Shoe Rant

[worth]

Check out the higher end shops in Calgary.

O'Connors
Holt Renfrew
Harry Rosen
There is supposed to be a Brooks Brothers opening up downtown as well sometime.

You can take a look at what they have to offer and maybe find something online, or buy direct from one of those shops. But they are going to be expensive.

Just a note, on any shoe you wear, the sole is going to wear down. Expect it. On expensive shoes, the sole is going to need to be replaced once in a while. Maybe every 2-4 years depending on how much wear them. So there is that cost you incur with them, however, the shoe itself should last a lifetime.

[worth]

Originally Posted by peter12

Try gravitypope out. Specifically their Gravitypope brand. I've got a couple of pairs and they work out great for me.

http://www.gravitypope.com/shoes/mens/gravitypope

This place has a ton of nice shoes. I've never heard of it before. Have you bought their shoes in Calgary?

Edit: I see they've got a store on 17th. Hmm...might have to take a trip down there...no you must resist!

[peter12]

Originally Posted by worth

This place has a ton of nice shoes. I've never heard of it before. Have you bought their shoes in Calgary?

It's the place I go for a nice pair of shoes. Staff is totally clueless but if you have an idea of what you want before you go in, it's a great place.

[missdpuck]

Originally Posted by troutman

Next time you are in the US at an outlet mall, buy a couple pairs of Doc Martin dress shoes, different colors and styles. Should be less than $100 per pair, and they last for years.

I wear Docs for work. Technically, I'm supposed to wear only shoes sold by the postal uniform companies. But those are crap. Somtimes I buy them on eBay, they are often already broken in a bit but not at all worn. The only problem I have is that I wear down the heels. They still last at least 2 years though. And on eBay I can usually get the ones that are actually made in England.

[missdpuck]

And for an interesting take on super-rich kids watch Born Rich. It's directed by Jamie Johnson, one of the Johnson & Johnson heirs. Ivanka Trump, the heir to Weil Gaming, a couple others.

Apparently another one of the Johnson heiresses (forgot her name) was engaged to Tila Tequila. But neither of them is in the film.

[Antithesis]

To worth or CC or really anyone who can share experiences in this manner:

I'm teetering right on the edge of swapping off-the-rack shirts (you know, the kind you wear with ties) for tailor-made ones.

Where do you go in the city to get this done? How much does an average custom-made shirt cost you to buy if you do so locally?

worth, for the website you quoted earlier (where you get the shirts made in China), how do you get fitted for them? I agree completely that improperly-sized articles of clothing look horrid on people no matter how much they spent on them. $45-65 for a shirt sounds great to me, because that's either right at or even less than I normally spend. How is the quality?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I think the spirit of the thread only demonizes people who grew up wealthy and recieved 300-600 thousand dollar loans from their brother and think Micheal Jackson was the best entertainer of all-time and think that Johnny Cash made no meaningful contribution to music! Therefore no apology needed nor demanded of you.

I understand. In these cases I would ask you refer to the person directly rather than some people using the whiny, spoiled rich kid line.....we are all rich....but we are not all whiny and spoiled

[worth]

Giovanni does bespoke work. He is on 17th ave at 37th street SE in the SE corner. I have never had a shirt made from him, but he told me he is one of 6 bespoke tailors in Canada. His shirts would certainly be over the $100 mark. His suits start at $900.

I have had pretty good experiences buying shirts tailor made online.

www.indochino.com has a great measuring system. Basically you can measure yourself or get your girlfriend to measure you. They have instructional videos for each measurement you need. However, their shirts run at $99.

I do not recommend Indochio suits. You can get them for $360 or whatever, but they are a $360 suit. I guess if that is what you're looking for, then thats ok, but saving a bit up and getting a higher quailty suit is probably a better idea IMO. Mostly because of the difficulty of getting the jacket correct and the fact that the quality of the jacket is not the best. Very hard to do over the internet. Pants on the other hand are pretty simple. So are shirts if you have the right measurements.

I normally just take my measurements from indochino and input them to www.blank-label.com Blank Label has a ton of shirt options for you to choose from. If you just go with the basics, depending on fabric you choose, it will be $45 or $55 plus shipping.

Quality is getting better. I've had two shipments from them. The first shipment had lots of loose threads, and a couple places where they missed stitches. Also, on their older shirts, they didn't have removable collar stays.

On the second batch I got from them, there were hardly any lose threads, the material seemed fine, stitching was decent, they added removable collar stays, and they made the shirts to my measurements. So I am happy with them and will buy again.

Blank Label aslo keeps changing their fabrics, so I don't actually own any of the ones they currently have on the site. If you want, I could take some pics of the shirts I do have and send them to you. Also, fabric information is not avaliable on BL, which is a bummer. You need to email them if you want thread counts, weave, etc for a specific fabric.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

It is also the cultural norm here in Calgary to spend disgusting amounts on your car, and wear garbage clothes. Pay $300 for a pair of jeans, and people will make fun of you.

To me, if you get out of an expensive car on Friday night, and are wearing jogging pants, your priorities are screwed up, but again that is just my opinion.

I'm guilty of having a high car to clothes spending ratio. Clothes aren't fun for me. I don't care what I look like getting out of my car. I care that it puts a smile on my face when I mash the throttle coming out of a tight onramp curve.

As for shoes... Ugh. I'm a size 14-15 and have a rough time finding dress shoes in town. Aldos never lasted 6 months for me so I refuse to go there. I picked up a pair of Steve Maddens and Kenneth Coles for $70 each at DSW in the states and they made it 2 years each. I need to find something like that online to get some replacements.

[Antithesis]

Interesting that they change their shirt fabric often; I was kind of underwhelmed by what they had and disappointed in the lack of solid prints, though I guess they currently have a few up there.

Wondering if there would be any significant difference in getting a shirt tailored locally vs. going the online route. Won't be needing anything for a while but I think I have finally saturated my wardrobe with "OK enough" quality shirts, and it seems to be time to start replacing with better quality items bought less frequently vs. lower quality purchased more frequently.

Suits aren't really much of an issue for me, wouldn't really fit too well with my line of work. Maybe a sport jacket now and then at most.

[worth]

Actually, when I bought they had quite a bit more solid prints, because that was what I was looking for as well.

I would check back in a bit, i've heard they are upgrading the fabrics and site with additional information.

[Antithesis]

Interesting. Thank you for the help. I'm following a few auctions for those shoes you suggested earlier. Let's see how that goes.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by peter12

Look, there's a certain personal aesthetic that is important to a good quality and thoughtful life.

Oh come on now.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Oh come on now.

No, he's seriously that douchy.

[MrMastodonFarm]

I'm having trouble finding out exactly when peter12 got this douchy. The "thoughtful life" quote above is really over the top, even for him. This is guy who started his life on the forum trying to reach 100 posts in his first day for the laughs.

[Bill Bumface]

I remember thanking Peter12 a decent amount for his posts. Now I picture a pudgy pale white bald dude in a stuffy suit with a goofy fedora condescending me while his overly submissive Asian girlfriend looks on with approval. Kind of like a dorky Dick Tracy. I'm not sure what happened.

You used to be cool Peter12. Give us a call when you're cool again.

[blankall]

I buy my customs from Maxwell Clothiers. http://www.maxwellsclothiers.com/

They come by twice a year and stay in hotel rooms. They do your measurements, take pictures of you, and then ship the clothes to you from Hong Kong.

They have a deal where you buy three shirts w/ premium cloth for $50 each.

They keep your measurements on file so you can order more if you like.

The shirts are just as good as the local tailors you pay twice the price for. For anyone interested, I would check them out. At $150 for three shirts is a pretty low risk. Even if the shirts aren't exactly to your liking, they are waaaaaay better than anything you would buy off the rack for $50.

Now that I work out a lot, I am not longer fit off the rack clothes properly anymore. Clothes in genreal are either too long or too tight in the chest/shoulders. I am very hapy with the suit and the shirts I bought from there. I have bought shirts and suits in Thailand and those were crap compared to these. Great materials, great cut, great stitching, and great fit.

The selection they have on cuts and fabrics is also huge.

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by peter12

This is a great place to buy decent silk ties for around $15.

http://www.thetiebar.com/index.asp

This is a place you can get very nice silk ties for $5. I've bought them there.

In all seriousness, although it isn't practical for everyone, if you get a chance to travel to a place like Vietnam or Thailand, it is an opportunity to get very nice shirts and suits custom tailored to fit at prices that just don't register with our western minds. On a vacation that is 100x more interesting than some all-inclusive.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I'm having trouble finding out exactly when peter12 got this douchy. The "thoughtful life" quote above is really over the top, even for him. This is guy who started his life on the forum trying to reach 100 posts in his first day for the laughs.

Aw our little pedro is all grown up now with philosophy books, shiny shoes and a yoga mat. I wonder if anyone could dig it up from archives, I think lil' pedro wanted to start a thread or something and you needed 100 posts to start a thread.

[peter12]

Guys, I'm sorry. Most of what I say is sort of a persona joke to garner some reaction. I'm really just messing around. My apologies to all. I'll CHANGE!

I realize it's totally the lamest thing ever, but I thought I'd inject some of my normal posts with a nerdy and outrageous snobbiness, such as the above post.