MC General Chat

[pasadena man]

Thought I would share a sartorial peak experience. We were window shopping in J. Crew last night, at Colorado and Fair Oaks, the epicenter of the Old Pasadena shopping district. As we started heading out the manager came up and said that they were closing that location the next day and reopening two weeks later next to the Apple store, a couple of blocks away on Colorado Boulevard.

I said I was sorry to hear it, I thought they had been a good anchor store for that intersection and noted that the new location was a significantly smaller space. She said that they were paring and refocusing the line on their Heritage wear and hence needed less display space. I was wearing a Barbour and Alden LHS’s, so it was a reasonable inference that I would be interested in Heritage lines; just good, low key, sales technique on her part.

As we were heading out, I said good night to a SA who had been on the edge of the conversation. He said good night and that I was the best dressed guy who had come into the store that night. I was startled, flattered, and a bit flustered.

You see, my partner, who has disconcertingly keen, bat like, hearing, was approaching. I thumbed her way and muttered, sotto voce: “No, not me, her. She is the best dressed customer tonight”.

Without missing a beat, as she arrived, he gave a fulsome smile and said: “Goodnight, and you are the best dressed couple we have had in tonight”!

Net-Net, crisis averted, a win-win-win, and my 2023 menswear pinnacle to date.

 

[gimpwiz]

Apropos of today's silly purchase, I've come to the conclusion that I have no idea how ebay bidders decide when and how to bid. What makes some items get serious but silent interest until the last 20 seconds when the price shoots up 8x, and other items get tremendous interest in the days before auction end and not a single bid in the last twelve hours? I've massively underestimated interest on many items from Spoo/Luxeswap, at least a couple to my chagrin, yet today I got a jacket (that looks truly fantastic) that was bid up significantly in the past couple days, landing at just the minimum increment over the previous high bidder, with nobody else working to increase the price. Given how much it was bid in the past few days I expected it to go to the moon today and quickly bow out, but got it at some ~8% of original sale price (or ~6% of today's price, if it were new.) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ On the other hand, sometimes I see a suitsupply suit sell for ~30-35% of original retail with dozens of individual bidders in the last few minutes.

Any of you been shocked recently at exceedingly high, or exceedingly low, bid interest (or posted prices on places like grailed / poshmark / etc, versus new/msrp/original retail)?

 

[bourbonbasted]

It's all an exercise in behavioral economics, which is to say it will never be economically rational or exceedingly predictable. Too many variables. Biases, loss aversion, endowment effect, etc.

Personally, I apply a firm (if arbitrary) value to anything I'm buying on the internet. With enough patience everything ends up on sale or available secondhand. You just have to stay disciplined on what you think an item is worth and patient enough to let it go past.

 

[smittycl]

Don't think I'll ever be into neckerchiefs or ascots but I do have the Bond Pea Coat from Billy Reid. Passed on the Barbour from Skyfall.

Daniel Craig Sold Out Peacoats and Swimsuits as Bond. For ‘Glass Onion,’ It’s Ascots

The actor, who plays a neckerchief-wearing detective in the “Knives Out” series, has started a silk-scarf mini-craze.

www.wsj.com

 

[hpreston]

Don't think I'll ever be into neckerchiefs or ascots but I do have the Bond Pea Coat from Billy Reid. Passed on the Barbour from Skyfall.

Daniel Craig Sold Out Peacoats and Swimsuits as Bond. For ‘Glass Onion,’ It’s Ascots

The actor, who plays a neckerchief-wearing detective in the “Knives Out” series, has started a silk-scarf mini-craze.

www.wsj.com

I never saw myself as a cravat guy either. Then I grabbed one in the recent drakes archive sale....

My plan is to wear it in lieu of a collared shirt under crew neck sweaters a la SC:

Not this:

 

[smittycl]

I never saw myself as a cravat guy either. Then I grabbed one in the recent drakes archive sale....

My plan is to wear it in lieu of a collared shirt under crew neck sweaters a la SC:

Not this:

Curious to know what you think when you wear it! I'd feel like:

 

[hpreston]

Curious to know what you think when you wear it! I'd feel like:
View attachment 1891273
View attachment 1891275

I am open that it might be a failed experiment, I will let you know.

However, I do NOT plan to wear it with a collared shirt, and definitely not with a shirt, sport coat.... so hopefully I can avoid the Thurston Howell III look.

I ordered a dark green patterned large square/scarf, so hopefully it is subtle.

 

[bullethead]

I wear them pretty regularly. The Thurston Howell look can be avoided as long as you only unfasten the top button

 

[circumspice]

I think @smittycl is saying cravats are the gateway drug to silly hats.

 

[smittycl]

I think @smittycl is saying cravats are the gateway drug to silly hats.

and maybe sounding like Mr. Magoo?

 

[othertravel]

Hey everybody,

For a white/black dress shirt like this, how would you style it? Grey/black tie with a charcoal suit? Would I be pretty much limited to that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[smittycl]

Hey everybody,

For a white/black dress shirt like this, how would you style it? Grey/black tie with a charcoal suit? Would I be pretty much limited to that?

Thanks in advance!

Looks very Ralph Lauren. I’ve had bad luck with striped dress shorts and don’t own any. Any dark tie with a dense pattern I guess. Will you wear with a suit or sport coat?

 

[smittycl]

Reading The Rake that finally came today (Chris Pine on the cover. I think it’s really late but I’ve lost track) and Wei Koh’s opener is a farewell. He apparently sold it because of losses incurred during Covid and wanted to take care of his friends/investors. Huh.

Now I’m curious as to what direction they will take.

 

[othertravel]

Looks very Ralph Lauren. I’ve had bad luck with striped dress shorts and don’t own any. Any dark tie with a dense pattern I guess. Will you wear with a suit or sport coat?

With a suit. Maybe a black grenadine and charcoal suit?

 

[othertravel]

Reading The Rake that finally came today (Chris Pine on the cover. I think it’s really late but I’ve lost track) and Wei Koh’s opener is a farewell. He apparently sold it because of losses incurred during Covid and wanted to take care of his friends/investors. Huh.

Now I’m curious as to what direction they will take.

Do you know who bought it?