Thrifty Gent

Shopping the Thrifty Gent, pt. 3

Jeff — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:52:34 +0000

I have another great round of items up for sale on Ebay right now, including suits by Brooks Brothers and Southwick, Brooks Brothers made-in-England dress shoes, pants by Luciano Barbera, Kiton, and Incotex, and more! I’ll give a 10% discount to readers of my blog; just make me an offer and mention in the comments box that you’re a reader. All proceeds will go to help fund the adoption my wife and I are pursuing.

Check them out: The Thrifty Gent on Ebay

Herringbone

Jeff — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:57:50 +0000

Sportcoat: Fay, thrifted, $15
Trousers: Brooks Brothers, sale, $50
Shirt: Brooks Brothers, bought secondhand online, $40
Tie: BG&C, store sale, $20
Shoes: Crockett & Jones for Brooks Brothers, clearance, $180

Total: $305
If I’d paid retail prices: $1300 or more

Awkward

Jeff — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:44:49 +0000

See that awkward, uncomfortable look on my face? That’s the look that says, “I don’t like this ‘smart casual’ dress code and would really feel more comfortable in this outfit with a tie.”

Jacket: Brooks Brothers, thrifted, $20
Shirt: Brooks Brothers, bought secondhand online, $40
Pants: Corbin, thrifted, $5
Shoes: Florsheim, thrifted, $15

Total: $80
If I’d paid retail prices: $1400 or more

Welcome

Jeff — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:40:25 +0000

If you’ve just found my blog via the Fashion View page in the Voice-Tribune, welcome! Hope you enjoy my attempts at fashion on a budget.

Photo by Chris Humphreys, courtesy of The Voice-Tribune

Fudging It

Jeff — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:19:03 +0000

I picked up a new navy blazer recently, anticipating losing a bit more weight. I’m not quite there yet, and the jacket is a bit tight in the middle. No problem, though – it fits everywhere else, so I can fudge it by leaving the jacket unbuttoned until I either lose the weight or have it let out.

Jacket: Borrelli, bought secondhand online $175
Trousers: Polo Ralph Lauren, outlet clearance, $20
Shirt: Brooks Brothers, thrifted, $5
Tie: Norman Hilton, gift, $0
Pocket Square: Stein Mart, $10
Shoes: Crockett & Jones for Polo Ralph Lauren, $40

Total: $250
At retail prices: Over $3000

Dedication

Jeff — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:17:16 +0000

When you go out in the snow to get pictures of your outfit, you know you’re dedicated. Or that you have a problem. I’ll leave it to you to decide which. :-)

Looking back at this outfit, I think the pocket square with the colored border took this outfit just a little too over-the-top into matching too much (with the windowpane in the sportcoat an the stripe in the tie. As I’ve mentioned before, you want the elements of your outfit to complement each other without necessarily matching, lest it all look too contrived.

Sportcoat: Brooks Brothers 1818, outlet clearance, $60
Trousers: Polo Ralph Lauren, outlet clearance, $20
Shirt: Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece, bought secondhand online, $40
Tie: thetiebar.com, $15
Shoes: Crockett & Jones for Brooks Brothers, clearance, $180

Total: $315
At retail prices: At least $1600

Amazing Vintage

Jeff — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:37 +0000

Most of the stuff I buy, for myself or to sell on Ebay, is modern clothing, made in the last couple of decades. But occasionally I come across an amazing vintage piece that I just can’t pass up. Even if you’re not in the market to buy a vintage suit, you should click through to my auction to see this impressive piece of history – a Hickey Freeman suit sold November 15, 1941, just three weeks before Pearl Harbor.

Vintage Hickey Freeman Suit on Ebay

Reweaving Info

Jeff — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 03:04:08 +0000

I mentioned in my last post that I’d spent some money on having a couple of holes in my new suit repaired by a reweaver. I got some questions about that, so I thought I’d elaborate. It’s not uncommon to find nice clothes in thrift stores that have condition issues – rips, holes, etc. Usually, that’s the whole reason the items were donated in the first place. While that usually renders a garment unwearable and you should refrain from buying, sometimes it’s worth picking up the items and having them repaired.

Reweaving is more complex than a simple patching or darning job. A skilled artisan takes threads from elsewhere in the garment, like an inside seam, and actually recreates the weave (or knit) of the cloth, filling in the hole or stitching the edges of the tear back together. If the reweaver is really good and you have a pinch of luck, the repair is more or less invisible. If you look really closely at the pictures of my suit below, you can just barely make out the two cross-shaped repair sites about an inch below the white threads. Once I pulled the white threads out, they pretty much disappeared.

Reweaving is expensive, as you can imagine, since it takes such skill and is very labor intensive. These two holes cost me $88, and that’s astoundingly cheap for this level of work. So, most of the time, it won’t be worth the investment. But if you have a beloved suit or sweater that falls prey to moths, or if you come across a multi-thousand-dollar suit that fits perfectly, like I did, sometimes it’s worth the investment.

Repairs done by Fabric Reweavers USA.

Pfft.

Jeff — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:14:26 +0000

New office “Smart Casual” dress code? Pfft. Forget about it. I want to wear my new suit.

Suit: Ralph Lauren Purple Label, consignment store, $28
Shirt: Luciano Barbera, trade, $0
Tie: Breuer, thrifted, $1.50
Shoes: Johnston & Murphy, thrifted, $12

Cost to have two holes in the suit rewoven: $88

Total: $41.50
If I’d paid retail prices: $5000 or more.

Shopping the Thrifty Gent, Part 2

Jeff — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:49:37 +0000

I have another round of great items up on Ebay this week, including Brooks Brothers tuxedo shoes, sportcoats by Zanella and Polo Ralph Lauren, an awesome H. Freeman custom suit, and more. Most of the items are fixed price this time, and I’m happy to offer a 20% discount to readers of my blog – just use the “Make an Offer” feature, take 20% off the list price, and mention you’re a reader in the comments.

The Thrifty Gent on Ebay

All proceeds go towards the adoption fund my wife and I are building.