The Look goes on...

[Mr Knightley]

Plastic loafers r us

(outside JS on our last TLGO official meet-up)

 

[Thin White Duke]

I think like a lot of things - shoes, cars, watches, stereo equipment - we are on about the law of diminishing returns. Quality and price sorta track eachother up to a point, after which the price continues upwards but the discernible quality goes close to plateau.

I’m not at all snooty about brands and have plenty stuff in my wardrobe by Uniqlo, Banana Republic, J Crew etc. I only have two large (non classic non OCBD) Ben Sherman shirts and a pair of chinos but I’m not surprised to learn their quality is on the downturn. They closed their shop in New York as part of an entire rebranding and have probably been bought out by a conglomerate.

 

[cerneabbas]

The last few Summers have been very humid here and my most worn items have been Madras shirts.
I have a few now and my favourites are my Lands End ones,really thin cotton,nice colours and cheap.
The negatives (imo) with the LE shirts are that they are a bit too loose fitting and have Brown buttons,I have had a couple taken in a bit and I think that I will get the rest altered this year.
Anyway I wasn't going to buy any more but LE have released this years colours and there is one that I like so I am buying it and if it needs altering I will get that done and have the buttons changed.
The full price of the shirts is £40+ £3.95 postage,but LE sent a 25% off code so the price is £30+£3.95, I think that's a good price for something that I will wear quite a bit.
The code is COLOUR25.

 

[covskin]

I wore my Bass + Mr P loafers in Horween leather today. Starting price was £299 IIRC (I got them for £125 in the sale) but they are less comfortable and more 'dumpy-looking' shoes than my standard Bass pennies.

They look fine to me, for loafers that is...

 

[cerneabbas]

Yes, the last paragraph! This week I found one such item. It was a very early Next for Men tie in paisley. Made in Italy and virtually unworn. I bought this little beauty in a Helen Rollason charity shop for ...£1

View attachment 1154751

A very nice tie MrK,the jacket looks good too is it the Austin Reed one ?
At one time (early 90s ?) I liked Next but they seemed to change their strategy and imo went downwards,sadly over the last few years M&S have followed them.

I bought a DAKS silk tie (made in France) from Ebay for £10 new with tags,it has a very dark green in it,then a few weeks later I saw a pale green Gitman OCBD in a sale and they go quite well together,I wouldn't have had another tie to wear with that BD so it was lucky buying the tie.

 

[Mr Knightley]

A very nice tie MrK,the jacket looks good too is it the Austin Reed one ?
At one time (early 90s ?) I liked Next but they seemed to change their strategy and imo went downwards,sadly over the last few years M&S have followed them.

I bought a DAKS silk tie (made in France) from Ebay for £10 new with tags,it has a very dark green in it,then a few weeks later I saw a pale green Gitman OCBD in a sale and they go quite well together,I wouldn't have had another tie to wear with that BD so it was lucky buying the tie.

They sound like a great
combo @cerneabbas

No, that jacket is made by Brook Taverner and I bought it towards the end of last winter in the sales with about 40% off IIRC. It is proof again that I don’t have to go bespoke as it fits well otr. Thanks for your nice feedback.

 

[Thin White Duke]

The last few Summers have been very humid here and my most worn items have been Madras shirts.
I have a few now and my favourites are my Lands End ones,really thin cotton,nice colours and cheap.
The negatives (imo) with the LE shirts are that they are a bit too loose fitting and have Brown buttons,I have had a couple taken in a bit and I think that I will get the rest altered this year.
Anyway I wasn't going to buy any more but LE have released this years colours and there is one that I like so I am buying it and if it needs altering I will get that done and have the buttons changed.
The full price of the shirts is £40+ £3.95 postage,but LE sent a 25% off code so the price is £30+£3.95, I think that's a good price for something that I will wear quite a bit.
The code is COLOUR25.

I got one of those LE Madras short sleeve BD shirts a couple of years ago. I only wear it on holiday so I don’t mind the loose fit. I got their catalogue recently and noticed they had some new colours. Some nice Seersucker shirts too. We only usually go away for a week at a time and I’m already stocked with linen shirts, polos, a couple of camp shirts etc so I’m trying to resist the temptation to shell out for more shirts that may be only worn a couple of times a year but I agree with your observations. This is the kind of gear that is totally appropriate for a hot weather holiday, either for poolside or strolling around the town sussing out a restaurant in the evening, still gives a slightly retro nod, and will elevate your look above the ‘wife beater and flip flops’ schlubs!

 

[Mr Knightley]

Mrs K has long been a fan of LE, but I have never bought anything from them. Those madras shirts do look nice and a good price indeed.

Apart from the looser fit, which I don’t mind either, are there any other fit issues to bear in mind?

 

[Kingstonian]

Mrs K has long been a fan of LE, but I have never bought anything from them.

Another LE fan here. The fabric on their flannel shirts is superb. Very warm and well cut. I have a good few. Decide what patterns you like(some years there may not be any) and buy in one of their many sales at a hefty discount.

Their supima long sleeve polo shirts are excellent too.

For Summer, I have a couple of LE seersucker short sleeve shirts in classic blue stripe and green.

The only gripe I hear is that their button down collars have got smaller, moving away from the proper size for good collar roll. Collars on the stuff I bought has been acceptable size though.

By the way, have Marks and Sparks stopped doing traditional button down shirts? They used to be decent value for £25. When I looked on line they now seem to be only offering slim fit designs with no pleat and small collars.

 

[Mr Knightley]

Another LE fan here. The fabric on their flannel shirts is superb. Very warm and well cut. I have a good few. Decide what patterns you like(some years there may not be any) and buy in one of their many sales at a hefty discount.

Their supima long sleeve polo shirts are excellent too.

For Summer, I have a couple of LE seersucker short sleeve shirts in classic blue stripe and green.

The only gripe I hear is that their button down collars have got smaller, moving away from the proper size for good collar roll. Collars on the stuff I bought has been acceptable size though.

By the way, have Marks and Sparks stopped doing traditional button down shirts? They used to be decent value for £25. When I looked on line they now seem to be only offering slim fit designs with no pleat and small collars.

Thanks for the information @Kingstonian and for bringing up the 500th page!

 

[Thin White Duke]

I’ve never been that arsed about collar roll, especially on a shirt worn on holiday, but mine appears to be about standard. It also has an open box pleat which is one of the most pointless features on a shirt IMO as I’m not pear shaped and don’t need my shirts to be wider in the waist than at the shoulders.

 

[cerneabbas]

Well life is full of disappointments and I had one today when the Lands End Madras shirt arrived.
First thing that I noticed is that the shirt was made in Cambodia whereas the previous ones were made in Sri Lanka.
When I tried the shirt on I noticed that it is much shorter (nearly two inches !) in the body and the sleeves look ridiculously short imo (nearly an inch and a half shorter) plus the shirt seemed wrongly constructed and one sleeve looked shorter than the other.
Anyway the shirt is going back with a note enclosed.
So another example of something that I liked no longer being fit for purpose,no doubt the factory in Cambodia offered a cheaper price.

I agree with Kingstonian about the LE Pima cotton longsleeve polos,hopefully LE have no plans to change them.

 

[Clouseau]

Not a big fan of LE TBH…
I had one of their 'lumberjack' shirt in the time.
And still have a thick Squall Parka for the winter (didn't wear it this winter, wasn't cold enough).
For BD shirts, i think LL Bean is much better.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Well life is full of disappointments and I had one today when the Lands End Madras shirt arrived.
First thing that I noticed is that the shirt was made in Cambodia whereas the previous ones were made in Sri Lanka.
When I tried the shirt on I noticed that it is much shorter (nearly two inches !) in the body and the sleeves look ridiculously short imo (nearly an inch and a half shorter) plus the shirt seemed wrongly constructed and one sleeve looked shorter than the other.
Anyway the shirt is going back with a note enclosed.
So another example of something that I liked no longer being fit for purpose,no doubt the factory in Cambodia offered a cheaper price.

I agree with Kingstonian about the LE Pima cotton longsleeve polos,hopefully LE have no plans to change them.

Sorry to learn this G.
Unfortunately it really is a race to the bottom for a lot of these companies as they search out ever more cheap ways to construct their product and relying on their ‘heritage’ name to gloss over the downturn in quality. I wonder what the end game is? Discovering a mother lode of lost forgotten tribes on a remote island who will work for pebbles and sea shells?
Some companies try to do the right thing, sourcing from fair trade and green companies etc. I think Lean Garments fried that route and gave up.

 

[covskin]

Unfortunately it really is a race to the bottom for a lot of these companies as they search out ever more cheap ways to construct their product and relying on their ‘heritage’ name to gloss over the downturn in quality. I wonder what the end game is? Discovering a mother lode of lost forgotten tribes on a remote island who will work for pebbles and sea shells?

Whatever their game is, don't play it. I have bought one pair of Uniqlo socks in the last six months, which is the only chain store I have visited in over a year.