Preppy College Preview

Not every college has a preppy reputation. The real bastions of prepdom are dotted throughout New England, and a dozen more in the Southeast.  Today I have photos taken during a trip over to Amherst College, founded 1821. Only a handful of students will make it in here, as Amherst is ranked (consistently) as one of the top Liberal arts colleges in the country, but we can all appreciate the aesthetics of a beautiful campus-- where tradition and heritage are preserved through architecture, and sometimes clothing!

Amherst town hall

Vintage

I love looking at vintage ads. It's pretty refreshing that the style we hope to achieve today, has been in demand for nearly a hundred years.

There are too many styles that come and go. Transient looks that we will scoff at as a society in 10 years and think "What were we doing?" (the 90's comes to mind)

This just screams "educated" 

I invite you to take a look at how it was done back in the day, by means of advertisements and catalog photos I've gathered up. Yes, even then there were some quirks but the standard look for men was a hell of a lot better than it is now (think sweatpants and t-shirts).

Gant, a Swedish company, had it's peak in US popularity in the 1960's. 

Advice From the Field, Part 1

  

In this feature, I'll try to share some tips what will help you get the most out of your time, and money, when searching for a good deal. While I'm no professional, in a few months of practice (it is a skill), I've learned quite a lot that I hope to pass on to you.

Your new best friend. 

Eastern MA Thrifting-- Boston/Cambridge

I was out in Eastern Massachusetts today (I reside in the other end of the state), and thought it would be a great opportunity to check out some of the local goods there to be thrifted. I planned a route ahead of time that took me through Waltham (my actual destination), Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Natick. I really enjoy getting to visit the Boston area, and this was one of the few times I've had free range to just explore or do whatever I wanted there for the afternoon.

From a warmer time of year... October

The Hopsack Blazer

One of my favorite finds as of recently, was this GANT 2-button blazer. It's a bit more laid-back than your average navy getup, with a slightly rougher wool weave that makes it great for casual wear. This one also features two patch pockets on the front. 

I'll share three different ways to wear it to fit the occasion. 

You can vary up the shirt color/pattern and belt to fit the formality of the event. Going to a special lecture/conference or a special event on campus where you want to look presentable? Pair it with a plain leather belt and white or blue oxford cloth button down. 

You'll notice I haven't included footwear here (or in any posts recently) but I'll try to do a special post on that soon. The obvious choice is boat shoes (leather preferable) but loafers (especially sock-less  is equally tasteful in warmer months. 

For a casual look, just pop one on with a OCBD and some khakis and you'll look better than most students (and some professors) on campus. Also a good look for a night out on the town or dinner.

Dress it up with a repp tie. Featured here is a Land's End with stripe that actually matches the canvas belt coincidentally. If you've got a tie in your school's colors, this is where to rock it. 

Or, with a bow tie. Perfect for pre-gaming in style. Red chinos optional if you really want to stand out.  

From the GANT "Collegiate" line, they don't make this exact blazer anymore but the closest substitutes are the  Rugger and Navy Drill as seen here.

This jacket originally came from a store called the "Wyckoff Ivy Shop" 

This is an example of an entirely thrifted outfit by the way (excluding the watch). Total cost? 

Blazer- $5! (Retail $600)  I did paid $7 to dry clean it so we'll add that to the cost.

Pants- Dockers D1- $4 (Retail $50)

Belt- $1 (Unknown brand)

Tie- Land's End- $6  (Retail $50)

Timepiece- Timex Expedition ($30)

$23 vs. $700+

A Good Day

Over break, I've had some quality time to thrift around my area and visit some shops that are ordinarily out of the way to get to. One of the key elements of successful thrift shopping is persistence. You might visit 3 different stores, and find one quality find between them all, or you could strike gold and find half a dozen or more great items (per store!).

This will be a rather long post, but I wanted to show off some of my favorite steals from the past week or so.

Last week I traveled to 5 different stores, and came back with a small handful of items. Today, I made it to 6, and attempted a 7th, but that's a different story... Regardless, I found some items I'm pretty happy with and will showcase here.

This houndstooth jacket seemed like a good buy at $8. It is USA made by Anderson-Little. It's 100% wool, 2 button and darted, it's not the most traditional of jackets but it will look good worn casually where a blazer might be a little too bold. The material however feels pretty nice and it was very clean and shows minimal signs of wear.

Shopping Malls Suck

From time to time, I'll provide brief commentary on topics for thought related to clothes and shopping in general. Today's rant examines one of the pillars of American culture: the shopping mall. Now with the holiday rush just having past, most of us are already aware of the common plagues of shopping; large crowds, long waits, and terrible music are just a few of the things we put up with as a society from October to January. But if you take a closer look around, you will notice a more intrinsic hierarchy that most malls are build upon, a systematic approach to separating you from your money, sinister at best. Acting as a both temple for America's middle class obsession with consumerism, and a free baby-sitting for the lower classes from ages 8 to 27, malls have an important place in our culture. Joking aside, it does seem common that the more wealthy in our society seem to shy away from malls all together, instead preferring the luxury of smaller more specialized (and personal) retailers for their shopping needs.

I will use the larger shopping mall in my area as an example for this post, although I'm certain most malls in America follow a similar pattern. In our examination of the beast, we'll start at the bottom of the barrel, the lowest of the low. These are the kiosks that inhabit the floor-space within the mall. Some will be peddling calendars with pictures of puppies,  others shoddily made jewelry or iPhone cases.

Nothing says "I love you" like an Incredible Hulk themed belt buckle. 

Accessorize

Part of the preppy ethos is adding a bit of fun to ordinarily plain dress. As such, we have emblematic ties embroidered with fish or whales or birds or whathaveyou, belts with needlepoint style inlays of animals or golf clubs or sailboats, etc, and eye-catching patterns like madras or patchwork. I should warn you however, there exists a rabbit hole which one dives into when you start exhibiting these, and it gets pretty bad once you go deep enough. Regardless, here are some of the items I've got which fit the description.

Here are three of such ties, and another preppy essential, the surcingle belt. The far left is a Land's End Canvas, then Club Room, and finally one from Leather Man Ltd. They were all purchased for less than $20 each however belts can become very expensive in some instances. D-ring belts are equally desirable and slightly more casual. I have several of these as well and you can often find them at an affordable price. While it is rare(r) to find high quality (fitting) belts at thrift stores, I recommend looking to the following places 

Leather Man Ltd.
Land's End (Frequent sales put these in the affordable range)
Custom Belts from Dann (Waay too many options)

Only when on sale:
Vineyard Vines
Brooks Brothers

More canvas belts (D-ring and surcingle, and one of woven leather.

At ~$1 a pop, you can't go wrong when thrifting emblematics

Ties in particular can get very wacky... but sometimes that is precisely the goal!

I will write a more in-depth post about Go To Hell style, which some of these items borderline, but at least a couple canvas belts are a requirement in every prep wardrobe. Depending on how many funny looks you like, some of these items should probably not be worn before memorial day, at least in the North. Another reason I can't wait till summer!

Recent Acquisitions, part 1

The next couple posts will showcase a few of my favorite recent finds.

Fitting in with the cold temperatures we've had here in the North this week, are two comfy sweaters

 This J. McLaughlin has a crew neck and is fairly thick and quite warm. It's soft and while I'm sure it's at least a wool construction, it may be a cashmere blend. While I can't find the same one on their site, most of their sweaters retail at $200+ so it was a great steal at $8.

This is a Macy's brand sweater, but it's 100% cashmere and really soft! It's a 1/4 zip and would have retailed for $100-$200. I was glad to pick it up for $4! You will notice it is tagged size L, but it fits me pretty well so I imagine some expected shrinking has occurred, or their sizes just run small.

 Spent: $12
Savings $300+

Summer!

I also plan to periodically upload images from my travels and encounters that fit the theme of the blog. Below you can see the sun setting at 7:39 PM on August 19th, 2012. The cannon did not fire (sadly), because it was a Sunday. While the ceremony is fun to watch, the real joy was seeing the real colors on the landscape behind, with the Pell Newport bridge creating a great backdrop for the harbor. 

NYYC, Newport

Sunset

A bit of Trad

I found this Southwick jacket at the local thrift, in great shape for only $5. It fit really well and has natural sholders with minimal padding. 

Southwick jacket (Made in USA), $5 ($350)

RL OCBD, $7 ($50)

Silk Bow Tie, $3

Spent: $15
Total Savings: ~$400

Ties!

I happened to come across an amazing deal on many, many used ties. Out of the dozens I received  I sorted out some of my favorites, and have been selling the rest to friends at a good discount. Below are some pictures of the lot! I ended up paying less than $70 for a total of 225 ties, keeping a couple dozen for myself and making back that initial investment through sales of some of the rest. I still have quite a number I'm not sure what to do with... but I've got a couple ideas.

I was rather fond of the penguin emblematic but I gifted it to a friend :)

Nearly all of them...from the first box

Total Savings (Just from the ones I kept!)  ~ $1,800

Early finds

These were all acquisitions from the summer of 2012, sourced from various stores in my area. 

Shirt- J.Crew 100% Cotton blue/white stripe  $4
 Tie- $1


Polo Shirts from Vineyard Vines, Brooks Brothers, Duck Head, Lacoste, J.Crew, and a RL Rugby
Acquired for $3-$10 ea.

Total Savings:  $350+