Quote:
Originally Posted by Aerkuld
Yes! This is a bit of a story, but stay with me . . .
A couple of years ago I hurt my foot. Turned out it was plantar fasciitis from wearing cheap, unstructured sneakers. Well, I'm from a town in England famous for it's high quality shoes. Before I moved to the US I visited the factory stores now and again, so have a couple of dozen pairs which I rarely wore. I decided to start wearing those instead of sneakers as they provide significantly better support. A couple of weeks and my foot was fine, no problems since. Also, my shoes received a lot of compliments and I really enjoyed wearing them. Problem was, I was very much of a dress-down, jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, and didn't have enough smart stuff to wear with many of them.
I decided to try an experiment and improve the quality of my wardrobe without buying any new clothes. Partly this was because I'd decided a large majority of new clothing is junk, and partly because I wanted to see if it was possible to shop at thrift stores and get high quality clothing.
It turns out you can! I already owned a couple of suits and jackets, so checked the measurements on those and started thrifting. I will say, it can be a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack but there's a lot of high-end menswear for offer if you find the right stores or visit frequently enough. I look for stuff in a classic style as that won't look out of date in the way most 'fashion' items do. These also tend to be a higher quality garment in the first place. I generally look for sport coats, suits, and ties. Belts are one thing which are shockingly expensive if you want to buy a good quality new one. It's difficult to find good ones in thrift and there's lots of crap, but every now and then one will turn up. I'm VERY selective about what I buy; new looking, hardly worn, high quality materials, generally European, or North American tailoring, and it has to a perfect fit. With practice you can tell well-made stuff just by look. I can scan the racks quickly and tell what's what. I don't even bother getting stuff off a hanger unless it looks 'right'. I take a tailor's tape measure with me to measure stuff up, and usually don't even need to bother trying it on. I've since bought a dozen or so jackets including Brioni, Burberry, Canali, Gieves & Hawkes, Oxxford. Some Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss stuff is OK, but not all of it. Depending on where you shop it becomes apparent they may not know, or may not care what they're selling. Even adding the cost of dry cleaning, these can be an amazing deal. Again, I'm super picky and there's an awful lot of rubbish I'll pass up on, but it's easy enough to find some really nice things once you know what you're looking for.
I really don't wear jeans and t-shirts much anymore and will wear a jacket even when my wife and I are going shopping. I constantly receive compliments when we're out, and from friends, neighbors, and coworkers who seem to think I've been spending a fortune at Neiman Marcus or some boutique menswear store. None of them have any idea where I shop or that I spend pennies on the dollar for it. I don't care that it's 'used' and feel quite smug wearing a $2k jacket that I paid $30 for. Oh, and I'm being fairly conservative when I say a $2k jacket. You should look at what some of this stuff costs!
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Generally I can't find the Itie stuff in my size....I have to go to Barum and Bailey to buy tent sized stuff. That is not to say that I haven 't seen and bought ...Brioni, Zegna, Hermes Burberry etc garnets before.. Even a Mens Fur coat and those Dragon azz Blues... that fit
I have probably 15 + pairs of Italian Zanella wool slacks.. that fit. 12 in one visit aat $6. ea..$300 ea. to $600 retail.
One Saturday evening 9 Brioni Sports shirts made for Neiman..$6 each...600 ea at Neiman.
I do not need anymore cloths or shoes..so I barely even look.
People economic demographics have changed over the years...beofre 2014 it was rich pickins...after the great recession of 08 it has slowly declined..people don't have as much money to throw around anymore.
You can ell by the watching the stuff as it comes out of the back room..junk junk and more junk.
My season is to start unloading..
Today a pair of Mauri Alligator slip ons, David Eden Ostrich and Croc slip ons and a pair of Louis Vuitton driving shoes..