The FOB chinos look good but at £220 that’s expensive for chinos, like Robbie I’ve been pleased with my £34.90 Uniqlo chinos, I think they have a new ( lighter) shade of beige/khaki on the website,

Despite my bitching and moaning yesterday, I've now gritted my teeth and ordered a pair of the Rancourt. Also a pair of the buckle back chinos, so I'll report back in due course.

Firstly, I had to check it wasn't April fools due to the lapels on the flannel suit. Lovely looking cloth but Heathrow are considering using that jacket as the new runway...

On the chinos; stick to the Uniqlo, I wont be sending the ones I bought back but after much consideration, I'm less than clear as to how they're justifying asking over a hundred quid for them. Very light, summer weight cloth that doesn't really drape as you'd expect a pair of chinos to and while the quality is OK, I don't think it's realistically any better than the similar pair of Uniqlo chinos I have. JS Chinos made in India too, if you were unaware.

The Rancourt grain loafers though.. Absolute things of beauty and worth the small fortune in import costs.

I saw that suit, the lapels did look odd, but maybe they'll look different from another angle, didn't like the front darts with the patch pockets, be interesting to see what the price is, I'd estimate £850,
Tim - thanks for your comments re the JS chinos, I thought they'd be similar quality to the Uniqlo but reasoned Uniqlo are making zillions of pairs so they could offer the ( very) low price, I'm thinking of buying some of the Rancourt grain loafers and putting them in a display case in my study !

Suspect the fez would be easier to wear!

^Tim,

I hope you'll be really pleased with the Rancourt loafers.

I've recently bought both the grain beef-rolls and the burgundy penny. And here is the simple explanation to my splurge:

Good traditional, US Made loafers are no longer that easy to get hold of. Even during two trips stateside last year I didn't see anything. AE no longer do a trad loafer, Bass wasn't available in bricks and mortar stores, Cole Haan no longer make the pinch loafers and Florsheim Berkeleys have changed the shape to accommodate a rubber soul.

People can hunt around online and I'm sure you'll find loafers from Quoddy and Oak Street but can they try them on and easily return?

Yes, you're 100% right the Rancourt are expensive but with care they'll last. Get some decent trees and creams.

The reality is the things we like, that used to be so plentiful, are now very niche. You have to get it while you can.

I was surprised to see the Baracuta’s on the JS website considering how they are widely available not least from Baracuta direct. Perhaps there are some guys who will like the ‘ history ‘ of JS/ Baracuta and buy from the shop. Sean told me on my last visit to 46CS around October time that they were going to restock Harrington’s I assumed it would be their own branding or something a bit more unusual than the Baracutas at their eye watering price !

A mate of mine turned up at my flat the other week wearing a RAF sheepskin flying jacket. He said he dug it out of the loft and hadn't worn it for 35 odd years. I said it must be worth £1000. A few weeks later there is one for sale at £1950 on the JS FB page! I tried it on and it weighed a ton!

In the 80s Golden Bear Harringtons, and similar styles, in suede and leather, were always well stocked at 2 Russell Street. It was truly a Golden Age of Ivy, only we didn't realise it.  You had an abundance of Made in USA Bass, Sebago, Walkover, American Gentleman, Florsheim, Sero Shirts, BD Baggies, Troy Guild, Russell Athletic, Fruit Of The Loom, Canterbury belts, Halrin, Duckhead, Dickies, Haspel, Linet, Willis & Geiger, Royce socks.... and all the other makers I've forgotten about. Magical stuff. By 2000 most of it had gone - neoliberal greed leading to off-shoring and the eventual death of mass-market quality and proper democratic, accessible American style.

I wouldn't blame the Blair government. Sure, they did nothing to arrest the shift to off-shoring and the prioritisation of shareholder dividend over worker/consumer needs, but Reaganomics/Thatcherism had initiated this process of Greed Is Good over an 18 year period before Labour finally won an election in 1997. In the UK there are a few encouraging symbols of resistance - the Northampton shoe industry (some of course now foreign owned), knitwear manufacturers like John Smedley, and the great work of Patrick Grant at Community Clothing, but people have got used to cheap clothing, few buy for the long-term investment, and knowledge about maintenance and repair of good clothes has largely disappeared. I specialise in gloomy, smart-arse interjections like this don't I, but it's true - how do you turn all this around, go back to the old ways when you have Amazon, the Internet, greed, pestilence and ignorance all around you..?!

Curious if the West Point chinos were Jack Donnelly's? I was recently checking out his offerings when I saw a product with the same name mentioned here.

https://jackdonnelly.com/products/west-point-twill-khaki-m3-tapered

OCBD - ‘ Curious if the West Point chinos were Jack Donnelly's? I was recently checking out his offerings when I saw a product with the same name mentioned here.

https://jackdonnelly.com/products/west-point-twill-khaki-m3-tapered.  ‘

They look like good chinos. I notice they use the ‘M’ designation for the different cuts. I once bought a pair of Bill’s Khakis M3 chinos in the Andover Shop, Cambridge MA when they were good, I’ve still got them somewhere. Anyone know where the M3 etc designations come from?