Wearing Out the Recession With a Closetful of Classics
N ew year, old recession. All right, we’re willing to try to spend our way out of it, but how about this time we spend smarter? No wear- ‘ em-once outfits, no glitzy abominations that are incredibly in today and even more incredibly out next week. This time, let’s shop with an eye to true style and real value, plugging the holes in our wardrobes with stuff that’ll be around for the long haul. Can it be done?
SHE: For years, I’ve tried to spend smart--invest in pricey classics in basic shades. I’ve bought the straight black skirt made of fine wool, for example, and the perfectly tailored black blazer, the black cashmere cardigan, the black theater suit.
Problem is, I’ve overdosed on black. The inside of my closet looks like a coal mine.
In 1993, I resolve to buy a few reasonably priced classics in a bright color or two.
HE: Men have it easier when it comes to classic dressing. Take a look at the items that have endured and you’ll find that quite a lot of them were inspired either by the military or by sports.
The double-breasted blue blazer, for instance, comes almost untouched from the Navy, and the trench coat you buy today is nearly identical in basic design to the ones that were issued in the trenches in World War I. And how about all those spiffy regimental ties?
Hunting (the kind with foxes and horses, not guns) has accounted for the tweed hacking jacket. Golf has given us the green single-breasted blazer. Flying has given us the A-2 leather jacket (the greatest leather jacket of all time). Skiing and mountaineering have produced the stylish parka and fishing has given us the Irish cable-knit sweater.
A guy could do a lot worse than to have any of these in his closet.
SHE: Women have borrowed all of those looks. And they serve us beautifully.
But sometimes it’s fun to toss on a reasonably priced trend-of-the-moment for a waltz out the door. In recessionary times, a trendy accessory can be a good mood elevator. I resolve in ’93 to buy one or two now trinkets just for the fun of it.
The only trendy thing I bought in ’92 was a military jacket by Donna Karan. In black, natch. Come to think of it, it’s trendy, but classic . The perfect purchase!
HE: I made out a pretty ambitious clothing wish list last month--tantamount to a thorough wardrobe overhaul--and I was mildly surprised to find that there was nothing, and I mean nothing trendy on it.
It went to nearly $4,000 (it’s a wish list, remember) and everything was made of tweed, silk, cotton and fine wool. It was a can’t-go-wrong wardrobe.
It was the sort of stuff that would make walking into the closet a real pleasure: a blue doeskin blazer, lightweight wool slacks, perfectly fitting Levi’s, Egyptian cotton shirts, a Crombie overcoat, a modest assortment of silk ties and pocket squares, a subtle pair of Tony Lamas and--my favorite indulgence--a mess of pullover sweaters.
I realize this isn’t going to make the editors at GQ write overdrafts trying to get me on staff but, properly assembled, this can be a spectacularly clean and striking wardrobe.
SHE: Seems to me you’ve found the perfect way to save money: only dream about clothes.
HE: The point is that one can consider all this stuff an investment, not a whim. And it doesn’t need to be bought all at once.
Good clothes LAST.
If you want to have a yearly appendix budget for trendy stuff, fine. But that Donegal tweed sport coat of mine is going to look just as good 20 years from now--and just as stylishly correct--as it does today. Can you say the same thing about some of the designer abominations out there today?
SHE: You mean the one in the corner of my closet? No. Obviously, I’m all for buying good clothes that last. However, I’ve found that, in the interest of buying quality apparel with staying power, my fashion silhouettes all have a trying sameness.
In ‘93, I’m going to be more frugal in my buying but enjoy fashion more. The recession has forced me to face something about my purchases: I justify my over-spending--yes, I admit it--by buying the tried and true and telling myself “They’ll last forever!” Now, I have too much of a good thing.
HE: Again, I think there’s a very real difference in this case between men’s and women’s clothes. There are very few clothes items a woman would feel comfortable wearing two decades after she bought them. Not so with a man. And it has nothing to do with reluctance to throw things away.
You try, when you can, to buy the best, with an eye to timelessness and adaptability and versatility, and then you take very good care of it all. You can add to it, sure, but judiciously and always with an eye to quality.
If a man does that, he eventually gets a reputation as an impeccable, elegant dresser, which sounds a heck of a lot better than being known as a flashy, up-to-the-second fashion plate. The former knows what works; the latter is still trying to figure it out.
