High End is Back + More Suits

About a month ago, I wrote about the one major retail closeout Daffy's gets once per season -- high end merchandise from a store on Long Island called Tyrone's (see original post, here). Well that time has come again this season -- Daffy's has gotten in the spring merchandise, and so far I'm impressed --

I visited the 44th & Madison store last night and they had a small selection of shirts from Ermenegildo Zegna (including Su Misura) and Lorenzini, all in Size 16, around $70 a piece. The way you can tell this merchandise comes from the store is because it will almost always have a little white hand-written hang tang on the garments with the size and original retail price -- see pic to the right.

The big question now is -- Where did the glut of the merchandise go? Usually what happens is that one store gets a rack of merchandise including suits, sportcoats, shirts and pants (previous seasons have included Pal Zileri, Belvest, Luciano Barbera, Canali, Caruso & Moschino, amongst other labels), and the other stores get a sprinkling of merchandise. Last fall it was the 18th St. store that received the glut, though in previous years it was always the Paramus, NJ store. Your guess is as good as mine where this stuff wound up, but PLEASE -- leave a comment on this post if you see this stuff at any other Daffy's location -- remember - look for the white hang tag, and slightly higher prices.

And in other news...some more suiting came in, this time from John Barritt (made in Italy). I mentioned this stuff once before -- it's not my favorite merchandise as there's often a lot of synthetics, but the construction is pretty good and the price-point isn't too bad either. I saw a number of double-breasted suits at the 44th & Madison store if that interests anyone, larger sizes only (40 on up).

Highs and Lows of S/S 2011 + More Sightings (Shoes & Leathers)

Been wanting to do this for a while, finally had some time to sit down and get the pics together -- These are some of my favorite finds that I've either purchased or seen from the S/S 2011 merchandise thus far, as well as some of the ghastliest items you'll ever see at Daffy's -- be sure to click on the pics for larger versions. At the end of the post, I'll have some additional updates as to what came in at the end of this week.

Best: 

1) Buffalo Plaid Check Blazer from 'Via De Medici' (produced by Copen Group) -- This blazer is just beautiful, and fits me perfectly. Working cuffs, dual-rear vent, probably half-lined (don't think much of anything Daffy's gets in is fully lined aside from the really high-end stuff that comes in from Tyrone's). Not so much a spring blazer given the material, but it's a blend of wool/silk/mohair and cashmere, for which I paid a whopping $80 at the Jersey Gardens location. An incredible steal IMHO, and I'll likely be saving it for work next fall.









2) Shoes from Tremp - I purchased the brown pair for myself at the 44th & Madison store, and saw the black pair at the Seacaucus location (unfortunately, not my size). The black pair is essentially the same construction/style as the brown pair, just in patent leather and a bit of a texture -- best fitted with a high-fashion tuxedo. I didn't take pictures of the sole or anything, but these shoes are handmade in Italy, and the quality is really beyond compare. At $60/pair, these were steals.











3) Suede Desert Boots/Chukkas from Uomo Bravo -- Normally I won't have much good to say about the Uomo Bravo merchandise. As I recently found out, it's the Daffy's house brand, and all the merchandise that gets made for the store is much lower quality than the Italian merchandise they get in. That being said, these looked nice on the shelf, I tried them on, and they fit my feet perfectly. The reason I'm listing them as a great find is because they cost me all of $36 on clearance at the Totowa store. Great for spring, though I think technically they're a leftover from late F/W. Most of the stores still have a pair or two on clearance in this very light brown color, or an olive green.


4) Blazer/Jacket from 'DB Uomo Collection' (produced by Alex & Co.) -- This was a sample I found over at the East Hanover store, though I believe there are still a few over at 34th St. in NYC last time I checked. Unfortunately, these pictures don't do this thing justice -- the detail-work is just incredible -- leather patchwork and accenting under the arms, around the cuffs, and at the back. There are buckle adjusters at the sides, and the cuffs close w/zippers for a sort of motorcycle-inspired look. Normally I'm a size 36, and this was marked as a size 50EU/40US, but I gave it a shot anyway since it was so nice, and it fit great. I believe all the others I've seen were the same size as well. If you can find these, they're $90, which is a bit pricey, but given the detail-work put into the garment it's well worth it.

5) Last, but certainly not least, likely my favorite buy of the season thus far -- a light gray leather jacket from Patrizia Pepe. I can't say enough good things about this piece - it's just beautiful, and I wish I could get some better pictures. The detailing on this jacket is simply incredible. As far as I can tell, it's the only one of its kind -- I picked it up at the Totowa store, though on the expensive side at $239. I was particularly surprised to find this jacket there as Totowa doesn't usually get much of anything special.




And now the WORST OF S/S 2011 THUS FAR...

1) Shirts from a brand called 'Hot Trend' (may have also been Hot Line, can't remember exactly). Not a great picture to show why this is so horrible, but the collar on this is not just over-sized -- it almost takes up a quarter of the shirt's size. That, along with a second material under the collar (of a different color no less) and a horrible pinstripe pattern which hasn't been in fashion since maybe 1999 makes this just ugly as sin. I've seen a few of these shirts at the Paramus, NJ store and the 57th St. east side store.

2) Unsure what to call this, but let's just call it a 'grilling shirt', as it's marked with the Weber grill logo. The Jersey Gardens store had three or four of these - thankfully no other stores have received them from what I've noticed. If you ever need a utility shirt for grilling, maybe putting up siding on a house, this would clearly work given the various snap-closure pockets on the front. Not exactly fashionable, though someone may find it useful. I believe they were all marked $13.99.


3) And by far this thing takes the cake as THE WORST ITEM OF S/S 2011 - Some sort of double-breasted blazer made entirely out of Rayon, under the name 'Motif Menswear'. This thing came straight out of the 80's and I don't have the foggiest idea where Daffy's buyers picked it up. It's certainly one-of-a-kind from what I've seen, though I don't think that really means much. Perhaps if you were going to an 80's-themed costume party this would be useful. Other than that, it's an expensive schmata and deserves to be thrown away.









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Hope everyone out there enjoyed that -- now onto the important stuff -- stuff that came in later this week:

1) More shoes from Italian manufacturer Boemos (made in Italy) -- these are some very high-quality shoes, on par with anything you'll find in the major department high-end stores -- in fact you may find a number of pairs marked for Barneys New York -- Boemos produces for both the Barneys New York and Barneys Co-Op house labels. For Barney's shoes, you'll have a better chance if you find the dark-gray boxes not marked Boemos on them. Some of the shoes were nicer than others in terms of styling, and there were a few 'what were they thinking' pairs, including some teal patent-leather loafers which were awful. But the quality is phenomenal on just about everything they produce. So don't be afraid to at least try the stuff on. Pricing varies, $50 on up depending on what you're looking at. Also look for shoes w/boxes marked 'Mo's' with a little sun logo on them.

2) Leather jackets from Uomo Bravo - As I mentioned above and in a prior post, Uomo Bravo is apparently the Daffy's house brand. The quality on these things is nothing particularly special, and they are made in India as compared w/the vast majority of their other leather-ware from Italy. The problem I have w/these things is not the quality per-say but the fact that Daffy's wants $199 for these things, when just about every other leather jacket is priced at least $20 less than them for high-quality Italian leathers. Something is just wrong about that, and until these things go on clearance, I would avoid them b/c they're simply not worth that price when you compare the other leather jackets available -- esp. Alex & Co., Compagnia Delle Pelli, Gazzarrini, Patrizia Pepe, etc...

Moschino + More Suiting - Sartoriani

Stopped in at the 57th East Side store tonight, and saw a few interesting things worth noting -

1) A load of suits from a company called Sartoriani -- After a bit of digging online, it appears they make made to measure suits in London (NOT true bespoke for those of you that care, as it's machine made). Many people appear to have had some true horror stories ordering from the company in the UK, but that doesn't really affect what Daffy's has gotten in. This stuff is pretty good quality and is at least a step above some of the lower-end suits Daffy's often carries (i.e., FB, Kemitch, GAF, etc...). The only problem is that these are all leftover suits from customers that either did not pick them up or did not like what was made for them -- so there is no standard sizing, and all the suits come in different shapes, styles, etc... You will need to look through everything to try and find what fits you. Daffy's had sizing on their tickets, but I'm assuming that's just from doing a chest measurement of the jacket. At $99.99, however, you can't really complain about this stuff; apparently they charge something like £495 for one of these suits to be made (roughly $900-$1000).

2) A few pieces from Moschino (made in Italy) -- I saw literally 2 sweaters and a pair of pants, that was it. The sweaters were marked $69.99, if I remember correctly. Not much, but Daffy's never gets in a wide assortment of stuff from the label, usually just a few odds and ends. Last fall they had a decent assortment from the Love Moschino line (the lower-end diffusion line) at a few of the stores, but I haven't seen that yet for Spring. Nice stuff, just don't expect to find big selections at any of the stores, that is even if you can find it anywhere. At the 57th St. store, the Moschino stuff was mixed in w/the Messori merchandise as their wasn't enough to warrant its own separate rack.

Incotex and Unfortunately More Cosby Sweaters

Daffy's got in a nice amount of Incotex pants early this week. For those of you that haven't heard of the brand, it's probably the best pants manufacturer out there; while production is often based in Romania or Portugal (some stuff is produced in Italy, but the majority I saw at Daffy's were not), the construction and fabrication is usually a step above everything else. There's a reason that the main stores that sells these things are Saks (only the 5th Avenue store from what I've seen), Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus; on occasion they'll turn up at Neiman's Last Call stores, but they're priced at around $90+ for wool pants. They're well worth that -- original retail on cottons is around $150; wools over $200.

But somehow, Daffy's is selling these things at insane prices -- the full-price ones are $29.99 for cotton, and I believe $50 or $60 for wools (unsure, as all I saw in wool were ones marked 'as-is'); ones marked 'AS IS' are selling for $16.99 cottons, $23.99 for wools.

I noticed a minor hole in one of the wool 'AS IS' ones, but the other things I inspected seemed perfectly fine to me. Only caveat is that the interior Incotex label will be torn out on most of these pants (see picture at left re: the torn label).

The pants can be identified both by the torn label, and the band of blue fabric w/the european sizing on it across the waistband on the interior of the pant (see picture above).

Pick these up while you can, because they are complete and utter steals.

UPDATE: So far I've only found these at the Paramus, NJ store and East Hanover, NJ stores; 57th St. East Side and 34th St. did not have these in as of 3/11.  

And...of course with the greatness of Incotex...
there must come some junk; yin and yang I suppose. Daffy's got in more Cosby sweaters (see the original post from back in November), this time in short-sleeve form. It ceases to amaze me how on certain things the Daffy's buyers seem to be on point and then on others, they're completely out of touch with modern style sensibilities. STAY AWAY from these, unless like you want to look like Mr. Cosby, though perhaps these short sleeve versions would make you look more like Shawn from Boy Meets World, circa 1996. Brands include Birillo, Stacatto and Robert Banks.

Quick Suiting Update

Quick update on the availability of suiting from Ortenzi (made in Italy) (see prior posts); A large selection has been spotted at the Philadelphia store for those in PA. Well worth the visit if you live in the area; like NJ, there is no sales tax on clothing in Philadelphia (unlike New York).

Pants, Leathers, More Suits...

A bit more merchandise came in later this week, though it really depends which location you go to. Here are the highlights:

1) Leather Jackets and More from Space 2000 SpA (madn Italy) - Space 2000 produces both the Bomboogie line and the Censured line. There were a good deal of leather jackets from both brands at every Daffy's location I visited this week, all priced around $99. Not as good as the stuff from Compagnia Delli Pelle or Alex & Co., but still worth a look. Usually Daffy's also gets a good amount of casual-wear from these two lines as well, but that selection seems limited this season. I managed to picked up a short-sleeve polo shirt at one of the stores for a paltry $10, but even that was pretty rare. I used to buy almost all my shorts from the Bomb Boogie line, but it looks like I may have to look elsewhere for that this summer.

2) Pants from Giab's (made in Italy) - In the past, Giab's has produced for some great names, including Aquascutum and  Bamford and Sons. They also produce their own lines called 'Giab's', and 'Whipcord'. Last fall, Daffy's had a great selection; this season it doesn't seem like there is very much, as I only saw the merchandise at the 44th & Madison location, and it was only a handful of pants mixed in with everything else. Look for a brown hang tag with a white label on one side of it. Only thing to be aware of with this stuff -- In the past there have often been defects with the pants, usually a color or material problem -- be sure to look over the pants before buying and look for any items with a neon dot sticker on them - that is usually to indicate where the defect is located.

3) Shirting and Some Blazers/Vests from Lab Cinquantuno (made in Italy) - Lab Cinquantuno, or '51 Lab' as you will see on many products, produces casual clothing including shirts, blazers, vests and pants. The stuff isn't of any particularly great quality, but the design is often intriguing -- a bit of streetwear inspiration in the looks. As I just mentioned, the quality on this stuff isn't terrific when compared with the majority of shirting Daffy's gets in -- often you'll notice if you try and unbutton the buttons, you'll hear some stitching pop -- not a great sign. These are priced between $23.99-$29.99 for shirts (prices went up slightly since last season), more/less for the other items. Not my favorite stuff, but deserves a menion.

4) More Suiting from Ortenzi (made in Italy) -- I mentioned this line in a prior post; just wanted to give an update -- the only other location other than Elizabeth that is carrying these suits right now is 43rd & Madison -- I honestly don't know why that's the case, given it is the smallest out of all the Daffy's locations, but such is life. They're some great buys - most of the suits at the 43rd store was marked at $119, only problem being that almost all the suits were a size 40. Doesn't do anything good for a guy like me who needs a size 36 :(



Anyway, that's about all this week; More shoes came in from Donald Pliner (made in Italy) at all the stores -- some really nice stuff if you can find your size. I also noticed some ties from Piattelli, though these were all marked 'Made in China' so I'm skeptical of authenticity on those items, unless production has been moved out of Italy. Oh, and if you see polo-shirts folded up in plastic coverings, marked 'Uomo Bravo' -- STAY AWAY FROM THESE SHIRTS. Daffy's is asking $9.99 for them, and they're worth maybe $4.99 at best. These are total junk, and I often don't understand why Daffy's carries the line -- from what I can tell 'Uomo Bravo' is a brand owned by Daffy's (see the USPTO trademark registration), and they specifically produce stuff for the stores under that label, which often leads to total junk -- though I will admit I picked up a pair of chukkas from the line about a month ago.

Bits and Pieces

Nothing spectacular so far this week; a bit more shirting from Alea, and some more merchandise from Patrizia Pepe has trickled in -- if you need some uber-skinny ties in flashy colors, be sure to look through the tie racks at your local Daffy's -- which reminds me though --- Daffy's has a great selection of ties from Altea (made in Italy) -- these aren't new, but at $16.99 a piece, they're great finds. Amongst the ties are also a few from Gianfranco Ferre, Moschino and Guy Laroche.

Now to the newer stuff:

1) Suits/Sportcoats/Pants from Copen Group (made in Italy): Most of this stuff will be unmarked aside from a hangtag w/a little crest on it (see pic to the right). The quality of stuff is decent, though at times the garments can be over-fitted - moving up one size is not a bad suggestion w/this stuff. A few labels I did see on the garments though -- a few suits marked Marlane and some marked Pennesi (this is the company's main label). Copen Group also produces a line called Royal Hem, from which I spotted one sportcoat and a pair of wool pants; I picked up a buffalo-check blazer for myself marked 'Via De Medici', though I can't find anything about the brand - cost all of $80 for something which was a blend of wool/mohair/silk/cashmere. Suits will run about $119-$139 depending on the item; blazers approx. $70-$80, pants about $40. I've seen this stuff at 34th St., 57th St. East Side, Soho and Jersey Gardens. 57th St. East-Side is the only location I've seen pants from the company.

2) Casusal shirting from Dekker -- Unsure of where it's made, but they got in some shirts from this apparently high-end brand. The stuff is decent, and at $20/shirt you can't really complain -- nicely fitted, construction is nothing to call home about, though. More of a street-wear look to it. Yoox.com is selling this stuff from $70 on up and Farfetch.com has this brand for some pretty high prices as well. Can't really find much else on the brand, but not bad for the pricepoint.

3) Casual/Dress Shirting from Puetre -- Look for solid-shirts w/three little dots in a triangular formation where the chest-pocket would normally be. Again, nicely fitted, but nothing phenomenal. Unsure whether to consider these more dressy or casual -- they're solid, spread-color shirts w/collar-stays, but the fabrication is a bit more on the casual side. At $20/shirt this stuff is worth giving a shot.

4) Casual/Dress Shirting from Admiral's Cup (made in Italy) - Some dressy, some casual shirts under several labels, 'Admiral's Cup' being the most prominent one. I'm pretty sure these are not from Alea Fashion Industries but I could be wrong -- they have a little red hang tag on the front -- different than anything I've ever seen from Alea. Anyway, almost all the shirts from this label are button-down collars, usually in a plaid pattern. Some decent stuff, nothing terrific. $29.99/shirt, but they're selling for $80+ on Yoox.com. Sadly I couldn't find much on this company.

Other things worth mentioning: Ties are available from Jey Cole Man and Gazzarrini at a few of the stores, if you look carefully enough; Some of the stores also got in belts from Gazzarrini which are quite nice if you can find them. Suiting from Gazzarrini is only available at 57th St. East Side, 34th St. and Soho if you are looking for it. Decent selection of shoes came in from Via Spiga.