/\  great article, worth looking at the Times version for the photos .....

the Brooks Brothers we knew is not the Brooks of today ...

my brothers had some Brooksgate and Brooks Brothers shirts and sweaters when they were kids, I didn't, I had real Shetlands and nice buttondowns, but from local Ivy shops and Saks, Brooks was in Palm Beach but wasn't in Dade County yet .... I found Brooks when I was in high school one freezing weekend up north, I was typically underdressed, and was having a bad time with the cold but somehow wandered out of the Common and into a then-great Brooks and eventually got hooked up with a lambswool scarf, knit wool ski cap, and a pair of knit wool and leather gloves, and those things really helped, I was not prepared for that weather ..... still have the charcoal gray scarf, looks like new, kept getting stolen by this one klepto girl and I kept getting it back .....

when I got up north again it got cold by the end of September and I started to need a couple more sweaters, a few, more than one anyway, and my first move was to Press because it was right there, and I liked the Shaggy Dog I picked up but I couldn't always tolerate the wool, so while I wore my Shaggy Dogs, and Shetlands, and do to this day, I found that the clutch sweater for me was the Brooks Brothers made-in-England (black label with silver lettering) lambswool v-neck, in various colors, and the made-in-England Brooks Brothers cashmere v-neck, which were soft yet very durable, perfect thickness, comfortable around the neck ..... Brooks Brothers lambswool v-necks from England were amazing 1978-82 .....

after years of service I outgrew them, gave them away to some girls eventually, but the pics exist and I remember ... years later/a few years ago  I got a couple of the classic Brooks camel-colored cashmeres from eBay .....

then there was the Brooksflannel red and black squared tattersall buttondown in 55/45 Scottish-woven wool/cotton, open chest pocket, shirt tails, phenomenal shirt, still have it, got it October 1978, looks great with everything .... that Brooksflannel was ace enough to hang with the supernal English-made Press Viyellas of those years, which had flap pockets, excellently proportioned plain collars, and coat tails ..... also had a very nice pair of mid-gray winter flannel trousers from Brooks, still have them, they were nice in the cold weather, got them as an upgrade to replace the less than comfortable Bean Woodsman wool trousers 

when I next Brooksed out for real I got Brooks-label penny loafers, Makers short-sleeve broadcloth buttondowns, Makers ties, Alden for Brooks cordovan penny loafers and calfskin tassel loafers, two different blue cotton chambray 3/2 patch sack sport coats, and pale yellow longtail no-logo polo shirt, all of which were really excellent and gave notably great value ....

loved those Brooks purchases, although I was getting lots of stuff from Press and Andover at the same time so I spread it around but this was how the holy trinity evolved for me

with the advent of eBay and the advice of some great friends I have been able to supplement my Brooks Brothers Makers shirt and sport coat holdings so I've got a higher percentage of Brooks in my wardrobe than ever before, which is pure magic