With all the bombastic product-worship that appears daily on the pages of this site, it can be easy to forget that
not shopping can be (and often is) the most socially responsible act of all. Thankfully, the esteemed antiquaries from the always excellent
Archival Clothing have used this month's On Good Authority to remind us all of that very fact. Expanding on one of the 10 tenets from their worthy-of-daily-recital
2010 New Years resolution list, AC editors Lesli Larson and Tom Bonamici have put together a how-to guide for "shopping" one's own wardrobe, and rediscovering the lost and forgotten treasures contained within.
Shopping From Yourself
Shopping from yourself involves scanning your wardrobe for items you've neglected and bringing them back into active use. Typical candidates for "purchase" include eccentric items (oddball or out of date), expensive items (too dressy for daily wear), forgotten items (buried in a pile or packed away) and items that don’t fit or that would require an additional investment in tailoring or repair work.
As a matter of course, shopping from yourself will help you screen your general wardrobe and identify items that should be re-homed to new owners. However, I do not advocate discarding items too hastily. In fact, I encourage the build up of archival collections — clothing that reflects earlier personal styles or the folly of an expensive purchase.
Shopping from yourself is a personal experience, so each person's trip will be different. Make sure to stay focused and selective. Pay attention to the item. If it needs repairs or a polish, do it. Tailoring is cheaper than buying something new (and it is always good to support your local seamstresses). Wear items on a regular basis (or pick a specific day and wear them in combinations). Call attention to your new purchase. Don't be afraid to wear dressy items just because their original purchase price might warrant extra care. Wear eccentric items for non-traditional applications - while cycling or visiting the dog park or grocery store (these are good places to practice outfits).
Favorite "Purchases"Lesli:
Calvin Klein Herringbone wool coat-jacket for women. Found at Value Village in Springfield, Oregon, the jacket reflects the quality of mainstream department store offerings from the past. My favorite details include the full lining, tailored fit, top grade wool fabric and spread collar. There is also a tag proving that it was made in the US by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. I would most certainly purchase this jacket from the past.
Hunting World field bag. These bags are extremely hard to find these days outside of Japan. I purchased this one years ago on eBay for a surprisingly low buy-it-now price. The finish details on the bag are perfect (stitching, debossing, webbing and hardware). But the battue “leather” is starting to crease and chip and the bag leaks in heavy rain. I’ve been trying to keep the bag nice, but now I’m just going to use it until it dissolves.
Holland and Holland brogues. These are my nicest shoes and I typically store them with shoe trees on a shelf in the closet. Because I always default to loafers, I forget to wear them. But when I do, I feel regal. Need to set a schedule to "buy" them on a weekly basis.
Tom:
One of my standard SFY items is this terrific Carhartt chore coat that I found at the incomparable
Listen Center. It fits like a feed bag and is frayed beyond repair, but every now and again it's exactly what I need. Notice the special-edition branding - "100 years 1889-1989." Last Spring, I was featured wearing this jacket on the
Velocouture blog.
Though I love to shop from myself, I'm a transient youth, so I move around and don't have a great deal of storage space. I therefore recommend a few other methods of shopping from yourself that don't require maintaining a deep collection of past garments, but rely instead on a horse trading attitude towards one's wardrobe.
SWAPPING FROM YOURSELFSwapping from yourself merely requires exchanging an old, unused item for a new one without spending over $5. My favorite example comes from a trip to
Buffalo Exchange earlier this year, when I entered the store with four pairs of ill-fitting dress pants and left with a pair of like-new Filson oxfords. Total cost, after trade-in: $1.25.
SHOPPING FROM YOUR FRIENDSOne advantage to a garment archive like Lesli's is that forgotten clothing might find a new life on someone else's back. Try asking your well-dressed friends if they have anything that they aren't wearing any more. Although I'm 6'2" and Lesli is a foot shorter, I was able to turn up a beautiful Holland & Holland shooting sweater that she had bought from the flagship store in NYC. I have it checked out on a long-term loan. We're still working on what I'll be loaning in return - details forthcoming at
www.archivalclothing.com.
Calvin Klein Herringbone wool coat-jacket for women. Found at Value Village in Springfield, Oregon, the jacket reflects the quality of mainstream department store offerings from the past. My favorite details include the full lining, tailored fit, top grade wool fabric and spread collar. There is also a tag proving that it was made in the US by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. I would most certainly purchase this jacket from the past.
Hunting World field bag. These bags are extremely hard to find these days outside of Japan. I purchased this one years ago on eBay for a surprisingly low buy-it-now price. The finish details on the bag are perfect (stitching, debossing, webbing and hardware). But the battue “leather” is starting to crease and chip and the bag leaks in heavy rain. I’ve been trying to keep the bag nice, but now I’m just going to use it until it dissolves.
Holland and Holland brogues. These are my nicest shoes and I typically store them with shoe trees on a shelf in the closet. Because I always default to loafers, I forget to wear them. But when I do, I feel regal. Need to set a schedule to "buy" them on a weekly basis. 
