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#1 2019-07-29 09:23:05

mhalat
Member
Posts: 381

"Where do you buy your _________?"

I'm passionate about menswear, many would say a bit crazy about it. I'd imagine the majority of you posting here are the same. Ironically, for someone who is interested in looking good and making some form of impression, my least favourite question is "Where do you buy your jackets / shoes / etc.?" On one hand, I sincerely want to help people who want to look better. On the other hand, it makes me really uncomfortable to potentially have to explain why I spend what I do on my appearance to another person, for fear of value judgments, the jealousy around comp that is so frequent in corporate settings, or any number of other reasons. How do you guys handle such questions with grace and sincerity?

 

#2 2019-07-29 11:22:27

Goodyear welt
Ivyist At Large
Posts: 3089

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

All depends on who's asking for me. If its someone who's just as geeky about clothes, has similar taste and looks like their not scared to spend on quality garments its cool. I'm quite happy chatting about clothes.  If its someone who I can see wouldn't dream of spending say, $700 on a sports coat I'd tend to just mention a shop and change the subject.  I've found that a lot of men who say their into clothes don't really know what their talking about and are horrified at the idea of spending even $200 on a pair of pants. If their deluded or its all just lip service you can pick up on pretty quick. I guess the grace and sincerity has to work bothways.


Rocking traditional, current and classic Italian Ivy since 2011.

 

#3 2019-07-29 16:04:44

Berkeley_Breathes
Member
From: Crabapple Cove, ME
Posts: 4519

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

I usually say eBay and leave it at that. I pretend most things I wear cost me $20. It's true for a lot of my stuff that it comes from eBay, but similar to both of you, I'm not interested in being judged for spending "too much" on shoes or a shirt. I try to keep my clothes out of the conversation anyway, though. That's what this forum is for wink


"The only comment a gentleman’s outfit should generate is that he is properly dressed for the occasion" - Calvin Trillin

 

#4 2019-07-29 16:16:09

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

I just say new clothes?, I haven't bought new clothes in 20 years, even though that's not true ... I do buy new clothes from the surf shop or from Adid@s or N!ke

occasionally I'll see something on eBay and pick it up, a few times a year

I did have occasion last week to inquire about a sport coat at a favorite haberdasher with which the denizens of this forum are familiar

okay it was O'Connell's, are you happy now?


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#5 2019-07-30 11:01:10

Film Noir Buff
Dandy Nightmare
From: Devil's Island
Posts: 9345

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

 

#6 2019-07-30 13:24:55

Goodyear welt
Ivyist At Large
Posts: 3089

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

They weren't mods by any chance?


Rocking traditional, current and classic Italian Ivy since 2011.

 

#7 2019-07-30 16:39:34

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#8 2019-07-30 22:05:08

Goodyear welt
Ivyist At Large
Posts: 3089

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

I meant the scooter riding rocker bashing type of mod Stan.

I'd post an example but I recall we got invaded by them last time I did that.


Rocking traditional, current and classic Italian Ivy since 2011.

 

#9 2019-07-31 16:16:56

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#10 2019-07-31 16:49:59

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

I always get asked about my sport coats and suits, whenever I wear them, and I'll tell people straight up if it's a tailor-made item, would always tell them that, not to brag but to send business to the old guy, what a champ he was ... also would always tell them if it was from the Andover Shop or J. Press, to support those shops as well ....

unless the person asking was a Yale or Harvard grad or spent time on Madison Avenue in the 40s going into Grand Central on Vanderbilt it would not register ... this was before the advent of the internet

back in the day I used to have some cool sailing jackets that I got from an outfitter to the school sailing team, had been introduced to them by a girl sailor ... only she and I had these jackets, people used to ask me about them all the time but I did not tell them back then, forget that, they could wear Bean if they needed a jacket .....

I still get asked about things a fair amount, and sometimes I'll give a good answer, it depends on the item and the person asking the question ..... 

today in 'hole Foods I got a nice compliment on my new t-shirt ... I wish Thee Captain were still around, he'd have dug it ... all the Sportswear thread and Late '70s Prep thread heads would dig it too ...

Because I spend nearly all my time in warm and hot climates I don't need more tailored clothing than I already have, hence I focus on sportswear and things I can feel cool in just kicking around as I do.  When I was living in New York, Boston, and New Haven I was a real fiend for tweeds and Shetlands, I used to flip out when I saw a good John G. Hardy book, used to annotate swatch book names and fabric numbers on the back of the tailor's business cards .... When people used to ask me about my suits I always referred them to the tailor without hesitation, I wanted him to stay in business and prosper, and I knew that every customer that I sent in earned me favors, like alterations while I waited on Saturday mornings .....

I have been trying to get my family interested in a place up north, which would be great, I could get out of the heat a few months every year and wear some of the sweaters and scarves and stuff I piled up when I was living in the Northeast.  Unfortunately it's a hard sell .....

Accordingly, I'm in my Birdwell Beach Britches board shorts every single day ... these would be handmade custom-ordered items from seven or so years ago, before the sale of the company by the original family owners .....

everybody dresses casually around me now, it would be radical to wear suits and ties and sport coats these days and I would love to do it but it's simply too hot for that.  I wore suits and ties five days a week for years and years at the old law firms in the '80s and '90s, before the internet culture emerged.  Now a nice cotton collared shirt, cotton tailored trousers, and loafers suffices for all but the most formal occasions, and I don't need the suit and tie for work anymore, nobody here does.  I haven't even seen a person wearing suit and tie outside this forum since June, when I went to a graduation ceremony at a nice school.

But I actually do like to talk about clothes with my younger family members, they are always after me t-shirts, to them they're the best of vintage, to me they're just my old things, and I give them away whenever I'm asked nicely.

Not to be disingenuous, I do talk about clothes to at least one of my buddies, he's an incredible thrifter and he finds the coolest basketball jerseyz at Goodwill, he just has the knack, I'm trying to get him to find me something groovy.


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

#11 2019-07-31 16:51:35

stanshall
Member
From: Gilligan's Island
Posts: 12991

Re: "Where do you buy your _________?"

Cute top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GLu0QagfQI


"bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay"

 

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