an owner reported sitting unevenly, one side falling outward and the other standing straight. |
| Best for | Right for someone who wants a real-silk blouse with feminine detailing for office-to-evening wear at high-street pricing, and who doesn't mind ironing. | Right for someone who wants one recognizable silk blouse for dinners, events, and office days over jeans, and who will actually maintain a dry-clean-only top. |
| Care | The label calls for dry cleaning, though one long-term owner machine-washes hers with her whites without damage — expect heavy creasing that needs an actual iron rather than a steamer. | It is labeled dry clean only, so factor ongoing cleaning cost into the real price of ownership. |
Both blouses are 100% mulberry silk, which makes the $179 gap between them a question of construction detail, brand positioning, and care commitment rather than any fundamental material difference. The & Other Stories blouse at $169 (and frequently $99 on sale) is thinner silk with a documented durability record; the Frame at $348 is thicker in perceived drape per owner reports but carries a mandatory dry-clean cost and at least one construction fault — a collar that sits unevenly — at more than double the price.
- The case for & Other Stories
- The & Other Stories blouse wins on real-world value: it is confirmed real mulberry silk that has survived repeat machine washing for over a year without damage, and at sale pricing it routinely costs less than a single dry-cleaning cycle on the Frame.
- The case for Frame
- The Frame Gillian wins on sleeve and silhouette construction — the ruched puff sleeve and relaxed hip-length cut read as a more considered, event-ready garment — and owners consistently praise the drape and print quality, which reflects silk with more perceptible body than the semi-sheer & Other Stories weave.
The bottom lineWhich should you buy?
Buy the & Other Stories blouse if the goal is a real-silk office-to-evening top at honest pricing, and especially if dry-clean costs or routine laundering are a factor — the durability record here is unusually strong for the price. Step up to the Frame only if the specific sleeve construction and relaxed drape matter enough to justify $179 more plus ongoing dry-clean expense; the one owner who called it 'not sure it's 400$ cute' is a fair signal that a meaningful share of that gap is brand premium, not fabric or construction superiority, and the uneven collar report is a quality-control concern that should not appear at this price.
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