But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Last year, I wrote an article about clothes I wanted to get in 2024. I broke down goals in tailoring, shirts, pants, knits, outerwear, footwear, and accessories.
Now, I’m going to break down clothes I’ve purchased or otherwise received specifically as relates to that article. I’ve really gotten more clothing than expected, partly due to the brands sending me things on Instagram, so I have to limit my overview. So here we go:
The Goal: A single breasted navy bespoke suit from The Anthology; a Tuxedo, somehow; a couple of beater sport jackets.
The Result: A thrifted tux, a navy blazer, and two more good sport jackets
So… I didn’t get the navy suit from The Anthology. It’s a long story, but I couldn’t get an appointment with them at a time I could actually make. Disappointing, since it was number one on my list, but oh well. Let’s keep going.
I finally got a decent navy blazer. No vents, patch pockets, double breasted, light brown horn buttons. It’s from Luciano Barbera via eBay. It’s good. My buddy Max offered to trade me his Drake’s jacket for it, and I said no.
I got two solid sport jackets: one from Samuelsohn in Zegna wool, is soft and nice, but not ideal in that it has flap pockets; and the other, a thrifted MTM model 3 from The Armoury in rough Harris Tweed, with the patch pockets, which is simultaneously precious and valid as a beater.
Finally, Shane found me a tux. I paid $60 for a vintage Brooks Brothers tuxedo that fits me beautifully. It’s not perfect, partly due to how it’s aged and partly due to the single vent, but it certainly fills the role in my wardrobe until I can find the tailor who will make the tux for me.
The Goal: More blue shirts, a tuxedo shirt.
The Result: A chambray button down, a blue denim/madras short sleeve camp collar,, a blue reverse stripe OCBD, a blue royal oxford dress shirta vintage blue shirt I might not keep, and a tuxedo shirt.
I already had a blue dress shirt and a blue herringbone button down and a blue denim shirt (and a couple of navy shirts I’ll think of separately), but I needed a blue chambray and a blue OCBD. Check and check, thanks to Buck Mason and Proper Clothrespectively. The chambray (top left) is super light, very wearable in warm weather. The OCBD (top right) is a reverse stripe, which I thought was cool ever since my first reverse stripe OCBD. I am correct.
Proper Cloth also made me a proper dress shirt in Royal Oxford (bottom left). Royal Oxford, despite having a name similar to “Oxford Cloth,” is really a distinct, and much dressier fabric. It has a sublte texture if you look at it up close, but still is formal in practice, similar in use to broadcloth, so I wear it with a suit and tie.
The OMTC shirt (top center) is a short sleeve button up with a pretty dense denim-madras fabric (essentially denim with a brown check that also follows all the rules of madras. It’s not an every day shirt, but the fabric was so crazy soft that I had to own it. Handloomed denim is good.
And finally, the tuxedo shirt (bottom right) came from Hockerty. It does the job. I have come to see the compromises in quality, but for MTM at this price point, I can’t complain.
The Goal: A mohair cardigan; more textured knitwear in general; another knit tee; another turtleneck.
The Result: All of the above, and then some.
Needles mohair cardigans are cool. I got exactly the one I wanted most (center), even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear it very often. It’s a beautiful statement piece and I’m happy to own it.
The bright pink sweater here (bottom left) was also one of the specific knits on my list, although it’s brighter and more saturated than the one in my head was. A pink shetland is a truly special thing. This one is from Paul Stuart (they don’t seem to have this specific style on the website), and it’s a size or two too big, but I don’t really care.
The quality standouts are the first and last images above: a cotton sweater from Anderson & Sheppardand a cashmere cable knit from Polo Ralph Lauren. This seems to be a standout piece from Polo, easily the best cashmere knit I’ve seen from a common brand and arguably nicer than my other cashmere cable knit from Hawick of Scottland.
October Editions has consistently contributed solid knitwear (2, 6, 8) to my closet. Do be aware that some of their options are synthetic blends, but there are some unique textures here, so it’s worth browsing and seeing what you like.
The same can be said of the very uniquely textured alpaca bouclé knit from FrizmWORKS (top right). It’s thick and fluffy and I like the pocket. But that sure is a lot of synthetic in the blend… and I can tell.
And the left center image is a hemp-cotton crew neck from Buck Mason with a unique texture to it. Hemp is practically a lot like linen, only stronger, making this a really nice knit for pretty warm weather. I like it.
The Goal: Off white jeans; more big linen; more big chinos; purple cords.
The Result: Off white “baker’s pants” that scratch the itch; off white linen Andrews; navy giant fit chinos.
I spent an eternity looking for soft ecru denim. This year, I finally found something that did the same job but better. These Buck Mason baker’s pants came in a seeded ecru herringbone twill (although your only color option is a mineral grey). I paid full price, and I was happy to. I had expanded my budget well beyond that point and condemned myself to the risk of getting a stiff, low rise, slimmish pair of ecru jeans instead of the beautiful pair I got. These are softer, have better pockets, and are seeded, which is to say, you can see the dark specks of cotton seeds in the fabric, up close.
I’ve written extensively about Polo Ralph Lauren Andrew Pants in the past. It should come as no surprise that I bought another pair last year, but it might surprise you that they were my first purhcase of the year, in early January, shortly after I published my plan. I’m very happy with them, especially after realizing that they were so close in color to my Bryceland’s shirt.
I’ve also expressed my love for J. Crew Giant Fit Chinos. Yes, again, I bought a pair for myself. In case you haven’t learned by now, I do that with plenty of items I recommend here.
I didn’t get purple cords. That was a pretty silly idea, I don’t need a pair. Although if J. Crew does them in a good shade… I bought giant fit cords in dark brown and received another pair in mid brown, but neither of those really counts, since my header said purple.
The Goal: A summer-friendly raincoat; a heavy-duty winter parka.
The Result: A Kara Koram without a hood.
I got some good outerwear this year, but in terms of achieving the goals I set for myself, this category came out pretty weak. If the Kara Koram had a hood, and was a little thicker and warmer, it would really scratch the itch, but as is, I need something else. A true monster parka. And also a super light rain jacket, probably ventile. Fingers crossed.
The Goal: Well-made winter boots; color 8 shell tassel loafers from Alden; the missing sneakers.
The Result: All of the above, kind of, but I can pretty much only show you the tassels.
I got some good boots, but I have to exchange for sizing purposes. I have good sneakers, but… well, that’s a long story, it’s complicated, just know that I have some good sneakers on hand and you’ll see them when you see them.
But here’s what I can show you now: I have some color 8 Shell Aldens! they’re the Brooks Brothers model (which unfortunately is no longer a thing), and they’re a little worn, and big enough that they only work with thickish socks… but hey, I got them off eBay for the right price. Go get yourself some shell aldens before they disappear.
For those who don’t know: shell cordovan is a unique type of leather made from a membrane in a horse’s ass. Yes, really. It has a unique sheen to it, and ages in a unique way, and just looks cool. The “color 8” is a unique shade put out by Horween, that’s kind of a super dark burgundy with a bit of purple in it. It’s not the only special color of shell cordovan—there’s some deep lore here, including a “color 16” that’s largely just a darker color 8—but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
The Goal: A bowtie; another funky scarf; some new kind of hat; more meaningful jewelry.
The Result: A scarf. Honorable mention to my new black belts.
I wasn’t expecting to find a bowtie. As for hats… I didn’t even really know what kind of hat I wanted. I tried on a couple of berets and a brimmed hat at some point, but I didn’t find the one. And jewelry was always a long shot. So I’m not surprised by any of this.
I had previously bought a Drake’s scarf from Stephon Carson, but traded it back to him for this one. My current plan is to continue trading dope scarves back and forth with him until I’ve tried every cool scarf in his collection.
I didn’t mention black belts at first, but this actually were a priority for me, and I mentioned them in the conclusion of the article. So to mention them here: I got the above belt—a black hair-on calf from La Botte Gardiane—and a black western belt secondhand, which you can see up in the fit with the mohair cardigan. I may also be getting another great belt very soon, so stay tuned.
Overall, I did surprisingly well. I mean, I got a lot of clothing this year, and not everything on my list… But considering my general approach—which is essentially to wait for the right piece to present itself, either while thrifting or otherwise—I’m very happy I was able to bring my plan together so successfully.
I am still feeling the lack of great hooded outerwear, and yearning for better jewelry, and upset that my plans with The Anthology haven’t worked out yet, but… it’s all good, I’m not too worried. I’ll bring it all together.
I’ll close with a question: what was your favorite piece of the past year? Leave a comment, or tell a friend, or just think about it. Reflection is fun, huh?
#Clothes,