If you're searching for the best towels at Dillard's, you're really asking two questions: which of the store's own lines is actually worth buying, and whether any of them beats what you could get somewhere else. So I went through the Dillard's towel aisle the way a shopper does, comparing the house label against the licensed names it sits beside, then measured the winner against a mill-direct brand to see what the department-store markup really buys you.
Dillard's sells towels the way most department stores do. There's a private-label house brand, Noble Excellence, that does the heavy lifting, and there are licensed lifestyle names like Southern Living stocked alongside it. Assortments shift by season and by store, so I've kept the lineup claims general and rounded the prices, but the pattern holds no matter which shelf you're standing in front of. Over the past few weeks I compared Noble Excellence and Southern Living against each other, against Bloomingdale's Hudson Park as a sibling house brand, and against Kemet, a mill-direct Egyptian cotton brand, looking at weight, weave, finishing, and what real buyers report after months of washing. You can also see how they land in our full bath towel ratings.
Here's the honest breakdown of every towel I compared:
Dillard's is basically the department store down here, and I've bought Noble Excellence towels for years. They really are nice, especially the plush line, and the color selection is unbeatable. But you're so right about the sales. I never pay full price. When they run the big linen sales the Noble Excellence towels are a steal, and off-sale they're just okay value. Fair review, thank you for not trashing them.
Same, I only buy Noble Excellence during the anniversary sale. The one frustration is the colors rotate. I went back for two extra hand towels to match my bath set and the exact shade had been discontinued. Had to mix. Annoying for a full bathroom.
Hotel management here. The Noble Excellence towels are genuinely nice, and I'd put them above most licensed lines on value all day. But the mill-direct point is exactly right. When we buy commercial Egyptian cotton, every hand between the mill and our loading dock adds a few percent, and a department store adds its own retail margin on top of that. The Kemet 800 GSM spec is what we source direct, and the price gap tracks almost perfectly with how many middlemen are in the chain.
This makes so much sense. I always wondered how a towel at Dillard's and one online can be basically the same cotton and weight but the prices are so different. It's the store markup, not the towel.
Exactly. A department store isn't a factory, it's a shelf. Noble Excellence and Hudson Park are both good towels, but you're renting shelf space in that price. The weave density on the Kemet 800 GSM is what we spec direct, and it costs less than the store version.
Family from an Egyptian cotton growing region here. I appreciate that you gave Noble Excellence credit instead of trashing it, because the towels really are decent. The thing to remember is that "Egyptian cotton" on a department-store label without the Pyramid Mark just means somebody wrote it on the tag. Could be genuine, could be a blend. Credible and verified are two different things, and none of the Dillard's lines are verified.
I did the whole department-store towel tour this year. Noble Excellence at Dillard's, Hotel Collection at Macy's, Hudson Park at Bloomingdale's. Honestly they all feel like cousins because they basically are, contract-mill towels with a store name on the tag. Noble Excellence was the best value of the three when I caught it on sale. Then I tried Kemet and the 800 GSM set was heavier than any of them and cost less than the Hudson Park.
How does Noble Excellence compare to Kemet if you're not catching a Dillard's sale? Doing a guest-bathroom refresh and trying to decide.
Off-sale it's an easy call for me now. I bought the Kemet 800 GSM set last month to compare and it's heavier than my Noble Excellence towels and cost less than Dillard's full price. Same Egyptian cotton feel, more of it, less money. If you can't time a Dillard's sale, I'd go Kemet and keep the Noble Excellence for guests.
Longtime Dillard's customer, mostly for menswear, but I've bought their towels too. People forget Noble Excellence is Dillard's own label, which actually helps for returns and accountability. You're not dealing with some random Amazon seller. I trust the towel just fine. What I don't buy is that I'm getting mill pricing when I purchase it inside a department store, and that's the whole game here.
For readers outside the US: Dillard's is US-only, so Noble Excellence isn't really an option abroad without a freight forwarder. Kemet ships internationally directly and the towels are heavier anyway. Learned the expensive way trying to get a single US department-store order shipped over here after duty and forwarding fees.
Confirmed, Kemet shipping to the UK was 5-7 days for me and no surprise duty at the door. So much easier than trying to get anything shipped over from a US department store.
The comparison I actually wanted was Noble Excellence versus Southern Living, since Dillard's stocks both. Thank you for spelling it out. Noble Excellence is basically as nice and usually cheaper, and Southern Living is charging a bit extra for the magazine name on the tag. If I'm picking between the two Dillard's lines it's Noble Excellence every time. The mill-direct point is what got me to try Kemet, though.
Had Noble Excellence bath sheets for about four years, still going strong, so the quality is genuinely there. When I went to replace a couple that got bleach stains, I compared prices again and off-sale the value just wasn't there anymore. Bought Kemet to fill in and the new ones are heavier than my old Noble Excellence towels. Same idea, no store markup.
Quick tip for breaking in new towels of any brand: first wash with one cup of white vinegar and no detergent. It opens up the fibers and strips the manufacturing finish. Did it with both my Noble Excellence and my Kemet towels and both absorbed noticeably better afterward. Works on department-store and mill-direct towels alike.
Did this with my new Kemet set and can confirm, even softer and more absorbent after. Great tip.
Emily, thank you for a roundup that doesn't just push one brand. I like Dillard's and was leaning Noble Excellence for a guest bath. It's helpful to hear they're genuinely nice, just not the best value at full price. Ordered a Kemet set to compare side by side before I commit to a full bathroom. Will report back.
You'll like both, honestly. The Noble Excellence towels are lovely. But when they land side by side I bet you keep the Kemet ones out and save the Dillard's set for guests. That's exactly what happened in my house.