Secrets of Thrifting : Better Isn't Always Best

I recently acquired two shaggy Shetland sweaters, on separate occasions, in the same thrift store, for the same price. This is something of a score, as I find good sweaters are among the hardest things to come by in these places. A good sweater is like an old friend, and I think many people hold on to them until they reach the end of their usefulness, eventually becoming too moth eaten or perhaps accidentally shrunken in the wash. If those two things don't kill a good sweater, then the hangers that most thrift shops display them on will almost certainly throw them out of shape. But now and again, they do turn up.

The navy blue one is the real thing, and iconic J. Press "Shaggy Dog", highly coveted by preppy/trad/ivy/whatever enthusiasts everywhere. I've wanted one for ages, but never owned one, as even on sale the price of these things is prohibitively expensive. Last I checked, $139 was a sale price direct from J. Press, and even on the internet folks are getting upwards of $100 at auction.

The second is something of a knockoff from the defunct (and soon to be collectible?) Ralph Lauren "Rugby" line. Made in China, but just as shaggy, and rendered in a classic shade of burgundy. This one had silly elbow patches on it, but it was nothing that ten minutes with the seam ripper couldn't cure.

Of course, anyone's initial inclination would be to assume that the J.Press is the superior sweater, but it may not necessarily be so in this case. Note that both are size "large", an arbitrary designation at best. The Rugby sweater fits me perfectly, with a hem that falls right at the belt line and just enough room to move without being so bulky as to fit under a tweed jacket. The Press sweater is enormous, with a hen that falls almost two inches longer and so much bulk under the arms as to be tight under my Barbour. I've worn each of them, and I hate to say that I feel frumpy in the Press sweater, and the Rugby has fast become a new favorite.

Thrift stores have a way of leveling the playing field. In truth, the provenance of these two garments clearly means the press sweater is "better". But in some cases, by the time a thing has been purchased, used and donated to charity, it's original provenance becomes less meaningful. A great item will always be a great item, but a lesser item becomes not so bad when it's no longer on display in some awful macro-store, at some inflated price. For the same price in a thrift store, the difference in quality of these two sweaters becomes almost negligible, but at full retail it would be hard to justify choosing the lesser item. I've said it so many times, but it bears repeating to mention that brand allegiance can be a stumbling block in the thrift store, causing you to choose a less than flattering garment because the name is better. I'm not suggesting the you should settle for less, but rather that there's a degree of relativity that needs to be taken into account in a thrift store. It's worth remembering that no matter where you purchase your clothes or how much you spend on them, fit is always the most important consideration.

 In the end, I won't be keeping the J. Press sweater, instead getting to a larger man who will look better in it. I'll keep the Rugby, happy to have given my money to charity to get it. Better isn't always best the second time around.

An Exception to Every Rule

  ...or in this case maybe two...

A big, chunky cardigan sweater,

Not a shawl collar, but an actually knitted notch lapel,

Not generally a fan of native American motifs for myself (first exception to the rule), but there was no denying this one. A great color scheme in tan, grey, navy and burgundy works this one seamlessly into my wardrobe. The wooden buttons are a bonus.

Big pockets, with turned down tops, well made enough to handle the weight of keys or a cell phone without pulling the sweater out of shape,

The excellent embroidery follows through on the back. Found by Mrs. G at a thrift shop for $4.99. I think she was as surprised as anyone that I liked it.

People were paying big money for this stuff 20 years ago when Ralph was doing it.

Rugby even had a try. No comparison. I like my no name 1970s sweater better.

It's the sort of thing an old hippie might wear while he bores his Grandchildren with the same handful of stories where he whines about how much better "The Sixties" were. Or something fit for an Arizona retiree. But that's not the worst of it. This thing is 100% (gasp!) acrylic. That's right. Everything about it is wrong. But what can I say? I love it. At least it wasn't $400.

We all have our ways of dressing, and we set up rules about what we will and won't wear, whether we admit it or not. But every now and then an item comes along that speaks to you that breaks all those rules. When that happens, you can either reject it out of hand as being against regulations, or embrace it. I guess this means I'm becoming more confident in my own style. Or else I really just don't give a damn what people think. Either way, it's fine by me.

The only hard part is avoiding "irony" when I wear it.



The Path to Truth

This sweater is from the now defunct Rugby Ralph Lauren, available last Fall. It looks nice, was likely made in China, probably cost $200 on sale, and would likely not fit anyone larger than a 32 waist/38 chest.

I found this one yesterday at a local thrift shop for $4.99. It's old, as if we needed more proof that anything Rugby did well was really just to knock off something that was already good.

It's from Lands' End, was made in Scotland, likely never cost anything near $200, and fits a grown man of average size. Add Maine Hunting Shoes and dungarees.

The nerdy menswear corner of the internet is and has been all abuzz for some time over the demise of the Rugby Ralph Lauren line. I was going to try to avoid the topic, but when I found this sweater yesterday, something about it occurred to me that needs saying.

For some guys, especially the young, rail thin and fashionably conscious, Rugby and brands like it were a godsend. "Preppy" stuff has been all the jam these last few years, and this was a chance to combine that trend with the other all too prevalent trend of wearing clothes much too tight.

For some other guys, it was a joke, a cartoon. It was nothing more than an overpriced cheaply made knock-off of a manner of dress they had held near and dear all their lives, in direct opposition to fashion and trends. It was in its way infuriating to see this anti-fashion become so...fashionable. It made stuffy types feel the same way hipsters do when the world at large finally discovers the band they've been listening to for years.

Praise and complaints abounded. The menswear community being what it is, anonymous guys couldn't help but scream about it one way or the other. That's what I call successful marketing. Makes me wonder why they pulled the plug.

Personally, I could do without it. I'm in my mid thirties, and so is my waist size. I like to dress like a grown-up, and much of what Rugby offered was to young and skinny for me. Some of it was great, most of it, like the sweater above, could be found in its better form elsewhere for less money with a little thrifty perseverance. But I am glad that these brands exist.

Young people are generally silly.They have yet to figure themselves out completely. In the past, matters of dress were learned from a boys father. My generation and the one that followed have come of age largely without the benefit of this kind of fatherly guidance. I am a lucky exception, but many of my fathers generation are responsible for the laxness of rules and manners that we are living with today. Brands like Rugby are more likely to lead a young man to the better version of itself down the line than say t-shirts and sweatpants. What do I care if it was kind of silly? If Ralph and J. Crew want to deck out a whole generation of guys on penny loafers, bow ties and Nantucket reds, how can that be all bad? It's better than a lot of the options out there, and there's nothing wrong with this stuff being "cool", even if its only for a while. Eventually, these kids will grow up, and so will there taste. They won't be afraid to wear a coat and tie, and they'll know the difference one day between the good stuff and the junk.

Besides, it has been nice not be looked at like I'm some kind of weirdo these last few years.

Read The Right Label ; Read The Label Right

Brand names and labels are such a tricky beast, especialy when it comes to second hand shopping. Some are a guarantee of quality, others a guarantee of brand marketing. Most fall somewhere between the two. A label can be a household name and represent nothing but crap, or a label can be something you've never heard of and represent real quality.Sometimes a label can be a real surprise, if you learn to look at it after you look over the garment and judge it on its own merit. For example:

Here's a really nice tweed jacket. It has soft shoulders, high cut notch lapels and a two button darted front with just the right amount of waist supression. A good combination of English and traditional American detailing makes this piece both comfortable and sharp. And check that check: pattern matching from body to sleeve is pretty tight.

A perfect shade of gray tinted tan, with a large but faint windowpane plaid in brown and rust. ..

...with real braided leather buttons...

...and rendered in Scottish woven camel hair cloth, soft and luxurious to the touch.

Read the Right Label: Maybe you're not from the Boston area, or if you are maybe you're to young to remember, or don't remember, Kaps mens clothing stores. They were the real thing, since 1885. In the old days, when I worked at Simon's, Kaps stores, and the Kapelson family who owned them, were referred to with the due respect and mild jealousy befitting a worthy rival. Good stuff, always priced fairly but at it's worth, which was never cheap. Kaps was sort of a "poor man's Andover Shop", if such a phrase could possibly make even a shred of sense.

So far, nothing should be surprising about this jacket. Its well made, it comes from a sadly long gone local Massachusetts mens shop, and it's styled just how I like it. But there is a surpirse;

Read the Label Right: Chaps is like some kind of fourth rate label from Ralph Lauren for the malls and off price stores, right? Crappy junk meant only to create revenue through brand name licensing, right? I thought Kohl's owend it, right?

Maybe so, but not always, not like this. In the pre-over-seas-labor days, much of Ralph's stuff was high quality union made goods from the USA, and the Chaps brand was no exception.  In the days before brand names were just a commodity to license and sell, Chaps was turning out the goods. I may not specifically remember Chaps as a brand in such a light, but I do remember Kaps as a store in such a light, and I know they never sold junk. Buying this jacket used in not so much wearing yet aniother piece of Ralph's clothes as it is hiniring the Kapelsons.

Reading this blog, you may think that I just trip over $1000 suits for a buck every time I walk out the door, but believe me, it takes a lot of patience and study to pull this off.

p.s. the above jacket, along with many other new items, is up in the Shop. A shameless plug, perhaps, but a plug nonetheless.

New Life for Old Things: The Rough Repair

As you may have guessed, I like to keep stuff. I don't like to throw things away, and I will always consider a repair before a replacement. Sometimes this means paying for crafstmanship, as with a tailor or cobbler. Other times, it means giving up the ship and admitting defeat. Between these two concepts is the rough hewn, home made repair. This method is not for everything, but if used sparingly, I think it can have it's own kind of charm. To wit:

Remember those slippers so many of you hated so much when I got them? Tom's by way of Ralph Rugby and covered with skull and bones? Incorigible things, but I like them. They have served me well as house slippers. But, they're cloth, and they rip. In my case, at the edge of my baby toe on both sides. After wearing them like this for a month or more, I finally decided to patch the holes. You can take the man out of the punk band but you can't take the punk...well , you get the picture. A lot of what goes on in the land of punk rock may be kid stuff, but there is a certain aesthetic to it that I don't mind seeing every once in a while. Like an old friend who drinks too much, it's great in small doses.

The patches are cut from an old Andover Shop tie, a sacrilege to be sure, but that old bit of silk had long ago worn out it's usefulness as neckwear, and at least this way it gets a second spin. The yellow thread was of course chosen on purpose. Say and think what you will, but I find the idea of gourmet designer slippers with a moralistic twist bought second hand and repaired with old silk from a once luxurious necktie in a distinctly hard-edged fashion to be kind of, you know, badass. This whole blending of "punk" aesthetic with "preppy" aesthetic may be very Ralph Rugby, very shopping mall, I grant you, The difference lies in doing it by hand, yourself, to your own things...That, and not doing it all the time. I'll probably continue to patch them in a similar way for another year. For a while, they'll only get better, and I'll have a use for some of those ripped and stained ties I can't seem to part with. They'll continue to be my house slippers, where I can enjoy them without inflicting the sight of them on any innocents. Then, one day, they'll die, and you can all breath a collective sigh of relief and pray that I spring for some of those poncy velvet things that seem to be all the rage these days.

p.s. If I haven't lost you completely, as I may well have with this post, feel free to peruse the newest Spring/Summer offerings available in the shop.