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The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Friday, May 19, 2023

Sources and Strategies for Inexpensive Preppy Clothes?

 

A reader question:

I can understand why you're not a fan of J.Crew, but are there any clothes at an affordable price point that you would consider prep? Most of the things you feature are in the $100s for a single item, and it's not practical to go without for months in order to save up for one sweater. Where should someone with a more conservative budget shop? Or is the thrifty, practical New Englander look only for the rich?

 

42 comments:

  1. Actually, I've had luck on ebay recently: Brooks Bros made in Scotland cashmere sweaters, Lacoste polos etc. Much of the stuff I've bought is like new.
    People like Poshmark as well.

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  2. I second that. I use eBay and Poshmark to search for anything before purchasing retail. You can find brand new, or almost new, items at a fraction of the price. That said, I might challenge your point about the practicalities of going months to save up for one sweater. I'm probably older than you, and have the means to buy whatever I want, but I still delay or reconsider most of my purchases. It's not about "the look," but having a mindset of frugality and wearing the things I already own to pieces. I would suspect not one of us actually needs anything new. The real trick is to have a small number of finely made things, worn over and over again with love - price per wear saves a significant amount of money over time.

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  3. Amazon Basics, Lands End,Thrifting, eBay and Poshmark are great sources .I have over 100 OCBD'S mostly Brooks Brothers Ralph Lauren Vineyard Vines all from eBay and Poshmark .

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    1. We had a house guest last year who dressed like a million bucks. Nice looking clothing, well made, very tasteful and would easily pass for prep. The exception is there were no brands or logos on anything. Oh, yes, it all came from Walmart!

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    2. Wasteful overconsumption is wasteful overconsumption, regardless of whether the clothing was purchased on an auction site or at a thrift store. I certainly hope the commenter with over 100 OCBDs follows a one-in-20-out policy, and donates to a local shelter. There are many people who could use a good quality shirt who don't have Poshmark accounts.

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  4. You can get the look on a shoe string budget. Try eBay, Poshmark, Vinted and Etsy. You can find some great stuff on those sites like Barbour, Brooks Brothers, and Ralph Lauren. For example, I recently bought a vintage wool sweater from Lacoste for $40 with shipping. It’s much nicer than any of the new stuff that Lacoste sells.

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  5. I buy 99% of my clothes secondhand. Following SWNE has helped me to identify quality clothing brands to seek out. I visit my local Goodwill most weekends, and have found beautiful, like-new items. A whole work wardrobe of Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren sweaters and trousers, tons of fun pieces by Lilly Pulitzer, nice loafers from Sperry, Eastland and Sebago, pretty dresses from Vineyard Vines, Sail to Sable and Southern Tide, vintage bags and shoes from Talbots and Etienne Aigner. I could go on and on and on! Look for quality, natural materials like wool, silk, linen or leather, and clothing made in the US or UK. Don’t be afraid to thrift your clothing - it’s economically and environmentally responsible, and lets you build a truly unique wardrobe. If the thrift shops in your area are sub-par, try consignment shops, buy/sell/trade stores, or sites like EBay, ThredUp, or FB Marketplace. On the rare occasion that I buy clothing new (often teeshirts), my stores of choice are Uniqlo, Lands End, and J.Crew Factory. Their prices are affordable and they make decent quality basics. Hope this helps!

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  6. Charles Tyrwitt shirts have a variety of fits and styles and can be solid enough for everyday wear. With 3 for $99 promotions frequently it's worth a try. Especially if some of the fuller cut more classic makers fit like tents on you.

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    1. I've tried them but they're not worth the money. The classic collars curl badly and the fused cuffs fray at the edge. Uniqlo is better value for money than the Old Etonian's tat.

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  7. Periodic visits to the Episcopal Church thrift shop have produced items from Paul Stuart, Brooks Brothers, Turnbull and Asser, Lanvin, Polo etc. For new inexpensive items Jos. Bank.

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  8. I am one of those people who buys MiUSA except for woolens and a British raincoat. I find wonderful offerings on both eBay and Etsy.

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  9. You can still do rather well with Lands End if you shop with great care. Their workmanship has become somewhat erratic, but some products are still worth consideration, such as chinos and dress shirts. They also run a lot of specials.

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    1. Suggestions to finding the high quality lands end items? It seems so hit or miss!

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  10. LL Bean, though they're too enamored of wrinkle-free cotton - doesn't breath as well or feel as good as regular 100% cotton. Regarding J Crew, if you like the clothes, who cares what someone else thinks about it. Ralph Lauren/Polo or Orvis outlet stores sometimes offer interesting things for lower prices. Pendleton sells less expensive Shetland wool sweaters.

    These options often involve compromises in terms of the fabric, construction, fit and feel compared to some of the higher-end brands. You'll decide what combination on the sliding scales of cost and quality works best for you.

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    1. Seconding LL Bean, as long as you take the time to figure out if it's a decently manufactured product, as they can be very hit-or-miss these days. I've had great luck with their boots and any of the wrinkle-free shirts and trousers they offer, in particular their camp/ranger style clothes. Even if they might have the occasional 1-2% stretch, which I find irksome, the sturdiness outweighs any negatives.

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    2. I agree that Bean's wrinkle-free cotton wears and feels like iron. I find what I need from second-hand offerings on eBay or Etsy from Brooks jackets, RL polos to US-made khakis. I still buy comfortable footwear as new from Rockport or Eastland. It may not be a popular choice, but Izod has good-value men's casual button-down shirts for the office; traditional sizing with double-stitched details. Of course, I still wear classic Sero shirts from O'Connells for more important occasions.

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  11. "Is the thrifty, practical New Englander look only for the rich?" comes the post, flying the snideness flag for all to see. I suppose another way to look at it is this—if you bought a sturdy, basic shetland sweater for $100, you could have it for 15 years, rather than, say, a year and a half, tops, for some J. Crew sweater laden with plastic fibres, made in China. Use Ebay. We all do. And chill with the attitude, perhaps?

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    1. Precisely what I was alluding to in my comment above (Anonymous @ 7:27 AM)

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    2. I have an Arrow shirt that I maybe paid $30 for at Ross. I wear it a couple of times a month, often in a factory or warehouse. It is over 15 years old and still looks pristine, and the button down collar is still perfect. Cheap things can last too.

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  12. Someone may have not much to wear, and no budget, such as many new graduates who are just ready to enter the workforce. Try consignment stores in nice areas - in addition to quality merchandise in general, there are usually racks with "new with tags" clothes sold for much less. If you shop VERY carefully, you can sometimes find Ralph Lauren or other good brands in Marshall's, again, in better areas. Land's End and LL Bean have good sales, and can have decent basics depending on your size. But, it is worth it to accrue very slowly, and be frugal with the budget you do have, so that you can save for items of quality.
    - LollyG

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  13. Also try Mercari.com, where sellers are less savvy so good bargains can be found, but are less searchable.

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  14. You can find good deals at the end of the season. The choices are limited and you have to wait for the approaching season to wear the item but the prices can be good.

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    1. To add to my comment I got a nice seersucker shirt at LL Bean and two pair of Polo corduroy paints at Macy's. All at the end of the season. I can not remember what I paid but I know the pants where under $!5 apiece.

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  15. Suits, blazers, etc. I prefer to buy new because of the fit. But my khakis, polo shirts, boat shoes, shirts, etc. to 99% second hand. There again to 90% in absolutely mint condition.
    It is not so much about the money but rather that I am not a friend to throw away things that are still in very good condition. I think that makes us but also from. A healthy sense of the value chain. My Volvo station wagon has 230,000 miles on the clock and I see no reason to buy a new car.

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  16. These kinds of questions have always puzzled me. Especially on a budget, you can't afford to buy cheap things. Invest in good quality because you can wear these things forever. For example, today I'm wearing a Barbour jacket that I bought 25 years ago and a watch that my grandfather and my father wore before. This is real sustainability: high-quality clothing, old cars, old watches. Things you don't throw away. I learned that from my parents: things are only bought new when the old ones can no longer be repaired.

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    1. I heartily concur. Ages ago when I began my career I had two suits, two pairs of nice shoes, and about three white OCBDs. With an iron for the shirts and a very few ties, I always went to work well dressed. I still have items from that era, which was circa 1975/6. As I made a little money and could add to my wardrobe, I hit Brooks on sale days. The lovely woman who took care of me knew I would pay full price only if I were in desperate straits and had no other options. She would snaffle away things she knew I needed and would like and bring them out for me when the sales officially began. The mindset of loving clothes as they age, clothes that were never a fashion trend, is extremely valuable. There have been things from my great grandfather, grandfather, and father in my wardrobe and in regular use. I have loved them all and still have and use items from each.

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    2. At age 33, I personally appreciate someone asking this question and hearing the community's opinions on this. For example:

      I did not have the ability to purchase a Barbour jacket 25 years ago because I was a child. As a working professional, I've purchased 2 in the past decade. The first I purchased from the now defunct Newbury Street Barbour shop in Boston for $450 new, expecting it to last me a lifetime. Despite regular care, I've had to patch thrice in the pockets and had to resew the stitching in at least 4 areas. I came to realise this is because much of Barbour's post-2000 North American jackets are manufactured in Indonesia or Vietnam.

      The second Barbour jacket I bought was in the U.K. for £180 new, made in their English factory in South Shields. It's taken a mighty beating the past few years, is in perfect shape with only regular re-waxing for maintenance, and I wholly plan to pass this jacket down to my children some day.

      In short, many of these brands have blown up their trust in favour of chasing global markets and commodification at all costs these past 20+ years, so for those of us who unfortunately weren't around in the days of solid reliability in Prep and pre-Prep clothing, we much appreciate learning the ins and outs of what's still worthy of investment (at every price point) from this community.

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  17. I sometimes buy things from J. Press when they have clearance sales. And I buy from Charles Tyrwhitt when they have sales. And once in a while I find good things at Nordstrom Rack. Of course one has to be discerning to shop at a store like that, I'm happy with the things I've bought from J. Crew and J. Crew Factory. I never liked Land's End. And the only things I buy from L. L. Bean nowadays are flannel bathrobes and flannel sheets.

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  18. Quality clothing is an investment rather than an expense. It lasts forever; you'll feel confident and relaxed everywhere you go; it will help you in the workplace and your community organizations; and if your kids outgrow their clothes, you can sell the garments on eBay or Poshmark for a good portion of the purchase price.

    I think of it this way. The average cable bill in the US is over $200 per month, and the average US household spends $68 per month on alcohol and tobacco, plus $146 on apparel. So, if we cut out the things that kill our brains and add it to what we already spend on clothes, it comes to more than $400 per month. One could buy a complete, quality wardrobe over a year for $4800--and never have to buy clothes again except for very occasional refreshes and shoe repairs.

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  19. Grew up wearing sweat shirts and jeans to school until warm weather, when I lived in tennis clothes. Went to a small liberal arts college wearing the same, unfortunately. Then in my sophomore year I was befriended by some frat boys and leaned about OCBDs, Topsiders, and most of all, khakis. My dad had always worn khakis but I had not latched onto them. It was a whole new world, learning about LL Bean, Brooks Brothers, and such, mostly via “TOPH,” which I bought in the college bookstore where I worked, and which was run by the tennis team coach.

    62 now and have been wearing OCBDs and khakis and moccasins for 40 years, with no plan to change. Live in Colorado - where anything above jeans is called ‘dress clothes’ so that is disheartening, frankly.

    At any rate, paying full price is not in my budget due to having two kids in highschool, but ebay has been a great find of old stock Brooks shirts. Of course looking is harder now due to their skinny overseas crap showing up in searches.

    But full price is not always positive for other reasons. My first Mercer shirt frayed at the cuffs after less than ten washings, and my second Michael-Spencer shirt faded for no reason. The death of founder Spencer Bennet is surely a huge loss to the preppy community for shirts. His pinpoint was the best I had ever seen, and thankfully I secured two of them.

    For khakis, you cannot beat Jack Donnelly, which I learned about on this blog. I try All American Khakis but they are a bit stiffer, and Bills are not what they once were. Would never wear the non iron khakis from Bean or Lands’ end. Bought both and returned them. Too hot.

    Suits and ties, i am still wearing Brooks Brothers bought in the 90s and early 2000s. My company is casual so they don’t get out much and will last a long time more.

    JDV

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  20. Buy less, choose well, make it last.

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    1. Correct. That is especially true with shoes. Care for them well and your top quality leather goods will acquire that enviable luster and sheen known as patina. They will look better as they age. Many of mine were purchased at a New Haven retailer who closed its doors in 2004. They look better now than when they were brand new.

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    2. Amen, amen, and amen!

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  21. Interested to know what some of these commenters might think of the Sam Vimes "Boots" Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness, used as an index by the ONS and named after a quote from Terry Pratchett:

    "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."

    A lot of people here are saying it's simply a matter of not buying cheap clothing and investing in quality things instead. The thing about any investment is that you need to have capital to start with. I wonder what these commenters suggest people wear during the period between wearing out the cheap boots and having saved up enough for the quality ones.

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    1. Thrifted or consignment clothes.

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  22. This conversation regarding classic, basic, preppy clothing prompts me to poll the community: (1) Can we reach a point when we care too much about our "stuff"? (2) At which point does our "stuff" own us? (3) Have we been programmed to think we really need to own 20 crew neck sweaters, etc.? At what point should we address the issue of the "art of Swedish death cleaning" or a similar concept? Yes, it is about quality over quantity, but how much do we really need?

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    1. These are questions worth pondering. In my own pondering, I came to consider preppy and traditional natural shoulder ivy league ("TNSIL") dressing as as different in the following, relevant way. The prep wears outfits, and an important aspect of outfits is variety. Variety in what are essentially the same cuts and designs of clothes requires multiple colors and fabrics. The TNSIL, on the other hand, wears clothes that look well together and serve their intended function. The variety among outfits is much more restrained and subtle. So the prep might feel he or she needed multiple crewnecks to cap off a range of color choices, the TNSIL is content with one or two but in quieter tones. There was a time in my prep life when getting the new colors from Brooks each year was fun. In my more restrained older age, a navy and a natural are plenty, and if all I had was one of them, that would be just fine as well. This may be heretical, but I would choose the light greyish tan on the natural over the navy.

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    2. Navy and cream always work. Always!

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  23. Most of my clothes are thrifted. I love thrift stores. But when it comes to work clothes for the office, where i have to look a little more put together, i go to the GAP. I know, i hear the groans, but they really have nice conservative things at good price when you can find them on sale - and you can try them on.

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  24. You can shop at inexpensive stores if you just look for the right cut and colors. Navy, dark green, charcoal, maroon for sweaters and polos. White, blue, white and blue stripes for dress shirts. Tan, navy, olive for khakis. Dark brown for dress shoes. White or navy with no fancy designs for gym shoes. Timex watch you can buy at Wal Mart. Check out trad/prep/ivy blogs for classic designs. Put those together and you can go to Target, JC Penney, or online at JCrew, Lands End, and (pro tip) Google "Tyrwhitt 3 for 99". Take good care of your clothes and even inexpensive ones will usually last a while. You will look like a million bucks without breaking the bank.

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  25. This is an area where growing up in (what was) a rural farming community serves me well. I think of clothing like any piece of farm equipment. I need it to do my work and to thrive so I am going to carefully search for equipment that will do the job well, that will last, and that can be repaired when it breaks down. I’m not going to buy the least expensive because I know I will pay more later in replacement or repair. I’m not going to buy the new trendy toy that they showed at the fair because it’s not proven it’s worth in the long run. I will gratefully purchased reliable used equipment when it is available, but will be prepared to buy new to get what I need. I will only buy what I need because farm land is best used for farming, not for storing unused equipment. I will buy what is safe, reliable, and useful for the most possible years. Over the long term, I will pay less if I follow this guideline even if the equipment was more expensive at the start.

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