Are there items of clothing/accessories you won't compromise on?

[mrpinter]

Budget permitting, of course. What items will you skimp on other things for, so you can get better quality in those things? For me it's shoes and eyeglasses. Why? Cheap pants or shirts won't hurt you and can still be somewhat comfortable, but cheap or ill fitting shoes can make you very miserable. As far as glasses go, I'm picky about what I wear on my face (I can use all the help I can get and of course high quality lenses are ultra important.

I have come to favor hand made American shoes like Allen Edmonds for dress shoes, and Ecco's or Mephistos for casual or walking shoes (slthough my foot is too narrow for most of the Mephistos). Here is a style of AE shoes that I am fond of - super comfortable and should last a long long time (they have a recrafting service to extend the life of their shoes indefinitely - as long as you have it done before you've ruined the uppers):

And here is a pair of glasses I like from a French company called Anne et Valentin: their take on the traditional Freeway design from the fifties, but with a modern twist with materials and color (and the optician did a superb job of getting the progressive lenses right so they're great for driving and all around vision but are also cut to provide comfortable long term sessions at the computer monitor. Other frame/lens combinations I've had made me crane my neck a little to focus on the screen and were fatiguing after a while at the computer:

Do you have any items of attire/vision etc that you don't like to skimp on?

 

[DavyDave53]

Yup.  It's shoes its either New Balance or Dunham's for me.

http://www.joesnewbalanceoutlet.com/cat_mens_shoes.htm?category=mdunham&sort=POP&size=&width=&shoeLast=&price=

 

[alterbridgefan]

Blazers. If it's cheap, switch the buttons and get it tailored... A poor fitting blazer looks like sh!t. I tend to spend a lot on clothes.. I wear Ray Bans, Lacoste, and Frye, for the most part, but there's a certain charm in finding the perfect new outfit at a place like goodwill. So while I try to dress well, I'm a teenager with a low paying job and an expensive hobby. I need to find good clothes on a budget.

 

[mullyman]

I don't skimp on any of my attire. That's not to say that I dress like a runway model, but my clothes are not cheap. As some of you have figured out from my videos I wear a Bengals jersey everyday. I don't skimp on them. These are the authentic jerseys with the sewn on numbers and they go for about 350 dollars apiece. I have about 10 of them that I rotate. I also wear shorts everyday, including the winter. Reebok for those. Shoes, I prefer Nike in tennis/sports shoes and I am currently wearing a pair of Oboz hiking shoes. My watches are Breitling and Tag Heuer. Even my underwear are Calvin Klein. So, I may not look like much, but I'm top shelf. hahahaha!! I guess it's because I grew up in a one parent household that never really could afford the better things. Again, I don't dress like I'm going to be taking over the red carpet anytime soon but I don't try to save anything on the things I wear.

As for why I wear the Bengals jerseys everyday, I teach elementary school and I have kids climbing all over my all the time. I started out wearing button down shirts and chinos to work but found that those clothes got ruined real quick, and again, with my button down shirts, they were either Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger, so it was money down the drain. I started thinking about the toughest clothes I could get and a football jersey made total sense. 8 years now wearing Bengals jerseys every single day. It's so routine now that I feel weird and out of place if I wear anything else. Good thing is that I never have to think about what I'm going to wear. I have all my jerseys, 6 pairs of the same shorts, all same socks etc.... even the t-shirts I wear under the jerseys are all the same. I have about a dozen Russell Athletic t-shirts in black, yes, all the same shirts. hahahaha!!!
MULLY
and my wallet is Red Wing :+)

 

[mrpinter]

ah, watches! I forgot watches in my OP. They are kind of a weakness of mine - I love them but can't afford the ones I really want, new at least. So I have over the years collected a few vintage pieces. My one and only nice watch I bought new (about ten years ago now) is an RGM Pilot model. My oldest watch dates from the 1940s, and it still runs fine. I used to have a 1920s Movado, but sold it recently - along with another 18k vintage dress watch - because I needed some funds. I'm sure I sold the Movado too cheap, because the buyer was someone at Movado U.S.! Oh well. Here are some of my watches:

the Movado:

another piece that was sold:

 

[crash]

I honestly don't see the purpose of a watch nowadays.  Everybody has a cell phone now.

 

[mrpinter]

I honestly don't see the purpose of a watch nowadays.  Everybody has a cell phone now.

It's a bit complicated. For one thing, a mechanical timepiece has a kind of fascination about it. The nicer ones are marvels of engineering and craftsmanship. Manual wind and automatic watches have the same kind of attraction for me as custom racing bicycles and sailboats. They can be beautiful - and are one of the only pieces of "jewelry" that men can wear in good taste. Finally, there is a practical side to it. A watch on the wrist is easier and quicker to check the time with than pulling a cell phone out of a pocket or flipping it open. I'd feel naked without a watch on. I guess it's kind of like vinyl records or safety razors. Either you "get it" or you don't bother.

 

[line6man]

I honestly don't see the purpose of a watch nowadays.  Everybody has a cell phone now.

Watches are just classy.  :dontknow:

 

[Cagey]

I feel incomplete without a watch on.

 

[mullyman]

I honestly don't see the purpose of a watch nowadays.  Everybody has a cell phone now.

It's a bit complicated. For one thing, a mechanical timepiece has a kind of fascination about it. The nicer ones are marvels of engineering and craftsmanship. Manual wind and automatic watches have the same kind of attraction for me as custom racing bicycles and sailboats. They can be beautiful - and are one of the only pieces of "jewelry" that men can wear in good taste. Finally, there is a practical side to it. A watch on the wrist is easier and quicker to check the time with than pulling a cell phone out of a pocket or flipping it open. I'd feel naked without a watch on. I guess it's kind of like vinyl records or safety razors. Either you "get it" or you don't bother.

Let me also add that you're not going to be able to give that cell phone to your son when he graduates high school. My grandfather gave my father a brand new Bulova Quartz when he graduated high school in 1959. My father gave it to me. No cell phone will EVER be able to compete with that. There is so much more to a watch than just telling time. In a way it can also tell a story.
MULLY

 

[mullyman]

ah, watches! I forgot watches in my OP. They are kind of a weakness of mine - I love them but can't afford the ones I really want, new at least. So I have over the years collected a few vintage pieces. My one and only nice watch I bought new (about ten years ago now) is an RGM Pilot model. My oldest watch dates from the 1940s, and it still runs fine. I used to have a 1920s Movado, but sold it recently - along with another 18k vintage dress watch - because I needed some funds. I'm sure I sold the Movado too cheap, because the buyer was someone at Movado U.S.! Oh well. Here are some of my watches:

All of those watches are really nice but that Movado has all kinds of bad ass to it.
MULLY

 

[bagman67]

Yes, a watch can indeed tell a story.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HenZ4Z7w0qM

 

[mullyman]

This isn't my watch but it's similar. The band on mine is different. I don't know why but this watch doesn't say Limited Edition on the back of it, there were other pics of it. Mine says "Limited Edition 40/140" So there were 140 of them made and mine is number 40. It's a pretty bad ass watch and I mainly bought it because it has that aura of my dad's old Bulova.
MULLY

 

[mrpinter]

That's a really nice pre-Tag Heuer.

 

[bagman67]

I'm pretty much a one-watch guy.
This is what I'm wearing these days  -  Victorinox Alliance Rectangular:

I got it to replace this Victorinox Officer's that, after 19 years on my wrist, was just too battered to get away with if I had to wear anything nice:

\


I'm frankly not sure how crazy I am about the oblong face, so I may end up picking up another copy of the Officer's.  Anybody want a slightly used Swiss Army watch?

 

[mullyman]

That's a really nice pre-Tag Heuer.

It's actually what they call the "Classics" collection which are watches they make today that look like pre-Tag days. Not saying Tag on there was another huge drawing point for me. I think that just looks really cool.
MULLY

 

[Updown]

Quality Shoes are a must !!  :icon_thumright:

So is a Phone  :icon_biggrin:

I definitely need my Watch, to tell me what time to do things.  :laughing7:

 

[Jumble Jumble]

"Are there items of clothing/accessories you won't compromise on?"

It's a strange question really. I think pretty much everything I ever buy is a compromise - if I didn't compromise, I would get the best and most expensive right? I think mully is uncompromising with his jerseys; he couldn't get better if he tried. But as for me, it's necessarily always a balance between price and quality.

I used to swear by Levi jeans, but a couple of years ago I indulged myself in a couple of pairs of Evisu. And that was the end of Levi's. They just don't fit as well and they're nowhere near as comfortable.

I get 90% of my shoes from Grenson, a very british shoe maker, but if I could, I'd get more expensive ones.

Watches are a tricky one. I wear this:

Although I have a black metal strap on mine, as the old rubber one gave up eventually. It was cheap for a watch. I'm not really that keen on its looks, but it has some features that make it killer from a practicality standpoint:

1. Solar charging. The battery is always, always on full. Never need to worry about it going flat.
2. Auto-setting. Every night it sets itself to 1/100s from the atomic clock in Greenwich. Never need to worry about it being wrong.
3. 20 bar water resist. Good enough for cliff diving and stuff. Never need to worry about water.
4. Shock protection. Never need to worry about it getting knocked.

It never comes off and I always know the exact time. What more could you want in a watch?

I'd like a dress watch too, but so far the only one I've seen that I really like is a Rolex, and it costs an amount of money that I just won't pay. I could have the most beautiful Taylor, and a no-holds-barred Warmoth, and still have change.

Altar's right in that the fit is more important than anything. People say "a bespoke suit will last you many years" but then they also say you should never wear it more than once in any three days. Newsflash guys, a cheap suit will last you many years at that rate too. The problem is that the cheap suit won't look good unless either you happen to be the exact shape it was made for, or you get it adjusted. My suits are at the lower end of the scale (arround US$600), I have them sorted out fitwise and people often assume I've had them custom made from scratch.

I'll compromise on anything, clotheswise, because if I didn't, I'd be taken for a ride by unscrupulous labels/designers/stores.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

I don't wear a watch. Never liked them flopping around my wrist or getting hung up in stuff I'm working on. Work keeps me chained to a smartphone so I always have a way to tell the time when needed. But, I might reconsider it if I could afford this one.

My compromises start there and then head straight down hill!  My only rules are that it works (does the job it is supposed to do), it's comfortable and doesn't make me sweat when I see the price tag! Ok, I'm a cheap bum! :toothy12:

@Bagman67 - I really like your Victorinox Alliance Rectangular! Simple, understated and effective! :icon_thumright:

 

[erogenousjones17]

Real Chuck Taylors, not cheap knock-offs from Payless or somesuch. I wear 'em just about every day, and the cheap ones just fall apart. I also like hats (flatcaps, not fedoras or any such nonsense) and usually indulge myself once or twice a year with a nice Goorin or something.

Let me also add that you're not going to be able to give that cell phone to your son when he graduates high school. My grandfather gave my father a brand new Bulova Quartz when he graduated high school in 1959. My father gave it to me. No cell phone will EVER be able to compete with that. There is so much more to a watch than just telling time. In a way it can also tell a story.
MULLY

This is very true. My cool aunt and uncle gave me a nice Bulova when I finished my Master's, and it's something I do treasure, enough that I rarely wear it for fear of busting it up. :laughing7:

But mostly I hate spending money on clothes. To me, it feels like throwing money away. And don't give me no clothes at Christmas neither! :doh: