Recent Purchases

[ajk170]

LosR- I'm with you- very much a luxury. I read in several places that Walgreens is the place to get GIT- and while you always want to get the real thing and not a fake I guess if I'm happy with the results, what's the difference- other than paying $$ or $$$ for a couple of ounces. I'll take option #1 please. The sales person apparently tried to push Aventus on her as well but they were out of samples. In fairness to my wife, she hates... no... loathes asking for samples whether it's of Grey Flannel and now GIT. Especially at Saks! So for her to go in and come out with a sample- I'm very impressed. Now, (cue the Godfather music), I owe her a favor... luckily we don't own a horse.

@yoy- maybe I'll have to look at aspen - though I'm not one to wear a lot of cologne- it would certainly suit my cologne budget better than GIT!

[RiveDroit]

They gray "sale" Daltons have come up in the threads quite a few times. However, I think you're missing out on the full effect with them.
Part of the beauty of the boot is in the color. I have the dark brown ones, and they are my favorite pair of AE's, more than my Walnut Strands. The fit is amazing once broken in. My thought would be to darken a gray pair with polish, but that's a big chunk of change to risk.

[Crims]

They gray "sale" Daltons have come up in the threads quite a few times. However, I think you're missing out on the full effect with them.
Part of the beauty of the boot is in the color. I have the dark brown ones, and they are my favorite pair of AE's, more than my Walnut Strands. The fit is amazing once broken in. My thought would be to darken a gray pair with polish, but that's a big chunk of change to risk.

Don't disagree, but at the full freight (~400) price level, for the casual use I'm looking at, I'd probably prefer a nice Chelsea over dressier wingtips.

[Travis Votaw]

I just picked up a pair of lightly used Johnston and Murphy Conley II Wingtips for 10.52 at my local salvation army

http://www.johnstonmurphy.com/produc...1215&pid=21820

[ajk170]

@ Travis- Wow, great score! Hope you get good use out of them!

[Duvel]

I just picked up a pair of lightly used Johnston and Murphy Conley II Wingtips for 10.52 at my local salvation army

http://www.johnstonmurphy.com/produc...1215&pid=21820

Wow, those look brand new!

[LosRockets]

Didn't see anything that I liked in the 2nds sale (and 2 for $250 is a bit much) but these just popped up on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Allen-Edmond...item20cfe58a09 and I grabbed them. Fair price compared to what they're going for in my size (I checked completed listings...somehow one managed to sell for about $95 shipped a month ago, but otherwise they're going for a lot more. And if they don't fit (though I am a 10D in the 5 last) I'll happily sell them at cost to a forum member.

[ajk170]

I continue to work on the upgrade of the wardrobe and I've been thinking that I need to add a simple pair of brown bluchers and been debating on the Stafford cap toe from JCP and the Claiborne Wallace bluchers for the same price. Although they're both pretty cheap, it was a hard decision between the two and at that price point I couldn't find anything that was comperable in looks AND has good reviews from the usual suspects (Zappos, Shoebuy, Shoe.com, Amazon, Department stores, Overstock etc.). So I went with the Staffords - I'm hoping they turn out like I hope! I think I'll need to change out the laces though- anyone have any suggestions on where to get good brown laces for casual blutchers?

As an aside, I've been quickly building the shoe arsenol in the past two months Brown Strands, the Brutini Double monks, Supergas, J&M wingtip boots, Sperry Top Siders, and a pair of classic desert boots. With my pair of drivers and black cap toes that I previously had, I feel like I am in good shape for the rest of the year and beyond. I owe it to JOE and the rest of the community in getting me up to snuff on this area.

[LosRockets]

@ajk170 - I think you made the right choice with the Staffords. If I hadn't found the deal on the used Kenilworths (basically around 2x the price of the Stafford shoes + shipping) I would have gotten either the Stafford boots or bluchers because of the excellent quality for the price. There's a good track record for the Stafford shoes and there's more of a ? for Claiborne. And congrats on building up your collection, that's a heck of a spurt in two months and a great rotation that will last you 2-3 years (possibly excluding the desert boots).

[ajk170]

@Los- thanks! I really owe it to the creative deal websites that I discovered theough these forums - while Dappared.com got me hooked on building this up, the forums really helped me save- I figure in shoes alone I saved over $300+ due to different sites and methods on how to save money.

[ajk170]

With all the talk about field jackets latley got me looking at different options and everything that I see out there- expensive and less expensive are all ugly to me. I argue that the field jackets that are on the market now are not really field jackets but variations of old Army blouses but designers merely calling them jackets. The only version that I think looks best is the old M-65 jacket in OD but since those are really coats and tend to be boxy, I need to look for a tailor willing to chop one down. Until then, I saw the JCP Anorak and latched onto it which is a bold step for me since 1) It's RED and 2) I always thought Anoraks were somewhat feminine looking... but when I really looked at these things - there's not much difference between an Anorak and the current field jackets but the Anorak doesn't have the faux military influence which I think is a cleaner look. And for $40 it's something that I'm not going to have buyers remorse if it sits unused after a few months.

[Duvel]

J. Crew makes a slim-fitting fatigue jacket that really is much like a real fatigue jacket.

[ajk170]

@Duvel- why not wear a real one? Not critisising those that wear them, I question the classical style of an after-market thing. A tailor could probably do something with a real OD blouse or field jacket to tailor the fit and even customize the it- though it might get expensive.

[ajk170]

@Losrockets- Wow- that's a good deal! I never seem to snag that kind of bargin. Hope they work out for you

[tdig]

pulled the trigger on a new cologne today. amazon sale was too good to pass up.