Miscellaneous

Unfortunately, and as you can probably already see, this blog has been put on hold for a little bit. I hope to have it back up and running soon, and have decided to do this instead of continuing to put up below average posts.

Closet Space

• Vintage Tommy Hilfiger oxford
• Brooks Brothers Madras Shorts
• Sailboat club belt
• Bass Weejuns

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Miscellaneous

First off, apologies for the long delay between some of these posts.  Secondly, I am now going to try and post something everyday.  This will prevent you from checking the blog daily, seeing the same posts, and having to keep checking and waiting for a new post. Also, I hope to provide you with more information, more, and better, pictures, and some more writing.  Thank you to those who view the blog already, and I hope you are as excited about the future of this blog as I am.

The Written Word

Another one from my Summer Wish List can now be checked off.  I have been searching for a good deal on some penny loafers for awhile now, and finally found some.  I purchased them on ebay, brand new, for over 50% savings off of the regular price.  These are the J.Crew Bass Weejuns from last spring,   making it over a year now of me keeping an eye out for these.

The penny loafer, specifically the Bass Weejun, is one of the few items that just screams American prep, which is odd considering their history.  The first loafers were made in Norway, and sold throughout Europe in the 1930's.  American tourists began purchasing these loafers and bringing them to the United States, creating a demand here for these loafers.

G.H. Bass started producing the shoe stateside, naming it the Weejun, after the Norwegians that created the loafer.  Bass however, was the first to add the strap, making what is now known as the "penny loafer."  It was not until the 1950's when prep school students began inserting pennies into the strap.  This trend has stuck, and the penny loafer has been a prep essential ever since.

Finally, I can now take part in this prep tradition, albeit with a slight change.  I have chosen to insert gold dollars in mine, a little play on the classic penny.

Check It Out

If you have not heard of the small tie business The Cordial Churchman yet, I recommend checking it out soon, and picking up some of their great summer ties that are available right now.  In fact, one of them is actually on the Summer Wish List post I made a few days ago.  It's great to see a small business doing their own thing instead of following the big brands, check out "The Cordial Churchman Story" video to see just what I mean.  They are clearly not in it solely for the money, which shows in the fun loving designs and low prices.  Besides the unique patterns and materials, the size and shape of each tie is completely customizable.  I've kept you long enough, now go check out the site!

Bought It

Finally picked up this shirt today, and it is even better than I had hoped.  The fit is perfect, as are the colors.  Check this off of my summer wish list.

Miscellaneous

Summer Wish List

• Panel oxford "Fun Shirt"
• Nautical flag club belt
• Penny loafers
• Real nantucket red shorts
• Seersucker bow tie
• Needlepoint belt
• Wayfarer style sunglasses
• Nantucket red sperry cvo sneakers

Miscellaneous

Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend, summer is finally here!  Will be back posting on tuesday.

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Closet Space

• Ralph Lauren striped oxford
• Ralph Lauren chinos
• J.Crew braided belt
• Sperry 75th anniversary CVO sneakers

The Written Word

Saving Your Wallet

Being a college student (read: broke), and also someone who always needs (read: really really wants) new clothes, makes it tough to be able to keep up the shopping habit.  To make it possible to keep up my once expensive habit, I have adopted a quite a few new practices.

• I try to stay away from anything that is not on sale.  Almost all online stores have some type of sale going on most of the time.  Sign up for the emails so you know when these are, I even have a separate email just for this.  Also, if you are a college student like myself, check if the stores you love have student discounts, many stores do and don't advertise them.

• Stay away from the clearance.  Just as the last point said, clearance is mostly garbage.  You can find great deals at times, but for the most part clearance racks hold a bunch of stuff you don't need. It is the "I mean it's five dollars, so I'll buy it even though I don't really like it," thinking that can do the most damage to your wallet. 

• Be thrifty.  Going to a thrift store may seem a bit scary to those of you that have never done so before, but trust me, some of the deals are well worth it.  You can find some amazing deals, on some nice stuff.  My last visit i bought four Lacoste Polos, in great shape, for five dollars.  You can't beat that.

• Quality, not Quantity.  This idea is somewhat explained in some of my other points, but it simply means buy clothes you actually like.  You can get yourself in trouble by buying a lot of cheap clothes.  Instead, stick to fewer clothes, but ones you actually like, even if they are more expensive.  

• Make Ebay a close friend.  Using Ebay can help you in many ways.  First, and most obvious, you can find great stuff for cheap.  Second, try selling on Ebay.  Not only does selling on Ebay put some money back in your pocket, it makes some room in your closet for your new clothes, something that is of utmost importance for me and my tiny apartment closet. 

Hopefully these few tips can help you as they helped me.  I'm actually making money right now simply selling those close that I bought on those clearance racks, all the while buying new clothes that I actually like to wear.

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Closet Space

• J.Crew pique polo
  
• Brooks Brothers seersucker 9" shorts
• J.Crew braided belt
• Sperry Boat Shoes