The Official Affordable Swag Thread - Page 8

Since I live in the South, I have one piece of outerwear (peacoat, blah), but a ton of knits for late Fall/Winter. The concept of a spring/summer jacket is completely foreign here.

Point being, also take geography into consideration. There's really no need to splurge on outerwear if you're living south of, say, I-10.

I just want to say that yoox is a goldmine during sales/transition season. There are a shitload of brands, top-end to crap, selling for like 90% off retail. Example, 77$ cotton margiela trousers are a fantastic deal. The point is that most of this stuff really is affordable; just as affordable as shopping at the mall. As plenty of people have pointed out, shoes are pricey, and that seems to be that.

Lowbrow shoes that go with designer shit: Vans era/authentic, superga, leather adidas (see Fuuma), German army trainers purchased from Germany (ebay or proxy), pantofola d'oro, other random italian yoox brands like daniele alessandrini

Boots: Vintage boots on ebay. There are often cool jodhpurs, moto boots, riding boots, and combat boots for sale. There's also the occasional deal on designer footwear. Also, Military boots from any surplus website. Some are sleeker than others. Buy a matching boot-zip and you'll look super cool.

Shirts: Check Gilt. Ervell, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein Collection, all selling from 40-80$ Margiela, etc. on yoox, selling for ~100$. Much nicer than JCrew.

Trousers: Yoox. Duh. Just sort through them.

Flannel shirts: JCrew on sale. Under 30$. Not that fancy or interesting or anything, but they're warm, and some of the patterns are cozy.

Jeans: Levi's 511 if you wear Petit Standards. The store next to me is selling them for 35$, raws, overdyes, etc. I know eason likes Zara jeans too.

Tees: Hanes don't really fit me that well at 6"1, so try Urban's BDG tees for a longer fit. I dislike AA tees, and the BDG don't seem to shrink as much. Additionally, all of the designer/diffusion brand tees on ForwardForward drop to a fraction of their original price if you wait. I have a few Geller Seconds tanks and tees, didn't pay more than 35$ a piece and I wear them all the time (only if you want slightly more interesting tees than white hanes v-necks).

Outerwear: Scotch and Soda, Spiewak (short and boxy), Army/Navy surplus stores (sterlingwear etc). Check for prices. Buy old leather jackets at thrift stores. Cut the sleeves off or wear as-is. This will take dedicated searching.


I'd avoid shit from the Gap altogether, unless they have a t-shirt deal or something. I was in one the other day, though, and Gap Kids looked totally awesome.


Where's that post I made that one time about advice to all college students that graphicnovelty was really good at re-quoting?
Edited by Synthese - 12/19/11 at 10:32pm

i think that though you bring up good points synthese, half of those brands a lot of people do not have any experience with and will look past it.

whatever is being seen on "most recent purchases" is what others will start hyping and buying.

what makes you synthese and others of similar caliber so great is you guys are actually willing to experiment, and that includes brands or types of clothes with unknown material/quality etc.

i know i am still hesitant to try anything "new"

Dude, dress like a 15 yr old in t shirts and hoodies and be a kid. Plenty of time to dress like an adult when you get older.

Jwied, let me know if you want me to remove this, but I think this is a look that could be replicated pretty easily. I'll replace your brands with my suggestions:



2$ watch cap at hardware store
GoLite 650-fill down vest (or whatever else, NF, Mont Bell, whatever is cheapest), 70$ on sale
JCrew Flannel, 30$ on sale
Levi's 510, 35$ on sale
Converse, however much converse cost.

So my big post is pretty much what I was expanding on before, you really dont need alot, nothing wrong with having a really nice, well edited but small wardrobe. Honestly, I've sold and traded so much stuff to get to this point, its the best way to go.


General / Budgeting:

Ok guys this the hard thing. When you find out about all this you spend money like crazy and then just sell it all. DONT DO THAT. Figure out what you like, read alot of blogs, go to stores to see stuff (dont buy) and read alot on here, ask people questions etc etc. Dont just kop randomly and 'find your way' its really expensive - let me tell you.

Save your money, and buy items on the sales. Go in and kop.Pretty much only spend money on full price items if they are MTM / MTO - never available on sale. Plan out some kops - i.e where things are available and get things ready for the kop. Dont go into the Sales thread and be like "GUYS I NEED SNEAKS WHAT SIZE AM I IN CP'S AND ALSO WERE ARE THEY AVAILABLE AT 90% off OK??" Plan things out abit.

I stick to colours: White / Grey / Charcoal / Black / Navy / Blue

I suggest people do this, pick some stuff to work with, or an aesthetic direction you like, and stick with it. If you have infinte money you can buy a massive wardrobe but this is all about an affordable kitup, so you need to make sacrifices.


Wardrobe Choices

Outerwear: I stand by what I said before. A nice leather jacket i.e Bomber, and a nice Overcoat, like a peacoat, mac coat, fishtail. The ToJ fishtail is really nice and its cheap for what you get IMO. If you can, get outerwear with a removable liner, that way you get way more out of it, having it for the hard winter and a good part of autumn / spring. Dont go overboard - essentially, you can have as much outerwear as you want but you wont wear all of it so whats the point (the point is stick to a budget!)

Denim: APC / Uniqlo is the best way to go. I have APC, but for my next lot will probably just get Uniqlo MIJ raws in black and indigo. Two pair is all good, would probably get a pair of black overdyes too, or black waxed at some point.

T's: Alternative / American Apparel isnt too bad, but I love my Hanes Beefy T's and they are like a couple bucks each, just buy 10 and get new ones everyear or twice a year, whatever. You dont really need nice T's? I have some Paetrov T's and some Geller Seconds, MMM AIDS T's too, but I mostly wear White Crewneck Hanes T's anyway. Also they have like four kinds of melange grey / charcoal / ash or whatever, so you can get a bunch of white ones and a couple grey ones too.

Shirts: My advice is go MTM. Go here: http://www.cottonwork.com/ - Its like 60 bucks a shirt for THE PREMIUM fabrics, you can get cheap ones if you want. Mother of Pearl is cheap too. Otherwise, uniqlo oxfords / flannels / shirting are so cheap, go down to 20 bucks on special, one bill = five shirts, thats pretty good IMO, and not going to get any better. Use suddenlee to order if in the U.S and use a proxy if you arent.

Pants: If on a big budget, I would look at MC B&S and get Incotex / Mabitex, can get nice pants for 50-80 bucks, wool ones abit more. You dont really need alot, I would say a pair of khaki's (Uniqlo Vintage Khaki's are awesome and I have a pair, only like 50 bucks) and a wool pair or two, say a flannel pair and a woolen pair, but also, check suiting because that could be replaceable.

Suiting: Cheap MTM. Thick-as-Thieves is a good choice, few other cheap MTM outfits around. Get a conservative slim cut, i.e Two Button Jacket (Or Three Rolling Two) Notch Lapels, No shrunken fits etc and get an EXTRA set of pants (you can wear as seperates and this is probably the best way to go IMO) I would get a charcoal worsted - can wear to interviews, can wear to funerals, can wear on dates, seperate jacket goes nice with the black raws / white t / black boots combo.

Knits: I have fifty + knits, ranging from mohair, alpaca, shetland wool, lambswool, carded wool, cashmere, cotton etc etc. I can tell you this: B&S and eBay are great places to pick some stuff up in this space. Also, I'll post up my handknit maker, cost me around 250 - 300 for a handknit shawl collar robe in a nice navy wool. I would look at Smedley, as Jet said, its quite nice. Albam is also good. Ervell is nice, but you'll need to get on first sale to get the good ones. Our legacy is great as well, price point is much better then APC. Its not really neccessary though to have nice knits - IIRC Fuuma didnt have any for years, and he had a nice wardrobe. SNS herning is good too. Id get some basic cardigans, a crewneck pullover and a handknit. Would (sadly) do me fine.

Shoes: My best advice is this: Save money. Save up, get some nice boots / shoes off B&S / eBay. Your going to have to pay for them. Get topys put on them. If your looking for good deals and want to save some money, have a look at some Redwing Postman Oxfords and / or the Chukkas, they are nice and cheap too. I would probably have say 3-4 pairs of nice shoes. I'd go: Derby laceups, Sidezips, Chukkas. You could double one of those i.e two pairs of chukkas or something if you wanted. Crockett and Jones are nice, and then below that, grensons are quite good and like less then 200 bucks in some cases. Driveslowk used to have the grenson derbies IIRC, they look great (have handled in person entire line and its pretty good cost / product ratio IMO) I like the Crockett Jones Tetbury, its a nice chukka boot. Can wear that with your suit, with black jeans and a T, etc etc.

Sneakers: I agree with Fuuma here, you dont need nice sneakers to have a nice wardrobe. The leather chuck taylors are good, vans are played out IMO. Kopping CP's on sale is a good idea, same as MMM when you see them in your size. The thing is, the good sneaks will go at retail. I would just kop white leather chucks and worry about nice sneaks at some other point. Nike AF-1's are a good buy too, same as Addidas Sambas and original German Army Trainers - just put good laces in them lol.



So end would look like this (example of me doing it)

Leather A-2 Bomber
Wool Fishtail Parka
+ Button out liner
Charcoal Suit
+ 2 x Trousers
10 T's
5 White Shirts
2 Cardigans
1 Handknit
1 Crewneck
1 Black Raw
1 Indigo Raw
1 Khaki Pants
1 Black Derby
2 English Black Chukkas
1 Black Sidezips
2 White Converse Leather Hitops

Would be damn nice, and a great place to start. You could get this over 2-3 years IMO. Just take your time guys! Pick things up slowly and dont rush out and buy heaps of crap.

If you want me to expand on anything I will do, just ask.

I'll finish reading your post... but can you recommend some blogs to follow?

if i could do college over again i would put my money toward:

1 pair of CPs
1 pair of APC PS
15-20 plain t-shirts

that's like $400 at sale time, and then i'd spend the rest of my efforts & money on procuring nice knits, outerwear, and interesting pieces, which is what really matters to me now

i think the investment in CPs is well worth it - my CPs @ 2 years are still relatively pristine, whereas my converse fell apart after 1 year. also, the whole time you're wearing converse, you'll be pining after CPs anyway. might as well at least have nice footwear

also, i think the investment in APC is worth it - imo APC is the baseline for quality raw jeans - N&F in my experience is substantially inferior quality. levi's is probably a better value proposition than N&F imo - it's an american classic and they can be bought for like $30

All Saints on sale.

I know SF likes to rag on it for being overpriced but I see most sweaters hit sub-100 (think Patrik Ervell "inspired"), shirts hit ~60 (BoO fit overdyes), and outerwear can goes on sale for ~100-200 (I'd honestly take AS outerwear over something like Schott). Worth retail? No. But buy it cheap and mix it in with nicer stuff and it's not like anyone could ever notice. Quality can be hit or miss but not as much miss as SF makes it out to be, especially if you only wear a piece infrequently (I should know, often I had to wear the same 4-5 pieces of clothing an entire week so obviously they show bad signs of wear).

Shoes can be hit or miss but if you see some decent slap a topy on the sole and it will be fine, no problems with any pairs I have at the moment. Except sneakers, not the sneakers.

Avoid denim or pants (or suiting, its cut a bit too funky for my liking).

In my experiences better quality than Zara and H&M but less than Uniqlo (which I would rate as really good ).

patrik ervell on sale. besides even though i buy things i like and wear also same styles in multiple of i find myself only really wearing the same few pieces each week. only mixing it up every now and then.

Disagree. I'd still choose APC over N&F, but that's because of teh fades and that APC fits me better.
Otherwise
1. I've owned both- N&F is in the same range quality-wise as APC and IME the apc's I've had blew out etc quicker than N&F
2. N&F can be found on sale ($80-100) cheaper than APC (though because of how common APC is you can usually find a slightly used pair on B&S for a reasonable price).


To echo what some other people have already said / add a bit more:

blazers/sportcoats - Club Monaco, Uniqlo, H&M will have some good slim-fitting cheap options. CM's will retail for much more than the other two but they're eventually available for dirt cheap on sale. Also, IMO this is a good area to go cheap as Jcrew/etc will cost more without really being much higher quality and really good quality jackets will be serious $$$.

Jeans - uniqlo, apc can usually be found slightly used on B&S for around $100 or less. I know lots of people like Levis as a cheap option, but to me they always feel too thin/ just feel off.

shirts - uniqlo, MTM (I haven't tried cottonworks yet, but I've had good results with Modern Tailor), and B&S

shoes - to echo Synthese - Ebay can be a really good option. I've lucked into some really nice $400+ shoes in near new condition for less than 100 off ebay.

Knits - Uniqlo for basic crews and v-necks, no reason to drop big $$$ on those; CM for this as well, their basic sweaters will get cheap (60 for cashmere,40 or less for wool) and the ones I've had hold up well and fit slim once sized down, plus they usually have some interesting colors.
-SNS is great quality for the money for heavier knits. The Stark will sell out at or near full $$$, but most other models (fisherman, naval, etc) will be available come sales and can be found up to 50% off.

I'm 5' 6" and 125, and you're right about Gap clothes not fitting well on skinny guys - at first. I bought a Gap sweater a few weeks ago, in XS, and it was a few inches too wide. After I washed it and let it air dry, though, it fits about the same as my Express sweater.

this is all good

i've found out/tried uniqlo and MTM shirts most recently in the past 5 months and wish i had at the very beginning (see joined date). would have saved up tons of money to pickup grail pieces to compliment the wardrobe.

basically i sold everything i had in my closet in 2months time essentially, and filled it all back up with MTM shirts and uniqlo suiting/basics. starting over feels good, and overall i am very satisfied. it is a slow process and i am taking jets advice in slowly currating a nice wardrobe rather than rapid firing the buy button.

only sad part is i have to save up for another big hull after the wardrobe is filled with basics, you can essentially start adding in the grails that will help really shape and define your aesthetic, which ever direction you choose.

More of the "americana" look I guess, but anyway:

*best budget denim: Edwin Nashville
*oxfords/flannels: Gant Rugger (their "hugger" cut is the best shirt fit I have found)
*cap/beanie: US gov. wool watch cap. Cheap, durable, all wool. Would work in fashion fits aswell.