Picked up my first borrelli item today

I was downtown Boston today and stopped into Filene's Basement to look at a cocktail dress for my fiance. Well, they didn't have the dress in her size, but they did have the Borrelli cashmere sweaters on 25% markdown. I picked up a "khaki" colored cashmere crewneck for $125. Seemed like quite a steal, and I had been eyeing them. They only had one in my size (a "54" whatever the hell that means). I wish they would have had a navy blue v neck in my size, but the khaki/beige color actually looks pretty damn cool with a pair of jeans (oh, yeah, I also picked up a pair of Joe's jeans for $45 to complete the look). Really great handwork on this thing too -- the collar has a little bit of "give" to it, so it can accomodate a collar but will pop right back into place if you want to just wear a t-shirt underneath. Normally I go for v-necks because they can accomodate a collar better, but this Borrelli crewneck can do it just as well actually. Should make the East Coast winters a little easier next year. I'm hoping it lasts me a decade.

That's a good buy by any standards.

The sweater must have been marked down previously, as the list price is likely to be at least $ 400-500.

I'm hoping it lasts me a decade.

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Mind the moths, they love cashmere.

I will mind the moths. I make sure that my cedar closets are moth free. I'll also make sure to put the sweater in the deep freeze before ever packing it away.

The retail price on the sweater was $500. The Basement had it for $169 and it was marked down an additional 25% to $125. Honestly, I think these sweaters may go down to 50% mark off in two weeks (the 50% date is two weeks from yesterday, if anyone is interested). They mostly have size 56 -- maybe five or six left in multiple colors, in crew, v neck, and turtle neck. I just didn't want to risk my 54 being gone in two weeks (it was the only 54 there).

Johnny - I'm continually perplexed as to the great finds people report from various Filene's locations, since the two stores here in NYC offer nothing but pure dreck ('Andrew Fezza' - whoever he may be - galore)

Anyway, enjoy your sweater, definitely a good deal, as only this weekend I saw a few Zegna cashmere sweaters at 50% off but still 175 - 350 each.

BTW, I believe 54 is European equivalent to US 44

Yeah, I was wondering whether the sweater sizes correspond to suit sizes. But, I'm actually not so sure they do, because in Borrelli I would wear a 39 suit or so, but the 54 sweater fit very well -- not tight, but not baggy at all either. Both the torso and the length were cut just right. My guess is actually that 52 is cut like a medium sweater at, say, Banana Republic, and 56 is cut like a large, with 54 in between the two (I tried on a 56 and it was a smidge big -- I could definitely fit in a 52, but 54 was fine as well. IMO the 52 would just be a little snugger.). You've never heard of Andrew Fezza? I think that he is part of the Brother House of Fashion out of the Naldini Suit Factory. Look, Filenes can be crap a lot of the time -- especially rank locations. But here are a few of the finds I've had at both the Boston store and the Newton store the past month: (1) Pair of Joe's jeans, $45; (2) Pair of Seven jeans for my brother, $45; (3) Pair of PDC jeans for fiance, $60; (4) Corneliani Linea Satoria suit for my brother for my wedding, $375; (5) Borrelli cashmere sweater, $125; (6) John Varvatos fine wale cords, $45; (7) Barney's woven tie, $15; (8) Raedelli suit for my father in law for my wedding, $375; (9) Oxxford Gibbons model, $750 [probably will take it back, but I bought it so I could get a sense of what I want my Chan suit to be -- but I'm open to keeping it if you think it is a better buy than a MTM Chan]. I have also picked up two XMI sport shirts in SUPER soft cotton twills (I've gotta give a shout out to XMI's fabric choices) for $15 each.