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#26 2021-12-25 06:55:27
- RobbieB
- Member
- Posts: 2219
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
There are bargains to be had in TKMaxx. Brands appearing there is sometimes a sign of retail shops on the high street suffering. There are a lot of 'brands' that come under the TKMaxx name and they are to be avoided.
'I am a closet optimist' Leonard Cohen.
#27 2021-12-25 08:54:59
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
I never quite cottoned onto TKMaxx - never understood how it all worked. Someone on here years ago had seen cheap Falke socks in their local branch and, as the brand was all I was wearing at the time, I ventured in. I found it not unlike Primark. Certainly no cheap socks. Went twice and found nothing worth having. But this was Derby. Never much hope of finding anything decent there (bar that Makers shirt in a charity shop back in 2009).
#28 2021-12-25 14:38:45
- Spendthrift
- Member
- Posts: 659
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
As RobbieB says, most of the gear in there is own brand - under any number of ‘Italian designer sounding’ names. Even most of the RL in there has that sneaky ‘to be sold through outlets’ tag.
And as AFS found, they’re not pleasant places to shop. Most people I know hate the place. You have to get your head down and dig. And nine times out of ten come out empty handed.
But once you’ve picked up a few genuine deals, it gets kind of addictive. Fear of missing out I suppose. I’ve picked up US made Brooks OCBD’s for £15 or so. Lee 101z under £30. MiE Baracutas. Weejuns. Real Ivy bread and butter stuff.
I just have to keep going in ‘just in case’.
#29 2021-12-25 15:48:29
- woofboxer
- Devil's Ivy Advocate
- From: The Lost County of Middlesex
- Posts: 7959
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
It helps if you’re either end of the size spectrum.
'I'm not that keen on the Average Look .......ever'.
John Simons
Achievements: banned from the Ivy Style FB Group
#30 2021-12-26 04:23:50
- RobbieB
- Member
- Posts: 2219
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
I could walk in the J Simon's shop and buy practically anything in the shop and be a happy bunny. TKMaxx takes a bit more of an effort and the 10 visits for the one 'bargain' so it's not for the faint hearted but I get a kick out of getting something not recognised by 99% of the customers. I always spot at least one other clued up geezer going through the racks.
The shop is at the end of a long walk along the estuary for me so I enjoy the journey.
And Woof I'm smack in the middle of the spectrum size wise. I've just been sorting out one of my wardrobes and I am beginning to realise that on other spectrums I may have a problem!
'I am a closet optimist' Leonard Cohen.
#31 2021-12-26 05:41:57
- Runninggeez
- Member
- Posts: 688
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
TKMaxx takes a bit more of an effort and the 10 visits for the one 'bargain' so it's not for the faint hearted but I get a kick out of getting something not recognised by 99% of the customers.
I totally agree with you on that one Robbie. Most of the blokes in there are clueless, just checking out their footwear gives you some idea.
#32 2021-12-26 05:49:55
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
My two trips must have been a dozen or more years ago. Never again. But, strange as it may seem, I'm no longer hugely interested in 'Ivy League' clothing from the high street. Having said that, I have little interest in the kind of 'vintage' collegiate items I was buying back around 2006-7. In fact, I'm making a New Year resolution to more or less stop buying anything except socks.
#33 2021-12-27 05:33:31
- Tworussellstreet
- Member
- Posts: 599
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
I've been in TK Maxx once in my life. Never again. Utterly depressing. The physical embodiment of pointless and destructive manufacturing. A symbol of the moral emptiness of contemporary capitalism. Governments serious about climate change? Close them all down. Close down all the third world factories. Make things in your own country, pay people well, charge more for your items. See Community Clothing for how to do this - their jeans are excellent by the way - £80 and worth every damn penny. Death to Globalisation! UK-made Duffle Coats for the Masses!
#34 2021-12-27 09:25:48
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Re: Take It Or Leave It: The Duffle Coat
Yes: a depressing experience. One would journey to Covent Garden, shoot the breeze with the Trio, marvel at this or that, splurge on the plastic, get back on the train with the heart having been done a bit of good: dreaming of Chet Baker, Coltrane in Madras and a better existence.
TKMaxx offered the precise opposite: dull, dingy, smelling of mediocrity; tired beyond belief. No wonder stacks of indifferent Ralph Lauren shirts found their way there before being 'curated' by affable dolly-birds in 'vintage' shops.