Piggybacking off last weeks blog post (Missing the Thrift) I thought that I’d share a few of my recent eBay wins. If you know me you know that I’ve never been big on eBay. I took a lot of losses early on (years and years ago) and it really deterred me. It was a rough start, but I’ve learned too apply those lessons, and it has definitely improved my eBaying experience. Now let’s get to the good stuff.
Below are the goods that I’ve scored. Nothing here cost too much. The highest price item was the vintage canvas field jacket which I love. It was $35 shipped. I mentioned piggybacking on an old blog post above, but there is more piggybacking here as well. I copped this vintage Ralph Lauren Country flannel (See my Country Flannel post) and two chambray work shirts. The chambray shirts are from Stronghold LA and the cotton/linen one is from Express of all places. Next up is a pair of NOS flannel lined LL Bean khakis. Last but not least I got an almost NOS 90s MiUSA Eastpak backpack to replace my old backpack that finally died. Not a bad haul for a little over $100!
Lately I have been missing thrifting. I used to thrift a lot, but that’s back when I had way more time than money. Back then I thrifted out of necessity rather than sheer pleasure. I couldn’t afford what I wanted. As my career progressed at an advertising agency I started to have more money than time so thrifting was out of the picture. Currently I have a job with a much better work/life balance, but with a young family I am in uncharted territory which is not that much spare time or spare money lol.
Why am I missing the thrift? It might be because I’ve been seeing some online friends scoring a lot of gems. I’ve also been doom scrolling eBay before bed after a few lucky wins. Whatever the case I can feel my desire growing but it’s not quite as easy to get out there with a young family. I was looking through old posts about thrifting this week and I forgot about my Main Street USA and Small Town USA thrifting posts. These posts really took me on a trip down memory lane. I remember these days spending a whole Saturday cruising the country side to visit smaller towns for the thrifts, food, and a good strong dose of Americana. It also reminded me that you come up empty handed a lot which I don’t miss. You can follow the links above or scroll down below to see these nostalgic posts. I hope you too enjoy the trip down memory lane. Good luck to all my thrifters out there thrifting!
If you’ve been into this trad/ivy thing for a while you already know most of the shops. One of the reasons that I stopped blogging (the first time, lol) is that I felt like I was mostly just saying go to JPress or O’Connell’s. Nothing wrong with that, but it seemed to me that I was not adding a lot to the conversation. I will try to add something new in this post.
If you are looking for a Made in USA Brooks Brothers OCBD for the low checkout my guy Steve Smith’s eBay store he has got them for cheap. He’s been around the scene since the Ask Andy Trad days selling slightly flawed (and some not flawed) shirts from the North Carolina factory. He still has a great inventory to this day. Prices range from around $48-78 dollars for a BB OCBD. This is a great place to a get a great shirt. It’s especially nice for those that are on a budget, but still want all the bells and whistles.
Next up is a vintage spot. I don’t shop vintage all that often, but I do hit up the Placid Vintage Etsy shop. I’ve primarily purchased ties here, but there are lots of goodies to be had and the prices are fair which is rare in a curated vintage shop. Bradley has a great selection of shirts and sport coats. There are even a few things that I have my eye on right now.
Hopefully one of these places is new to you. Apologies in advance if I blew up any ones secret spot. That was not my intent, but I don’t want to gatekeep the goods. If you have a lead on a shop that you’d like to share we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
I used to thrift a lot back in the day. Back then I had more time than money. Fast forward to now and I have very little of either (insert laugh track), but seriously I have started to dabble in thrifting again. This time around it’s just for fun rather than out of necessity. To pump myself up for future thrifts I decided to revisit my top 3 thrift scores. I will also give a few tips that I have learned along the way.
1. The perfect tweed jacket – If you know anything about me you know that it’s hard for me to find my size in jackets. The best otr reference I have is that a 37S Brooks Brothers Madison jacket fits me pretty well. That’s not a common size btw. About 10 years ago I was headed to an out of town meeting. I left myself plenty of time to stop in a Goodwill not far from where I was headed (Tip #1). After arriving I scanned the sport coat rack looking for jackets with 2-buttons on the cuff (Tip #2). This is not a fail-proof method for finding trad sport coats, but it helps when you want to quickly scan a lot of inventory. I sued this method and found this basket weave Donegal tweed sport coat complete with all the right details (3/2 roll, swelled edges, patch pockets) that fit! It’s still my favorite sport coat to this day.
2. Baracuta G9 jacket – The G9 is a trad’s perfect spring and late summer/early fall jacket. Made cool by the king of cool himself, Steve McQueen. Even if I don’t find Mr. McQueen all that cool myself I do love a harrington jacket. It was back in 2010 that I found a kelly green Baracuta for $1.99 on a typical Saturday morning thrift run. The jacket is from one of the less desirable periods in the 80s when they were made in Hong Kong by Van Heusen instead of being made in England. Nevertheless I was excited. I still get a lot of wear out of this jacket.
3. Ties, ties, & more ties – Ties are the most thriftable item in menswear. This is because outside of width we all wear the same size (Tip #3). I have scored the bulk of my ties this way. However, one particular tie haul stands out from all the rest. I stopped in one of my regular thrift spots and scored a few great ties. Whomever they belonged to had great taste as these were exactly the types of stripes that I would pick. They were also from a few local-ish menswear shop which I thought was extra cool. I went back the next day (Tip #4) in hopes that they may have put out more of this man’s ties and I was not disappointed.
Scores like the ones listed above will keep you going back for more. If you want to be successful going back is the most important part. Like most things in life consistency is key. Thrifting is no different. This time around I am simply out to enjoy the hunt and not the kill. I have no pie in the sky dreams or grails that I am seeking out. Just some good clean affordable fun. Good luck out there!
Men are often left out in the cold when it comes to accessories, but the colder it gets the more we gain. As we add layers for the additional chill in the air we start with a sweater then add a coat next up comes the hat, gloves, and scarf combo. I will start with one of my favorite cold weather accessories the scarf.
When it comes to trad scarves there are essentially three choices. There are solid scarves, school boy scarves (think regimental stripes), and tartan scarves. I have at least one of each style, but I overwhelmingly favor tartan patterns. I have added a few pictures below of my growing tartan scarf collection.
If you are wondering where I got all these scarfs I will tell you. They were either gifts, purchased at deep discount, or found on the second market. Scarves make great gifts as sizing is relatively easy and one can never have too many. Also, like all shopping, it is a lot less expensive to purchase off-season or end of season. Last , but definitely not least the scarf is one of the few items that I suggest shopping for on the second hand market. Again, the one-size fits makes them easy to source. Just be to sure to drop it off at the dry cleaner before taking it home!
I haven’t had the chance to wear one of scarves yet, but I know that I will get the opportunity soon enough. Which means that this is the right time to start taking stock of your winter accessories so that you are prepared when the time comes. Don’t get caught out in the cold without one!
