Journal of a Bottom-feeder; Or How I learned to stop worrying and love outlets.

[LooknGr8]

Off this thread I revisited the Barney's outlet in Wrentham MA last night...the first time I had gone, seemed pretty pricey.

Father's day sale.

Kiton tie for 60% off $99 markdown and a nice Paul Smith to go with for about half that.

 

[guest]

if i lived in the US i'd be a bottom feeder fo sho like the title of this thread sez. i read some really sweet deals when browsing the forum.

 

[DerekS]

Originally Posted by Imhoff

Just skimmed and this was the one thing that caught my eye. Will be visiting local Rack tomorrow, with scarf in hand.

hahahahahaha!!! my first thought as well.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by LooknGr8

I travel for work a lot and have made it a habit to hit thrift stores, Syms, and Filene's Basements wherever I land. Unbelieveable the variability between cities -- i.e. FB in downtown Chicago and Needham Mass have top-line stuff (Brioni! RLPL Etc.) and Syms/FBs elsewere (can you say Tampa?) have far less, although they are interesting nonetheless.
I travel for work, too, and always hit the outlet stores in the bigger cities. The location really determines how good the merchandise is,especially for Marshall's, as I've written.

Originally Posted by bourbonbasted

Lobbs at NMLC? Sounds like I'll definitely be making my way over soon. Even if they're not there the fact that there is a chance warrants more than enough reason to make the trip.

Originally Posted by bobbers

I've seen Lobbs at NMLC but very very rarely, say once out of every 20 visits. And only at certain locations.

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

Alden at NMLC? Never in my life have I even heard of this. NM first line stores sell Alden?

Originally Posted by Imhoff

+1 Never seen either Lobbs or Aldens at NM as well. Maybe it's a location thing?

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

Lobbs, sure. Aldens, I need visual proof.
I spent a year in San Diego when they had the only NMLC in California. A salesman told me that overstocks from every NM store in the state filtered down to that NMLC. The very first time I visited, I bought 2 pairs of black John Lobb Perriers in size 11 for $200 each. I almost didn't try them on since I'm a size 12, but it turns out they were marked with UK sizes for some reason, so I scored(!). I sold one pair on ebay for $850, IIRC, and kept the other. For the rest of the year, I drove the 45 minutes (one-way) to the NMLC once a week with high hopes, but never found another pair of Lobbs. I did find several pairs of Aldens, but none in my size and the price didn't justify flipping on ebay. The NMLC in Dallas is also excellent, since NM originated in Dallas, so the mainline stores are also very good. Now that I think about it, the mainline NM store(s) in Dallas carry Alden or used to carry Alden. I picked up a pair of Alden LHS loafers on sale when they discontinued them in the downtown Dallas store.

 

[bourbonbasted]

Originally Posted by thinman

The very first time I visited, I bought 2 pairs of black John Lobb Perriers in size 11 for $200 each.

Color me envious.

 

[ohdannyboy]

Based on this thread, i made my first trip to Loehmann's and Sym's (for more than undershirts) today. Here's what i found:

Loehmann's
- Good jeans selection... 7 for all Mankind and Lucky, as well as a few other brands i recognized
- Valentino shirts... they had 3 or 4 valentino shirts hanging up on one rack priced at $79. There was a 20% off sale going on as well, so i purchased one that fit me nicely for $65. The shirt was marked with a MSRP of $185, but i'm not well versed enough to know if this is true.
- I couldn't find the shoe section, but i didn't walk the whole store and didn't have my glasses on. The men's section was tiny and in the back corner, and the shoes (if they existed) were nowhere near there.

Syms:
- A few decent shirts. Found some valentino as well, and a few canali. none that fit, but gave me a good feeling that there'd be more.
- Find of the day, though i didn't purchase b/c it didn't fit quite right. Brioni sport coat for $1500. I'd never seen one for anywhere near that.
- One thing i found questionable: they were advertising Zenga Cloth suits for $499. It didn't look like the Zenga house style, but the cloth was fantastic. The name on the label below the Ermen(icantspellit) Zenga name was "Traveler" Has anybody ever seen this?
- EDIT: They also had alan edmond shoes

 

[Achilles_]

Originally Posted by ohdannyboy

Based on this thread, i made my first trip to Loehmann's and Sym's (for more than undershirts) today. Here's what i found:

Loehmann's
- Good jeans selection... 7 for all Mankind and Lucky, as well as a few other brands i recognized
- Valentino shirts... they had 3 or 4 valentino shirts hanging up on one rack priced at $79. There was a 20% off sale going on as well, so i purchased one that fit me nicely for $65. The shirt was marked with a MSRP of $185, but i'm not well versed enough to know if this is true.
- I couldn't find the shoe section, but i didn't walk the whole store and didn't have my glasses on. The men's section was tiny and in the back corner, and the shoes (if they existed) were nowhere near there.

Syms:
- A few decent shirts. Found some valentino as well, and a few canali. none that fit, but gave me a good feeling that there'd be more.
- Find of the day, though i didn't purchase b/c it didn't fit quite right. Brioni sport coat for $1500. I'd never seen one for anywhere near that.
- One thing i found questionable: they were advertising Zenga Cloth suits for $499. It didn't look like the Zenga house style, but the cloth was fantastic. The name on the label below the Ermen(icantspellit) Zenga name was "Traveler" Has anybody ever seen this?
- EDIT: They also had alan edmond shoes


$1500 for a Brioni blazer?

There are much better deals to be had my friend! There are some Kiton SC's in the B/S here for half that!

 

[ohdannyboy]

Originally Posted by Achilles_

$1500 for a Brioni blazer?

There are much better deals to be had my friend! There are some Kiton SC's in the B/S here for half that!

fair point Achilles, i didn't think of B&S. That was the cheapest i'd ever seen retail, i suppose was the more accurate description

EDIT: Achilles, i'm VERY glad you pointed this out! i'm still incredibly new to all this, so getting insight into these types of things will only help me out in the future!

 

[Achilles_]

Originally Posted by ohdannyboy

fair point Achilles, i didn't think of B&S. That was the cheapest i'd ever seen retail, i suppose was the more accurate description

EDIT: Achilles, i'm VERY glad you pointed this out! i'm still incredibly new to all this, so getting insight into these types of things will only help me out in the future!

Not a problem

After a forray into eBay, I decided B/S is much safer and less hassle. People take better measurements and take better care of the clothing. Great deals can be had on eBay, but I've had about as many bad experiences as good experiences. (bear in mind I usually buy used, but one time received a "new" shirt that had pit stains and a terrible odor, but still had a tag on it

)

 

[ShayaEXQT]

Originally Posted by Achilles_

Not a problem

After a forray into eBay, I decided B/S is much safer and less hassle.

(bear in mind I usually buy used, but one time received a "new" shirt that had pit stains and a terrible odor, but still had a tag on it

)

That just enforces my decision only to use eBay in exceptional circumstances

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by davesmith

That just enforces my decision only to use eBay in exceptional circumstances

i don't know ... i've had pretty good luck. if I was a fairly standard size 40-42 R, 40-42L, i would probably buy most things through B&S. but there just isn't much for a 42s. i can find things much more regularly on ebay. just picked up a bnwot brooksease blazer for traveling with amazing loro piana cloth for $40, shipped. it really comes down to shopping carefully and waiting for the real bargains.

 

[ShayaEXQT]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i don't know ... i've had pretty good luck. if I was a fairly standard size 40-42 R, 40-42L, i would probably buy most things through B&S. but there just isn't much for a 42s. i can find things much more regularly on ebay. just picked up a bnwot brooksease blazer for traveling with amazing loro piana cloth for $40, shipped. it really comes down to shopping carefully and waiting for the real bargains.

you're right about how there is much greater variety on ebay. however if it can be found on B&S, there is no debating who will come out on top.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by davesmith

you're right about how there is much greater variety on ebay. however if it can be found on B&S, there is no debating who will come out on top.
+eleventy

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by thinman

.
I spent a year in San Diego when they had the only NMLC in California. A salesman told me that overstocks from every NM store in the state filtered down to that NMLC.

The very first time I visited, I bought 2 pairs of black John Lobb Perriers in size 11 for $200 each. I almost didn't try them on since I'm a size 12, but it turns out they were marked with UK sizes for some reason, so I scored(!). I sold one pair on ebay for $850, IIRC, and kept the other. For the rest of the year, I drove the 45 minutes (one-way) to the NMLC once a week with high hopes, but never found another pair of Lobbs. I did find several pairs of Aldens, but none in my size and the price didn't justify flipping on ebay.

The NMLC in Dallas is also excellent, since NM originated in Dallas, so the mainline stores are also very good. Now that I think about it, the mainline NM store(s) in Dallas carry Alden or used to carry Alden. I picked up a pair of Alden LHS loafers on sale when they discontinued them in the downtown Dallas store.

When an NMLC opened at the Block at Orange a year or two before I retired, I had high hopes that I would find serendipities like you mention, but I never did. Nearly all the stuff seemed intended for the outlet.

For years there has also been an SOF at the Block. For a long time that was a pretty good resource. I bought a slew of ties and pocket squares there, some shirts for me and my boy and a couple of suits for the lad. However, they greatly reduced their stock of classic, conservative menswear and turned the floor space over to youth oriented styles. I suppose it made good sense. The Block is a very youth-oriented mall.

 

[Achilles_]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i don't know ... i've had pretty good luck. if I was a fairly standard size 40-42 R, 40-42L, i would probably buy most things through B&S. but there just isn't much for a 42s. i can find things much more regularly on ebay. just picked up a bnwot brooksease blazer for traveling with amazing loro piana cloth for $40, shipped. it really comes down to shopping carefully and waiting for the real bargains.

Ah, you were the one who missed out on that 42S Isaia SC I posted. Wish I would have seen it earlier!