The thing about
successful thrift shopping is that it involves a lot of restraint. This may seem paradoxical. When the stuff is so cheap, why not just get it all? Because then you wind
up with a lot of stuff that simply doesn't suit you lying around the house. The very cheapness of many of these items require a man to be even pickier than he might be in a retail shop. When price ceases to be an obstacle, the danger of buying things because they were simply too cool or unusual to leave behind increases exponentially. For every bargain/steal I take home, the things I leave behind on an average
thrifting expedition are staggering.A man still needs to know what suits him and what he can pull off, and choose accordingly.
Today I found this quirky, boiled wool Alpine sweater/jacket thing from Austria, $3.99
The label alone was practically enough to push me toward the cash register. Maybe it would work with jeans....
....on the off chance that I decide to go as
Alan Flusser for Halloween.
Actually, that's pretty funny. Quick, someone invite me to a party.
Lnaz of Salsburg makes clothes for women.
ReplyDeleteThis blog was quite helpful. You may want to read Christians blog for the 29th on Ivy Style's page. The two pieces remind me that discernment is the key when purchasing new garments. And I don't have to build a proper gentleman's wardrobe in one day. Thank you, Giuseppe.
ReplyDeleteG. I'm thinking that it's good you left that one at the store. I'm channelling The Sound of Music and neither you nor I could pull off a Christopher Plummer...or a Flusser for that matter.
ReplyDeleteOnward.
Johnny,
ReplyDeleteI know. Looks like these days they are heavily into the floor length flannel night gowns. I'm pretty sure this thing was men's, though. Buttons on the right, and the cut of it was very square.
Luap,
Be picky and take your time. In the end you'll be glad you did.
ADG,
...or those old commercials for Ricola cough drops, you know, the ones with the guys on the mountain yodelling and playing those big horns.
Pigtown, Foolio, Conor, and a few others,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I just rejected your comments accidentally. Ooops.
As my Comment was rejected, here again.
ReplyDeleteLanz was founded in the 20ties and has mead it self one od the leading companies producing Trachten. Owning stores in Salzburg and Vienna, they also offer a MTM service. Your jacke apparently looks more linke a childs Jacket (note the small side pockets).
There are of course more interresting Jackets made out of linen with or genuine deer-horn buttons, or with Lapels (called "Steirer").
visit:
http://www.lanztrachten.at/
So much from the half Crillo, half austrian.
Visit my blog...
Yeah, I think you've really nailed it about restraint. I was at a thrift store on Saturday and could have done a lot of damage to my checking account...
ReplyDeleteBogota Trad,
ReplyDeleteThanks for re-commenting. Sorry for the cofusion.
Trip,
It's a hard cross to bear, ain't it?
I recently found some treasures, and they were cheap enough, but the alterations--man! An arm and a leg--but now I have some extremely high quality, well-fitting clothes for a fraction of what they would have cost new. Even so, that doesn't make the wife any happier, and I still have to wait a few months before I can get more of my treasures altered. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm envious of you guys who have an embarrassment of riches in your thrift stores. I can go weeks without finding anything, but I think it's a combination of limited selection (due to low population) and my inherent pickiness.
Kept down by the man? hah don't sweat it G.
ReplyDeleteIt was only something about this post reminding me that I have four or five garbage bags full of clothes to take to the thrift store.
Interested in being my personal shopper? The best I find in my neck of upstate NY is Anderson Little.
ReplyDeleteAnon. 2:46,
ReplyDeleteBeing the woman of the house, shopping is, of course, my favorite pass-time.
Lets talk.
I agree wholeheartedly with ADG on this, the jacket you passed up has a von Trapp family reunion thing going on about it. However, Alan Flusser's jacket is a different jacket altogether. It has jacket lapels, is longer in body, and had a three button front, whereas the Tyrolean jacket pictured is really a cropped waist boiled wool sweater kinda thing. About 18 years ago or so, you couldn't throw a brick in Tokyo without beaning someone in a Tyrolean jacket (ala Flusser w/ lapels). To this day I regret never getting one. My wife has one, and it's way cool with jeans.
ReplyDelete