Newbie could use some advice

[cmeisenzahl]

Hey guys, I visit this site very infrequently. I'm at the point (38) where I think I need to stop wearing jeans and sneakers everywhere. My office is casual, but I would like to go business casual more often in my daily routine. A good friend reads here often and is always dressed well and looks sharp, get me jealous. I was inspired by this piece. I'm sure that you guys will find fault with a great deal of it but I think it captures the general spirit of where I'm headed pretty well. ;-) http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker38.html I'm on a fairly tight budget. Can you recommend decent chains and/or online sources for business casual clothes and one decent pair of black dress shoes? Bespoke is out of my range at this point. ;-) Oh, and recommendations on shirt colors and collar types? All advice and pointers to info appreciated, thanks very much in advance!! Chris

 

[Zenny]

Allen Edmonds for shoes.

 

[james_timothy]

One way to do it is to watch the buy and sell threads here for a week or a month. Some really nice stuff comes up for sale at prices you usually can't find retail.

Just a thought, but look into dark brown shoe instead of black. Zappos is a good place to look.

 

[LookSharp]

Warning: Dressing better can be addictive.

Thankfully, it was my late twenties when I thought it would be good to dress more like a grown up, but with hindsight now wonder why I was content to look like a scruffy student day-to-day for so long. I'd always liked clothes and buying the odd 'investment' piece that would be non-sweatshop and British or European made and LOVED dressing up for weddings, parties and special occasions and would often look one of the best dressed. There comes a point when you want to look reasonably good everyday, even for a gentle stroll through town.

One barrier to a decent wardrobe a few years back was being penniless but with second hand, eBay, outlet centres, sales, charity shops, even pretty expensive stuff can be as cheap as the dowdy chainstore norm. Capitalism is a horribly wasteful beast and the frugal stylemonger can dress better on the discarded scraps than many a millionaire. Money isn't quite so tight these days but the frugal habits tend to stick around.

The key to being a low-budget boulevardier is about education - find out what kinds of dress you admire then find out which brands cater to that style and memorise them. Also think about colours - there are whole websites on colour theory - so you buy items that will go with lots of other things, which is important when your wardrobe is quite limited. Think in terms of useful pieces rather than whole outfits.

When you know who makes the best black dress shoes, the jackets that tend to fit, the shirts that you like and fit okay, then you can be an effective shopper - find out where designer outlet centres are and when the sales are, scour eBay for high-end shoe brands, find out which otherwise boring chainstores are great for basics that can be paired with more luxury items, scan the racks at TK Maxx or charity shops for that one good item among the huge amounts of dross.

 

[cmeisenzahl]

Much appreciated, thanks to each of you!

 

[AgentQ]

Avoid Aldo shoes.

 

[stills999]

I've been going through the same thing as you and am about the same age. I've been browsing this site for a few months ... it's really worth the time.

Shirt Collar depends ... if you have a long neck, for example, you should have a collar that goes higher up the neck.

I've ordered twice from this website (learned about it here). It is great especially since the US dollar is strong right now. The shipping cost is fixed, so I would try getting two shirts from here for around $25 each ... great deal!!

http://www.tmlewin.co.uk/product.asp...hirtsDOY!15018

As per Allen Edmonds ... you can find deals on EBAY (even from AE directly) and 6pm.com. If you have a few shoes in mind but are unsure, you can post here and get comments beforehand ... good luck.

 

[philosophe]

Another good place to look is sierratradingpost.com. Plenty of Sfer's buy from them, and they have a great return policy. I think you'll find a lot of business casual clothes in your budget range. STP also send out lots of discount coupons via email.

You can always post a question here about whether a particular item is a good buy.

 

[embowafa]

Couple words of advice...

1) Read this forum up and down...soak up the knowledge that so many on this board have.

2) Know your size. Know every inch of your measurements from the 4-5 basics that go into a jacket, to the 4-5 that go into pants. This will allow you to be able to shop with a little more confidence online where the bargains are to be had. Which leads me to my last piece of advice......

3) Do NOT buy something on a whim. Make sure it FITS...make sure it's something you really want and not something to get just because the deal is too good to pass up.

Enjoy your descent into SF hell.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by cmeisenzahl

http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker38.html

"Socks: nothing fancy, please! They should be blue, black, grey, or tan. Anything else, like argyles or other patterns, is too fussy for a gentleman."

"Shirts are not supposed to be worn against the skin. Wear a T-shirt, please."

"there are only two brands that qualify as quality shoes: Allen Edmonds and Alden. All others are junk."

 

[Zenny]

Strange, he doesn't advocate colourful socks, but wears a very dandy-ish bowtie.

I suppose this article is meant for the average man.

 

[gdl203]

That article is rubbish. His picture at the bottom explains that partially though.