Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Double-Week Recap Incl. NYC

A busy past couple of weeks at work plus some much needed relaxation time prevented me from updating as much as I have in the past, but here is the recap of everything I have noticed in the past few weeks - sorry for the lack of pics, but want to get this out as quick as possible.

High end -- It looks like it came in a while ago, but the merchandise from Tyrone's (boutique out on Long Island) is still available at 34th St., and both 57th St. stores. 34th and 57th & Lex. are limited to a few shirts - I saw some Canali, Zegna and Lorenzini. 57th & 7th also had blazers in large sizes from Canali, Belvest, and G. Vasta - maybe five in total, all mixed in w/the rest of the blazers on the wall. You wouldn't even know they were there...

Dress Shirts --
--- Be very weary of those boxed shirt/tie combos from Versa. Every single store got a stack of them - I'm assuming for Father's Day. Pretty awful things which will likely be sold, if at all, to the 40+ housewives looking for gifts for their husbands.
--- Culturata (made in Italy) made its return, but only at 57th & 7th, and I saw literally two shirts. Beautiful things, but for whatever reason, it only went to one store and we only got a very small selection.

Sportswear:
a) A small mix of shirts, jeans and other pieces came in from Signum, a German brand of men's sportswear. The make on these was pretty good -- some made in Germany, others in Poland, though, the design on a bunch of the stuff felt pretty stale. Worth a look, but you'll have to sift through the more undesirable pieces - 34th St. had the largest selection.
b) You won't find much of it, but mixed in the racks were a few pieces from Lab Cinquantuno (made in Italy), along with a sister brand called REW ONE. Haven't seen this stuff since last summer. Decent, but hard to find.
c) Really great selection of t-shirts and cardigans from Gypsy05. Most of the stores have already mixed this stuff in w/their other t-shirts and such, but well worth digging through to find it -- priced at $9.99-$13.99 for really nice knitted t-shirts, henleys and cardigans. You won't find better prices on these.
d) And more random t-shirts - 50/50 cotton poly blend shirts from Wishbone and a bunch of shirts that were made for what looks to be a charity related to the Grammy awards, Musicares. 
e) Golf apparel came in from Callaway Golf - this is the kind of stuff I expect at Steinmart, not Daffy's.

Shoes, shoes, shoes -- I was generally impressed to see the quality level of shoes come around from what it has been recently, at least on the casual side of things --- rubber shoes from Native for $26.99, casual hi-tops from Pro Keds (really nice things), canvas sneakers from True Religion and Keep, flip flops from Rider, some sort of sporty-type sneakers from Cushe, and a few (read one or two/store) pairs of boat shoe-like casual shoes from Manas Design (made in Italy). Selection varies by store. On the dressier side, the only thing worth mentioning was several pairs of Florsheim by Duckie Brown shoes at 44th & Madison and 57th & Lexington. About 10-12 pairs in each store, around $119.99 each.

Accessories --
- Ties abounded -- Good: Olimpo (made in Spain); Bad: Belvetro (ugly as all heck).
- The 57th & Lex. store got in a huge stack of belts from a company called A. Wills. I mean to say that the quality on these things is horrible is an understatement - they were 100% polyurethane - i.e., plastic belts, covering an entire pillar at the store.
- Socks -- Most stores got in some more socks from Happy Socks. Nice things.

And one final note --- It appears that the Acquaviva (made in Italy) suits that came in last season, and a few which came down to Philly this season, are actually better than I had thought. Well, they are still only a decent suit - decent construction, but I don't rate higher simply b/c the cut is much looser than other suits --- BUT -- apparently Bloomingdales is now selling Acquaviva suits and separates at select locations. So good find for Daffy's, which found this stuff before Bloomies started carrying it. Makes me wonder if someone from Bloomies is reading the blog, or at least shopping at Daffy's... ;)

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