Things I wish I had more of.. Money and Time!

- In seriousness though, another one for US Made Weejuns. I had a pair of dead-stock pebble-grain (from the infamous Russel Street basement) which gave me ten years of good service before I eventually consigned them to the rubbish bin. The uppers had gone at the seam sadly. I wish they were freely available though, I'd love another pair. I'm hoping to get the Alden version in the not too dim and distant future.

My favorite shirt of all time was another RS purchase, at the time considered nothing special, a US Made BD Baggies - in the most gorgeous light blue Gingham, I constantly look for that shade of blue but no joy thus far. I wish I'd bought three.

In my youth (& now with the benefit of hindsight) - I didn't realise that the clothes I loved would eventually wear out, that's my main regret, that I treated things as if they were replaceable when truly they were not.
These days I coddle everything as best I can, rotate constantly and if I really and truly love something, I aim to buy two.

I know I've missed out on a great number of things over the years but I've also been fortunate enough to own some fantastic clothes, some of which I still have, some I think of fondly and others still that I can't bear to think about.

Other things I wish I'd paid more attention to and could remember better: John, Jeff and Ken's snippets of wisdom about the look and snarky comments about mod - I wasted time, effort and money on that particular rabbit hole.

I reckon this thread should make for good reading. Probably going to cost me a few quid tracking down stuff too!!

I’m pretty happy with everything I have. From here on in it’s just tweaking and improving.

Highest on my list of wants are Paraboot Michaels or Chambords.

Black longwings have been on the list for decades, and yet for some reason I’ve just never got around to buying any.

If money was no object and I could stock up ad infinitum as insurance against world stocks disappearing it would be navy Shetlands and Sebago loafers.

- Not long after Bass outsourced all their manufacturing John Simons got hold of a load of their old Wilton, Maine stock which they couldn't off-load on the completely disinterested U.S. market. There were lots of tan Weejuns and brown scotchgrain Weejuns. Like an idiot I bought just one pair of the tan, which I still have, and beautiful shoes they remain of course. But I vacillated over the scotchgrain and was actually in the shop the day the last pair was bought by a very cool old school architect. I think about these shoes often.

- Flip on King's Road used to have rails of 1960s madras and seersucker jackets. I should have bought the lot but lacked the bottle to wear them at the time.

- In mid-80s JS he had an amazing triple-welt short wing tip brogue made in Belgium by Embassy, Very expensive, remarkable shoes, very BCBG. Couldn't afford them. Probably go for close to £1k nowadays.

- I wish I could find the Walkover saddle shoes which mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago... (I find women do hate men in saddle shoes).

Looks like Mr Runningeez needs a time machine to transport him back to the Ivy Shop - together with one hell of a shopping cart/trolley.

Embassy Shoes are a new name to me. That is just the thing about John Simons. He has a rare talent for hunting things out that fit into his vision. Without him I wouldn't of known of Rancourt.

I just wish I had supported all the guys that made a stab at producing Ivy inspired clothes in the last 15 years. The small independent concerns that loved Ivy so much that they wanted to provide the goods. None of them survived and to my shame I didn't buy what was on offer at the time.
I wish I had more Fitzgerald's etc. You all know the names

A few years ago whilst on holiday I stocked up on pocket t shirts from Fruit of The Loom. Bought from a Walmart I think they were under $5 - so about £3.50 each.

The cut of the shirt, collar and size of the pocket is superb. Material wise they are quite hard compared to a similar pocket t-shirt by J Crew but they are my go-to for Sundays at home.

This year I thought I'd replenish my stocks even with the frightful decline in the exchange rate. Sadly they were no-more at Walmart having been replaced by some own-label t without the pocket.

It's funny how even the most basic items disappear.

Talking of T's, the old Russell Athletic pocket T from the 80's was great, I have one in grey it washes up really well and has never lost its shape.

I got it from the Ivy shop Richmond, and I now wish I'd bought a load more.

But I have to say the FOL I bought from Russell St were great quality too.

Last edited by Runninggeez (2022-10-26 09:13:16)

I looked at (and tried on I think), one of the Goodwear T’s ( pack of 2 around £50) at CS last year, at best they seemed very average, £50 seemed a lot for what were under garments, I went and got 2 x 2 packs at Muji for £8 something per pack of 2, they are holding up well, when the necks go they’ll be useful for brass rubbing or something similar!

I found a dry cleaner that advertised reproofing. My Aquascutum says 'dry clean only'. The procedure was dry clean first, then wash to apply proofing. So no guarantees. I just left it for dry clean only.

I also have a great Marks and Spencer trenchcoat bought in the Christmas sale when they still offered decent stuff. It does not say 'dry clean only'.

Doulouz - ‘ Biggest buzz I get now is from watches. Not interested in luxury stuff, and the Rolex BS watch as ready disposable asset in any jurisdiction, I'm into the biggest bang for buck: certain Seiko ranges and Longines Heritage.’

One of our friends has a collection of Rolexes that she has built up over a number of years and is very proud of. I nod and make approving noises, but they mean little to me. She has got nervous wearing them a couple of times on the tube when strangers have complimented her on her watch. I do like the utilitarian nature of Seikos and I’ve got a couple that I wear in rotation. The most recent is a mid size diver that is the only one I have found that doesn’t look ridiculous on my thin wrist, I have become obsessed with the perfection of its look and design. I’m considering a deep dive into the murky world of Seiko mods.

Dulouz,

Hepcat on here, Pimpy on Dressedwell used to like Longines -'it shows you cannot be bought'. He used to get gently ribbed about it on there before the cranks took over. He like Turnbulll and Asser too.

He was a good poster.