Feast Or Famine

In thrift shopping, the most basic clothing items are often the most elusive. Odd as it may seem, you're often more likely the find unusual things than stalwart basics. With men's clothing, the basic items still get worn, and as such tend not to survive until the time comes to donate them. I have written on this topic before, and in my experience no garment has been harder to come by than a standard grey suit.

The classic grey suit had been so hard to find, in fact, that a few years ago when offered the chance to try custom through Imparali Tailors in New York, I immediately had one done up in charcoal grey in a year round weight wool. The suit has some minor points in the details that aren't entirely right, due mostly to my own miscommunication with the tailor, but in general I've been happy with that suit.

Then, in the past few months, the flood gates opened, and three other standard grey suits of excellent quality managed to find their way to me, each through a thrift channel of one kind or another. On the left we have the most recent acquisition, a mid grey tic weave in lightweight worsted with a ticket pocket and forward pleated trousers by Polo, from the heyday of USA production, had for $34.99 via ebay. In the center, a slightly heavier suit with a nailhead weave, also with forward pleats, by Paul Stuart, another ebay find, this one was $40. On the end, a heavy but soft flannel from the Andover Shop, gotten through trade with someone who bought it at a thrift shop. And that's not to mention the two suits I have in grey pinstripe, one for Summer and one for Winter.

Patience really is a virtue, especially so in thrift shopping. If you can only bide your time, every famine will be rewarded with a feast....eventually.

Back to Basics

Recently, I unearthed what was once an old favorite sweater. It had been languishing in the closet since getting stained last Winter. Nothing a trip to the dry cleaners, and overcoming laziness about it, couldn't fix. It's the simplest piece of clothing, but having it back these last few weeks reminds of the importance of getting back to basics.

You see, it's nothing exciting, just a tan v-neck sweater. But it goes well with any shirt I own, and makes me feel more "dressed" than I would wearing only a shirt and pants. It's a handy piece for this time of year, as we transition out of Winter.

Lucky for me, it happens to be a particularly nice one, a thrift store find had for only $5.99 from the House of Tweed, made in Scotland of New Lambswool. Looking back through old posts to find this photo, it seems I wore this sweater quite a lot in the last few years.

Worn with simple grey flannel slacks, practically any shirt, and tassel loafers, it is the perfect thing when casual but not sloppy is the order of the day. This saw me through a surprise few hours at work on my day off today. Last Sunday, with a navy striped shirt and penny loafers, I hosted my daughters fourth birthday party in it. With jeans, it makes me feel just a little more "grown up".

Red socks punch things up a bit. Argyles would have been jam as well.

I suppose I took this item for granted before, and I didn't think I missed it when it was gone. However, having it back only two weeks, I've worn it a half dozen times. Fortunately, such a thing can be had by almost any guy anywhere. You can get a good one at a good store, you can get a good one at a thrift store, you can get a reasonable one at a place like J. Crew, or even the Gap, or you can get a placeholder at Walmart. In any case, any man wishing to dress in a classic way with neat, basic pieces should have something like this. Few things work as well as getting back to basics.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop.

Basics: Honest Shirts

A few weeks ago, while ironing a shirt, I noticed that the collar was getting frayed enough to have gone past the level of "shabby chic" into to plain old shabby. The same thing has been happening to a number of my shirts. You may remember that desperation drove me to the outlets, an experience that can only be described as sour at best. But what to do? I still needed some new shirts.

Enter Lands' End, my favorite online source for honest and simple items like these. I picked up two recently, for less than $25 each.

One in soft pink royal oxford, a dressier version of the sturdy old oxford cloth, with a touch of sheen. It's a well made shirt of good fabric with thick buttons and a knock out collar roll. Certainly as good as the standard shirts offered at Brooks Brothers these days, and probably better than many of the shirts at that awful outlet store.

The other is a navy and hunter green tattersall check in soft twill, a bit heavier and great for Fall with a tweed jacket or wool sweater, Again, the collar roll is a huge selling point.



Shirts can be surprisingly hard to come by if you're like me and shopping regular retail is out of the question. Brooks Brothers frequently offers $3/$200, which isn't bad, I guess. But $200 is a big chunk out of my weeks wage. Mercer makes a great shirt, and so does the Andover Shop, but again, those are not even on my financial radar. Off price stores like TJ Maxx might have something, if you're lucky, but then you have to suffer the experience of shopping there. Not my thing.

Of course, there's always the thrift shops, which we all know have served me well, but that can be a crap shoot. Besides the randomness factor, there's the wear and tear. Shirts are made of thinner fabric that most other clothing and suffer more wear, being close to the body. Additionally, they get washed frequently in hot water, starched and pressed.Old shirts are great, and thrift stores offer the possibility of getting old styles that are no longer available But the shirts will already be worn, and likely won't last that long, certainly not as long as a new one. Thrift shops are great for finding a wonderful old tweed jacket or well made pair of shoes, but shirts get worn, get worn out, then get tossed.

 The shirts I got from Lands' End are honest good shirts. They aren't especially spectacular, but they're well made and styled traditionally. Sure. they may be made in China, but they also only cost a fraction of what some other makers are charging for similar quality. If you're a man of modest means who wears dress shirts with some frequency, these shirts are a steal. Save the big money for long lasting tailored clothing you can hand down to your sons. Shirts should always be good, but they don't need to be so precious.

p.s. Shop News. Occasionally, I get an item to sell that is rare enough that I will auction it rather than sell it through the store, such as the vintage morning suit I recently acquired. Items like these will be listed on Ebay. Any current Ebay auctions I'm offering will be visible through links in the sidebar at right Thanks.