Tweed Twice

A brown and tan herringbone tweed jacket in soft. luxurious wool, natural shoulders, two button darted front, braided leather buttons, half lined, and a tie in brown tweed with red, yellow, and orange flecks, square end, vintage 1960s Rooster for Yale Co-op. The leftovers of the Top Shelf Flea. (No one bought these??? C'mon fellas, get on the stick.) Seen with a brushed twill shirt with spread collar in rust, hunter green, and black tattersall check on cream ground by Ralphie ($4.99), collar pin worn as tie pin from the Andover Shop, and an ecru pocket square I've had since Simon's.

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Below, 8 wale cords in "cinnamon" and brown cotton socks with olive and rust checks, both by Lands' End in some crazy end of season feeding frenzy,  Brown suede split toe Allen Edmonds "Bradley", had for a song.

You can't beat Autumn for richness of texture and color. Dress for the season. It's more fun that way.



AAW x Boston Globe

photo: Dina Rudick, Boston Globe staff

The Boston Globe was kind enough to run a full page in the Thursday Style magazine on the goings-on around here of your truly. I'm humbled. Special thanks to Andrew Doerfler for the recognition.

Another One in the Bag

Top Shelf Flea Market 6 is officially in the bag, and I am truly grateful for the terrific response we had from customers and vendors alike. While it's true that it is a giant undertaking on my part to pull this off, I can't do any of it without the hard work of each and every vendor and the support of readers and community members. Thank you everybody, and here's looking forward to  a great Top Shelf 7.

p.s. I was pretty busy all day, and barely had time to snap a photo. If anyone has better shots to share, please email me at anaffordablewardrobe@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to share them here.

p.p.s. the Shop is back up and running, with many new items continuing to go up for sale in the next few days. Stop by and stay tuned.

Top Shelf Flea Market 6 Today!

Sunday 21 October 2012

George Dilboy VFW Post 529

371 Summer Street, Davis Square, Somerville, MA

Noon till 5pm

As usual, an excellent collection from a great group of vendors.
If you live in the Boston area, drop by. We'd love to see you.

Pick Up The Thread

Q: What do...

a 1980s dead stock Brooks Brothers point collar candy striped shirt....

...complete with matching 1980s vintage price tag from the good old real Filene's Basement, the one that was actually in the basement beneath Filene's department store in Boston,....

a 1930s vintage Borsalino brown fedora from a hat shop in Milan,...

a range of 8 wale corduroy trousers in excellent Fall colors (the pink pair is from Chipp),...

an unworn pair of black bluchers by Paraboot,....

an old canvas work shirt with snaps and a corduroy collar made in USA by L.L. Bean,....

an unusual chamois cloth "fun shirt" made in USA by Orvis of Manchester, Vermont,....

and, of course, ties all day,

have in common?

A: they're all available at the Affordable Wardrobe booth at the sixth semi-annual Top Shelf Flea Market, Sunday, 21 October, Noon till 5 pm, at the George Dilboy VFW, 371 Summer Street, Somerville, MA

c'mon, you knew I was gonna do a plug eventually, right? See (some of) you Sunday.







Top Shelf Teaser : The Red Velvet Shoe

I'm not one to wear clothes from a school I didn't attend, but I have to admit that this vintage track jacket from our friend and Top Shelf Flea Market vendor Michelle of The Red Velvet Shoe is pretty damn cool.

This vintage 1940s silk robe ain't half bad either:

Michelle has one of the best selections of vintage clothing for women and children I've seen. I know this is a men's clothing blog, but I'm assuming many of you have wives and girlfriends who might be more inclined to accompany you to the Flea if they don't have to spend the afternoon listening to you geek out about 3/2 sack jackets and pebble grain longwings. More photos over at The Top Shelf Flea blog.



The Man From Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers isn't what it used to be. There was a time when you could tell a guy was wearing Brooks Brothers from half a block down the street. A certain combination of subtle but distinct details in cut, styling and fit was a clear signal. These days, its hard to know what that means, or meant, especially for younger guys who never saw it first hand. But when you see it all together, it still makes sense.

The high buttoning 3/2 roll...the undarted front...the natural barely padded shoulders. Combined with flat front, slightly high waisted pants with a conservative cut through the legs and cuffed hems. Behold the now iconic #1 sack suit. Acquired in trade some months ago from Newton Street Vintage, I've been waiting for a nice chilly day to wear it. On the feet, double soled shell cordovan longwings by Allen Edmonds. What else?

Given this suits late 1950s/early 1960s provenance, a narrow repp striped bow tie of similar vintage seemed the perfect choice. A soft rolling unlined button collar was also a given. Now usually I'm not one to go full blast vintage, preferring instead to mix older pieces with well made modern things, but in this case the combination picked itself.

All of it vintage,all of it made in USA, all of it Brooks Brothers. It's hard to argue with that.

p.s. there are some photos of what to expect from Eddigan's, a furniture consignment shop and Top Shelf rookie, over at the TSFM blog. Check it out.