Names to look out for in charity shops / thrifting / ebay

[Westward]

Hi there, I'm based in the UK, and I'm looking to do a bit of searching around in charity shops and online. I would welcome any advice on what names to look out for.

Having lived out of the country for 20 years, most of my retail experience dates back to the late 1980s/early 1990s. I flew in to London several times a year, so I did have some opportunity to check out local brands, but mostly I had my stuff made by my tailor in Hong Kong, or picked up things in Tokyo. So I'm not fully au fait with what tends to be good quality and what tends to be disappointing.

I'm focused on jackets and coats. I have far too many suits and ties already. For the jackets, the sort of names I imagine would be well put together would be Savile Row in general, Chester Barrie, Aquascutum (had an Aquascutum suit at university, I believe), DAKS, then a bunch of cheaper and presumably less well-constructed clothing from brands like Hackett, Paul Smith, or less fashion-forward names like Austin Reed. Back in the 1980s AR had a decent rep for affordable quality, but don't know if standards started to slide towards the end.

For coats, had some luck in the past with Grenfell (oddly enough), a beautiful original 1960s Macintosh that I got in Camden in the late 1980s, Dunn & Co. and Hackett. I had one Hackett that I really liked, then I lost it, then I bought another one new against my better judgement and have realised very belatedly that I don't like it, so that's for ebay at some point.

Although the UK seldom gets anything like as cold as Boston/Chicago or even NY, you do need a coat a lot of the time due to the unpredictability of the weather. I'm pretty well kitted-out in that regard. I have a lovely crombie made by Crombie that I bought in mid-90s; a slim, Italian-made brown herringbone from Barneys NY that I really like; a smart and solidly built Ralph Lauren pea coat; a not-so-slim grey herringbone from my tailor, which is... fine; my Barbour.

What I don't have is anything with a raglan sleeve, and sometimes I want that unstructured look with jeans, nor do I have anything tweedy or with a check - again, I like that more casual look. I don't have a trench coat either, but not a huge fan of the Burberry/'scutum look and at 5'8" it's easy to get swamped in one. Looked at Loden, but think it's just too warm for this country.

I apologise to those who have already seen me expressing some low-level angst in a different thread about not using my footwear collection. This is related to that thread, in that the feedback I have received - which boils down to "Wear your clothes and shoes, man!" - has got me thinking about getting out of the house and dressing up a little more frequently.

Any tips much appreciated.

 

[Westward]

This jacket is an example of where it's hard to know what to think, though I'm not interested in this one specifically. One would hope that it was originally pitched towards the quality end of the market given that it's Harris Tweed, but it could still be a poorly made coat. I can just about see a brand name on it, "Walbusch", which seems to be this German outfit.

Might be a highly respected tailor among our Teutonic friends, or it might be a retailer of low-quality tat - no way to tell without some experience of the brand. It's current lineup of jackets is... inexpensive.

Loads of items out there, bit of a minefield for the secondhand buyer.

 

[dieworkwear]

Tailored clothing is difficult to buy online unless you're already familiar with the fit of that specific make and model. In casualwear, you have a lot more leeway in how things can fit. With suits and sport coats, very small things can make a big difference. I would stick to tailored clothing brands you're familiar with and have tried on.

 

[Westward]

A reasonable argument. So stick to casual clothing unless you have experience with the sizing IRL. To make it worse I seem to be on the cusp of a 38 and a 40. Been pondering pit-to-pit measurements for the past hour. And I've lost 40-odd pounds during lockdown, so this is complicating things as well.

 

[dieworkwear]

A reasonable argument. So stick to casual clothing unless you have experience with the sizing IRL. To make it worse I seem to be on the cusp of a 38 and a 40. Been pondering pit-to-pit measurements for the past hour. And I've lost 40-odd pounds during lockdown, so this is complicating things as well.

Or, if you buy suits and sport coats from eBay, try to mitigate your risk.

Ideally it's a model you've tried on and you're familiar with.

Otherwise, maybe it's from a reputable seller who can give you reliable information. If not, maybe you can turn to this community for advice (less ideal than having direct experience with that make and model, but better than buying a random brand with no real info about the cut)

Lastly, if you have little to go on besides measurements, then try to buy from a seller that accepts returns. Compare the garment's measurement to items in your closet.

One centimeter doesn't make that much of a difference in casualwear, but it can have a big impact on tailoring. Some things, such as shoulder construction and how the quarters are cut, are also not easily captured in measurements. If you're able to, I think it's always better to just buy from a reputable store. If that's not an option, then I think you just have to be mindful of the risks of buying tailoring second-hand

 

[Westward]

One centimeter doesn't make that much of a difference in casualwear, but it can have a big impact on tailoring. Some things, such as shoulder construction and how the quarters are cut, are also not easily captured in measurements.

A topical comment, given that I just took delivery of a Dunn & Co overcoat at lunch time. In surprisingly good condition with no blemishes that I can see, just a couple of loose threads in the lining. The cloth is a stiff and heavy tweed from Crombie with an interesting - I think in a good way - pattern. Going by the orangey lining I would guess that it dates from the 1970s, maybe early 1980s. I'd be happy to wear it and use it in the winter, but it swamps me, much more than is apparent in the photo. It was described as "L" and I'd estimate it's around a 48. I'm a 40. Then again, I knew it might be a bit large when I clicked on it, and it was pretty cheap. I'll ebay it and if anybody else wants it I'll cut my small loss a bit further.