josepidal

Mauro over in Denimbar in Washington DC sells them for $120.

I saw nice enough plain hoodies at Steve and Barry's for $8 apiece. Their zippers suck, though, so I didn't get one with a zipper.

I just bought APCs from Mauro in Washington DC. If I understand it right, he gave me a pair that's a bit tight (so long as you don't feel any pain) because it'll stretch a bit after breaking in.

I've been wearing them, and honestly, they're the best fit and fabric I've tried for jeans below $20.

But now to hunt for "real" jeans. These were something I bought so I could have something to wear while shopping! It's freaking cold in this time of the year, I really have to go buy a hoodie or something!

Are something like $80 leather jackets at CostCo okay?

I'm flying from San Francisco to Washington tonight and am hunting up that store when I walk around downtown.

I'm visiting the States and live in the Philippines where it's hot and where I've had no incentive to own a denim or leather jacket.

I was thinking of looking for one in the States, where the selection is wider and where the prices may be better.

Any suggestions?

(I'd love to save money, but figure that if I'm buying one of these items, it's something I'll use for life or close to it, and may as well spend on a great piece.)

Heh. Keyword: $17.

I'm taking a trip around the States (from the Philippines) and was looking to buy a pair of good dry selvage jeans and a pair of Adidas Samba Ks.

Neither are available locally.

How would you suggest I go about looking? I ruled out eBay because I have no idea how they'll fit (in fact, do you buy Sambas a size larger or smaller than normal?)

I will be passing through:

California (SF, LA, San Diego, Sacramento)

Washington DC

New York City

New Jersey (Roseland)

Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati, Hilliard, Celina)

Tennessee (Nashville)

Although, the A/X jeans seem much better than Old Navy, right?

Heh. I'm just interested in cut, denim quality and wash, so kindly comment on those specific points.

Unless you can teach me how to finger bang all the chicas in a room, in which case type away!

I got a pair of Armani Exchange jeans for $17, and the fit is okay enough for me. How's the quality of this brand of jeans in general?

Heh. Is it worth getting a pair in Kangaroo leather just to say you have a pair of sneakers in that material?

What activities would you not recommend doing in Sambas? Basketball because your soles might hurt after too much jumping? What about running for any considerable time?

Would you use Sambas as travel shoes or should you avoid walking on rough surfaces with the softer sole?

I'm talking about stuff like Dior Homme and Hugo Boss.

However, I went around looking for badminton shoes today, and ended up buying a pair on sale from a badminton store instead of any of the sports shoes stores that were all on sale (Nike, Reebok, Fila, etc.). Would you do this?

@breakfasteatre: LOL.

@kfc: I want black sneakers, heh. Also, do you guys like your sneakers with an all-leather front, or do you like a bit of mesh showing?

Yeah, the friend who dragged me to badminton warned me not to take running shoes because I'd likely trip and get an ankle injury because of lack of traction. So I take a pair with too much traction and get a bad cut anyway.

I was looking for cross trainers, but the only white one I found was a pair of tennis shoes from Nike, at 250% of those badminton shoes I ended up buying.

I am getting very annoyed with white sneakers. I have a pair of white boat shoes from before the white sneaker craze began, and I always felt they look better with light jeans.

Thus, I want BLACK sneakers. (The Samba Skate model with the red stripes looks interesting... anyone think it's better than the classic white?)

I predict my future sports will be indoor racket sports like table tennis and badminton, swimming, and casual jogging. Will Sambas work as an all-purpose sneaker for me, given this?

And two more questions:

1. Is it worth it to specifically look for kangaroo leather?

2. Would you take gum soled shoes like Sambas as traveling shoes, or should you be wary of rough surfaces and wearing them out quickly?

Edited by josepidal on Oct 14, 2005 at 11:58 AM

I've never really worn sneakers (and never fancied those Chuck Taylors), so I injured a toe when someone dragged me to play badminton and I found out too late that the only sneakers I owned had soles for hiking.

Now I figure I should buy a pair of sneakers, and I want something that looks nice.

But, being practical, I want something I can actually use to play a sport. I don't really like basketball so I suppose a tennis or indoor gum soled shoe would do it. Or maybe a running shoe.

I tried browsing forum threads and ended up thinking I liked the Adidas Millennium Samba, and wanted a black pair in kangaroo leather. Do you guys like this model? Just how many kinds of Samba are there? Would this make a good all-purpose sneaker that still looks good with jeans and a t-shirt?

The Adidas salesman said their new Sambas will ship sometime in December and he'll call me the moment he finds out. The only thing they have now is this silly "Lifestyle" line, sneakers designed purely for fashion and walking, and the salesmen actually advise you not to do anything athletic with them.

In the meantime, I bought a pair of badminton shoes on sale from a new China brand called Victor, which I think is modeled after Yonex shoes except they sell at 40% of the retail price. I was told the real higher-end badminton shoes had some kind of graphite balancing rod in the sole, which none of the larger sneaker manufacturers I checked had (more expensive Nikes, Reeboks, Adidas, Fila, etc.)

Actually, my main basis for buying them was they were the only pair of white indoor sport sneakers I could find that didn't look terribly like gym shoes, and white because I want to buy a pair of black Sambas.

Thoughts?

Because a cousin mentioned it, I passed by Paul Smith walking around a mall today. The salesman explained the merits of their trademark double cuff, but their cotton dress shirts were simply all $130 to $200 and slightly beyond. The striped shirts with more detailing and texture on each stripe were the most expensive, he said.

I saw a few other shirts in the same range, from Dunhill to Rykiel, etc.

Is too much of this price simply brand name and marketing? I figure you can get a decent shirt on sale for $40 at most at any credible Italian botique, with similarly nice detailing and fabric. (I live in Manila in Southeast Asia, and it's too hot here to truly appreciate the more delicate high thread count, extra-thin dress shirts, in my opinion, unless you like them with sweat stains.) If it's a slim cut like Paul Smith, you can have a tailor do some alterations.

How do you tell if a lesser known brand's dress shirt is worth it?

Though I have to admit, those Paul Smith shirts looked very nice.

Do people in your place still dress up for church?

It's been a pet peeve of mine. My family prefers to attend the 6 PM Sunday service, and I make it a point to at least wear a nice shirt with a collar and leather shoes.

I look around and always see people in gym shoes, t-shirts, and hiphop length denim shorts, and the sad thing is not all of them are below sixteen years old. I even saw one guy who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that was something like four sizes too big for him -- the stitch on the shoulder was midway between his shoulder and elbow joints, the back of the shirt was almost at his knees, and he just bunched up the front and held it in front of him as though holding up a skirt.

On the other hand, the ends of his jeans were two inches above the laces of his gym shoes.

I understand people wearing casual clothes to church, and jeans and polos look nowhere bad. However, I think the definition of Sunday best has gone to the flip flops.

(And don't get me started about the time I took a gaggle of cousins aged 10 to 16 to see a play and told them to dress up. The teenage girl I told to wear a skirt stared daggers at me when she saw old people in sandals, jeans, and t-shirts.)

Quote:

try cole haan, or if you're willing to spend a bit more, go for ferragamo, tod's or varvatos.

--- Original message by darknworn on Jul 31, 2005 10:16 PM

I'd start with this advice, and try a more classic loafer, moccasin or boat shoe.

The one in the photo looks a bit too novel, and you might not wear it after a short while (what clothes do you wear)?

As an alternative, Lacoste makes nice white shoes that don't quite look like sneakers, but still look classy. That look has probably been copied by other manufacturers.

Heh. Those are my dentist's preferred work shoes, among others.

I took a walk in the nearby mall today before a dentist's appointment to get a wisdom tooth extracted (ugly business, ugh).

I took a closer look at the Ferragamo corner, and they had one from the Tramezza line. I took it in hand, felt the leather, held it up against the light to see the construction, etc., etc.

Now, my problem is that I didn't think it looked any better than the Cole Haans on the other end of the floor, and the Tramezzas cost about $790, while no Cole Haan here will cost more than $250. I wasn't wowed by anything else in the Ferragamo display either.

I figure that if I end up paying more than $500 for a shoe, I will put it on an altar in my bedroom for a month before even wearing them, and kneel in supplication every morning. I almost did that the first time I logged on to the Edward Green website, mind you.

The Tramezzas just didn't get anything out of me, so would you consider them highly overrated?

Would Cole Haans indeed be about the same quality, for a fraction of the designer price?

(In between, the only other brand here is Bally, about $500 a shoe on full retail. What do you think of those, too? My Dad has a bunch of old ones and they look nice, but I figure he applied the wrong kind of shoe wax over the years and know they're badly creased or even cracked.)

Where'd you see them? At the Paul Smith beside the APC store at Shangrila?

How exactly is the fit unflattering?

My Cole Haan loafers are beginning to show creases at the sides, since the shoe bends when you walk and land your toes. I figure a shoe tree should help prevent distortion.

Thing is, Cole Haan is out of stock of shoe trees, and expects the next shipment at the end of the year. I was told they don't have fully lasted shoe trees, but the construction of all their shoes is the same so it all works out.

I didn't fully appreciate this detail when I bought them, so how important are shoe trees? I think only Ferragamo has fully lasted shoe trees among the brands sold here. When I checked out Bally, the botique told me they don't even sell shoe trees.

How important are the shoe trees? And would it work if I just buy those Florsheim one size fits all cedar shoe trees for my shoes? Would generic plastic shoe trees be a terrible stopgap?

Also, how important is shoe conditioner and cream? Should you use all those shoe care products being offered with the shoe, or just take the generic brands sold at the shoe repair stores?

Quote:

do these shoes look bad for being sqaure toes?

I see many Berluti shoes are also square-toes. I prefer rounded ones, but was considering the ones above. Opinions?

--- Original message by Geowu on Jul 31, 2005 02:58 PM

They don't look square, they look sharply pointed.

When you wear shoes like this, where is your toe? Is it hard to walk because the tip of the shoe is hollow, and do you have to change the way you walk or something?

Don't these shoes work only for the tall, skinny guys who need their feet to look longer?

Chinos?

I was hoping to focus the discussion to situations where you don't wear a jacket.