So, I was looking to kill time before meeting some friends for dinner last night and stepped inside the Marshall's on 6th Avenue (NYC)to take a look around. I'd heard of folks scoring the occasional deal on high-end ties at that location and figured a quick scan might yield something. The best thing I found was an irregular Brooks Brothers tie which is to say I found nothing worth buying.
On a whim, I headed over to the suiting section and saw mostly stuff that was either way too big or screamed "The local mall couldn't get rid of me so now I'm here, please save me." As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed an unusually sharp suit on a rack of junky looking Calvin Klein black numbers. This suit definitely didn't belong there, it was a grey two piece with a subtle pattern that complimented the grey beautifully.
I looked inside the jacket and saw a "Made in Italy" tag on the collar. Then I saw another tag, "Super 150's". And then another tag, "Corneliani".
Made in Italy. Super 150's. Corneliani.
A $2,000 suit was on the rack in this Marshall's tagged for...$499.99. I couldn't find the sizing information and so I threw on the jacket fully expecting disappointment. It fit me like a glove. Besides the sleeves being a touch long, there wasn't an obvious alteration to be made. I ran to the dressing room like the Style Police were going to show up any minute and steal my find. The pants were now my enemy and as with the jacket, I expected disappointment.
Through the waist and thigh, the fit was spot-on. Sure, a hem and tapering was in order, but that's par for the course. I began an inch-by-inch inspection of the suit certain that there had to be some irregularity, stain or defect that led to it landing in a Marshall's. I spent 15 minutes in that dressing room going over every square inch of fabric for stains and spent another 15 inspecting the seams.
Once I was done, I realized that in my hands was, to my untrained eye, a first-quality Corneliani suit. It's sitting in my office now awaiting a trip to the tailor.
To Marshall's and the no doubt dozens of people who walked by that suit, thank you for having no idea who or what a Corneliani is.
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