The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[Steve Smith]

$6 worth of recent finds: Wembley, Huntington, Johnston & Murphy, American Optical.

 

[AlanC]

Saw that the store of the $100 worn AE Bradleys now has $60 worn Mezlan.

Got an Isaia Napoli shirt today, a pair of NWT Filson suspenders yesterday.

Originally Posted by EBTX66

I picked up a vtg Alexander Julian tie, from the width I'd guess early 80's. $2.00

Oxxford sportcoat. ... The fabric is 100% alpaca. It's the softest fabric I've ever felt.

AJ ties are quite nice (not 'Colours', of course). I love Oxxford alpaca.

 

[deveandepot1]

Thrifter- I am not an expert, but the Hartts don't look like they are SC.

They are still a great find.

 

[Nataku]

Found some stuff today. Nothing really worth the effort of photos, but definitely worth mentioning.

- New without box of Donald J Pliner driving loafers. Sized a bit big, so I'll pass them on.
- 2 NWOT Pendleton wool tartan shirts


I also found a really nice shirt from Hugo Boss' Baldessarini line. Gorgeous white on white stripe shirt. Made in Switzerland. Thick, Borrelli-style MOP buttons, side gussets, etc. Sadly, it had a huge red stain on the shoulder so I left it behind. Only once in the past did I come across something from the Baldessarini line. They were a beautiful pair of khaki trousers. What ever happened to this line? It's sad to see they got rid of it, yet continue the mediocre and overpriced Boss Hugo Boss garbage.

 

[EBTX66]

Had good luck at lunch. Turns out they opened a brand new Salvation Army within one of my routes.

At the first stop I found a NWT Richard James dress shirt for $24.99. That was a bit pricey but I figured it was a good deal for an unworn shirt. The price tag says 155 pounds.
I passed on a Thomas Mason for J. Crew shirt that looked unworn: it was $12.99. Was that dumb?

I also passed on a pristine silk shirt from Versace. I almost bought it just because I know how expensive they are and you never know when you'll need to dress up as Sonny Crocket, but the pattern was some monsterous white, black, gold, silver, etc. eurotrash abomination. A dude saw me going over it carefully and I told him what it was, how expensive they are new, etc. and he got all excited. Then he looked at the $29.99 price tag and said, "I've never bought anything that expensive before". He wasn't talking about thrifting, he meant clothes shopping in general. Kind of put things in perspective...

At the Salvation Army I found a Facconable, canvassed, made in Italy sportcoat and two pairs of Oxxford trousers. When I got to the register all three happened to be the color tags that were 50% today. Sweet! $14 total.

 

[Joe Cool]

Originally Posted by Steve Smith

$6 worth of recent finds: Wembley, Huntington, Johnston & Murphy, American Optical.

Love those shades!

 

[illeagle]

Stefano Ricci skinny silk tie - $3
NWOT Brooks Brothers short trench coat - $4
Oakley military-style field jacket - $2

passed on a great NWT Zegna tie when I stopped by one of those Unique/Village places because they priced it at ?!$25?! I absolutely loved it but I couldn't imagine even going to Saks and paying $25 for a tie with staples gouged into it. Also passed on some NWOT Brooks Bros Stretch orphan jackets. They were nice but they were pinstriped so it would be hard to even use it as a blazer... and found a couple Tyrwhitt shirts... one was $10 and the other was $7...not an exceptional deal and don't need any more shirts so I passed on those.

 

[mack11211]

Originally Posted by Nataku

I also found a really nice shirt from Hugo Boss' Baldessarini line. Gorgeous white on white stripe shirt. Made in Switzerland. Thick, Borrelli-style MOP buttons, side gussets, etc. Sadly, it had a huge red stain on the shoulder so I left it behind. Only once in the past did I come across something from the Baldessarini line. They were a beautiful pair of khaki trousers. What ever happened to this line? It's sad to see they got rid of it, yet continue the mediocre and overpriced Boss Hugo Boss garbage.
Replaced a few years ago by Hugo Boss Selection, the newer name for their premium line. Don't know why.

 

[Trapp]

Today, a rare denim find: APC New Standards in size 30 that appear to have been soaked only once and worn none at all...for $12 and change.

I take 30 when I'm in shape and a 31 when I'm not (right now I'm not) so I will probably wear these when I drop my winter fat, or (if I stay fat) I may try to trade them.

 

[Nataku]

Originally Posted by EBTX66

Had good luck at lunch. Turns out they opened a brand new Salvation Army within one of my routes.


Wow, nice finds overall! Richard James shirts are pretty nice, I have a bunch of them. I'm a bit sad some aren't made in England anymore, though. I would have grabbed the J. Crew Thomas Mason shirt. Thomas Mason fabrics are really nice, I found a bunch of Ascot Chang shirts made with TM fabric before Christmas.

You probably could have flipped that Versace shirt for some decent coin if it were mainline. People seem to love loud Vercase silk stuff, whether it be ties or shirts.

 

[etrBP]

(Moved from it's own thread at the suggestion of another member....)

Hi guys. This is only my 2nd thread here, great forums. Being a noob in such matters, I've learned a lot here. Anyway..

I'm a poor law student, and I'm always looking for cheap, quality suits/sportcoats, etc. I went to Goodwill today, and came across a 100% cashmere blazer. It is in really great shape, but sadly it did not fit. Seeing how it was only $5, I bought it immediately. I can't really find much info about this jacket or the brand (it seems to be pretty low-end), but I just wanted to see if you guys had any ideas about the worth of this jacket. If it seems like this is something that somebody might want, I'd be happy to list it on the for sale forums. Otherwise, I'll just keep it for myself until I lose a few pounds to be able to fit into it

In any case, all I know is that the brand is Franco Tassi. It is 100% cashmere. Just judging from how it fits, I would say it is in the range of a 42-44S in size, and it does not look like it has been altered in any visible way. I will attach a few pics that I just took.

In any case, even though this does not seem to be a great brand, does this jacket have value? It sure looks nice to me and feels beautiful, but what do I know, ha. Let me know what you guys think about it.

Thanks!

P.S. 1 picture of my obese cat included , purely for your enjoyment

 

[Nataku]

^^ The label probably is pretty low-end (sounds like a label that would end up at a Burlington Coat Factory in mass amounts). The styling also appears to be pretty dated (low gorge, wider lapel, low button stance). I have no idea as far as value, maybe $10 on eBay? If I saw it at a thrift store for $3, I would have left it.

 

[Swan Song]

A nice professoral jacket from Pendelton, made in USA.

 

[Steve Smith]

^^In reference to the cashmere coat on the previous page, if you are asking whether it is a good buy for the purpose of selling online, then the answer is no. People buy brands, especially online since they can't touch it or look at every detail. Read SF and AAAC to learn which brands to buy.

 

[EBTX66]

Originally Posted by etrBP

(Moved from it's own thread at the suggestion of another member....)

Hi guys. This is only my 2nd thread here, great forums. Being a noob in such matters, I've learned a lot here. Anyway..

the brand is Franco Tassi. It is 100% cashmere...In any case, even though this does not seem to be a great brand, does this jacket have value? It sure looks nice to me and feels beautiful, but what do I know, ha. Let me know what you guys think about it.

Thanks!

P.S. 1 picture of my obese cat included , purely for your enjoyment

Sorry for the long email but mid-terms are off my back, spring break started today, and I actually feel like typing. I'll probably get corrected by one of the gurus anyway because my info is at least a decade out of date.

Franco Tassi is a fictional name used by the Peerless clothing company out of Canada. Back in the late 80's I was an undergrad and working at a suit store when they first came out. They were the first company we ever saw to make reasonably good copies of popular designers like Armani and Boss. We take for granted nowadays that even places like Target sell stylish stuff but back then stores like Penneys, Sears, etc. pretty much sold traditional, middle-America kind of styles (at least in Louisiana). You either had the money to buy the real thing or you dressed like your dad. There were no outlets, eBay, etc. I'm sure the outlook was better in places like New York or Chicago, but maybe not.

We tried to sell Mani and Boss but they cost too much. Peerless came along and I swear we must have sold 500 olive green gabardine DB suits the first year. The sales guy, Charlie Zucker, used to drive around these small towns visiting clothing stores and selling polyester D'Avila camp shirts out of his trunk. I loved that old dude: he could tell a story better than anyone. He took on Peerless because no one else knew about or wanted them and since he was a year or so from retiring he figured "what the hell". He ended up opening over 200 accounts the first year and made so much money he worked for a few more years and then bought a mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Good for him.

Anyway, their stuff used to be made in Canada. It's not canvassed, but it's serviceable department- store-level stuff. They've become a dominant force in the business. If you go into a Macys just about every line they have is Peerless: DKNY, Izod, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Joe by Joseph Abboud, etc. From what I've seen I think most of their production has moved to China. That's not great but it's no different from 85% of men's clothes.

So, most of the guys on here wouldn't wear it but we've had the time and/or the money to have aquired better pieces. I thrift because I'm smart enough to know what the really good labels are but too dumb to make the money necessary to afford them new. Still, I have a few cheapies in the mix that I love and that no one ever seems to notice. My advice is that if you like it, wear it. You may keep it for years, be completely satisfied, and there's only 1% of the population that will ever know its cheap. If you hang around here long enough and keep at thrifting you'll soon replace it with a Boss, then a Zegna, and then spend your time fruitlessly looking for a Kiton. You'll never be satisfied but that's half of the fun!

You won't be able to sell it for much (if at all) on the B&S forum, even though its cashmere. If you don't want it your best bet is to donate it or give it to some guy at work/school who'll put it on and think he hit the Powerball. Then you can sit back and envy his ignorant bliss.

PS - fat cat (cute though) and black cashmere jacket do not mix!