Recent Purchases

[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.

[jvargas]

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

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!

[andrewrg]

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!

[TheJasonaissance]

I recently picked up this $12 sweatshirt from target bc it looked like a sweater I would have bought from Gap circa 1999. Small price to pay for nostalgia, and it’s a shockingly comfy and looked good over a button down.

https://www.target.com/p/men-s-color...77#lnk=sametab

[RobinSm89]

My last purchase was sweatpants from Levice, I just have nothing to wear at home, so I went in and bought myself some sportswear)