Get Smart
Don't Crink
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,102
- Reaction score
- 271
I held off buying anything in Rome and Paris, saving my load for London and it didnt disappoint!
Rome had some nice local shops more in the MC style, nothing really too interesting. Most of their shops were your everyday brands like Prada, Gucci, YSL, etc. There was one shoe brand's store I liked a lot that I can't remember the name of and had never heard of. More of a MC store but really nice wholecuts and brogues, all "fatte a mano" and goodyear welted. In the upper tier of pricing around 500 Euros, so not cheap. Some really sharp dressers, mostly older guys, in a MC style but not boring at all, often combining interesting patterns, colors and textures. SW&D guys were your typical eurotrash style.
Paris had better shopping, but not one item on sale in the entire city. Pointy winklepicker shoes are REALLY popular with most shoes being in this style as well as seeing many guys wearing them around town. Some well dressed guys in this town too, a better SW&D style around town with lots of slim jeans, slim jackets, slim peacoats. Everyone seemed to be really into dressing slim slim slim. Saw some great Santoni boots that were from their Fatte a Mano line but not MC at all, and more geared towards the SW&D crowd. Not cheap at 550 Euros. Never seen so much Ann D or Rick Owens in one place than at Galleries LaFayette. Made me think of poster Chris and it def looks like the stuff he wears. Really drapey and very nicely made. $$$$ gear for sure. (shirts and trousers about 4-500 euros per piece). Colette was a cool store tho a bit too "tragic hip" imo. A bit disappointed with it.
London was crazy good. Whole city on sale. Boutiques exist for nearly every brand and I've never seen as many guys wearing Nudies in one day than I did in London. imo better shops and overall shopping than in NYC. Harvey Nichols was my fave dept store, then Harrods, and Selfridges last. The one thing you won't find are some SF faves like Band of Outsiders, BSon, Nice Collective etc. The prices werent any higher than in USA. If an item costs $200 here, it was 100 GBP there so it was the same. And most stores were 50% off (or more), plus you get VAT returned (13% i think) so it made many items very inexpensive, comparitively. The Pringle shop was one of my faves as they had the entire line, which I'd never seen in real life. Paul Smith was good but I think our LA store or NYC soho shops are actually better with more stock. Fred Perry was small, but they had a great editting of what was avail. Turned out the fella working there knew me from a mod forum and had bought a TaT cardigan too! He even gave us an extra discount on top of the 50% off.
Incredibly, the weather in all 3 cities was fantastic. We had no rain and some days were outright crystal clear without a cloud in the sky.
Here's most of the stuff I bought for myself (repeat from Recent Purchase thread), all on sale at 50-70% off:
Paul SmithxTriumph mainline boots. Dark burgundy with laceup + sidezip
Agnes b cotton jacket. (agnes b homme in London had an amazing selection, most sizes avail and all 50% off)
Agnes b moleskin trousers with plaid cuff.
Fred Perry argyle cardigan (the guy working there knew me from a mod forum and bought a TaT cardigan from me at one point!! so we got another 20% off the 50% off sale they had)
Fred Perry vneck sweater with cableknit stripes
basic Fred Perry buttondown
Nudie buttondown shirt (I think Rye has this too)
Pringle wool/cashmere shirt (maybe my single fave boutique in London)
and a pair of teal selvedge Pringle jeans
Rome had some nice local shops more in the MC style, nothing really too interesting. Most of their shops were your everyday brands like Prada, Gucci, YSL, etc. There was one shoe brand's store I liked a lot that I can't remember the name of and had never heard of. More of a MC store but really nice wholecuts and brogues, all "fatte a mano" and goodyear welted. In the upper tier of pricing around 500 Euros, so not cheap. Some really sharp dressers, mostly older guys, in a MC style but not boring at all, often combining interesting patterns, colors and textures. SW&D guys were your typical eurotrash style.
Paris had better shopping, but not one item on sale in the entire city. Pointy winklepicker shoes are REALLY popular with most shoes being in this style as well as seeing many guys wearing them around town. Some well dressed guys in this town too, a better SW&D style around town with lots of slim jeans, slim jackets, slim peacoats. Everyone seemed to be really into dressing slim slim slim. Saw some great Santoni boots that were from their Fatte a Mano line but not MC at all, and more geared towards the SW&D crowd. Not cheap at 550 Euros. Never seen so much Ann D or Rick Owens in one place than at Galleries LaFayette. Made me think of poster Chris and it def looks like the stuff he wears. Really drapey and very nicely made. $$$$ gear for sure. (shirts and trousers about 4-500 euros per piece). Colette was a cool store tho a bit too "tragic hip" imo. A bit disappointed with it.
London was crazy good. Whole city on sale. Boutiques exist for nearly every brand and I've never seen as many guys wearing Nudies in one day than I did in London. imo better shops and overall shopping than in NYC. Harvey Nichols was my fave dept store, then Harrods, and Selfridges last. The one thing you won't find are some SF faves like Band of Outsiders, BSon, Nice Collective etc. The prices werent any higher than in USA. If an item costs $200 here, it was 100 GBP there so it was the same. And most stores were 50% off (or more), plus you get VAT returned (13% i think) so it made many items very inexpensive, comparitively. The Pringle shop was one of my faves as they had the entire line, which I'd never seen in real life. Paul Smith was good but I think our LA store or NYC soho shops are actually better with more stock. Fred Perry was small, but they had a great editting of what was avail. Turned out the fella working there knew me from a mod forum and had bought a TaT cardigan too! He even gave us an extra discount on top of the 50% off.
Incredibly, the weather in all 3 cities was fantastic. We had no rain and some days were outright crystal clear without a cloud in the sky.
Here's most of the stuff I bought for myself (repeat from Recent Purchase thread), all on sale at 50-70% off:
Paul SmithxTriumph mainline boots. Dark burgundy with laceup + sidezip
Agnes b cotton jacket. (agnes b homme in London had an amazing selection, most sizes avail and all 50% off)
Agnes b moleskin trousers with plaid cuff.
Fred Perry argyle cardigan (the guy working there knew me from a mod forum and bought a TaT cardigan from me at one point!! so we got another 20% off the 50% off sale they had)
Fred Perry vneck sweater with cableknit stripes
basic Fred Perry buttondown
Nudie buttondown shirt (I think Rye has this too)
Pringle wool/cashmere shirt (maybe my single fave boutique in London)
and a pair of teal selvedge Pringle jeans
