Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Patience is a virtue

When I first started thrifting seriously for clothes, I bought everything of even middling quality that came close to fitting me. It was only upon finding that I had far too many useless, ill-fitting clothes cluttering up my closet that I had to change my mindset to one of biding my time until the right items came along.

Turnbull and Asser tie

Although I haven't been finding the wealth of ties that I used to when I went out more often, I've still run across a couple treasures lately. One is this heavy silk Turnbull and Asser in white with navy stripes and check. It has a couple tiny little pulls, but they're only noticeable on super close inspection.

Upper shot

Pants and shoes

While I haven't been hitting the physical stores as much as in the past, I've managed to pick up a few great finds here and there on ebay. One example is this pair of made in Italy J Crew wingtip boots. J Crew isn't always known for their quality, and these boots looked ridiculously beat in the auction photos, but a couple points stuck out to me while looking at the auction.

J Crew boots

The first is that the heel is actually stacked wood, and the boots are entirely made of leather (except the heel). There are a few J Crew lines that have been licensed by seriously quality makers (in fact, they have done some with Alden), and these appear to be top shelf. One of the things I'd wanted over the past year was a pair of boots just like this, and instead of forking over $300 or more for Allen Edmonds or something of similar quality, I managed to make these mine for under $50 including shipping. After a quality polish, they've done quite nicely, and I'm guessing that if I take care of them, they'll last me a decade or so.

I'll admit it's fund to splurge and strut your stuff with something new once in awhile, but I somehow manage to get that same feeling when I find a screaming deal.

3 comments:

  1. I don't think the heel's made of wood. What appears to be wood are just a few layers of leather. Ask your cobbler and share the answer, please. I'm curious.

    Best,
    Mike

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  2. Mike, I do believe you are correct in that they are stacked leather. I clicked my heels together a couple times on accident and the sound was almost unmistakably "woody" sounding, but I do think that tightly-stacked leather could make the same sound.

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  3. I love the large pattern fishbone jacket. It lets the tie stick out just right. Great boots.

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