To Those that Celebrate...

Shanah Tovah!

NY Rundown

Made it up to NYC in search of shoes and pants -- didn't really find much of either, sadly, but here's the rundown --

Leather cashmere-lined gloves from Les Copains (made in Italy) retailing for $49.99. I was never expecting Daffy's to be getting in gloves from Les Copains, much less sell gloves for $50/pair. Mind you, this is a welcome surprise, but it just seems out of place when everything else sells for less than $25 in the winter section. I probably wouldn't spend $50 on gloves for myself just b/c I treat my gloves so badly, but they were very nice items. Saw them at Wall St. and Soho I believe.

Don't know why I even bothered, but the Wall St. store was again a complete bust. I had stopped at C21 for a few minutes, so I figured why not. Just a huge waist of time, though, if you do need something you can't find at another store for some reason, the racks in there are packed to the brim since no one really buys menswear down there.

Martin Dingman shoes -- only a few pairs available at 34th St. location. I did not have the chance to stop by 57th West Side or 44th & Madison, but no other stores were carrying Dingman nor any shoes from Boemos other than 34th St., which was a huge bummer considering I was looking for shoes so I didn't have to spend unneeded sums of money on Yoox.com.

Any major sort of Incotex output seems to have happened at the 57th St. East Side store, and whatever was there is basically gone already. Every other store I visited either had nothing from Incotex, or had maybe one or two pairs. A decent selection of pants from Giab's slightly made up for the lack of Incotex there. The Soho store had a few of the weirdly-sized pants that Philly got in this week, many marked 'Trofeo 600.' (unsure what that's in reference to, but the interior tag on those Trofeo pants made it look like they were made for Zegna).

John Barritt merchandise was all over the place - coats, blazers, suits, pants, sweaters, shirts... never seen this much before, but I'll take it any day over FB, Kemitch, Sottotono, etc... 18th St. even got in some decently made scarves under the label. Also, for those of you that missed out on the Incotex pants and are looking for some wools, the John Barrit wool pants are decently constructed and are well worth the $29.99 they're asking for them. Remember, this stuff is not phenomenal quality, but it's not on the low-end either. I'd say it's middle-of-the-pack.

Finally, most stores got in a new shipment of shirts from Milena SpA (made in Italy), including shirts from B>More already out on the racks and then tons of shirts in boxes from Delsiena, Marcus, Milena and other brands, much like they had last season. Again, I wish they wouldn't leave shirts in boxes as it's a huge annoyance, but what can I do other than complain here :P

And the find of the day --- A pair of white leather chelsea boots from Coming Soon by Yohji Yamamoto (made in Italy) marked at $89.99, claiming an original price of over $800. They were not in my size, and I had absolutely no personal use for them, but they can be yours if you stop by 57th St. East Side and browse the shoe racks. 

Small Update

Took a few minutes to drop by today, here are a few notes -

Lots of suits from John Barritt/Luck in Luck/Mr. Ramos, decently made stuff this season all from Mavecon SRL. Also, a number of sportcoats, sweaters, and other pieces.

Shoes from Martin Dingman seem to have made an appearance already for Fall. These didn't come in til late in the Spring season, so that's surprising. Only a few pairs in Philly, but I'd expect more in most stores over the weekend.

Philly got in its first selection of Incotex pants, but for some reason, everything was mis-labeled in terms of size. Perhaps that's why they made it to Daffy's, but if this is the case in every location, do yourself a favor and try on several sizes to make sure you're getting what you want. Very strange, but all the stuff down here in Philly so far was marked 'As Is' for $29.99, and I've heard reports of other locations getting the full-price (Daffy's full-price anyway) for the pants which are probably sized properly. But still, be slightly wary.

I've also been told there may be a new shipment of ties coming in tomorrow or early next week. Moschino/Ferre ties from Intermoda (made in Italy) have yet to come in for the season, so it's possible that may show up. Some Costume National items usually pop up in there as well, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Incotex in Stores Now

Thanks to Richard who commented on the prior post, and the wonderful folks over at SF (Photo), it is clear that Incotex pants have made it into stores, and in a much larger selection than I anticipated based on my foray to Secaucus.

Philly has added an additional delivery on Monday for the Fall, but there are no current-season Incotex items as of yet (though I know you can still find one or two pairs from the Spring).

Other notables which you may see in store -- wool coats from Report Collection, and lots of shoes from Rocawear, and some sneakers from Puma.

Quick Rundown

Had a long week at the job in Philly, decided I needed an equally long drive. So, I went up the Jersey Turnpike hitting several Daffy's in search of shoes from Boemos, shirts from Alea and bits and pieces from Copen Group... Here's the quick rundown of what I saw in terms of new merchandise - many of you will be quite interested in the pants -

More leathers from Compagnia Delle Pelli (made in Italy) - seems like almost all the stores got a small restock of CDP leathers. Great stuff, though it seems these are all CDP branded, and are mostly in larger sizes.

Lots of jackets, sportcoats and some suits from a company called Scott James - nothing really terrific, but better quality than most of the non-Italian stuff they usually get in. Unsure what I think of the aesthetic - thoughts? Here's a link to the company's website - LINK

The Alea shirts had an interesting label I hadn't seen much of in past seasons, but if you come across shirts from G.V. Conte, take a look. Quite interesting pieces to say the least. 

Some pants from Giab's (made in Italy) seemed to have trickled into stores. Nothing in huge volumes, maybe a handful of pairs per store if you're lucky. Giab's produces for, among others, Aquascutum and Bamford & Sons.

And here's the bit that I think many have been waiting for patiently this season -- a small handful of Incotex pants were available at the Secaucus location. I picked up a pair of corduroys for myself, $16.99, marked 'As Is' due to some imperfections. But here's the key takeaway --- none of the other stores had these yet, and given my past history w/Secaucus, they often put out merchandise a week before every other store gets them b/c the store is connected to the warehouse. So -- you have been apprised of this info before the stuff even gets into the stores --- I exepect Incotex pants to be making their appearance in every other store this upcoming week. Get there early, b/c these things never last - great quality and huge resale market b/c of the insanely low prices. Unsure what variety to expect, but based on the Secaucus showing, don't expect a wide selection; and I didn't see any wools at all. I am going to reach out to Daffy's to see what the story is w/pants from Mabitex this season, as those are usually the first things to hit stores. Will post more info as soon as I hear anything.

Update, Week of 9/10

Well, even though the Fashion's Night Out special deliveries were a bit underwhelming, some nice stuff came into the Philly store in the last day or so. Quick rundown of the notables that came in this week, some of which were quite good --

Shoes from Boemos (made in Italy) - various styles of shoes from Boemos, one of the best lines that Daffy's gets in. Unsure which other stores would have received them as well because the last shipment of Italian shoes did not make it into any stores other than 34th St. in NYC, and a few random bits in the Jersey stores.

Shirts from Alea/Rosso Malaspino (made in Italy) - Glad to see that the handful of shirts which came in a few weeks ago was only a small taste of Alea merchandise for this season. Almost two full racks of shirts from Alea Fashion Industries were out on the floor today, including items from Harry Brook, Rosso Malaspino, HB by Alea, and Alea. All great stuff, though I noticed some of the shirts indicated 'Made in Moldova,' if that matters.

Suits/Coats from Copen Group (made in Italy) - A number of suits came in, as indicated in the previous post, under the Pennesi label. Other stores will likely be getting this stuff in as well (probably 34th St and 57th & Lex). Today they had a handful of wool coats from Copen Group as well, labeled under Basile and Pennesi. There was a really beautiful gray houndstooth coat in an 80/20 wool/cashmere blend, though a bit much for my tastes. We'll probably see sportcoats and pants in the next week or so. Hopefully some items from Royal Hem will pop up as well.

Coats from FB (made in Italy) - not the worst stuff on the floor right now in terms of winter coats, but still not my favorite brand. The better-made items will say 'SAMPLE' on the price tag, and will not have FB markings on the coat itself.

Shearlings from Owen Barry (made in England) - these are really well made, but honestly the styling needs a huge update. As I mentioned in the prior post, these didn't exactly sell very well last year, in fact at one of the Daffy's I used to frequent, they were giving salespeople $5/coat if they helped a customer purchase one. At $399.99 each, they're steeply priced for Daffy's goods, but if you want something warm, you probably can't do much better.

Coats from Kenneth Cole and Rialto (made in Italy) -- A number of wool coats came in from the Kenneth Cole label (made by GIII Apparel Group - they make a ton of wool coats in China for many of the mainstream American labels), as well as a huge batch of coats from Rialto. Neither label's merchandise was particularly special.

Cashmere sweaters from CH Classics - made in China stuff, but they're cashmere, so they're likely pretty decent. I didn't pay too much attention to them, but there's certainly a lot of them on the floor right now, as well as items from Uomo Bravo (the Daffy's house brand).

Jeans from William Rast - All $64.99; Mentioned these in the previous post.

Shoes from Robert Wayne - nothing really special, but they got a few shelves worth here in Philly.

"Special" Shipment Update

Well, underwhelmed would be the right word. I was happy to see a number of suits from Copen Group (made in Italy), almost all under the Pennesi label, though upset I did not see any sport jackets or wool coats. But the suits are nicely made, some w/Loro Piana fabric, all at $199.99. The rest of the deliveries were some  Pashmina branded faux shearlings, and a number of heavy shearlings from some place in Britain. They carried both of those lines last year, and they didn't sell; It's one thing to get in shearlings - it's another thing to get in ones that are actually stylish.

The only thing special I saw, as it were, was a small selection of jeans from William Rast all marked at $64.99.

Perhaps I will be happier this weekend when more stuff is brought onto the floor after the Friday delivery, but honestly there was very little "fashionable" about what I saw in store tonight for Fashion Night Out.

Those of you outside Philly, feel free to leave updates as to what you see. If you see any suits, sportcoats or otherwise marked "Royal Hem," definitely leave a comment.

"Special" Shipments Arriving In Store for Fashion Night Out

Quick update -- Daffy's Facebook updates have indicated that there will be extra special shipments arriving in all stores today and tomorrow (9/8) to celebrate Fashion's Night Out which is happening tomorrow night in NYC. Most stores only get shipments on a M-W-F or T-Th basis, so this is quite unusual.

Unsure what to expect, but I'm hoping it will be something worthy of purchasing and sharing on the blog. Fingers crossed.

PLUS -- only on 9/8, there is a 20% discount on all leathers and shearlings. While some of the merchandise has already been picked over, do yourself a favor and get to your local Daffy's for a quick look. You will not find jackets of this quality anywhere else for these prices -- mind you, make sure you're buying something from Gazzarrini, Patrizia Pepe, or the vendor code/source designation code on the price tag reads "PAOL" (backwards) on the price tag -- see here for more info, which indicates the leather is from Compagnia Delle Pelli.

More NJ Updates

(Update 9/8, picture added of Coming Soon sportcoat)
 
Managed to venture into a few more locations over the Labor Day weekend - the East Hanover store was the most surprising ---

For some reason only known to the folks at Daffy's corporate, they decided to place a small selection of the Hirschleifer's merchandise in the East Hanover store, along with the biggest selection I've seen this season from Messori (made in Italy) and Coming Soon by Yohji Yamamoto (made in Italy). The Hirschleifer's stuff included items from Woolrich, Gitman Bros. and Band of Outsiders -- BOO shirts (only two or three, nothing particularly special other than the fact that they were indeed BOO at Daffy's) were running $69.99. Messori merchandise was much of the usual, but the only place thus far I've seen suits, and even a nice camel-colored wool coat. The Coming Soon merchandise was really nice as well with a number of wool jackets and blazers, as well as other random bits and pieces. All priced well below retail. The store also had a very small selection of items from Transit (made in Italy), and is the only store I've seen this season with merchandise from Culturata (made in Italy), which was in the form of a few wool/cashmere blend zip-up cardigans.

I also paid a visit to the Elizabeth store which also had a few items from Coming Soon - much smaller selection than East Hanover, and a few items from Transit also. Strangely, there were also a few shirts from Cockpit, which I have yet to see at any other store.

So that's the Jersey-wide update. Sadly, I didn't get to visit the Jersey Gardens store -- the mall was literally so packed on Monday that security closed off all the entrances to the parking lot so I couldn't even get into the mall. Perhaps another day, though I don't think I missed much since the last time I visited. Philly to come again next weekend.

NJ Stores Update

Made it back up to NJ for the Labor Day weekend, a few things worth mentioning that didn't come into Philly:

Suits from a company called Sartoria Antica Italiana (made in Italy); really pretty bad - construction seemed ok, but styling is far from up to date. Saw these in the Paramus, NJ store at $199.99.

And Transit (made in Italy) has already made its debut in stores -- much earlier than in prior seasons. Paramus, NJ had a nice assortment of pants, jackets and sweaters/knits. I'm assuming the NYC stores got a bunch of stuff as well; Philly, for whatever reason, never receives any Transit merchandise, even though I know it would do really well down there. Now, mind you, I was also in the Totowa, NJ store where I caught a glimpse of some of the women's labels - Transit, Gant, Liu Jo, and a lot of really high end labels --- a) that store is usually full of junk; b) why are women getting all these great things, and the men are getting shafted?....

Such are the updates for now; If anyone heads over to Daffy's over the weekend, you may be able to find some great deals in the sale racks. I picked up a Futuro shirt for $5.62, which happened to be mixed in with the regular priced shirts. If you don't want to bother looking through the clearance racks, but are interested in a possible deal, look through the regular racks of shirts, pants, etc...and look for season code 'C' on the price tag -- see this post for more info. 

Look What Popped Up at Daffy's

Well, I'll start off with the week in general - pretty lackluster.  New stuff included a few random shirts from Milena SpA (made in Italy) - good stuff, but nowhere near the amount of shirts they got from them last season (last season there were tons of Milena shirts in boxes -- i.e., Del Siena, B>More, Marcus, etc...) and we also got some more Steve Madden shoes and shoes from Impulse -- both of which I could do without.

But fortunately for Daffy's, I have something good to point out.  One of the staffers down here in Philly who knows my tastes mentioned she found some interesting labels amongst some of the sweaters, in particular... (see pic, may need to click pic to see label)

Jil Sander! (made in Italy) -- now, realize that Daffy's did NOT get in a shipment from Jil Sander. However, apparently Jil Sander knits, at least a few cardigans anyway, are made by Teodori.  I mean to find these things, you'll need to sift through everything, but there are likely a few to be had in the various stores. This particular sweater was a navy cardigan, priced at $49.99. I can promise you this would have retailed easily for over $200. In the meantime, it was, as usual, thrown in with everything else and you wouldn't know the difference. But that's the stupidity of Daffy's for you. Anyway, this was the find of the week, and at least made up for the lack of merchandise that's come in the past few weeks.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!