October of '90 was the last time I was there on Dunster Street.
No idea either when they closed their doors.
With Press on Mount Auburn and Andover on Holyoke it made for a nice morning's shopping before wandering down to the Coop to try your luck...
Back to Boston for lunch then hit Brooks on Newbury Street.

Simple pleasures!

(More to come as time allows)

Hardcore Trad indeed.
And yet their shop premises at 12-18 Dunster Street, Cambridge weren't.
After shopping at Press and then talking the short walk to The Crimson Shop ("Clothiers & Booters to Gentlemen") it was a bit of a culture shock - A large plate glass store front and, once inside, bare white walls, neutral (Grey?) carpeting and pale wood and chrome shop fittings. The result of an early '80's refit or new premises, I'd guess. The counter was one of those large plain white 'stations' in the middle of the shop floor. Very 'Gap'.
No 'soul'.
But the clothes were fantastic - all with The Crimson Shop's own lable and that big red 'C' like a crescent moon. Like Press they must have had others make for them, certainly the shirts were by (the old) Sero and had both companies' names on the label  - 'Sero for The Crimson Shop'.
The prices were very good too - Less expensive than Press and Brooks, but I would say easily equal in quality. In '90 a basic Brooks classic OCBD was $48 and I have a receipt from that year for the Crimson (why do I keep these things?) showing one Sero made 'fancy' imported Blue/Blue Tattersall Parliament poplin BD for $45 and a Sero Madras BD for $37.50 marked down to $30 as it was old summer stock they were selling off. The shirt was bought as Deep Red, Navy, Yellow, Green and is now soft Pink, pale Blue and 2 shades of Khaki after 16 years of washing & wearing. It'll be a sad day when it finally disintergrates.
Their watchstraps were great too - 18mm, real ribbon, not nylon, with their own ribbon 'keeper' and (now that they are showing signs of wear) a white cotton interlining inside the 2 halves of the ribbon to make them a little more 'cushion-y'. A nice little bit of attention to detail I think, and all for $3 a pop.
Tailored wear I admired, but bought from Press (having fallen out of love with Brooks to an extent by then). Certainly all the Ivy details were there mixed in with some 2 button & darted offerings also I'm sure. The focus was 'Trad', though.
I've a holiday photo from the time which has the Crimson's Autumn '90 window display in the background - a lovely Sandy-coloured Tweed 3-to-2 with perfect shoulder slope and a great swirl of Rep ties fanned out by a tower of shirts. A work of art!
Who could have known back then that it wasn't going to last? And that a label which we thought of as secondary to Press and Brooks would acquire the cachet it now enjoys?
As soon as Trip Chauncey lends me his time-machine I'll be going back for some more watchstraps and that Sandy Tweed...

Miles.

Last edited by Miles Away (2006-09-14 03:23:48)

Last edited by Miles Away (2006-09-14 09:21:49)