A Thrifty Trad

A college student with a budget's take on classic, traditional American style, with a modern twist or two

[a-thrifty-trad]

Studying abroad for three months. Nothing wrong with bringing a little color along for the adventure.

[a-thrifty-trad]

As a college student with the budget of a college student, eBay has been my trustiest source of clothing. Hunting for accessories like watches is no different, and I tend to take the minimalist approach when it comes to them. This Timex Weekender was mine for $20 last summer, and it has served me well over the past year. Half the people I see who try to dress "preppy" forget the little details like this altogether, and those that don't are often rocking huge, show-off type timepieces that scream try-hard. If you're in the market for a watch, and you've got a tight budget, you can never go wrong with some understated wrist-wear.

[putthison]

Men's Wearhouse & Jos. A Bank Form Evil Voltron Of Ill-Fitting Menswear

[a-thrifty-trad]

Men’s Wearhouse scoffed at that offer, and turned the tables, offering to buy its rival for $1.54 billion. The combined company will be the fourth-biggest U.S. men’s clothing retailer with more than 1,700 U.S. stores and about $3.5 billion in sales.

Oh my......

[ivy-league-style]

One of the most - if not the most - quintessential Ivy League items; the oxford cloth button down shirt

[fraternalclassics]

people who don’t button their button down collars

[a-thrifty-trad]

Pet peeve.

[a-thrifty-trad]

Fratty

I began my interest in what most would call preppy style simply as a result of wanting to look more refined, or simply nicer.  As a college student at a rather preppy northeast liberal arts school however, I couldn't help but notice it being brought to certain extremes, such as this:

Okay, it's an exaggeration, and I found this on google images, but you get my point.  I had stumbled upon the subgenre known as "fratty".  Now don't get me wrong, I am a member of a fraternity, just as these bozos seem to be, and I think it's one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.  But some, actually a lot, of fraternity men get it wrong.  There has long been an association of dressing as loudly preppy as possible (endless pastels) and "frat guys", their dress seemingly mirroring their loud "fratty" attitudes.  "Yeah I wear my pink Vineyard Vines oxford shirt and seersucker gingham critter shorts because GDI's are too poor/not worthy of wearing them."  But Mr. TFM, even if your dad is the big time high rolling hedge fund manager, are all your frat bros that wealthy too?  How are they going to bring in the big bucks when they get older?  Surely you're not going to be wearing a seersucker suit with embroidered crabs to that interview for that investment banking summer analyst internship at Goldman Sach's?  My point is, we've gotta tone it down, unless the extremely rare occasion calls for the contrary (see Kentucky Derby), and for starters, you can never go wrong with tattersall.  Throwing in one GTH item every now and then never hurts, but even on my campus, where upperclassmen usually get the message, I've seen pastel OCBD and pastel shorts in a single outfit way too many times.  And I don't even want to mention the thoughts that enter my head when I see that paired with Nike midcalfs and air maxes.  Like bro, I understand that you're in a frat, I am too, but I really just cannot take you seriously in that navy vineyard vines hat (backwards!), yellow polo oxford shirt, pink tie, VV pastel d-ring belt, and baby blue chinos (believe it or not I've seen this outfit at school). Preppy looks good when done right, but you're giving it a bad rap, and you look like a fucking clown.  Actually though.

[a-thrifty-trad]

Modern "preppy" outfitters, take note.  The marketing campaigns of the likes of J. Crew, Vineyard Vines and others can be nauseating at times, when all there is behind it are some shabbily thought of items.  Not to say I don't own anything from them, but in your face preppy should not be the way to go marketing-wise.

[a-thrifty-trad]

I don't know what else there is to say. Folks, this may very well go down in the record books as the greatest eBay steal I will ever perpetrate, it doesn't get any better than this. Vintage J. Press, 3/2 roll, natural shoulder, 100% cotton, flap pockets, no need for a tailor. Unreal

J. Press khaki cotton sport coat, eBay, $41

[a-thrifty-trad]

Finally moved back in to school. 93 degrees with a heat index up to 105? The old saying is "no seersucker after Labor Day", but these bad boys were dying to be broken out again in the jungle-like weather of upstate NY. One of the last few opportunities for some GTH-ness before the cold comes. Ralph Lauren Golf seersucker shorts $20, eBay

[a-thrifty-trad]

Liddesdale acquired! A little pricey at $70 but worth it. As usual, from eBay. Kinda bummed that it was made in Indonesia, but hopefully the quality doesn't suffer compared to its made in England predecessors.

[gq]

"The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind." - Humphrey Bogart

[a-thrifty-trad]

Truer words have never been spoken.

[ivy-league-style]

Quilted classic by Barbour

[a-thrifty-trad]

I'd kill for one of these.  I'm in the market for a quilted coat, and the Liddesdale model (navy or olive) in particular has been the target of my daily eBay hunts over the past few weeks, and I've yet to find one my size under $70.  So much for thrifting. 

[a-thrifty-trad]

Made in the USA OCBD’s (Oxford cloth button down for the unversed) are hard to come by these days, the shift to overseas production seemingly coinciding with this new rise in popularity of preppy/traditional clothing. This vintage LL Bean could quite possibly be my favorite shirt at the moment, won on eBay for around $15. There’s just some type of classic charm about it that other shirts don’t seem to give off. Maybe it’s the collar roll. Oh the joys of hunting on eBay.

[a-thrifty-trad]

Preach! Stumbled upon this article about a year ago and didn't think much of it, but as my interest for traditional men's clothing grew, I found myself referring back to this more and more. Like the author says, it's all subjective, but the part about simply trying to look nicer, not necessarily growing up in what one would consider a preppy background really hit home for me. This is a solid starting block on the path to sartorial enlightenment (whatever that may mean).