Thrifting

[TTigers70]

@JC I'm a 42L (the easy part). It gets a little tricky when it comes to the pants. I wear a 34x34 in jeans/chinos but that's because they don't make 34x36 common.


Also, I measured the Brooks Brothers SC I am on the fence about:

Pit to Pit: 23"

Waist: 23"

Shoulders: 20"

Length: 32.5"

Sleeve: 26"


It fits my shoulders well and the sleeves are actually long enough without alteration. I'm swimming in the waist though. I think I'd like to keep it, but is there a ballpark number a tailor can usually take the waist in by? I'll have to measure another SC that I like the fit of to compare, but my guess is at least 2 or 3"?


Thanks

[jason_carreira]

@Don M I'd call that Zegna a 38S, which makes me sad, but oh, well. I'll keep you in mind as I'm measuring things up for eBay. I'll post the stuff I'm going to be selling up on the thread I started in the sale / trade forum.


As for altering the BB, yeah bringing the waist in 2-3 inches shouldn't be a problem with a decent tailor. My tailor charges like $35 for that.

[jason_carreira]

Here's the before and after for the AE Arlingtons I picked up a couple days ago.


Before:








After:

[Fedodo]

Nice work on the kicks, Jason.


Finds from today:

Vintage Brooks Brothers Makers tie. Mainly purchased because it felt nice and was in immaculate condition. Trying to decide if it's dated, and I'm leaning towards no.






Brooks Brothers Oxford. Its far too big for me and has no size indications or other tags. I'm guessing its MTM. It seems much nicer than any other BB shirt I've ever handled.






Ted Baker Button shirt. Also too big. Has MOP buttons. Reminds me of Robert Graham






And this is the reason I thrift. Borrelli Napoli shirt. Fits me absolutely perfectly and has crazy thick MOP buttons. I'll gladly take hand-me-downs from from prominent lawyers any day of the week.

[jason_carreira]

Nice! I haven't found any Borrelli yet. I've heard they're nice. Fray is another one to look for that's supposed to be a great shirt maker.

[Fedodo]

I'll have to add Fray to my list. So far I can check off Borrelli and Turnbull & Asser. Now I just need to find a Charvet, Kiton, Brioni...

[TTigers70]

Very nice on the polishing JC, what did you use? I need to step up my polishing game. I have some tan shoes coming in which will bring me up to five different shades in my rotation. Do others in this situation who stray from just black or dark brown get a polish for each of their shoes or use clear polish? I also have no experience with shoe cream but as I understand it (possibly wrong), the cream is better for preventing cracking but not necessary with shoes still holding up well?

[jason_carreira]

First I put on 2 coats of Lexol and left them overnight. The next evening I put on a coat of Meltonian creme polish, red mahogany, then brushed it off, did another coat of Lexol, let it soak for 15 mins or so, another coat of Meltonian, another coat of Lexol, then I finished it off with some Kiwi cordovan colored wax polish to get a better shine. The leather was pretty dry so I went heavy on the Lexol leather conditioner and it brought them back pretty well.


I've got neutral for all of the lighter brown and mahogany / cordovan for the burgundy ones.

[LesserBlackDog]

I've been going to the thrift stores every day this week because something I bought last Sunday needed to be exchanged and I had a hard time finding anything I liked. But I finally spotted something worth buying... a decent leather jacket that fits me pretty well.


I've been going through the women's as well as men's leather sections recently since I figured some leather jacket styles are basically unisex. This one was in the women's section but is actually marked as a 38, so I think it was a men's jacket originally.





It looked a little dull and dusty in the store but a thorough cleaning with saddle soap and a wax treatment brought it back to life. I'm not the craziest about the color but I like the design... bomber on the bottom, moto on the top. Definitely worth the exchange, anyway.

[alan]

@BenR: That jacket suits you.

[LesserBlackDog]

Thanks, Alan. The color is growing on me... though maybe it's just because the sun is down and it looks a little darker now. :-)


I found its mate on eBay, identical to mine except that mine has no zip-in liner compatibility. The seller says it's from the '70s, which is pretty cool if true. I know it has to be pre-1988 since it has Wilsons' logo from before their 1988 name change from "Wilsons Suede and Leather" to just "Wilsons Leather." I hope it's US-made but there's no indication regarding country of origin.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Wils...#ht_500wt_1287

[LesserBlackDog]

Hmm... also the same as this one. Though the leather on mine is not as wrinkled-looking. http://www.etsy.com/listing/72094703...leather-jacket

[Fedodo]

A couple decent finds today:


Vintage Made in the USA Pendleton Flannel L






NWOT J. Crew Chinos




Aster Dress Shirt. I had never heard of this brand and didn't find much online, but it seems quality. MOP buttons and made in Italy






Holland & Sherry Dress shirt. This one kinda bummed me out. I believe it is MTM and it fits me perfectly, but it has a monogram on one of the cuffs. Anyone have suggestions about getting it removed? If it doesn't work out, it was easily worth the 5 bucks for the buttons alone (same thick MOP ones like on the Borrelli).

[jason_carreira]

I think a tailor can remove a monogram... It's just stitching, so if you're careful you might be able to do it yourself.

[jose_jackson]

Nice find on that jacket, BenR. I've been looking for a leather jacket for some time and haven't had any success. I've also looked in the women's section. Found a few that fit and were in the masculine style but clearly contoured for a woman's body.