Thrift store blues & brags
Fading Fast
Connoisseur
Sounds great - enjoy it.
I'm delighted that you like your new Brooks Navy suit. Is it 100% wool? Worsted or flannel?
Flairball
Super Member
Scored a LLB duffel coat on eBay for a really great price. Kinda feel like I stole it, to be honest. Fits great, and I expect I’ll get some great use out of it. It’s not completely made to the original specs, but it’s close enough, and I generally like LLB products. So....
Excellent win! It is a nice, neutral colour and will go with most jackets or sweaters and most trousers. Wear it in good health, there's still some winter left this year in Boston, one of my favourite cities where my brother and his family have lived for decades (well Cambridge, mostly).
Tweedlover
Active Member with Corp. Privileges
Though I'm not that intent on adding more clothing items, find myself still periodically heading into the local Goodwill store as I did today. Walked out with a like new pair of St. John's Bay suede brogues in medium brown. Have been eyeballing folks' selfies of their suede shoes and thought, if I saw something eye-appealing, I'd add a pair since I have none. Not many suede shoes look that appealing to me. St. John's Bay is, of course, an old JC Penny's line. I have many items from that line as they used to always come out with quite attractive and well-made casual, traditionally-oriented items.
I too have various items from the old St John's Bay line, especially flannel shirts that are very comfortable and wear well. Perfect over a T shirt, especially during the fall. I don't have any of their shoes, but I too, have developed a recent affection for suede shoes, of which I now have a few pairs. All of them were bought from thrift shops, my best being a pair of Allen Edmonds in a chocolate brown, and a pair of Brooks Brothers / Crockett & Jones brogues in light brown or tan.
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Tweedlover
Active Member with Corp. Privileges
As I live in a town of 14.000, pickings are usually rather slim at our local Goodwill. But, have over the years picked up a few pairs of shoes which I quite like. None, though, being high end. Did pick up a pair of cream and dark brown spectators once. Long wanted to own a pair of spectators to wear to the office. However, I think I may have discovered why the previous owner unloaded them . Patent leather, which I had no experience with. Tried everything to get them to squeak less to no avail and folks could hear me coming from a mile off.
So, with great reluctance, I threw them into the back of the closet never to grace my feet again.I'm sorry those spectator shoes didn't quite work out for you. Patent leather is dicey, and I avoid buying shoes made out of it. It's less the squeak and more the way it looks, rather like plastic!
My town has about 23,000 folks plus about seven thousand or so college students during the semesters. We have two Goodwills and two consignment shops, and there are several Goodwills in other small towns within a 50-mile radius. Wisconsin is mostly small towns and villages. I visit these regularly, and have very good pickings -- since I am retired and a single man with no family obligations, I can do this without any problem.
My town has about 23,000 folks plus about seven thousand or so college students during the semesters. We have two Goodwills and two consignment shops, and there are several Goodwills in other small towns within a 50-mile radius. Wisconsin is mostly small towns and villages. I visit these regularly, and have very good pickings -- since I am retired and a single man with no family obligations, I can do this without any problem.
Recent Goodwill finds:
A Joseph and Roberts (tailored by H Heinemann) Harris tweed sports jacket, tic-weave with gray, blue, cream and a light purple. A very lovely overall effect. Classic cut, soft shoulders. Hardly worn, all pockets stitiched shut. Cost $10.00.
A J Peterman medium-weight blue denim sports jacket, unstructured, three-button front, bellows pockets with working buttons on the flaps, bi-swing shoulder and single vent, and sleeves with two working buttons on the cuffs. I will need to take in the sleeves a couple of inches, so it will be two buttons with non-working cuffs. No big deal. This was on Clearance, so the price went down to $2.00
A pair of dark brown/burgundy Allen Edmonds wingtips, brogued in a fine pattern, and with very little wear. The model name is Marlow. These are dress shoes, and perhaps because such shoes often have a thinner and lighter sole, the soles are Blake-welted. The heels are rubber. Cost $8.00.
A Joseph and Roberts (tailored by H Heinemann) Harris tweed sports jacket, tic-weave with gray, blue, cream and a light purple. A very lovely overall effect. Classic cut, soft shoulders. Hardly worn, all pockets stitiched shut. Cost $10.00.
A J Peterman medium-weight blue denim sports jacket, unstructured, three-button front, bellows pockets with working buttons on the flaps, bi-swing shoulder and single vent, and sleeves with two working buttons on the cuffs. I will need to take in the sleeves a couple of inches, so it will be two buttons with non-working cuffs. No big deal. This was on Clearance, so the price went down to $2.00
A pair of dark brown/burgundy Allen Edmonds wingtips, brogued in a fine pattern, and with very little wear. The model name is Marlow. These are dress shoes, and perhaps because such shoes often have a thinner and lighter sole, the soles are Blake-welted. The heels are rubber. Cost $8.00.
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Tweedlover
Active Member with Corp. Privileges
Some mighty fine deals there drpeter. If I ever found another Harris tweed, I'd be tempted. Almost recently thrifted a courduroy sport coat as I hadn't owned one in decades, but ultimately passed, given I'm now retired, I only wear my winter weight sport coats now and, still having 4 of them, I figured wouldn't have the rotational space for a fifth sport coat. Now that all tweed waistcoat I sill lust after would be another story.
I have almost a dozen Harris tweed jackets! They don't appear often at the thrift shops, and when comes in that is my size, I snap it up. Especially at those prices. The very first Harris tweed jacket I bought was in 1982 when I was a NIH post-doctoral fellow at Michigan State University. There was a lovely men's shop in East Lansing called Redwood & Ross, and they special-ordered one to my exact specs and measurements. It cost me $175 then. I have never had to pay that price for another Harris Tweed jacket since then, LOL.
I also have a bunch of corduroy sportcoats. Two from J Press in classic TNSIL style.
I also have a bunch of corduroy sportcoats. Two from J Press in classic TNSIL style.
Tweedlover
Active Member with Corp. Privileges
My sole Harris tweed bought from an eBay seller set me back $40.
Most of my other Harrises were bought either on sales at shops with much reduced prices, or later, on eBay or in consignment shops. Remember, eBay did not exist before 1995!
I remember distinctly when I first learned about eBay. I had walked into the workshop/office of one of my university's Physics Department lab technicians, to ask for some assistance with an instrument he had interfaced to one of our Psychology lab computers (In those days, being a small university, we shared two computer and instrumentation technicians among several departments). Gary, the techie, was sitting at his cluttered desk, staring at his computer screen. And there was eBay, in its first incarnation. He said it was a time sink, he was spending all his spare time bidding on stuff he did not think he really needed, LOL. I tried it that night, and ended up spending tens of thousands of dollars on eBay over the next couple of decades, buying first editions, stamps, bicycles, bicycle parts, Thinkpads, and a zillion other things I am not sure I really needed.
I remember distinctly when I first learned about eBay. I had walked into the workshop/office of one of my university's Physics Department lab technicians, to ask for some assistance with an instrument he had interfaced to one of our Psychology lab computers (In those days, being a small university, we shared two computer and instrumentation technicians among several departments). Gary, the techie, was sitting at his cluttered desk, staring at his computer screen. And there was eBay, in its first incarnation. He said it was a time sink, he was spending all his spare time bidding on stuff he did not think he really needed, LOL. I tried it that night, and ended up spending tens of thousands of dollars on eBay over the next couple of decades, buying first editions, stamps, bicycles, bicycle parts, Thinkpads, and a zillion other things I am not sure I really needed.
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I think you might be favourably impressed with the SAS brand (San Antonio Shoes). They are made in the US, and offer good value for the money. The prices are not too high, and I have had a couple of thrifted pairs of brown SAS walking shoes that I have been happy wearing, at least for a few months since last summer. They are made of thick soft top-grain leather, with rounded toebox, comfortable insoles, sturdy polyurethane outsoles and heels, and constructed very much like Clark's English-made walking shoes from long ago. Very comfortable, and with a pair of thick cotton socks, they are great for long walks!
I encourage you to take a peek at their website. Here's a link, but browse around on their site for more information. And good luck in your hunt!
https://www.sasshoes.com/mens-casual/
Late add: I found this little video when I clicked on one of their listings in the above page. It shows lots of details in a couple of minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/aiWo1zsxOn0
And here is a review:
I encourage you to take a peek at their website. Here's a link, but browse around on their site for more information. And good luck in your hunt!
https://www.sasshoes.com/mens-casual/
Late add: I found this little video when I clicked on one of their listings in the above page. It shows lots of details in a couple of minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/aiWo1zsxOn0
And here is a review:
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I have three pair of SAS shoes in my rotation, their 40th Anniversary Penny Loafers and their version of a deck /boat shoe. The Penny Loafers have seen a lot of wear and have proven to be very durable, extremely comfortable and worth far more than I paid for them. The Deck/boat shoes are well made and are as comfortable, but I do prefer my Quoddy Trail Boat Shoes and Camp Mocs over the SAS version.
Deals/Steals
- NWT Canali Merino Wool Navy Knit Blazer Slim Fit IT 56/US 44
- Started by Jazzsol
- Replies: 0
- Price drop! NWT Finamore Napoli Light Blue Cotton Dress Shirt Size US 17/ IT 43
- Started by Jazzsol
- Replies: 1
Trad Store Exchange
Genuine Ace® Hard Rubber Combs 7", Half Fine - Half Medium Teeth- Started by sbdivemaster
- Replies: 0
Rare Vintage Handknit Cowichan Style Sweater!- Started by TweedyDon
- Replies: 0