Your Best & Worst Purchases of 2012 - Page 2

Good purchases:







Jacket, jeans and boots







Not so good purchases:

I'll keep this short and snappy...


BEST

BLESS Black Wool Hoodcoat, from F/W '07


I seriously love this jacket, was an absolute slam dunk buy. Looks cool as hell, is so solidly made and I know I'll never find anything else like it. Got it for a reasonable price as well, which always sweetens the pot. I like this jacket so much that I actually sleep with it lying next to me on my bed, mostly because it's too long to actually hang anywhere in my room


WORST

Alexandre Plokhov Green Leather Asymmetrical Zip Jacket, from F/W '11


This is sort of a controversial/complicated pick for worst of 2012. It's an amazing jacket and the color/leather/styling is superb, but it just never worked for me. Indeed, I've worn it like once in the past 4 months I've owned it, and it's just sat in my closet since. I guess I always felt like it was wearing me when I tried it on, nothing i ever wore with it looked quite right and it didn't exactly work with my larger chest/shoulder frame. Pretty painful considering the price I paid. I even threw up an IC on Superfuture just because it was too unbearable to keep opening my closet and seeing it hanging there, taunting me. le sigh

Best:



Geller Laced-Cuff Overcoat

One of the first Geller pieces that really grabbed my attention; it was also one that wasn't in my ballpark price range when it dropped two years ago. Thankfully, one popped up in my size about a year ago on eBay for almost a third of the retail price. After finally getting the sleeves shortened, it's become my favorite piece of outerwear and one of my favorite pieces of clothing in general. I love the rough fabric and the way it usually spruces up even the most basic of boots-jeans-tee fits. It took me forever to figure out how to properly weave the leather cuff laces to make them wrap around the cuff like you see in some of the stock pictures. I kind of liked how the laces look hanging, but it was a functional nightmare since it was so easy to get them caught on or in something.



Epaulet Herringbone Shirt

Price is almost always a factor with me, but this was one of those rare instances where I didn't think twice. From the time I peeped the swatch to the time the shirt finally went live on the Epaulet site, I knew this would be a Day 1 purchase for me. Great color, obscenely soft fabric, cool texture, and a comfortable fit. Probably one of my favorite shirts.



Bruno Bordese High Tops

These are easily one of the most polarizing items in my closet. Some people hate them, others fawn over them. I don't really mess with anything in the baller sneaker realm, but these were a fall staple with black overdye jeans and tees, much to my girlfriend's dismay. They're kind of gaudy, but I like the minimal distressing, side zippers, and overall shape. I also swapped out the white laces for black ones, which made them even more endearing to me.

Honorable mention:

Uniqlo light blue OCBD - I wear this thing like crazy and it's still holding up. Wish Uniqlo would restock their site so I could nab another one.

Worst:



Geller Seconds Sweatshorts

Comfortable material, but they were HUGE. Not so much in the waist, but the legs were comically wide, which created more of a skirt silhouette than anything resembling actual shorts. Luckily was able to pass them along to a new home.

Engineered Garments Whipcord Bedford

Loved this, but the fit was pretty bad on me. Boxy, but really tight in the chest and shoulders. I'd give it another shot in a size up, but as it was, the proportions didn't instill much confidence that EG outerwear is for me.

All Saints Drop Crotch Pants

An experiment, but one that yielded poor results. Proportions didn't work at all for me and the material, as I expected, was pretty lousy.

Elsewhere, I've got a few items that I really like, but just haven't gotten a chance to wear much or at all. You could possibly consider those for this category, since they ate up money that may have gone to clothing I'd get more use out of. I still dig 'em, but they're the type of pieces that only work within a limited scope that is presently underrepresented in my closet.

best: everything i copped

worst: nothing

Best:
a1923 reverse leather back zip
buttero tall zip boot
toj moto
carmina shell cordovan boots
nespresso machine
mac book air
iphone 5

worst:
will add when i can think of something, i am sure there was something

Best:
In Aisce leather jacket:

I never really wanted a leather jacket until I saw this one. The leather is amazing and it fits perfectly.

Ann D cropped pants:

Was hesitant since they were expensive (like ~$325 and used), but so so worth it.

Ann D Sneakers:

This makes one pair out of two...

Uniqlo S-000 Jeans. Everything I want in a pair of jeans, and inexpensive. T-000 is a bit skinny for my liking now so I like the fit on these more. I was kind of done with jeans until I got these.


Worst:
A1923 Derbies

These would be in the best if they didn't end up being about half a size small. Will be selling these soon unfortunately.

Ann D Boots & Boot Sneakers

Bought both of these expecting to have to choose between the two, but also thinking I might actually end up keeping both. Now that we're in actually suitable weather to wear them, I only have wore each pair like once. They're really quite awesome, but not for me I don't think. I will likely sell both, but might keep one and see if I wear it. Black pair seems to fit small anyway.

Best-

Robert Geller Hooded Wool Coat
Flyknits
MMM elbow patch v neck
UU Color Block Sweater
Uniqlo Twill Jeans
White Mountaineering shoes

Worst-

COS sweats
W+H henley
MMM checkerboard inside out sweater (nice piece just not sure how to wear it)

Best
C&J Islay calf scotch grain brogue boots. Simply beautiful. Great fit and not a moments discomfort. Picked these up after I missed the 2011 Lindrick frenzy. For a second choice they are my favourite purchase of 2012.

Berk camel hair shawl cardigan. Lovely.

Zanone cotton shawl cardigan in navy.

Barbour wool shawl cardigan in claret. Cutting off the garish Steve Mcqueen-inspired patch improved its look significantly.

Howard Yount light tan suede double monk. A really attractive shoe at a very good price. I spent much of the 1st half of 2012 looking for a double monk in taupe or milkshake, and though these aren't quite the color I initially desired they've become my favourite shoe.

Several pairs of PT01 pants. Great fit, well made.

Luciano Barbera pants in look-at-my-fucking-red-pants red. Best impulse buy. No reason for me to own 'em, yet I wear 'em all the time.

* Best shops found in 2012: Howard Yount and Franz Boone.

Worst

Unis pants in oxblood. Really was excited to order these, but much too purple for my liking. The fit is renown, yet I found my Incotex and PT01 pants better fitting and better constructed. Returned.

Gloverall duffle coat. Returned.

Just about everything purchased from J. Crew and Lands End Canvas. Almost all returned. Kept a few belts and socks.

*deleted double post.

*deleted double post.

it was a basics kind of year. didn't buy that much, really.

best, aka what i wore all the time:
loake/tyrwhitt jodhpurs
mmm gats


muji white ts--my favorite cheap white t, over uniqlo or hanes
cotton works white oxford--finally got my custom measurements figured out
uniqlo cashmere

nothing i hated that i bought this year. I've got a couple items i'm kind of on the fence about even though i wear 'em a lot:
SExSFxSFxDB12 denim and green suede Rider boots.


the jeans I got on sale new after the contest for 'em ended. there's a lot i like here--build quality, beefiness, how they fade, detailing, and the measurements for the knee, hip, and hem--but some stuff i don't like. the hip measurement is small, and on my pair, one leg's stacking never has totally made sense. We'll see what changes as I wash them more. at least they're wearing in nicely. going back to normal thickness denim eventually is gonna be weird.

the boots: got these right at the end of '11. been wearing them a lot, just kind of figuring that they'll make sense once they're beaten up. in the mean time, they're green suede and accordingly are not easy to style. fun though. i like 'em like i wore them in that picture but in basically no other outfit. so i wear that outfit a lot.

BEST:

Ouret Jacket:


Devoa Bag:


A1923 Shoes:


WORST:
Tellason Jeans. Just not the right fit for me.

@Mr.Moo: How come the Guidi bag didn't work out?

Guidi just wasn't my steeze and wasn't getting any use. Was considering using it as a diaper bag, but not enough interior pockets...

willing to bet it'd fetch a good price on B&S/ebay

It sold for over $1k...