Banana Republic and J. Crew are brands from a bygone era when safari cargo dresses and jewel-adorned oxfords were smart, chic office wear.

Today, both brands are in the midst of desperately needed reinventions.

Gap Inc., which owns Banana Republic, has struggled to revive its appeal over the years. Third-quarter net sales were down 7% compared with last year. Banana Republic's third-quarter sales of $460 million were down 11% year-over-year, and its same-store sales were down 8%.

But Gap's new CEO, Richard Dickson, has a strategy to reinvigorate the company's portfolio. For Banana Republic, that means improving clothing quality and elevating its aesthetic to become a quiet-luxury brand.

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Meanwhile, at J. Crew, the brand has never quite been the same since the creative director Jenna Lyons left in 2017. But that may be a good thing, as CEO Libby Wadle sees it. "I'm not trying to do much that goes back to what we once were," she told The New York Times.

J. Crew is privately held, so it doesn't report sales, but the Times reported that the company's average order value was up.

I visited both stores to see how far they'd come and find out which was winning its comeback era.

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