A Trad Confused

The journey of a bipolar Sartorialist.

28 notes

New Camp Mocs for me… My Beans which are still in rotation are stretched out, beat and transitioning life to a shoe that sticks by the front door to run the trash out, bop around running errands, or fetching stuff while it’s raining. I decided to...

New Camp Mocs for me… My Beans which are still in rotation are stretched out, beat and transitioning life to a shoe that sticks by the front door to run the trash out, bop around running errands, or fetching stuff while it’s raining. I decided to step up to the made in Maine shoe. So far, so good.

Filed under oak street bootmakers camp mocs made in america

108 notes

…and right here let me say a word about conservatism. It does not mean, as many believe or affect to believe, a stubborn refusal to discard what is old and unworn, nor an old-fogeyish prejudice against innovations of any kind. It really means a determination to retain what has been tried and proven to be good, and to refrain from the exploitation—simply because it is new—of what is essentially cheap and silly.

Winthrop Holly Brooks, President, Brooks Brothers (via voxsart)

Great quote,and also interesting from the standpoint that BB innovated so many things in menswear…

(Source: voxsart, via voxsart)

35 notes

My favorite Madras sport coat, J. Press… Had two buttons placed for vintage golden days reference… Picked up a few new Makers OCBD… Also scooped up this New Old Stock Timex box and papers… #winning

Filed under jpress timex brooks brothers

80 notes

justbudfox:

THINGS I HOPE NOT TO BE: The poster child for the LL Bean lifestyle, whatever that is. Not all the time, in any event. Since my life is just as permeated with things from LLB now as it was in the catalog-only, order by mail or phone era of the early 1980′s.

THINGS I MOST CERTAINLY AM: Possessed of that peculiar brand of Yankee flintiness that compels me to get all of the use of something, without being psychotically cheap in the process.

WHY I MENTION THIS: Because items 2 and 3 above have our Maine floating rope doormat from LLB as the background. The last time we were in Maine, I got turned on to the idea of fisherman recycling banned nylon fishing rope as something useful. And after three years, ours has faded down nicely. But of course it’s still in one piece since it’s meant to be wet. Often.

As Some Assembly Required would confirm for you, I am one of those people who is not tough on clothes or shoes. I might get tired of something sooner than it will wear out. So it annoyed me greatly that my go-to camp mocs gave up the ghost sole-wise when the uppers had scads of wear left in them. And to be fair, I was somewhat motivated by @a-trad-confused‘s re-soling adventure earlier this year with the same style shoe.

Knowing that LLB will no longer resole, I took these shoes to my regular shoe guy near the courthouse, the one that puts heels on my dress shoes for reasonable rates and without undue delay. And somewhat to my disgust and frustration, he looked at me like a not-very-smart child and explained to me in his charming accent that the shoes were “dis-po-sa-ble” and that I should throw them away and get a new pair. Not in his character usually. Ah well.

I then took them to shoe guy #2, who is in a much less convenient location and who up until now has primarily been a source of Meltonian shoe creme (which is getting harder and harder to find in a brick and mortar location). And he indicated that yes, he could resole them, with a relatively comparable sole, but that it might take a couple of weeks. He also said that since he wasn’t precisely sure which size sole would fit and did not have them in stock, he would go ahead and order the soles one size up and one size down as well. Which I thought showed a fine command of the problem.

It took three weeks. It cost me $45.00, roughly $40.00 less than new pair of mocs. After a good go with saddle soap, and another with Montana Pitch Blend (which I highly recommend for textured leather), they’re ready to rock. Did I mention I bought these shoes on pilgrimage to the mother ship in Freeport with Some Assembly Required, in the fall of 2007? Disposable my @ss.

Same exact soles! well done pal.

51 notes

tjtevlin:

80-g-2:

heavytweedjacket:

(HTJ Reports). This week’s little project was using Shoe Goo to repair a couple of pairs of Jack Purcells. I started to use Shoe Goo years ago on running and tennis shoes. Generally, sneakers are just coming into their own when the soles begin to wear out, and Shoe Goo is an easy way to lengthen the life of the shoe. After removing the innersoles, I placed clear tape inside the heel counter area to ensure that the Goo would dry flat facing the inside of the shoe. Then after placing clear plastic tape around the heels, I filled in the worn areas with Shoe Goo, smoothing the areas as level as possible. After about 36 hours, the Goo was dry, but because it contracts as it dries the worn areas needed a few applications before the heels were level again. After trimming the excess the shoes were finished. (Article: People 8/9/82 Vol.8, no.6).

Shoe Goo is great. Just FYI, they also sell it in black.

@a-trad-confused
would appreciate this post.

Yes! Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

78 notes

theoldlaw:

Fresh from the tailor. New (to me) Polo linen/silk slacks, because I was tired of baking my netherds each year when The Swamp returns to NoVa. How could I still wear socks after putting these on?

Also had the buttons changed out on what was formerly the suit jacket to my only summer suit. The thing was old as dirt, so far as suits go. Brothers Brooks from the 1980s made with tropical weight wool. Wore it on my wedding day several years ago. But the pants finally gave out recently. Still, this thing has a lot of memories for me, and it has all the makings of a nice jacket - three roll two, completely soft shoulders, light weight wool with sturdy construction. As @a-trad-confused says, use it up, wear it out, and so on. So I will get some more life out of this jacket as a blazer. And the memories get to hang around a while longer.

Excellent!