An earlier post made reference to the difference between spending $9.95 on a pair of slacks from WalMart vs. $125 from Jos. A. Bank. That caught my eye for a couple of reasons:
- When I retired from the Navy and had to buy suits for my civilian career, I bought most of them from Jos. A. Bank (which was originally a Baltimore area firm; I was living in Baltimore County at the time.)
- The first individual stock I ever bought (I don't do individual stocks any more) was Jos. A. Bank (because I really liked their stores and had just read an article in the Baltimore Sun about their strategic plan which sounded like it made sense. Bought (not enough) shares at $3 and sold not too many years later for about $45, IIRC.
But I digress... I've always tried to buy clothes on sale. When I was working, I nevertheless tried to buy quality stuff because you just look better in good quality clothes and, whether you want to believe it or not, people treat you better if you look well dressed, have shined shoes, a crisp shirt and a decent looking tie. (Being a stockholder with JOSB, even if there wasn't a sale I got 10% off.)
For my casual clothes, I've always been an L.L. Bean/Land's End kind of guy (but have mostly bought only when things are on sale.) Living in New England, we have a few L.L. Bean outlets and whenever we pass near one we stop and check out what they have. If there's something I need at a good price I buy it; if they have nothing I need, I don't buy something just because it's priced well.
I wear a sports coat maybe 6 times a year these days. I wear a suit once a year at the most. My summer "uniform" is shorts/chinos and a t-shirt or polo shirt; my winter uniform is jeans /corduroy slacks and a flannel shirt. It's rare that I dress up any more than that.
I've started to write the date of purchase on the label of new clothes. When they get too old to wear as "dress" clothes (normally after at least 5 years), I write a symbol on the label that means they're "hangin' around clothes" (so I can more quickly identify them in the closet.) When they pass the "hangin' around" stage, they become "work clothes" with yet another symbol on the label. That's what I wear to work in the yard, paint or do other dirty jobs. When they finally turn to shreds and I can't even use them for yard work or painting, I throw them away.
I've found a few stores where I know, for example, that LaCoste polo shirts are always going to be on sale in late June. $40 man. suggested retail price; with markdown and coupons, probably $15. There are a number of other predictable sales, either through Land's End/L.L. Bean catalogues or stores, so I generally wait for them. For workout gear, I've found that Target has a line of Champion gear called C9 which is a lot cheaper than some name brand like Under Armour and serves my needs just as well.
I'm curious how other FIREd folks handle their clothes shopping and how long they typically keep clothes before throwing them away. Do you go for quality clothes at sale prices or tend to buy lower end, less expensive items?
- When I retired from the Navy and had to buy suits for my civilian career, I bought most of them from Jos. A. Bank (which was originally a Baltimore area firm; I was living in Baltimore County at the time.)
- The first individual stock I ever bought (I don't do individual stocks any more) was Jos. A. Bank (because I really liked their stores and had just read an article in the Baltimore Sun about their strategic plan which sounded like it made sense. Bought (not enough) shares at $3 and sold not too many years later for about $45, IIRC.
But I digress... I've always tried to buy clothes on sale. When I was working, I nevertheless tried to buy quality stuff because you just look better in good quality clothes and, whether you want to believe it or not, people treat you better if you look well dressed, have shined shoes, a crisp shirt and a decent looking tie. (Being a stockholder with JOSB, even if there wasn't a sale I got 10% off.)
For my casual clothes, I've always been an L.L. Bean/Land's End kind of guy (but have mostly bought only when things are on sale.) Living in New England, we have a few L.L. Bean outlets and whenever we pass near one we stop and check out what they have. If there's something I need at a good price I buy it; if they have nothing I need, I don't buy something just because it's priced well.
I wear a sports coat maybe 6 times a year these days. I wear a suit once a year at the most. My summer "uniform" is shorts/chinos and a t-shirt or polo shirt; my winter uniform is jeans /corduroy slacks and a flannel shirt. It's rare that I dress up any more than that.
I've started to write the date of purchase on the label of new clothes. When they get too old to wear as "dress" clothes (normally after at least 5 years), I write a symbol on the label that means they're "hangin' around clothes" (so I can more quickly identify them in the closet.) When they pass the "hangin' around" stage, they become "work clothes" with yet another symbol on the label. That's what I wear to work in the yard, paint or do other dirty jobs. When they finally turn to shreds and I can't even use them for yard work or painting, I throw them away.
I've found a few stores where I know, for example, that LaCoste polo shirts are always going to be on sale in late June. $40 man. suggested retail price; with markdown and coupons, probably $15. There are a number of other predictable sales, either through Land's End/L.L. Bean catalogues or stores, so I generally wait for them. For workout gear, I've found that Target has a line of Champion gear called C9 which is a lot cheaper than some name brand like Under Armour and serves my needs just as well.
I'm curious how other FIREd folks handle their clothes shopping and how long they typically keep clothes before throwing them away. Do you go for quality clothes at sale prices or tend to buy lower end, less expensive items?
