The Official Affordable Swag Thread - Page 5

I use to buy tees in every color of the rainbow.

then i found myself only wearing white/gray or only has sleep wear.

you honestly don't need so much colors unless that's your swag

I know AA tees are cool/hip. but again, you dont need so much colors...just saying

AJPA Razele needs some credit because you jacked my idea from RP

I will post my ramblings on this subject later, but it will be a long and convoluted post and will be well thought out.

I've been discovering this too.  I mostly stick to white/grey/black combinations, much more so than I'm used to.  I wore a green sweater over a white button-up to work today w/ grey pants and black boots and it felt very odd to have that much color on.

 

But you still need like 5-6 tees bare minimum even if they're just white.

H&M has great tank tops in the summer. The ones that are a cotton/poly/rayon blend as opposed to the ribbed 100% cotton ones. They're loose, large neck and armholes, longer than normal, kindof sheer. $7.

H&M tees are your run of the mill slim-but-not-too-slim shirts. Just a less boxy hanes tee with a tad softer cotton. $6.

If you're really small (<5'5", <130lbs) abercrombie kids OCBDs in size XL are awesome worn untucked. Sleeves are freakishly long but the armholes are high, the body is trim and short. The oxford cloth is thick and a seam ripper takes off the pocket with the embarassing moose logo. $50 retail but they always end up $30 or less on clearance. They now have skinny and slim/straight chinos too but I can't vouch for those....yet.

For dirt cheap slim fit suits ASOS is a gold mine. Slim fit, slim lapels. Got a grey one button on sale for $90 (jacket and pants). Only needed to hem the sleeves and pants. It's polyester but I'm a college student and have already spilled drinks on it so it's all good. Also good for cheap black blazers to throw on with jeans and a white shirt.

Topman blows for shirts. They fit well but feel like shit. I think there's more polyester in them than cotton.

It might have been me -- I have had good luck with H&M tshirts and have said so around here. I don't like the $6 ones, just the $10 organics which are less sheer than the cheapest ones.

Will this thread include footwear or is that too much?

My favorite white undershit Tees are actually the Calvin Klein 3 packs you can get at like TJ Max for $15. I've got an odd build, and these fit the bill for me nicely. I pick up the 3 pack 2(x)ist boxer briefs from gilt every year, as well (well, I pick up 3 3 packs) as those and CK are the only Boxer Briefs I've found that do nicely around my beefy thighs and don't hang off my ass like a diaper.

In general, I've found dockers is best for me on the cheap for chinos, levis 511 for jeans, and J Crew has the best fitting shirts I've found OTR. I have the opposite problem from you waify guys in that I'm an XL-XXL and it's hard to find stuff that doesn't fit me like a tent. Big neck/chest, long arms and torso...

I found that polo ralph lauren shirts are the best especially for the price you can pick em up on sale at any discount store. J.Crew + CM stuff are also nice if you watch out for the sales and such.

IMO, people can build a wardrobe out of uniqlo but it'll be pretty boring. Best thing to do is just pick up some basics and then just resist kopping until you see something great on B&S or ebay. Apparently Yahoo Japan! has some great stuff for those who desire to be more fashion-y but I have no idea how that works..

I'd also add that once you're in the range of the $165-200 shirt, that MTO makes complete and total sense. I'm hesitant as hell to pick up a Gitman/Gant/Whatever at full retail as-is, but I'm much more willing to do so if it's made to my specific measurements so there's no need to take them to the tailors to get alterations made, etc. And, once you factor in volume discounts (buy x get y free), or stick to "cheaper" materials, it can be very affordable in the long run. I'd love to see a perpetual mytailor/moderntailor/gitman/wvg mto thread..

Tobi sometimes has them for 30% off or TBS with codes is not bad price either. I wouldn't pay rrp because as rfx said they are just chucks with hearts painted on but they are hypnotic eyes for sure

these are exactly what I had in mind when I saw this thread hah I wore them in a few fits (and quite regularly over the summer, to be honest). I almost feel like getting a second pair just in case they stop production and mine fall apart, inevitable, as they are already showing wear vs mmm/cp other brands I shan't mention.

a few very cheap to mid level fits with those:

i think backpack was most expensive item in these shots
(1st: dunno shirt, aa tank, uniqlo oversized+tapered trousers)
(2nd: brookbros xslim, random yoox trousers i love to wear always)
(3rd: not really plebe but duckshadow shorts i ended up selling but got in black now hehe)

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but any aesthetic can be explored with little investment. f+b is i guess mid-level, despite higher retail (4-500) they are always on super discount end of season. NCB (long shirt / tunic, as well as coat) can be found for embarrassingly low prices on yoox, I think there may be 1 stockist in NYC but beware of the flair, he loves the dress-like exaggerations on all longer items. some good oversized shirts to be had for sure. and trousers, I have absolutely no idea, some short but not necessarily intentionally cropped unlined linen with busted zipper that i wear with longer shirts only I think this is ok ?

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i didn't mean for this to be a repository of ugly plebe fits by shah
just wanted to share some ideas about being creative with little expense. it's not hard (well, if you don't think those pics are hideous then it's not hard) to get some cohesion if you keep in mind what kind of fit you want, how fabrics can work together (of course will be more limited here since not dealing with weird things like boiled ___, or luxuriously soft alpaca, etc). and sticking to a certain number of colors and/or patterns -- I believe the fuuma rule is no more than 5 different ones.

anyway, just must long-winded two cents

edit: the thread title is no fun, it should include something with the poor pauper's sartorial adventures: we are the 99% and not ever have anything to do with swag.
Edited by the shah - 12/19/11 at 6:17pm

Buy uniqlo, save for grail pieces

Mellow is the perfect example and it doesn't seem too difficult if you have the patience. The thing is I think most members do not have the patience once they start copping