The unofficial Drake's London Appreciation Thread

[cristofromkensington]

Oh and I’m pretty sure the staff at sample sales are trained to go buck wild over the clothes, bolstering the idea of their value. I remember queuing up at an earlier one and hearing them one by one mewling and emoting every time a customer arrived, “ahhhh no wayyyy! You’ve got the games coat! This is such a great jacket!” And “duuude! The patchwork wax jacket! Nice!”

When I got to the front, I got the same treatment and momentarily felt this glow of pride about the caliber of my catch, as though I had been a particularly skilled sample sale customer. Yeah.

It’s really funny that you say that, because it’s kind of a long running joke between my cousin and I. I took him to one a while ago and he bought a really ugly jacket that he regretted buying immensely. At the counter the ginger haired ponytail employee shook my cousin’s hand and said ‘well done’ then at the exit (he refused a bag and was carrying it), the SR store manager shook his hand and said ‘congratulations’ 😄

 

[wahnamhong]

To be honest, the prices from this most recent sample sale look pretty decent, compared to retail and archivesales. I mean, chore jackets at 125 and suede at 325 - that’s less than half the archivesale price.

Yes, there will always be duds in any sales, same for archivesales. Trick is to know what you will like to wear for a long time, while resisting the temptation to buy just because it’s cheap.

 

[wahnamhong]

Personally, I’ve stopped looking to drakes for pretty much all clothing. I still really like their curation of other brands shoes. I got the RM Williams gardeners through drakes and the leather soled Paraboot Avignons. Both of which are really wonderful shoes. Conversely, I had to buy and return the Cliffords twice. The welt was coming off the shoe the first time. The second the suede was damaged.

I recently got a made to measure jacket from the anthology for less than one of drakes off the rack tailored jackets and it is night and day. It’s a full floating canvas. No fusing at all. Mainly machine made but with a hand attached collar. It’s a solid made to measure jacket and for exceptional value.
By comparison, I very recently took a drakes ready to wear jacket to my tailor in London as the collar had started coming away from the jacket. He did a bit of a post mortem on it, finding that the half canvas was fused in like a much cheaper jacket. And the lining inside had been stitched so sloppily that it was just a total mess and was itself torn and coming away from the jacket. He did with it what he could and I still wear it, but with any pleasure from it eclipsed entirely by the feeling that I was royally stiffed by Drakes.

This I find worrying. My own experience with Drake’s blazers is also hit and miss. I bought a double breasted navy blazer back in 2020 for 800 euro full retail, and I love this to bits. The price seems quite low looking at what blazers go for these days, usually 50% higher than that.

So far, it’s holding up well even after extensive wear. But I’m less enthusiastic about a linen blazer I bought at an earlier archivesale in 2022 - had to tailor it twice already (adding 80 euro to the sale price of 600) but I’m still not really happy.

Thanks for the tip on the anthology mtm.

 

[Henry S]

This I find worrying. My own experience with Drake’s blazers is also hit and miss. I bought a double breasted navy blazer back in 2020 for 800 euro full retail, and I love this to bits. The price seems quite low looking at what blazers go for these days, usually 50% higher than that.

So far, it’s holding up well even after extensive wear. But I’m less enthusiastic about a linen blazer I bought at an earlier archivesale in 2022 - had to tailor it twice already (adding 80 euro to the sale price of 600) but I’m still not really happy.

Thanks for the tip on the anthology mtm.

They are visiting London next month

 

[StockwellDay]

Not a lot of appreciating happing in the Drakes Appreciation thread. A limited sample set, but most other threads don’t have this type of dissatisfaction to positive posts ratio.

 

[John Grady Cole]

I know I won’t be buying any more Drakes if I continue to find out their sales associates are nice to customers.

 

[cristofromkensington]

I know I won’t be buying any more Drakes if I continue to find out their sales associates are nice to customers.

I can’t for the life of me understand how lying to customers about the fit of their clothes is nice? The sample sale room has three mirrors being used by over 100 people, making the input of Drake’s staff especially important.

 

[bry2000]

Not a lot of appreciating happing in the Drakes Appreciation thread. A limited sample set, but most other threads don’t have this type of dissatisfaction to positive posts ratio.

The main Drake’s apologist left SF.

 

[sushijerk]

We appreciate being in a sub/dom relationship with Drake's pricing.

 

[wahnamhong]

Not a lot of appreciating happing in the Drakes Appreciation thread. A limited sample set, but most other threads don’t have this type of dissatisfaction to positive posts ratio.

Okay let me offer some respite. I was cleaning out my closets this morning, the stuff I haven’t been wearing for years. While I was doing this, it struck how glad I am that I have become much wiser when it comes to buying menswear.

I found 5-6 pairs of unworn APC jeans, a Marc Jacobs pair of shorts made in China, some Hedi Slimane Dior items, an old Incotex shirt, and then I always hold on to some of the silly t-shirts I was wearing in the 90s while clubbing (size S Katherine Hamnett and Jean Paul Gaultier!).

All items that I liked at the time, but not anymore (APC still okay but too small). Whereas the Drake’s sweater I bought in 2019 I still wear. Drake’s offers a lot of classic pieces, done well. I used to wear a chore coat from H&M back in the day, but they were always good for 1-2 years and then I had to throw them away. Drake’s chore coats are much beter quality.

A lot of the Drake’s stuff I buy seem timeless, classic pieces, made for adult men, but still capable of setting out different styles, from caps to gold buttoned db blazers. I sincerely believe that I will be wearing my Drake’s items regularly over the next 5-10 years because they will be durable and keep on attracting me.

 

[Treble]

Okay let me offer some respite. I was cleaning out my closets this morning, the stuff I haven’t been wearing for years. While I was doing this, it struck how glad I am that I have become much wiser when it comes to buying menswear.

I found 5-6 pairs of unworn APC jeans, a Marc Jacobs pair of shorts made in China, some Hedi Slimane Dior items, an old Incotex shirt, and then I always hold on to some of the silly t-shirts I was wearing in the 90s while clubbing (size S Katherine Hamnett and Jean Paul Gaultier!).

All items that I liked at the time, but not anymore (APC still okay but too small). Whereas the Drake’s sweater I bought in 2019 I still wear. Drake’s offers a lot of classic pieces, done well. I used to wear a chore coat from H&M back in the day, but they were always good for 1-2 years and then I had to throw them away. Drake’s chore coats are much beter quality.

A lot of the Drake’s stuff I buy seem timeless, classic pieces, made for adult men, but still capable of setting out different styles, from caps to gold buttoned db blazers. I sincerely believe that I will be wearing my Drake’s items regularly over the next 5-10 years because they will be durable and keep on attracting me.

It's all pretty timeless stuff, not too 'out there'... and doesn't look too costumey thanks to Ralph Lauren pushing variations on this look since 1967 but it really does hinge on being a certain quality. And that is definitely lacking on some items these days. I think the games suits and chores are on point still though.

 

[GabrielJF]

I know I won’t be buying any more Drakes if I continue to find out their sales associates are nice to customers.

I see the ingratiating compliments and words of congratulation at a sample sale as a cynical attempt to make you feel grateful for being ‘allowed’ to shop there. But maybe I’m just being a cynical grump myself, I don’t know.

i think this attitude does play into a bigger picture of declining quality though. Having someone grinning obsequiously at you and congratulating you on your way out of a sample sale having just parted with your money in exchange for some absolute **** does make the brand and it’s staff seem like a bunch shysters buckling under the weight of their own reputation.

i think the grim tone of constant complaining in this forum reflects that too. We’re clearly all here because we felt quite passionate about the brand and perhaps introduced to the world of menswear by it. That was the case for me a few years ago. I see these complaints as an appreciation for the drakes that drove us to actually join an online forum to gush about it in the first place.

 

[jalebi]

Supposedly prices have dropped. Anyone know by how much?

 

[shaggynoo]

My particular purchases this time around. Glad I restrained myself from buying yet more shirts. Speaking of the some flaws I'm wondering if there is not a small flaw with the coat as the right inside pocket is a very strange shape and size (being small)

 

[cristofromkensington]

Does anybody know who makes Drake’s Portuguese clothing?