The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

Originally Posted by YoungAmerican

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I'm headed for a day trip to Orange County - specifically Costa Mesa. If anyone wants to trade OC tips for LA tips, drop me a PM.

What are you looking for? Anything with a resale value will be gone the second it reaches the floor. I would just skip them and go to SCP.

If you do go, be aware that two or three of them close before 2.

My best find ever... Has to be the one that started my crazy obsession with SF quality clothing. About 10 years ago, I needed a new sportcoat that I could wear at business meetings that didn't require a suit. This was back when I thought boxy, stiff, ill fitting Hugo Boss and Jhane Barnes were the **** - obviously before I learned better. In my mind, $200 was way too much to spend on a new sportcoat.

Anyway, I headed over to the local Last Call and didn't see any Boss or Barnes jackets. So out of frustration, I started going through the sportcoats by simply walking down the rack, placing my hand on the shoulders and feeling the fabric as I walked. Rough, rough, rough... wait what was that? Soft... Pulled it off the hanger and tried it on. Fit like a glove. Nice plain navy color. Checked the tag. Wow, a cashmere sport coat? For some reason, this jacket made by some company I had never heard of seemed really high quality compared to my Boss and Barnes. Other questions came to mind. How come there's no shoulder padding? Why would anyone have these useless button holes on the sleeves actually work? I hope it's not some crap brand just made for the outlet store! I didn't know anything about hand tailoring, canvassing... "Sartorial Qi".

Took it up to the counter to try to haggle the $200 price of this "no name" jacket. The manager said it was an altered item from a Neiman Marcus store back east (this was a relatively small second tier city - a cowtown). She said because it would be hard to find someone else it would fit right due to the relatively short arms and stupid working button holes (again, why does someone need such things?) and I seemed nice, she'd take 25% off and an additional 15% if I opened a Neiman Marcus charge account. ~$140 OTD seemed to work for me so I bought it. Over the last 10 years, this jacket has evolved into battle armor for me. I wear it every time I need a boost of confidence. As I was leaving the store, I turned around to ask her to pronounce the name of the maker because I had never heard of it, she squinted at the label through her bifocals and tried to first guess at it while sounding like an authority. "Kaytone. No wait, Kite-Tone. I dunno. Mike! How do you pronounce this brand?" "Oh, Kiton..." And so it began.

My wallet has paid the price over the past decade but the contents of my overfull walk in closets are something I've really become proud of. I notice that the nicer the piece, the better the deal I got. Some even better deals than the O.G. Kiton jacket. However it will always be my favorite.

A good story, but you won't be laughing when tomorrow I post the most luxurious-ass brown velvet sehks pants in existence -- made in Italy, sewn on the thighs of virgins by other Italian virgins -- made by none other than HUGO BOSS!

(Seriously, why all the Boss hate? Everyone's got diffusion lines)

Originally Posted by PL92106

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My best find ever... Has to be the one that started my crazy obsession with SF quality clothing. About 10 years ago, I needed a new sportcoat that I could wear at business meetings that didn't require a suit. This was back when I thought boxy, stiff, ill fitting Hugo Boss and Jhane Barnes were the **** - obviously before I learned better. In my mind, $200 was way too much to spend on a new sportcoat.

Anyway, I headed over to the local Last Call and didn't see any Boss or Barnes jackets. So out of frustration, I started going through the sportcoats by simply walking down the rack, placing my hand on the shoulders and feeling the fabric as I walked. Rough, rough, rough... wait what was that? Soft... Pulled it off the hanger and tried it on. Fit like a glove. Nice plain navy color. Checked the tag. Wow, a cashmere sport coat? For some reason, this jacket made by some company I had never heard of seemed really high quality compared to my Boss and Barnes. Other questions came to mind. How come there's no shoulder padding? Why would anyone have these useless button holes on the sleeves actually work? I hope it's not some crap brand just made for the outlet store! I didn't know anything about hand tailoring, canvassing... "Sartorial Qi".

Took it up to the counter to try to haggle the $200 price of this "no name" jacket. The manager said it was an altered item from a Neiman Marcus store back east (this was a relatively small second tier city - a cowtown). She said because it would be hard to find someone else it would fit right due to the relatively short arms and stupid working button holes (again, why does someone need such things?) and I seemed nice, she'd take 25% off and an additional 15% if I opened a Neiman Marcus charge account. ~$140 OTD seemed to work for me so I bought it. Over the last 10 years, this jacket has evolved into battle armor for me. I wear it every time I need a boost of confidence. As I was leaving the store, I turned around to ask her to pronounce the name of the maker because I had never heard of it, she squinted at the label through her bifocals and tried to first guess at it while sounding like an authority. "Kaytone. No wait, Kite-Tone. I dunno. Mike! How do you pronounce this brand?" "Oh, Kiton..." And so it began.

My wallet has paid the price over the past decade but the contents of my overfull walk in closets are something I've really become proud of. I notice that the nicer the piece, the better the deal I got. Some even better deals than the O.G. Kiton jacket. However it will always be my favorite.

Originally Posted by noobizor

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A good story, but you won't be laughing when tomorrow I post the most luxurious-ass brown velvet sehks pants in existence -- made in Italy, sewn on the thighs of virgins by other Italian virgins -- made by none other than HUGO BOSS!

(Seriously, why all the Boss hate? Everyone's got diffusion lines)

You need to make the 30 min drive to dallas and come out with me. I must have passed on 20+ mint hugo boss items this week.

Originally Posted by noobizor

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A good story, but you won't be laughing when tomorrow I post the most luxurious-ass brown velvet sehks pants in existence -- made in Italy, sewn on the thighs of virgins by other Italian virgins -- made by none other than HUGO BOSS!

(Seriously, why all the Boss hate? Everyone's got diffusion lines)

LOL. I do still wear their dress shirts. You never know. I may just buy your damn pants.

I've experimented with the Baldessarini and Selection lines and feel that they're good, but I'll always associate the brand with stiff suits. Overall quality has gone way down since Permira bought them as well.

Originally Posted by noobizor

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A good story, but you won't be laughing when tomorrow I post the most luxurious-ass brown velvet sehks pants in existence -- made in Italy, sewn on the thighs of virgins by other Italian virgins -- made by none other than HUGO BOSS!

(Seriously, why all the Boss hate? Everyone's got diffusion lines)

Ass brown?

Here, you must pay special attention to the hyphens.

Now I'm posting two pairs of Hugo Boss pants. Rock and roll. Deal with it.

Originally Posted by csoukoulis

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... Zanella
...
I happened across a pair of gray Zanellas in 36/32 and picked them up as they somehow fit my 32" waist. Damn they be baggy! Would/should anyone have them slimmed in the legs or are they supposed to fit like that?

Originally Posted by csoukoulis

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You need to make the 30 min drive to dallas and come out with me. I must have passed on 20+ mint hugo boss items this week.

Really, I would think there would be a decent resale on stuff like that, the general populous seems to love it.

There is decent resale on Boss stuff. I just sold a NWT tuxedo on eBay for 120% profit. Don't know whether I would characterize myself as one of the "general populace" but, had this tuxedo been in my size, I would have worn it with gusto for years. As I write this, my oldest (12+ years) workhorse tuxedo is a Boss number. Got married in it and everything.

Originally Posted by noobizor

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Xenos, what happens to all your stuff? I see so much I want to buy (or trade for).
All my recently-acquired stuff is in stacks and stacks. Building out closet space to accommodate all of it. And I thought I was bad before I started thrifting.

Brooks Brothers slim fit OCBD, a bespoke shirt from some maker founded in 1875 in Milano, and this Fray shirt which fits me very well indeed. Can anyone guess the date of this Fray, the label certainly looks a bit old. It has very thick MOP buttons and nice stitching throughout.

Originally Posted by Xenos

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There is decent resale on Boss stuff. I just sold a NWT tuxedo on eBay for 120% profit. Don't know whether I would characterize myself as one of the "general populace" but, had this tuxedo been in my size, I would have worn it with gusto for years. As I write this, my oldest (12+ years) workhorse tuxedo is a Boss number. Got married in it and everything.


haha thanks for correcting this, I feel like an idiot. But when I say "general populace" I mean that most of the people I know think HB is the cream of the crop.

I discovered there's a thrift store near my office today, and there are a couple nice suits that are too big for me (a 42R charcoal Oxxford, a 43R mid-grey RLPL), but are priced the same as the blown out polyester crap on the racks...

Should I be hoarding these to sell in B&S once I hit 45 days? If so, I'm going to have to go back there tonight.

Does anybody know of any decent thrifting opportunities in San Diego County (Ideally North County). From what I've seen there isn't much to write home about; probably because nobody in Southern California likes to wear anything outside of jeans, shorts and t-shirts.