S/S 2014

It's finally time to pack up the tweed and corduroy, and I've been hard at work preparing the Spring/Summer collection for the shop.  Available tomorrow in the physical store and appearing online  next week.

An Affordable Wardrobe

249 Elm Street, 2nd Floor

Davis Square, Somerville, MA

open Saturday 10am-2pm

Tweed For Spring

I do enjoy Winter, and don't mind a cold day for wearing tweed and flannel, but I'll be damned if even I can't wait for the cold to let up a little and have me a balmy walk in the sunshine. Looks like this week the sun will at least smiling on us, and while the temperatures creep up a little, we can't dive head first into khaki and tennis shirts. And though the streets may be full of people in short sleeves with no coats on, in reality we still need to keep at least comfortably warm. If you're looking to ditch the overcoat (finally), remember that tweed, the stalwart fabric of the coldest times of year, can also be perfect for Spring.

A tweed sports jacket can offer a welcome replacement to your overcoat or Barbour jacket when worn as a alternative to outerwear. It helps to keep color and weight in mind here. Many of the best tweeds are seen in earthy shades of brown ad olive, maybe punctuated with burnt orange. While I do love these fabrics, these colors are too "Fall". This time of year, I stick with lighter tans or cool grey, as seen here. Because of the roughness of the cloth, it's a good choice worn casually with jeans, and it gives me the pockets I need for keys, phone, and all the other crap we can't seem to live without these days.

I like a jacket like this tailored very soft with enough extra room for a sweater underneath. It being (almost) warm (?...not really) today, I've swapped the Shetland sweater that has been an almost daily piece since November with a lighter cotton crew neck. I may still be wearing heavy oxford shirts, but a pink stripe livens things up a bit, as dose a pink pocket square. Baby steps folks. Don't be the guy in shorts shivering at the bus stop.

A recent thrift shop acquisition, this jacket features my (current) favorite combinations of English/American hybrid details: natural shoulders, a 3/2 front, with darts, and real braided leather button. File also under the "What's in a Name" department:

Homework leads me to discover that Sibley's was a small department store chain in New York State, with it's flagship in Rochester. Absorbed by Kauffman's in 1990, and later Macy's, the store no longer exists. Stanley Blacker is a name I remember men of my Dad's generation wearing when I was a kid. It wasn't super expensive, but of generally good quality and traditional styling, in a time when traditional American style was popular enough to support lower tier brands of reasonable quality. Maybe not the most special thing I ever found in a thrift shop, but it fits well, feels good, and for $7.49, it will do just fine until a better replacement comes along.

As a side note, I've also recently discovered that leather and suede saddle shoes are the absolute JAM with jeans. This pair is vintage L.L.Bean, made in USA by Walkover, with a comfortable brick red rubber sole. Acquired through direct purchase from a consignor in my own shop for $25, and worth every penny.

We may all want the cold weather to be over, but it's not something we can control. With a few touches of color and some small changes, you can breath new life into your tweed and manage to keep warm and be seasonally appropriate. You can wear tweed in the Spring.

p.s. speaking of tweed, I have a knockout English shooting jacket available on eBay now. If you're a 46 long check it out. If not, look at it anyway as a reminder that there is s real reason why we call these things "sports" jackets.

p.p.s. the Spring Clearance Sale continues in the AAW Shop, with many items on deep discount. Enjoy an additional 10% off everything using discount code SPRING2014 at checkout through midnight Saturday.

The S.P.C.P.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of pairs of innocent, high quality trousers are passed over and cast aside, simply for having a pleated front. Don't wait for the fashion media to tell you pleats are o.k., that comfort and style come in many forms. Won't you please help?

-Brought to you by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pleats

p.s. don't forget to send a tie to show support for Mayor Rivera

Giving Back The House

Pictured above is a heap of stuff recently posted for sale as the beginnings of the warm weather collection in the Affordable Wardrobe online shop. Somewhere  underneath that pile is the family dining table. Not pictured in the background is a comfortable chair also piled high, and a rack in the back room full of clothing in process, as well as bags of stuff everywhere. By contributing to our ongoing fundraising campaign at Indiegogo, you'll not only help me grow my business and serve my customers better with more new items and quicker shipping,  you'll also be giving Mrs.G., the Boy and the Girl their house back.

Please allow me to say that asking for money in this way isn't easy for me. When I first launched the internet shop, I worried about how I was going to balance doing business and keeping this blog true to its roots. It hasn't been easy, and I probably fall short of the mark sometimes, but I do try to keep the two as separate as possible. I appreciate both your contributions to date and your patience with my having to be so vocal about it while the campaign runs. I remember as a child my parents watching the Channel 2 Auction, our local PBS television fundraiser, and thinking how I couldn't wait for it to be over so my shows would come back on. It's a little how I feel about this. I'll do my best to confine the begging to Facebook and Twitter, but it's bound to turn up here once in a while in the next few weeks. If you would like to contribute, follow the link in the right sidebar.

Again, thank you all.

H-E-double hockey sticks

The man from Brooks Brothers: Vintage 1980s Brooks Brothers "346" kelly green hopsack blazer,acquired through trade; Brooks Brothers pinpoint oxford shirt, made in USA, thrift store; Brooks Brothers navy chinos with embroidered kelly green whales, thrift store; J. Press ribbon belt: gingham square, cut from an old shirt.

It is my great honor to declare "Go To Hell" season officially open. Gentlemen, do your worst!

Firsts of the Season

 Ribbon belts and kelly green blazer

 Bare, pasty, white ankles

 Massachusetts hippie shoes

 Mussels steamed in beer with bacon, crispy shoe string fries

 Excellent local beer to wash it down with

 Periwinkle blue slubby herringbone silk and linen jacket...

 ...that happens to be a suit. (traded, more here)

 the Boy playing soccer

and sideline seats with my favorite Girl.

It's been a rough week around here, but now that it's over, I'm happy to report that the good far outweighs the bad. Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts, Now lets forget it and get on with things.

p.s. new stuff today in the Shop. Hows that for getting on with it?

A Dash of Color

I like to make an attempt to look put-together, even when I'm not really dressing up. Since a tie is frequently too much these days (as stated here), Springtime affords a man the option of ribbon belts in a myriad of stripes and prints. They can add the dash of color of a tie, in an easy, casual way:

My own collection isn't huge, but it's adequate. A grouping of stripes in colors similar to what I might wear in a tie, one madras plaid, and  a couple of go-to-hell prints. If you're wearing khakis or go-to-hell pants with a tennis shirt, a leather belt simply won't do. If you're wearing a blazer and bow tie, and you're a brave man, try one on for size. Just stay keep them away from dress pants and suits (but you already knew that, right?)

Cheap, fun, and eminently collectible, ribbon belts satisfy my style conscious side as well as the insatiable hoarder in me. And here's a little secret: look for these in the women's accessories at the thrift shop. All the best ones wind up there.

p.s. the Shop is as stocked as ever. Check it out.

Announcement

Another Whiff of Spring

Pasty white ankles. I'll be damned if I'm going to wear shorts in March, but I will leave the socks at home when the temperature reaches sweaty levels. A whiff of Spring, just a whiff.

p.s. with Mother Nature threatening 80 degrees in the next few days, I've decided it's time to clear out the coats and tweed. Winter items at deep discount in the Shop right now. Click on the Sale! icon in the sidebar to go there directly.

p.p.s sorry for all the shilling lately. Back to our usual programming tomorrow.

Another Whiff of Spring

Just warm enough today to leave the Barbour at home. Good thing, too. With this mild Winter we just had, that coat has seen a lot of use, and it's just possible that I might i fact be sick of wearing it just now.

The bright orange stripe in this Ben Silver repp tie ($1.99) may be small, but it goes a long way to lifting this relatively staid combination of blue check shirt and brown tweed jacket out of the doldrums. A whiff of Spring, just a whiff...

Cotton khakis make an early appearance. For many, khakis are a go-to year round trouser, but I find them to be too light in Winter, even when temps are unseasonably warm. Now that they're out of the closet, they'll likely make multiple appearances each week until they go away again.

The scarf and gloves I carried in my tote bag as extra protection against late night chill have been supplanted by a light wool crew neck in crazy orange ($1.00) one of my new favorite items. Another whiff of Spring? Or is this sweater a deep breath? Either way, I love it.

If this ensemble looks familiar, it may be that you've seen something like it before:

Bill (my trusty suit form) wore it to the Drill Hall Flea Market recently. Is it mild schizophrenia to be influenced by oneself in sartorial choices? Or merely unforgivable narcissism?

This outfit combines warm elements with lighter ones, drab colors and bright ones, in a way that pays heed to both the time of year and the weather of the day. I say something like this every year in early Spring (and again in early Autumn): transitional dressing can often be the most difficult to maneuver, but also the most fun.



(Another) Whiff of Spring

Little by little, the bright colors that are the hallmark of East Coast GTH style come creeping in. Funny, these days I feel that wearing things like pyjamas, flip flops and underwear in public as clothing shouts "Go To Hell" a lot more loudly than bright colors and embroidery, but that's just me.

Today, a bright orange sweater is the thing. Acquired for $1.99 at a thrift shop, the only tag it bore was one saying "100% wool". No brand name, no real way of discerning its age or provenance. Just a really good sweater in a cheery color for a couple of bucks. With a striped shirt and barest hint of oh-so-pretentious ascot showing, under a Barbour jacket, it's a nice whiff of Spring....just a whiff.

Below, favorite charcoal flannels with favorite tassel loafers and bottle green socks. I think I need to buy a dozen pair of these socks. I find they go with almost anything, in a way that is a whiff quirky without being silly...just a whiff.

p.s. the Shop will go into sleeper mode beginning tomorrow night for my upcoming appearance at the Drill Hall Flea this Sunday. Out of towners, if you've been eyeing something, get it now before I sell it live on Sunday.

A Whiff of Spring

...but just a whiff. While we seem to have skipped Winter entirely this year, and the weather has been nice, it is still not yet March. And while I find myself surrounded with men running around in t-shirts and flip flops (dammit, already?), I won't take things that far. Still, a nod to the pleasantness of a bright sunny day is well in order:

This combination of bright green cords with zesty argyles and tassel loafers is just the thing when a bit of sunny dash is needed in what is still, technically, Winter. Up top, a navy and white micro gingham shirt, navy Shetland sweater, camel colored cashmere topcoat, and Donegal tweed cap.

A whiff of Spring...just a whiff.