11 October 2011

Restraint is a Virtue (But We All Slip Sometimes)

A long time ago, in the very earliest stages of this blog, the fellow once known to us all as Longwing had this to say:

"Thrifters have too much sh*t. You get used to not getting exactly what you want so you tend to buy everything that even comes close."

I agreed with him then and still do, and responded with my 7th post ( this one will be #561). Still we slip sometimes, and a well loved if useless item comes to stay in our closets. But eventually, we must say goodbye.

This old gun club check jacket is a thing of beauty, made by hand in 1960 , by the tailoring firm Davies and Sons in London.



a piece of cloth so beautiful, almost anachronistic in its level of quality. The couple of tiny moth holes in it never bothered me much, gave it some character. I see a lot of nice things in my various sartorial hunting trips, but few as well woven as this. I really enjoyed wearing this jacket, but...

photo from another old post
...it never really fit right, and I guess I always knew it. Some of you even told me so, but I didn't listen. The coat is too nice, and I wanted it for my own. But with my own closets strained now to the bursting point, it's time to let this bird go. After all, the days of me and size 40 regular aren't even in the rear view anymore, I've driven so far past them. So it is with no small amount of sadness that I put this one up in the Shop. I thought about saving it for the Flea, but this way there's a slim chance it goes back to England, where it rightly belongs.

In any case, I beg one of you to give it a good home, and wear it well.  I apologize for the underlying commercialism of this post, but a special piece deserves a special send off.

p.s. other new items available in the Shop as well.






5 comments:

JimW said...

As a fellow thrift store junkie (though lacking your practiced acumen), I take pride in finding a pair of shell-leather penny loafers for $3 rather than $300. Never mind that they're a half-size too long - they'll still finish a 'look' in a way that a $40 pair of Deer Stags could never hope to achieve. And when those times come where I can't resist the allure of a blazer at full retail, I can still walk away knowing that my 3-year outlay for clothes is less than what many will blow on a single shopping trip.

Dutch Uncle said...

Divesting oneself of clothing that one cannot or does not wear is as great a pleasure as acquiring clothing that one can and does wear.

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Lovely jacket! Sadly, it's already found a new home. :-( Ah well. Next time.

Best regards,

Ulrich von B.

James and Amy said...

Giuseppe, that is a gorgeous jacket. I'm not going to say don't put it in the shop, but what I am going to say is never assume because you've gained a little (or a lot) of weight that your slimmer days are behind you. I spent 10 years of my life thinking the same thing; then through dietary habits alone (no pills, special diets, etc.) lost nearly 50 pounds over the next three years.

Warm regards.

Anonymous said...

This post is so true. I'm an avid thrifter, and buy too many things that aren't perfect for me simply because they are great. For example, a Pendleton 49er jacket that just didn't fit right. Every now and then I get the urge to purge. Tomorrow I'm taking a load of stuff back to the thrift store!