Help: Anderson & Sheppard vest of the rich/famous

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

So I was in a Goodwill today, and the lining of a vest caught my eye. I walked over and saw that it had the Anderson and Sheppard, Savile Row tag. I was pretty stoked, for obvious reasons. Beneath that, it had the commisioner of the garment's name: Leslie Wexner, Esq.

No way.

Les Wexner is one of the richest men in the world, the founder of Limited Brands (Victoria's Secret, Express, etc. etc.), and a resident of New Albany, OH.

My search for the rest of the suit proved fruitless. Is this vest worth anything without the rest of the ensemble? It's a beautiful nailhead sort of fabric, I'm sure the suit itself was very nice, but my search was to no avail.

I did, however, buy a pair of New Balances for running around in and a women's shirt from Arden B to give to...someone.

 

[whoopee]

an odd vest with a margiela/dvr type shirt and jeans can be pulled off by a man with flair. of course it must fit appropriately.

 

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

an odd vest with a margiela/dvr type shirt and jeans can be pulled off by a man with flair.  of course it must fit appropriately.

It's too big for me, and the whole "odd vest" thing just reminds me of like...early '90s fashion hilarity. The whole "funky" Saved by the Bell: The College Years bit, you know.

 

[RJman]

Then ebay it and make a huge profit.

 

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

Is it worth anything, though? I'll gladly snap it up on the morrow if it is, but I have no idea if a market exists for (I assume) bespoke Savile Row odd vests made for gazillionaires. It's from 1990, if that has any bearing on things...

 

[Teacher]

I actually do enjoy wearing odd vests now and again, particularly with trousers and sport coat. If it fit me, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Is it worth anything? Well, it won't make you rich, but I can't imagine that a Goodwill is asking much at all for it. So I'd say it's certainly worth more than the asking price.

 

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

It was untagged and there was no posted price for men's vests. I assume the suit jacket had been tagged and whoever bought that (and, presumably, the pants) abandoned Les' vest. I'd guess they probably want something in the range of two dollars for it. Anyone who has any idea of the worth of such an item and whether or not it would be worth the time/money/effort to drive out to the store, buy it, list it, sell it, ship it etc. is highly encouraged to chime in and I'd be very appreciative.

 

[DocHolliday]

I certainly imagine you'd get your money back. For a buck or two, how can you go wrong?

 

[rootless]

It was untagged and there was no posted price for men's vests. I assume the suit jacket had been tagged and whoever bought that (and, presumably, the pants) abandoned Les' vest. I'd guess they probably want something in the range of two dollars for it. Anyone who has any idea of the worth of such an item and whether or not it would be worth the time/money/effort to drive out to the store, buy it, list it, sell it, ship it etc. is highly encouraged to chime in and I'd be very appreciative.

I think your chances of getting a decent price for an odd A&S vest are fairly small. What kind of profit would make the drive worthwhile? If it were an odd D&G vest, you'd be in the money.

Can you pull off a good seperates look- I'm not convinced that that's a bad thing, always (though its applicability is limited). If so, I'd buy it for myself (I don't think that would be right for me, but for you... you know best). I'd be leery of buying it to flip it, if you have to drive there to get it, and then go to the post office to ship it, etc. Lots of cheap matching stuff out there.

 

[pejsek]

I may be wrong, but I can't imagine that it's worth much. I have, however, dealt with this sort of thing before. Most tragically, I once found a pristine and beautiful A&S beaded blue pinstripe suit jacket tucked away in a thrift store a few years ago. The jacket had a two-peice tag on it (for all of $8, I think) but the pants were nowhere to be found. I scoured the store all for naught. I decided to buy the jacket anyway and when I went up to the counter the hipster said, "Oh, yeah, a guy came in this morning and only wanted the pants." Since then I've pondered from time to time what sort of idiot would have only wanted the pants when they were attached to such a beautiful jacket and for such a pittance. I haven't yet come up with any answers, but I'll keep trying.
Celebrity clothing is a weird thing. A long time ago I passed up some western suits made for Gene Autry in the 1950s, don't ask me why--a lapse in judgment, perhaps, but at least they weren't in the same regret-producing league as, say, Nudie suits made for Gram Parsons. I also once saw a large lot of suits made for Grant Tinker by Carrol & Co; don't know what they were doing up in the SF Goodwill. I've also picked through some very nice suits from Dick Blum (Sen. Feinstein's husband and an apparently loyal customer of Davies & Son, IIRC) but he is a very large man. My only real celebrity clothing regret is passing up one of Herb Caen's suits back in the early 1990s, a beautiful A&S glen plaid number that fit me perfectly. The store was asking something like $75, which at the time was off the charts. I used to see Herb Caen in the grocery store (Cala Foods on California) and he was always impeccably dressed--the first time I saw him the suit actually registered before the man, not in a flashy loud way but in the quiet striking way fine clothing can be capable of. I've owned a number of things from Willie Brown, all rtw, however, so the provenance is really only a curiousity.
Those are the things I've passed up. Somehow it seems improper to name names for things I've added to my wardrobe (nobody famous, really, mostly just prominent San Franciscans).

 

[Teacher]

[...]a lapse in judgment, perhaps, but at least they weren't in the same regret-producing league as, say, Nudie suits made for Gram Parsons.

Funny you should mention this. I once read a story about Nudie's famous suit created for Dave Stewart (ex of Annie Lenox and former Eurythmic). It was one of many, and was one of Stewart's favorites. It was a reddish suit with a devil sprawled all over it: most was on the jacket, but the tail snaked down the pant leg(s). Stewart lost the pants and asked Nudie to recreate them, which of course he refused (he never recreates ANYTHING...I wish I were so rich I could afford such excentricities). Stewart and Nudie didn't speak for years...and in the meantime, I've been waiting for these pants to turn up somewhere.