Until Further Notice....

By now you've noticed that posting around here has ground nearly to a halt. Some of you have even been kind enough to email and make sure all was well on my end. It is, thanks. Allow me to give a brief explanation of what to expect from the AAW you know and love in the near future.

I've been writing this blog for just over six years now, since September of 2008, and it's been great fun for the most part.When I started, I felt that the then burgeoning #menswear blogosphere phenomenon needed a cheapskate's voice, and I voluntarily stepped into to fill that role, having honed my cheapskate skills over a lifetime. What I didn't know then was how much I enjoyed sharing my thoughts in writing. I turns out I do, a lot. I spent many years previous performing in bands and had to give that up when my children came along. I guess I didn't know how much I enjoyed having an audience either.

Writing this blog has brought many surprises into my life. I launched a business based on my yammerings here. Every now and then, somebody sent me some expensive thing for free, which was also nice. But best of all, I've met more than a few people who will be lifelong friends through this shallow little pursuit. Who knew?

In any case, after six years I find myself running out of things to say here. Add to that the fact the since August ehow.com has actually been paying me (imagine it) once a week to write for them. All this has been making it increasingly difficult to regularly deliver what you've come to expect here, and so rather than churn out pointless posts just to keep the page fresh, I think it's high time to take a rest and collect my thoughts. I'll still be active over at tumblr if you really need a Giuseppe Timore fix. 

I enjoy blogging and hope to get back into soon, with a new approach and some fresh ideas. Until then, please stand by.

p.s. an excellent new employment opportunity looms on the horizon, and as such I will sadly have to shutter the AAW brick and mortar "secret store" in the coming weeks, moving business back to online only. As such, everything in the store, both physical and online, is 25% off until further notice, Use discount code THANKYOU25 at checkout.

The Prodigal Son

I've written before about the perseverance involved in successful thrift shopping. Often, suits will be separated into their constituent parts and priced individually, but a pro-level thrift shopper (cheapskate) knows how to find the orphaned components and attempt to reunite them with their missing family. Not long ago, I brought together a three piece suit, from three different racks. Many other times I managed to put coat and trousers back together. Once, I completed a suit by finding the two pieces more than a week apart from one another. But the suit above marks a new level of thrift serendipity, even for a seasoned and perhaps even jaded cheapskate such as your humble author.

Last weekend, a regular consigner brought in the jacket pictured above, with the caveat that he knows I don't want orphaned suit coats, but this one is from Brooks Brothers, and maybe this one could exist as an odd jacket. My initial reaction was to answer with a resounding "no", but then he showed me the coat. Almost immediately, something occurred to me. I went to the trousers in my shop, and brought out a pair in the matching cloth, also Brooks Brothers, and in a waist size and inseam consistent with the size of the coat. Thing is, I've had these trousers in my possession for nearly two years. A new one, even for me.

Divine intervention? A prodigal son returns.

p.s. This suit, plus a number of other great new items, now available in the Shop. Check it out.

Happy 4th of July

As an old retail guy, I have a tendency to be something of a curmudgeon about most holidays, as they usually mean a lot of extra work malling sure everyone one else, most of whom have the day off, have an especially good time at all the celebrations I won't be attending, because I have to work. However, I do like to indulge in a whiff of the festive dress. The trick is to keep things civilized, and as understated as possible. Red and white braces on a blue and white shirt are kept in place with a navy tie bearing club crests rather than stars. Khakis, a navy blazer, and brown tassels hold it down. Keep the American flag tie and red,white, and blue afro clown wig at home. Please.

In celebration of the Fourth, An Affordable Wardrobe will be hosting a sale. Now through midnight Sunday, 6 July, enjoy 20% off your entire purchase in our webstore using discount code 4JULY2014 at checkout. This offer also applies in our "brick and mortar", located at 249 Elm Street in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Saturday, 5 July, where we will be keeping extended hours, 10 am until 5 pm. (with perhaps a brief midday closure for lunch). Hope to see you there.

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

Best of 2013

I may be a day late and a dollar short in my Happy-New-Year-2013-We-Hardly-Knew-Ya post, but so be it. As a hardened retail veteran, I've been working a lot these last few weeks, and I took most of the first to be lazy and have fun with the kids. Besides, regular readers know that I've never been one for the typical holiday posts, preferring not to write Happy (fill in the blank) just because thats whats done. We have enough of that everywhere we look these days. But 2013 was a big year for me and An Affordable Wardrobe, so this time out I feel a few words are in order.

January saw the launch of the infrequent series of posts called "Thrifty Kids", in which  I feature the thrift store finds that we (mostly Mrs. G) turn up for the children. Perhaps a bit too precious for some of you, but I do have some cute kids, who wear some cute clothes. February saw Boston get buried under some old school deep snow, and I wore my incredibly heavy vintage 1950s L.L. Bean black and red hunting pants for the first time. As I write this, the snow piles up outside and it looks like I'll be digging them out of the closet again tomorrow.

March saw some big hauls for the personal closet. In a matter of weeks, I acquired a cashmere navy blazer and a cashmere glen check jacket, both hand made for the same man by tailor Virgil Carducci of Manhattan. The two have become such frequent favorites that I find it hard to believe I've had them less than a year. That's good clothes for you. It was in those same weeks that I unearthed a killer tartan jacket that kept my mood festive throughout the hectic Christmas weeks.

In April someone told the internet at large  that "what's wrong with this country" has something to do with guys like me bringing folding chairs to watch our kids play soccer. No big deal. But May and June were the big ones. That's when I decided that the online store branch of AAW had outgrown my house, and I appealed to you through an Indiegogo campaign to help me move to a tiny version of brick and mortar. It was with your generous help that I was able to secure a small room above an Irish  pub, right near my home, to ply my trade in the second hand haberdashery business. I moved in early July and opened later that month. As though that weren't enough to keep any man busy, I was also privileged to be featured in a short film by some gracious students at Tufts Universirty, and we all got to revel in the gossip party that was the outing of "Richard" aka "WASP 101" in the now embarrassingly notorious muck-raking witch hunt that happened at Ivy Style. A busy Summer indeed.

As the year rolled on, so many other good things happened. The vintage tuxedo I'd been needlessly keeping in the back of the closet made an appearance, even if it was only as a Halloween costume, and one of the most personally rewarding transactions since starting my business involved yet another antique formal suit, and I closed the year with what may the best thrift store restoration project of my career as a cheapskate to date. And all of this is only a slice of the ways I've been blessed to be running this blog this past year. Looking back, it's been a lot of hard work and sweat, but I could't ask for better. It's been a great year at AAW, and I owe all of that to you, my readers, customers, family, and friends. Here's to a great 2014!

p.s. Don't forget the 20% off sale runs through Sunday 5 January, using discount code NEWYEAR2014 at checkout. Also good in the store Saturday, 4 January from 10-2. Stop by to say hi, and maybe have a Mimosa.

Rules of Thrifting : Size Matters

A good fit is truly the most important factor in dressing well. That's why it can be so important, especially in thrift shops, to ignore numbers and tag sizing most of the time.

Pictured above are three similar cable knit sweaters from Brooks Brothers, 1 "S", 1 "M", and 1 "L". Common sense would have you believe that there is these sweaters would fit three different men of different builds. But you'd be wrong. Despite the complete difference in sizing, these three sweaters are roughly the same size. Each one fits me (42 reg/36 waist) reasonably well, with only the "L" being slightly fuller all around.

S,M,L, or "alpha sizing" as it's known, is at best ambiguous. Numeric sizing is perhaps less so, being based on an actual measurement, but even that can be unreliable given the increased proliferation of "vanity sizing" (you know, but jeans that measure 37 inches with a tape measure but say 34 on the tag). The only real way to get clothes that fit is to try things on. It either fits or it doesn't. In thrift shops, this can be more difficult as dressing rooms can frequently be either gross or non-existent. For the die hard, I recommend taking measurements of a pair of pants and a jacket that fit you well, and bringing a tape measure along on your hunting trips. And don't let vanity get in your way. Why leave behind a stunning British tweed simply because the tag says 44 and you insist you only wear 42?

Size matters...the actual size, not the one written on the tag.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop, including the three sweaters pictured in this post.

The Value of Things

I shave with an old fashioned style, albeit rather new, safety razor. While its true I appreciate it for its aesthetics and old world charm, I do actually prefer the shave I get when using it. Despite the recent popularity, chiefly among the hipster crowd, of manly nineteenth century, whiskey and beard stuff, the blades have become increasingly hard to find. I know they can be had online, but I'm the kind of guy who doesn't think to buy razor blades until the last one has worn out, and can;t always wait for delivery.

Yesterday, I found them for sale in a local Rite Aid pharmacy, for $7.99 for 10 blades (?!?!?!). CVS pharmacy had them for $7.19 for 10 (again, ?!?!?!?!). So I made the trip out to Market Basket, a local grocery store chain that caters to poor people, you know, the kind of store where the prices are unbelievably low and the produce is always fresh because they go through so much of it. I love the place. Besides catering to lower income folks, they also cater to older people, and store brand blades there were 2/$3.00, packages of 10. They appear to be the same make as the store brand blades in both the other shops I visited. I managed to get 20 blades and a new cake of shaving soap for $4.24. 

The two pharmacies are more convenient, but I have never seen the concept of paying a premium for convenience to be more blatantly true. 

p.s. New stuff in the Shop. Check it out. 

p.p.s. Attention size 38 short: crazy awesome bright red Harris Tweed jacket for sale. Do you dare?

New in the Shop: Alterations

Regular readers of this blog know that if I have anything to teach anyone about building a wardrobe successfully out of leftovers and thrift scores, it is the importance of a good tailor. Having clothing properly fitted by a skilled tailor really should be an imperative for anyone who looks to be considered well dressed. With thrift store clothing, it's just as true. In the end, well fitted clothing, no matter what the original provenance, will always look better than any garment requiring alteration. Good clothes are to some degree only as good as their fit.

An Affordable Wardrobe is proud to announce that we will be offering alterations service in-house as of this coming weekend. Find the clothes you need, and I'll fit them for you, deliver them to my tailor, and have them ready in quick time to be picked up in the Shop at your convenience. As far as I know, this service is the first of its kind offered in a second hand store.

I've struck a partnership with Dick Robason and his crew at Le Couturier House of Alterations in Cambridge. A family business with generations of experience in the tailoring of fine garments, they give the kind of expert service one expects when dealing in quality garments, second hand or not. I'm really excited about this new development in the AAW Shop.

p.s. after nearly a month of neglect while I concentrated on setting up the physical Shop, the online Shop has finally been given some much needed attention. Many new items have been added today, with many more to come soon. See it all here.

Coupon

The AAW live Shop (perhaps "Showroom" is a better word) is now keeping regular, if scant, hours. If you're a Boston area local, print this coupon and receive 15% off your purchase. See you soon.

Freedom in the Restrictions

Having written this blog some five years or so now, I sense a pattern of writers block that occurs each year just about now. Regular readers will no doubt have noticed it here recently. I suppose the paucity of posts can be attributed to a few things. No doubt setting up my "secret shop" has been very time consuming, and besides, the inherent laziness of Summer can't help  but creep in, especially when it comes to performing unpaid work. But there is one reason above all that slows the gears to a grind.

This is, as you know, a blog primarily about men's clothing. I use my own clothes almost exclusively as topics of discussion. While it's true that I have a penchant for the brightly colored so-called "go-to-hell" aestethic, clothing like that will get you only so far. It may make for good photos and fun discussion, but even I can't wear it as often as you might think I do. The fact is, from July until the weather changes to tweed, you will find me in some combination of navy jacket and tan trousers upwards of five days a week. I've written about this "sometimes uniform" before. There's really only so much you can write about it. ADG did a pretty good job recently, as is his wont, and his post caused me to shelve this one. However, a week later with little else to talk  about and not wanting so cram to much business info down the gullet, I've decided to run it anyway.

Pictured above is the line-up that is my Summer dress clothes. Three blazers probably seems like a lot to any sensible person who isn't needlessly obsessed with unnecessary clothing (ask my wife), but I need them all for different reasons. There's the linen one with white buttons, on the left, for the hottest days. There's the gossamer wool hopsack by Southwick, in the center, an indefatigable classic that is actually the lynch pin of my entire wardrobe, and there's the double-breasted, side vented number on the right, the most dashing of the group, for when a bit more formality is desired.  And then there's the tan trousers: classic flat fronts from Brooks Brothers, a very lightweight pair by Alan Rouleau of Boston, a real pair of military surplus, a fuller cut pair with forward pleats in a linen and cotton herringbone, another forward pleated pair in cotton and silk, and on, and on. Why do I need all these different versions of the same thing? Probably no good reason, but here is my justification.

Variety is a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be bad. There is a certain freedom to be found in restrictions. It's a common theory among artists of all kinds that the more limited the parameters, the more there is for expression. By removing all superfluous choice, one is free to hone in on all the little minute details that differentiate dressing well from merely dressing. A combination like a navy jacket and tan trousers is right for so many occasions, and works well with numerous combinations of shirt and tie, from very plain and formal, to bold stripes, plaids, or anything else. You can concentrate more on cut and style, opting for easy American tailoring for one occasion, with flat front trousers and soft shoulders, and more aggressive tailoring for another, opting for pleats, side vents and a stronger shoulder. You can wear this combo as easily with sharply creased slacks and a white shirt as with soft old trousers and a polo. It is all purpose, so much so that even a clotheshorse like me will continue to resort to it with great frequency and little compunction.

There is freedom min the restrictions....even if does lead to boring blogging sometimes.

p.s. don't forget about the 20% off Summer sale in the online Shop this week. 20% off everything through midnight Saturday using discount code SUMMER2013 at checkout. Locals can take advantage of 25% savings in person at the live Shop Saturday, 10 August, from 11am-2pm. 249 Elm Street, 2nd Floor, Somerville, MA (Davis Square)

SALE!

An Affordable Wardrobe Summer Sale!!

Take 20% off everything in the online shop,

now through midnight, 10 August 2013

Use discount code SUMMER2013 at checkout.

Secret Shop

The live version of the An Affordable Wardrobe Shop, or what the kids and I have taken to calling the "secret shop", will have a preliminary launch this Saturday, 27 July, from 10am-2pm. If you're in the Boston area, drop by and introduce yourself, enjoy an Aperol Spritz, hear some jazz on vinyl, and maybe even buy something.

The racks are jammed full of great Summer goods, with a little bit of tweed and other heavy stuff for the forward looking among you. Best of all, they haven't fallen of the wall ... yet.

And with some artwork on the walls, a comfy chair, and a KLH record player, the room is feeling nice and cozy. It's comfortably air conditioned, making it a great place to wear a jacket and tie for no good reason on an 85 degree day.

click on map for directions

Located in the heart of Davis Square, Somerville, above the Burren pub. Locals know what a great place Davis Square has become to spend a few hours of a lovely Saturday. With plenty of great places to eat and drink, as well as interesting shops, mostly independent and local, it's worth the trip. Drop in and see me, leave your favorite shoes to be fixed at Savas Shoe Repair, get a shave at Dente's Barber Shop, grab some lunch and a beer at any one of a number of places, and if you feel like staying, catch a movie at the historic Somerville Theatre. Easily accessible by car, bike, or public transportation via the red line to the Davis stop.

AN AFFORDABLE WARDROBE

249 ELM STREET, SECOND FLOOR 

SOMERVILLE, MASS. 02144

SAT. 27 JULY 2013, 10am-2pm

This is something of a trial run. I will be keeping regular hours there soon, which I will post here and on Facebook as things fall into place. As you may well imagine, I've got plenty to do putting the final toucheson things, so there will be no new blog posts here until after the weekend. I look forward to seeing you this Saturday. Please allow me once again to thank everyone who helped me get this going, purchased anything from me, or just read my blog. I owe all of this to you.

Shop Updates (Again)

Things are progressing well in the little room I'm pretending is a little store:

There's a sign on the door...

Racks on the wall with clothes hanging on them...

And Bill and the teddies seem to be enjoying their new home.

No promises, but I am pushing really hard for a soft opening/slash trial run/ slash shake my hand and pat me on the back session this coming Saturday, 27 July. Details to follow.

 

Shop Updates

Allow me to apologize for my recent absence. It takes a lot more than one might think to ready a single room of only a few hundred square feet for active service as a"secret" store. As such, every spare minute (of which I have few these days) has been spent there. But work is progressing nicely.

We've got a coat of new paint on the walls, a nice tan known officially as "tea and honey", should provide a good back drop for tweed, tartan, and the like.

These curtains are actually just a few yards of cotton gingham from Ikea, with the edges finished with stitchwitch and a warm iron. Real curtains are awfully damn expensive, don't you know.

Good fortune smiled on me in the form of this freestanding mirror, found for $4.99 at a local thrift. This is an especially good find, since thrift shops almost never sell these, preferring instead to keep them for in-store use.

This early 1960s credenza/hutch was a bit pricey for my usual range, but I think it was worth every penny of the $100 it cost me. Think of the piece of junk you'd get for that price in new furniture. Should make a good display for knitwear and other folded items, as well as provide a hiding place for paperwork and liquor (shh).

This tatty old rug was purchased new by my grandmother in the 60s, then moved upsatirs to our living room when I was a kid, where it proceeded to spend the next twenty years. The last ten or so it spent in the attic, gathering dust.

Mrs. G hates it, but she doesn't have the same affinity for the threadbare WASP aesthetic that I do. Besides, this is a men's place, best to have at least one thing the wife hates around.

I'll be back on track with the usual drivel soon. Also, look for more new Summer goods in the online Shop in the days to come.

Once again, I offer my sincerest gratitude to all my readers and customers, as well as all who helped in the fund raiser. The fact that this is taking shape for real is more than I could have imagined not too long ago, and I look forward to greeting you all there in person soon. A "soft opening" should be happening very soon. Stay tuned.

The Equalizer

It wasn't until recently that I became a fan of solid colored ties, but in the past year or so I have been won over with a vengeance. Recently, I've acquired a linen tie from the Andover Shop in solid navy, and it has become a Summer favorite. The linen has texture and heft, giving the tie visual interest. Plus, it opens the door for all sorts of other brightly colored shennanigans, providing a perfect foil to more go-to-hell items,

 

A powder blue linen and silk herringbone suit almost seems quiet when pinned down with this tie...

and the orange jacket? Still admittedly crazy but maybe a degree less shocking. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, but I bet it dresses up nicely with a lightweight charcoal grey suit, keeping things dressy but soft and comfortable in the spirit of the season.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop, plus many items on sale. Gotta keep things going while we prepare the live shop, don't ya know.

AAW Live

It is with the greatest pleasure and the humblest thanks that I proudly announce that An Affordable Wardrobe has a (soon to be) new home, located in a discreet second floor location in Davis Square, Somerville. Look for a live version of the Shop soon. As always,my undying thanks and gratitude go out not only to those who contributed to our recent crowdfunding campaign, but each and every one of you who have read and stuck with me these last five years. Here's to the next level,or "taking it to the bridge" as the kids used to say! Details to follow.

Gratitude

Our Indiegogo campaign has closed, and I would like to express my deepest thanks to all who helped out, whether with contributions or just spreading the word. We managed to raise $2690 from 67 contributors, a nice bit of seed money to get things started. I'm looking into a couple of nice locations, and hope to be have a more permanent version of the AAW shop set up by September.

As I said before, asking for money like this is not something that's easy for me. Not only to I appreciate your help with the fundraiser but also your patience in having to listen to me about it. AAW would be nothing without you.

Thank you.

First/Last

Tomorrow is the first day of Summer, and also the last day of our Indiegogo fund drive. That means I'll stop begging for money and you can all go to the beach. As always, thanks to all who have contributed. Help spread the word in our final hours or contribute if you can

Contribute here

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.

An Affordable Wardrobe....Storefront?

A storefront wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I launched the Indiegogo campaign a few days ago.I was looking at office space, but I find this place irresistible. Built in to the first floor of a house, it's just right for what will become the actual An Affordable Wardrobe shop. If I can raise $600 more by Monday I'll be able to make the initial payment and sign the lease for a public opening in September. If you live in the Boston area, you'll be able to shop in person.If you live anywhere else, I'll be able to expand and improve my webstore, offering new stuff much more frequently. Any help is appreciated. Many thanks to those of you who have already contributed.

Contribute here.