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Affordable Men's Style

Best Bests 75 2013

10 Best Bets for $75 or Less – Card Cases, Blackjack & more

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Seventy Five dollars. That’s a lot of money. It’ll get you a couple pairs of Levi’s, a nice dinner out, or a couple months at your local gym. Seventy Five dollars. It is a lot of money, especially if you spend it right. Ten picks follow, all for $75 or under, and some of them are much, much less.

 

1. Bespoke Post’s “Sweat”Box – $45.00 (sold out)

Bespoke Sweat

That’ll work. Incredible job by Bespoke Post and Blue Claw Co. once again. The Duffel is made in the USA, has almost 2500 cubic inches inside, and good looking enough to use as your main weekender / get-out-of-dodge bag. Used to use American Crew Forming creme myself for years. It’s a nice mix of hold + low shine. And a pound of protein powder on top of that? Sure. Not surprisingly, these are sold out. But, we got one on the way for an in-person + giveaway.

 

2. This American Life Podcast: Blackjack – Free

TAL Blackjack

The MIT Blackjack team. A church group who counted cards known as the “Holy Rollers”.  And a woman who lost so much money that she decided the best course of action was to… sue the casino she lost it to. An hour worth of Blackjack talk as told by the expert story tellers at This American Life.

 

3. Jack Spade Narrow Stripe Card Case – $26.25 w/ SOS13

Jack Spade Card Case

Just different enough. A little warm weather appropriate color, but not so much that it’ll get shelved when the leaves start to fall. Ships free as well. Code SOS13 takes an extra 25% off sale items and expires today.

 

4. Stafford Prep Short Sleeve Button Down – $19.50 ($26)

stafford prep button down

Now that we’re in the dog days, many of us have gotten tired of our usual rotation of polos and t-shirts. No doubt that a short sleeve button up can go wrong quickly, but this one gets it right. A nice sized button down collar, a warm weather pattern, the contrasting placket is good, and it’s fitted and short enough that it actually looks pretty good untucked. Key here is to SIZE DOWN. Size shown: Small. Can be tucked in and belted for a cleaner look as well. One drawback… there is a little Stafford Prep logo tag at the waist, but that might be able to be taken off with a sharp scissors.

 

5. Zara Buckle Loafers – $39.99 ($89.90)

Zara Buckle Loafers

Well… these could either be outstanding, or terrible. The recently featured suede single monks were outstanding. Those were made in Spain, the suede was solid quality, and they were a steal during this ongoing summer sale. But cheap suede always trumps cheap leather. And while these have that Italian man having an espresso at a cafe on a Saturday morning look to them from a distance, who knows what they’ll look like up close. At least they ship and return free.

 

6. “Candle by the Hour” coil candles – $25 – $35

by the hour candles

Looks like something you’d have been more likely to find in Ben Franklin’s house instead of your Grandmama’s. Candles don’t have to be all girly. 20 min. per inch of exposed beeswax and the flame goes out once it hits the clip. Seems like it should have been a part of some sort of diabolical James Bond execution scene. Once the flame gets to a certain level… poof… in comes the swinging double bladed axe. Or something.

 

7. Flint and Tinder “Captain’s Log” – $14.00

Captains Log

Not cheap, but looks like a cross between a Field Notes notebook and a moleskin. 80 pages (Field Notes have 48). Made in the USA. At the end of a long day, it’s always good to write down some thoughts, all while enjoying a cup of tea… earl grey… hot… and OHMYGAWDNERDALERT!!!@!@!!@

 

8. Barbancourt Haitian Rhum 8 yr – $24.99

barbancourt

Brace yourself for quite possibly the worst endorsement ever: tastes like a blend of light brown sugar, grass, and sweaty socks. This stuff is… funky. If you’re used to something dark, dessert-like, and as easy as Zaya, this’ll take a bottle’s worth to get used to. But when you do get used to it, you’ll really appreciate this complex liquor produced by one of the tragically snake bit areas of the world. Not something you’re going to sip neat in the fall and winter, so ice it up now with maybe a dash of orange bitters and a lemon twist. Aged in oak 8 years. From cut sugar cane instead of molasses. Looking forward to trying the 15 yr at some point.

 

9. Gustin Made in the USA Japan Grey Oxford – $69.00

Gustin Oxford

Expensive to the point of it being an investment, but nowhere near as expensive as other Made in the USA OCBDs. Gustin is the USA made selvage denim Kickstarter success story that many know about, and they’ve started to get into shirting now too. They’ve since moved off Kickstarter, but have kept a similar model for selling their clothes. You pledge to buy a product, and once a threshold is tipped, then Gustin goes into production. If a certain pair of jeans or a shirt doesn’t get enough people to sign on to buy one, it doesn’t go into production and your card isn’t charged. And so far… it looks like its working (you can see all of the successfully funded jeans / shirts on their site) Standby for a review of a pair of their denim later on this week. (Meanwhile, there are much cheaper OCBDs from L.E.C.  over here, and UNIQLO over here.)

 

10. UNIQLO Dry Button Down Shirt Collar Polo – $19.90

Uniqlo Button Down Polo

Another winner of a polo from UNIQLO that happens to not have the Michael Bastian name on it (seriously UNIQLO, make some more of those). One issue a lot of guys have with their polos is a floppy, curly, uncontrolled collar. One solution: A button down collar. These are a 75% cotton / 25% poly blend that is engineered to dry much quicker than a standard all cotton polo. Not super soft like jersy, but not scratchy either. And certainly not weighty like a fat pique polo. Great placket too. Sizes are scattered. Shown above: Medium, is sold out at post time. Here’s hoping they restock.

For other best bets under $75 from previous months, click here.

Comments

  2. If you want a really great cheaper rum, shell out for some Ron Zacapa. I lived in the carribean for 2 years and one of the restaurant owners would sell us bottles at cost. It is a seriously fantastic rum, especially the way you line it up with an orange twist and a few rocks.

  3. How do you guys get away with using these 2-pocket card cases? The bare minimum I seem to be able to get down to is 5 cards, which always manages to stretch the case out to the point of cards slipping out eventually.

  5. I’m interested in the JCP shirt, but I have a fit question for those that have worn one. I’d love to size down from my normal medium to get a slimmer fit, but I’m 6 foot and think it will be way too short if I do.

    Joe, any thoughts on whether a 6′ tall guy with fairly normal proportions can still size down and not have his belly button showing in this shirt?

  7. As much as I want to slim down my wallet, I’m in the same boat – I’ve got at least 6 cards that I need to carry, including IDs.

  8. 1. Nice guns Joe.
    2. Bespoke Post is messing up a little bit on their emails. I did not see the Sweat box. I went back and checked all my emails from them and I received the main box which is the Weekender II box, and then a second email with some alternate box with Cocktail stuff which I did not want. Then, way at the bottom in smaller pictures and print was the Sweat box. Damn! So there were THREE Bespoke Post boxes this month? Uhg. Well I have my Weekender II and it is okay… but not really as nice as I thought and I would prefer the Sweat bag for my gym sack.

  9. I’m really confused, too. I guess I could be persuaded to ditch one of my credit cards, but that still leaves me with ID, health insurance, debit card, and credit card. Even if I went down to a single Magic Money Card ™, I’d still be left with three cards, not two. And then I’d be defeating the purpose of having multiple credit cards, which is differing rewards structures — one card for rotating categories (Chase Freedom), one card for other stuff.

  10. I’m hoping to get something akin to this from Saddleback Leather (they have a slim card case for $14), but it’s not something I see replacing my wallet permanently. There are some instances where I don’t need more than one or two cards, so it’s nice to have an option like this, as opposed to having them jangling around loose in my pocket.

  13. Check out landmarks and lions, a Minneapolis firm making some mean leather accessories (they’ve got a nice wallet/slip that should handle your five cards nicely – I feel you, ID tags etc, bulk up fast.

    For that matter Joe…I’d love to see a review of them on the site!

  14. Zacapa is great, and has been mentioned here a few times. Works really nice as a float on top of a mint julep as well. For sippin’, it costs less and is sweeter, but I personally prefer Zaya over Zacapa.

  15. Seriously: Joe should have been the one writing the “how to look great in a t-shirt” post that just went up.

  16. I’ve got a weirdly long torso, and a small is just barely long enough to tuck in. But, I wore it untucked (the horror) yesterday, and it looked great. So, I think you could pull off a small, but you wouldn’t be able to tuck it in.

  18. I am trying to order, but can’t get the 20 off even after using the link. Did this work for anyone?

  19. I have the Saddleback Leather wallet sleeve. I am able to carry six cards in there. I initially bought it as a front-carry wallet for travelling, but now it is my everyday carry.

  20. If you use the link, and registering an account (requires sharing email address), it should appear in the My Account section, probably under “Order Status.” That’s where I can view my credits. Any credits are supposed to be applied once the garment is “funded” and you’re credit card is charged.

  21. Regarding the card case: “A little warm weather appropriate color, but not so much that it’ll get shelved when the leaves start to fall.”

    Are we really getting to the point where we have to season-coordinate our wallets? That seems a bit excessive to me. Who would ever see this thing?

  24. Re: lame collars on polo shirts. Kent Wang, Kent Wang, Kent Wang. Not even that expensive ($65), cheap shipping, no tax in CA (yay) and fit great. They restocked recently and I picked up a heather green. I am 5’11” 165, athletic (who doesn’t say that?) and wear a L in his polos when I usually wear a medium. No pocket, which I like.

  27. I have a simple brown leather card case from J&M that holds 4 credit cards, 1 License, health insurance card, car insurance card, and a few bills without problem.

    The case has two rear slots, on front slot + a clear window, and one larger center slot.

  28. According to the size guide from Gustin the taper from chest to waist is a mere 2″ on that OCBD. So if you have an athletic build or larger than normal drop the fit is going to be way too big at the waist.

  29. I can vouch for the Uniqlo OCBD’s….and they often dip to $19.99 on sale which make them an even better bargain

  32. There’s also the must-iron OCBD from Brooks Brothers–made in American, only $79 and built to last. The extra-slim fit is incredible for slimmer guys.

  38. The Gustin OCBD looks great, except it doesn’t appear to have much of a drop at all. That’s one of those things that would be great for an In Person, given that you we don’t know much about the product or how it fits before committing to a shirt.

  39. I’ve been looking for a OCBD for a while and those LEC ones look like good quality and fit. Good price too.

  40. Hi, I’m looking for some good quality slim polo’s that are not too long. I want to wear them untucked with jeans and my brooks brothers are a couple inches too long. Any suggestions?