Springtime for Prepsters

Today marks the first full day of Spring, and everyone's mind is trying to shift away from this painfully long winter, to warmer weather ahead. The winter to spring transition is an important one, as we move from hues of red, forrest green, and patterns like blackwatch tartan and fuzzy grey wool sweaters, to an explosion of color that is only befitting of the coming season of growth, pastels, and shorts that are too short for common decency. Imagine for a moment, a hungover Easter bunny, throwing up all over your wardrobe. That-- is the ideal prep version of Spring. I jest, of course, but the stark transition is something you should be aware of. Perhaps it is now time to put away your warm Viyella shirts and other knitwear and start thinking about what will happen when the snow is finally gone, and we have warm, sunny, and significantly longer days at our disposal.

Spring also represents a great time to clean out the clutter- Personally I took 11 shirts out of my closet that I know I haven't been wearing, and offered them up for (nearly) free on a website I frequent. This freed up more space for some of the goodies I share below. I suggest you do your own version of an annual purge.. as it is far to easy to hold onto thing you just aren't going to wear. 

I'll start off by promptly breaking the theme of the post, and sharing these really cool tweed jackets I discovered. Tweed is, of course, a trad staple of the Fall and Winter, but could be worn year-round by die hard devotees. 

The examples I happened to come across, represent the crème de la crème of traditional tweed jackets, and they were in damn near perfect condition too, despite being likely older than me by a decade.

Finding this label will make you smile, guaranteed.

A beautiful Brooks Brothers 3/2 roll sack tweed jacket in herringbone.

A gorgeous J.Press lightweight tweed jacket. I wanted to keep this one really badly, but it was just far enough out of my size range that I figured it would be better to pass it on to someone who would wear it more than me.

Detail of the donegal tweed pattern with bits of color mixed in

Another J.Press, this one with an overcheck in blue, yellow, and brown. I need to find a new home for this one as well, as it's also a tad too large

Paid: $21 for the trio
Retail: (Well..hard to say, but the modern day equivalents are about $700 each.)

Okay! Now on to something more Springlike. I actually came across a trove of 6 RL button downs at a local shop, all in like-new condition, where they were asking $5 a piece. The three above were a tad small on me, so I ended up selling them as a lot. I did keep the other three however. They were all in great Spring colors however, so I wanted to share them as an example of shirtings that you could consider wearing in the coming weeks.

-Pink gingham
-Solid yellow Oxford
-Blue mini-gingham
Paid: $7 ea.
Retail: $40-90 ea

Here's one I kept for myself- a great spring plaid with greens, light blue, yellow, and pink all present. 

A classic RL OCBD was also in the mix. I think Ralph Lauren oxfords are fairly nice, and they certainly get better with age. They represent a less expensive alternative to the (superior) Brooks Brothers oxford shirts, and are pretty easy to find thrifting or on eBay. I also always see them at stores like TJMaxx for about $40 or less, if you prefer that route. 

An online purchase, this was a brand new Jack Spade OCBD, produced by Brooks Brothers. It is essentially identical to a Brooks Brothers oxford, with a slightly different fit, and a couple additional details such as a locker loop, and 3rd collar button. The Jack Spade Swenson Oxford was part of a limited edition line debuted in Spring 2011, and retailed for the exorbitant price of $185.

I however got to snag this leftover from a guy who seems to get all the excess shirts produced in the Garland, NC factory (Where Brooks Brothers USA shirts are made) and sells them on different websites, and eBay.

Jack Spade Swenson Oxford
Price paid: $30.
Original Price: $185

My current collection of Blue university stripe oxfords. One of the staple shirts of any prep/trad wardrobe, with the other essential colors being solid blue, solid white, pink, red stripe, and perhaps yellow. 

Found this lovely Brooks Brothers shirt for the meager price of $1.

Little did they know, this is from the Brooks "Luxury"  line, and is made from 100% Egyptian cotton, and made in the USA. Denoted by the purple label, Luxury line shirts typically retail upwards of $150 new. Because it isn't my size unfortunately, I'm selling it on ebay for someone else to enjoy.

Brooks Brothers Luxury striped shirt
Paid: $1
MSRP: $185

I definitely wasn't doing to fit into these, as they are a Boys size 8. They were however, sitting on the rack, brand new, for $2.50 so I couldn't resist an easy flip.

Vineyard Vines Club Cords
Paid: $2.50
Retail: $50

Maybe I got lucky this month, because my VV finds have been relatively plentiful. I found this very nice Vineyard Vines Whale Shirt (my favorite design of theirs), in my size. It did however, present me with a bit of a challenge.

The previous owner had his initials, and some squash racquets, monogrammed quite conspicuously on the cuff. Unfortunately, we don't share the same initials, and to avoid people thinking I stole "MC's" shirt, I decided to try my luck at removing the monogram. I did this by carefully cutting each stitch with a seam-ripper, taking caution not to cut the fabric of the shirt itself. It was a slow process, but I was actually pretty surprised with the end result. 

Unless you are really looking closely, you can't even tell it was ever there. I decided to leave the racquets, because hey, nothing wrong with those!VV Whale Shirt
Paid: $7 (and an hour of labour)
Retail: $98

Another really lucky find... A brand new VV sweater vest, with tags and all! Even though it was my size and I did like the color, I'm not really a fan of sweater vests, so I decided to sell it. Picked it up for $5, and netted $50 on eBay within a day of posting it. I think I'm going to reinvest the profits into getting some of my other acquisitions properly tailored...as I've been neglecting to do for some time.

VV Chip Shot Pima Cotton Sweater Vest
Paid: $5
Retail: $125

And the fun doesn't stop there folks, as I found these nifty seersucker shorts as well.  Booya!

Vineyard Vines Seersucker shorts
Paid: $4
Retail: $75

GANT is one of those brands that doesn't get a ton of attention, but they make some really nice stuff. I quickly spotted this authentic Indian madras shirt, and was happy I did. This beautifully woven fabric feels incredibly soft to the touch- and is one of the most breathable natural materials a shirt can be made from. I really liked this shade of blue- and was happy to add this to the collection for Spring and Summer.

GANT Indigo Madras shirt-  Paid $5
Retail: $145

Also in the GANT department, were these Rugger shorts, in an interesting plaid pattern. On both pairs of pants, I took the waistline in an inch simply by moving the button over. This is a quick and easy trick that lets you modify the size of shorts or pants, within a certain tolerance. Took both pairs from a size 32 to a size 31, which has less danger of falling off of me.

Paid: $4
Retail: $125

This jacket I found a while ago, but I don't think I shared it yet. It's a cotton Brooks Brothers herringbone sport coat. It currently is a bit small for me, but I lengthened the sleeves and hopefully will be able to let it out a tad to make it fit. If not, someone skinnier than me will need to adopt her!

Fitzgerald Fit Houndstooth Sport Coat
Paid: $5
Retail: $495 

I found this vintage Lacoste cardigan, and while I don't normally ever wear cardigans, I figured it was an iconic enough piece that I should pick it up anyways. Paired it here with a pink OCBD and solid knit tie. Not sure how I feel about the combo, but it does represent a dressier way to wear it

And my one selfie of the month... Pictured here with a southwick sport coat, yellow Brooks Brothers oxford, and Polo Ralph Lauren repp tie to create a great early-spring combination. For the next three months, let yellow, blue, green, and pink guide your soul.

Thrift Prep items pictured:

Southwick sport coat ($5 versus $800)
PRL repp tie, Made in Italy ($2.50 versus $125)
Brooks Brothers Oxford: ($5 versus $89)

The Numbers:

Total retail value of merchandise: $4,000+

Total Spent: $125

Total proceeds from selling (including pending): $254

So by following the principles of the Thrifty Prep, I basically got everything I kept for "free", AND pocketed about $100. Not bad, right?