Recent Purchases

[Mr. Charles]

Welp... I'm returning the jacket. I wore it out and the sleeves just drive me nuts. They are too long and barely tight enough not to eat my hands. I'm also not thrilled with the color. On the TS side, it's a nice deep rich brown with some burgundy tinting. In person, it leans tan. I could size back down, but I don't know if I can expect a half-size of stretching as it breaks in, and of course if it doesn't, I can't return it. This is been a frustrating experience partly due to the delayed exchange, partly due to the color, but mostly due to the fit, which I can't blame TS for. I'm not an average build.

[Mr. Charles]

At long last, my Taylor Stitch Moto Jacket exchange showed up. I had ordered an XL initially, but found it very tight across the chest, and my shoulders pulled the sleeve articulation out with my arms at my sides. I started an exchange for an XXL. I was annoyed to discover that they didn't actually make enough extra jackets to account for the exchange, and I had to wait until batch 2 was completed. Anyway, the new XXL showed up today. I'm 5'10 and 235lbs. I lift weights, so larger shoulders, arms, butt and thighs than the average dude. The XXL fits much better across the chest and shoulders. The sleeves are about 2" longer than I'd like and the cuffs could be slightly more snug. Basically if I could take the sleeves off of an XL and attach them to the XXL trunk, I'd have the perfect fit. Alterations are possible, so maybe I'll try to have something done with the arms. Maybe. They are tolerable and alteration is a risk.

The leather is very nice. Construction seems solid. This thing has some weight. It's quite warm. The color is "Espresso" but it's lighter in person than on the TS website. I haven't cut the tags off yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to.

Anyway, here are some fit pics:

[TheJasonaissance]

I needed a new pair of jeans, so I ordered a pair of the BR Organic jeans with that sweet 50% off sale. I've never owned or tried BR jeans before (I've been a loyalist to JCrew for a while now), but I decided against the traveler bc I didn't want gobs of stretch in them. Anyone tried the organic jeans in the past? Thoughts?

[armedferret]

MTM in Bamboo. Astonishingly soft hand to it. Feels like cashmere.


IMG_20210227_110018_999 by Professor Horseyhead, on Flickr


And of course MTM isn't fun with just a boring plain lining.


IMG_20210227_111633_920 by Professor Horseyhead, on Flickr

[mark4]

Last week I picked up a complete Ludlow in charcoal American Woolen Mills wool for $120, and today I picked up the slim fit legacy blazer for $70. It feels like I got away with something, given that my favorite suit is the old J. Crew Factory Thompson, which seemed like a deal at $200 when I bought it.

The new 3" lapels are a nice bonus.

I really like J Crew suits. They suit my frame better than SS and can be had for pretty nice prices for the fabric and build quality when on sale. I have not tried S&M yet as I am pretty well set on suits but I did pick up an unstructured (I will not say unconstructed - to me that means it comes in pieced and you have to sew it together yourself!) Moon Mills wool-cotton herringbone sport coat and the dark green colorway of the velvet dinner jacket they carry every holiday season. Bought both right after Christmas on steep discount. The velvet dinner jacket was $35 and the sport coat was a splurge at $42! Kinda feel like I ripped them off but that's what they were charging so that's what I paid.

The sport coat will get a lot of use when things return to normal - it's a great lighter weight leaning into fall tweed looking jacket that I can wear earlier in the season here in the DC area than my "real" tweed jackets. It doesn't get cold enough for the real tweed until sometime in November here. The velvet jacket will look good with tux pants or dress trousers for Black Tie festive events or just because I feel like it. Probably won't get that much use - maybe 1-4 times a year - but for $35 it doesn't have to.

[facelessghost]

Last week I picked up a complete Ludlow in charcoal American Woolen Mills wool for $120, and today I picked up the slim fit legacy blazer for $70. It feels like I got away with something, given that my favorite suit is the old J. Crew Factory Thompson, which seemed like a deal at $200 when I bought it.

The new 3" lapels are a nice bonus.

[armedferret]

In some ways, the ascot is the perfect neckware for wearing a suit at home nowadays!

Not sure, I don't wear a suit at home. I dress well when we're out and about of course, and if i'm traveling for work (the uniform and a clean shave isn't always ideal depending upon the destination/task at hand )

[andrewrg]

I grabbed a double-tipped ascot from John Henric (nothing special, but 100% silk and a nice pattern to it that isn't too loud).

In some ways, the ascot is the perfect neckware for wearing a suit at home nowadays!

[armedferret]

Spier's been having several sales lately, and then Alton Lane came in sideways with FIVE stacked discounts for me not too long ago. I'm gonna be new suit goofin . And just to really make sure I'm peacocking properly, I grabbed a double-tipped ascot from John Henric (nothing special, but 100% silk and a nice pattern to it that isn't too loud).

[andrewrg]

Sometimes glued it means the insole comes out with difficulty, and in pieces with little bits still stuck to the sole of the shoe.

Yeah, Florsheims have been like that in my experience--the insole looked like my first beard after I took it out Also agreed, J&M is Florsheim to me--not overly expensive, pretty good looking, and they do last years and years.

[mark4]

Lol I'm off the grass!
same here, I usually wear SuperFeet to provide more heel/arch support since I'm on my feet all day. On closer investigation of the Rhodes boots, the foam insole comes right out, baaaarely glued in there. I'll probably slip the green SuperFeets in there.

Hmmm. Glued in and comes out easily is workable. I wonder if all the Rhodes boots are built like that? Sometimes glued it means the insole comes out with difficulty, and in pieces with little bits still stuck to the sole of the shoe. Usually removing the laces so you can open things up as wide as possible and using a spackling or putty knife can get those stuck on foam bits up though. For now I'm going to stick with my J&M ones because they were inexpensive, and while shoe snobs who know what they're looking at might sneer, they look pretty good. Said shoe snobs are getting fewer and farther between as time goes on anyway. When they wear out though this info will be useful.

[andrewrg]

I'll end my old man yells and clouds rant there.

Lol I'm off the grass!
same here, I usually wear SuperFeet to provide more heel/arch support since I'm on my feet all day. On closer investigation of the Rhodes boots, the foam insole comes right out, baaaarely glued in there. I'll probably slip the green SuperFeets in there.

[mark4]

My cheap boots bit the dust. Got a pair of Huckberry Rhodes Dolomite boots during the current sale. Fully gussetted!
1) this is way less snow than the forecast 2) way too much boots for this snow, but feels good stunting!

Sigh. I wish I could wear those but the higher end boot manufacturing industry has universally decided that removable insoles are for some reason undesirable. Seriously, has anyone, anywhere, had a problem with removable insoles in boots? Like, something went wrong with the insole because it wasn't sewn in? Because, I have never, ever had such an issue in a half century of living. And now that I'm a half century old my feet are finicky and I need orthotics, which means to get a proper fit I need to be able to pull out the standard issue insole that boots and shoes come with, otherwise the boot will be too tight in the instep with both the regular insole and my orthotic stacked on top of it.

It's not like it's impossible to make a Goodyear welted boot with a removable insole...I have a couple of pairs of work boots with this construction (Chippewas and Thorogoods) and both pair had removable insoles. But for some reason any boot that's a hair dressier than those they've all decided unanimously to sew in the footbeds. So, I make do with Johnston and Murphy, which are sub standard but look OK, are comfortable because they have removable insoles. Unfortunately I gotta throw them out when the soles get too worn out. I'd like to reuse but the shoe industry has decided unanimously that those of us who need orthotics don't deserve nice things. I'll end my old man yells and clouds rant there.

[jvargas]

Thanks I might have to pick some up. Boots are become a hobby of mine

Grip is actually great! No snow last night and today, only ice, and I was able to walk up a hill covered with drops of ice. Better than my poor 4 year old son and his galoshes. Big old rubber treads, about a quarter inch deep.
I'm in the same situation, if it really snowed, I'd wear my technical boots. But I could wear these in a lot more situations than I could my previous pair of brown leather boots with rubber sole. The dark brown color, I would call handsome, the tan leather color I would call pretty. Both great looking, but I picked Brown.

[andrewrg]

How’s grip? I was looking at those for a supplement to my technical boots.

Grip is actually great! No snow last night and today, only ice, and I was able to walk up a hill covered with drops of ice. Better than my poor 4 year old son and his galoshes. Big old rubber treads, about a quarter inch deep.
I'm in the same situation, if it really snowed, I'd wear my technical boots. But I could wear these in a lot more situations than I could my previous pair of brown leather boots with rubber sole. The dark brown color, I would call handsome, the tan leather color I would call pretty. Both great looking, but I picked Brown.