Update, Week of 2/27-3/4

Lots of new things to talk about, mostly good, but one particularly atrocious brand that will be taking up space in the suit section until they get cleared out in July -

Shirts from Alea Fashion Industries (made in Italy) came in, unfortunately, most of them remained in boxes as of Saturday. I can't tell you how many times I've said on this blog to Daffy's --- DO NOT LEAVE THE SHIRTS IN BOXES - the problem is every shirt fits differently, even in the same size, and rarely are there two shirts in the exact same style, so there is no value in leaving them in a box - these shirts need to be tried on and thus will not sell unless they are out on the racks like everything else. But for those of you willing to take the time to sift through the boxes (look for mostly white boxes, a few blue ones that say ALEA on them, and a few blue ones marked Francica, or a variation thereof)) -- brands include G.V. Conte, Rosso Malaspino, Harry Brook, Golf Club, Pino Borrielo (new this season) and I also noticed shirts marked Nino Danieli and CC Collection Corneliani -- both of these last two are Corneliani-owned diffusion lines.

Shoes --- a TON of shoes from Keds came in - a lot of really nice stuff, and a number of stores had special ones that were made for Opening Ceremony, in the style of a stitched baseball (see pics, saw both black and white versions). 34th St. also got in some loafers from Joyks (made in Italy) - nothing special, they have a little crest that says 'ITALIA' on them. But decently made. You'll probably be seeing them at more Daffy's later this week.


Also, if you follow the Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/#!/yellowbaggers), you'll see pics of a number of Gazzarrini shoes that I encountered in NYC this past weekend. Mind you, it was all of four pairs and in larger sizes, but these things are really beautiful and well-crafted. Three pairs at 44th & Madison, 1 pair at wall street, hidden under a bunch of Bass boxes.

Update 3/6: Forgot to mention -- shirts from Admiral's Cup (made in Italy) came in, along with a few other brands including Oliver Coin and Jeff. Only a few shirts per store.

A small selcetion of merchandise from Quintessence (made in Italy) came into each store, with 34th St. getting the largest quantity. While a few of the pieces are a bit outlandish, everything is made pretty well and is definitely worth the cheap prices being asked. There were a few pairs of pants w/suspenders attached which I really liked. Mixed in were also a few bits and pieces from Hamaki-Ho and I believe a brand called Bray (no relation to the Brothers Bray).

And the part of the week that just ruined everything -- a HUGE shipment into each store of suits from Romano's Le Collezioni. Don't let the white stitching on the shoulders and pockets fool you - these things are ill-fitting, poorly constructed and should be avoided at all costs. I once saw these at a Daffy's for $39.99, only to come back the next week and saw them re-ticketed at $99.99. Now they want $129.99 for these things. You'd be better off going to Burlington Coat Factory and getting some Macy's closeouts rather than this stuff. Poor decision by the Daffy's buyers to stock these again. They simply don't sell, and if they do, they do so slowly to the people that have no clue what they are buying. Remember Daffy's buyers -- the point of buying merchandise is not simply to fill up a store - in fact your goal w/everything you buy should be that the stuff sells and leaves the stores empty within a short period of time, not that you buy stuff to simply make the store look full (hint hint, remember those Diport polo shirts, I would recommend someone coming down to Philly and seeing what a disaster movie those things have turned into).