Highs and Lows, Like Always

As I've said before, Daffy's always amazes me in its ability to bring in such high end goods and such junk in the same week. And this week was no exception to that tradition.

The best stuff was a small selection (maybe 1 dozen pairs down here in Philly) of shoes from Florsheim by Duckie Brown. Priced between $119-$139 from what I saw. Not the best constructed things in the world (made in India), but a great brand that is generally only found at places like Bloomingdales and high end boutiques, well worth the asking price. Half the stock had disappeared by Friday evening when I had gotten there and they were put out that day (hint hint, folks at Daffy's corporate).

Other shoes that came in that seemed ok were Weejuns by Bass. Decent looking stuff, mostly some tasselled loafers.

A small selection of ties cam in from Intermoda SpA (made in Italy) under the Moschino and Ferre labels.

And for those of you with a more exotic taste in fashion, closeouts came in from Beau Brummel, a small boutique in NYC, which carries some rather odd-looking European made clothing. This stuff is decent and worth a look, mostly pants, blazers and a few suits under the Beau Brummel name and another called Giovanni Gentile.

The mediocre stuff -- items from Alessandro di Lange (made in Italy), which includes shirts under that brand, plus other items including blazers and suits from Adamus and Karl Momoo. Not the best stuff in the world, but better than Kemitch, FB, Umberto Zebra and Sottotono.

And more mediocrity in the form of Italian knitwear - a few cotton sweaters from Hi-Way, which has been at Daffy's before - I believe these particular items were labeled as '9153' or some four digit number starting with a 9. Decent, but far from special.

Suits from Tallia. These are the Macy's house-brand, and I honestly don't understand the point of bringing this stuff into the store. As much as I hate the FB and Manzini suits that have come in thus far, at least they're brands no one else is carrying. You can find these same items at Burlington, TJ Maxx/Marshalls and all over the web at flash sale sites. They're styled decently but that's all the praise these suits will get from me.

And the "how did this get here" item of the week - a huge batch of shirts from a company called Diport USA. These are just generic, poorly made polos - some cotton, others part rayon/part poly. Makes absolutely no sense to me why this stuff is in the stores. I suppose if you need a rag to wipe your car, the 100% synthetic shirts will make good shammies.