Consider these to be power rankings. Whether you’re looking for gift ideas or a quick upgrade for yourself, expect these to come around about once a month. The potential best of the best, which you may or may not have seen already. Agreements, disagreements, and additions are more than welcome in the comments section below. Top Photo Credit: andrew_j_w .
5. The Standard Memorandum Annual Journal – $11.00
Via Word Notebooks. The Cliffs Notes version of… your life. A few lines a day and you’ve got a record of who and what you were. Even for those of us who are allergic to nostalgia, there might be something here. $45 gets you the notebook plus a leather cover that you can have monogrammed for free. You could obviously pick up something much cheaper. But they nailed it on the purposeful styling here. Made in the USA.
4. J. Crew Velvet Shawl Collar Ludlow – $288.00
A dame (or dude) slayer. Will often dip to $216 thanks to the every-so-often 25% off $150 codes. Shawl collar. Might look completely ridiculous in a few years, or, right now depending on where you live. Wear the ever living sh*t out of it if you jump in these waters.
3. Claiborne Brown Suede Wingtips – $31.99 w/ NOVSAVE ($60)
Wait, how much? Well all right then. Code gets you an extra 15% off up to $100 through 11/6. These… obviously very much on sale. They feel like they’re solidly built, the sole is grippy for slick fall sidewalks, and if they get rained on? So what. They’re thirty bucks. A nice (and cheap) upgrade for fall casual footwear. Full review here.
2. Jack, Royal Doulton’s British Bulldog – $58.99
“The whole office goes up in smoke and that bloody thing survives.”
“Your interior decorating tips have always been appreciated…”
1. One of the new Orient Bambinos – $182.00 w/ dappered30 ($260)
Same domed crystal, same in-house movement, but they slimmed down the hands, added Roman Numerals, and gave the dial some early 20th century looking font and added on an onion shaped crown. 40.5mm case diameter. It’s not often that a sequel outperforms the original. Scroll down on the item’s page to see all of the different styles. Two of the four styles are sold out at post time.
BONUS: Those Broken Homme Boots from the Eliminator – $225.00 ($265)
Many thanks to our winner Jason D. for sending in this shot of his new boots and his first impressions: “They’re a little darker than the pics online and actually look better in person. Leather is soft and the sole feels indestructible. Love the fact that they’re Goodyear welted and made right here in the states too. I’m very impressed and look forward to wearing them!” Good golly look at that sole. They’ve just returned to Huckberry’s Fall Essentials shop at forty bucks off. Still a lot of money, but it sure looks like you get a lot for that cash. Made in the USA.
Want more most wanted? Click here for the top 5 most wanted lists from previous months.
I can’t decide which is more awesome, those shoes’ price or its name… “Clairborne Gaylord Suede…”
In the original review for the Claiborne shoes, you mention their double monk strap shoes. Any word on the quality of those?
I’d pass on the double monks. Cheap suede continues to look and feel much better than cheap leather in person.
I didn’t own any dub monks, so i decided to take the plunge with those. Had them for a year now… no complaints. Cheap leather for sure, but it doesn’t have that horrendous patent leather look. Creasing isn’t all the bad either. Probably worn them 10 or so times. Should be able to get another year out of them, easily. Worth the 50 bucks to me.
i have those handsome suede brown swb. what a deal now at 31$. one feature i really like about the shoe is the super soft insole. change out the sticky tacky laces though.
that ludlow velvet actually has a cool high low look with washed denim. would be a nice touch for holiday parties. fancy but not too fancy.
i think i’ll try out the journal. buying it is the easy part. keeping it up will be the challenge.
Note to self: in 2028 when my godson graduates from high school, get him a decent watch and one of those journals.
I wish the new Bambinos came in a white-faced watch with silver hands. Rose gold hands a little to “trendy” for my preference.
I want that Bambino.
I’d jump on the Claiborne’s if they had my size. Maybe they’ll have some in-store on my way home. I’m a 12, and they don’t have an 11.5 so I feel like I need to try them on before deciding.
How about a “how to wear it” feature on the Ludlow blazer?
Unfortunately, they do not have the Claiborne’s in my size and I’d really like some suede shoes. I came across these… http://www.target.com/p/men-s-merona-rhodes-oxford-collection/-/A-14407138 Does anyone have any experience wearing these? I bought chukkas from them a year ago and they have held up fairly well. They probably would have benefited from a heel tap, but hey, they were $40 and fit very comfortably now.
Those shoes appear to be canvas when you zoom in.
It appears as though, you are correct! Sad day.
it was trendy in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and probably not the 90,s or 00’s. Trends always come back around. Rose gold isn’t going anywhere.
They do: Bambino ER2400AW
It seems like these guys have them in stock, though I’ve never purchased anything from them, so I can’t say if they’re reputable or not.
http://www.watches88.com/pd-orient-classic-automatic-er2400aw.cfm
Yep – I saw them in person a while back, and posted a pic or two of the leather (non-)quality here in one of the posts’ comments section back then too. Very wrinkly when flexed – making me feel that they were not a very nice leather option. That was the dub-monks and the penny loafers.
These suede ones feel and look much nicer in person, but I *personally* wasn’t too keen on the insoles. Felt kinda squishy too me, in a weird way. The ones I saw were kinda creased and foled inside too. Maybe my local JCP just had a weird batch of 2nds? Maybe I’ll ask them if I can get a 2 for $30 deal on them, in an AE shoebank sort of thought process.
Don’t forget a solid pen. Buy something classic, but cheap enough to be replaceable.
See, those super soft insoles felt weird and squishy to me, when I tried them on in-store. Maybe I should’ve given them more of a go. Great price, decent look, just felt kinda weird to me walking around the shoe section for a brief couple of minutes.
Serious question – what’s up with the Roman numeral “4” on the new Bambinos?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals#.22IIII.22_on_clocks
I was specifically referring to the silver/rose gold combo. Thanks for specifically pointing out each decade for me. (rolls eyes)
Good call. Thanks for the heads up.
Also having trouble logging onto the Threads..
Thought it was just an issue with my PC, but now my iPhone gives me the same results. Thought there might be something about it on the main page. Maybe they’re hip to it already. Dunno. Guess I could email them, but would hate it if they are already swamped with those about it.
And knowing is half the battle. Thanks!
I wish it came in a white face with blue hands – it looks like beige or off white?
whoa yeah it looks good
Appreciate you guys noticing. Yeah, we had a bit of a blip today. Apologies for that, but the team (read: Paul) was on it right away. Thanks for the patience!
It’s awfully affordable, but I’m now always disappointed when I don’t have the Kaweco from the Bespoke Post box from a few months back on me.
http://dappered.com/2013/08/win-it-bespoke-posts-frontier-box/
Paul da man! – I had a feeling that it would be addressed as quickly as possible, as all of the mods rock; and I bet most if not all of them were already aware of the issue and on track to getting it up and running again
It’s funny (or sad?) though, just how much I missed my *threads* fix, in that short amount of downtime. Great site! Great community! Thanks Joe! Thanks community!
See the link above. Wish granted. 🙂
They sold out pretty fast. There were a decent size selection yesterday morning.
I bought the Pilot Metropolitan recently and couldn’t be happier with the purchase. I like the writing a bit better than Lamy’s and the pen has the classic looks. At 17$ from Amazon, I could do a lot worse.
Just got mine in the mail today. Usually wear 11.5, ordered an 11 and they are still too big. Might walk around the house with them to see how they feel but they barely lace up tight enough without each “flap” overlapping and looking funny. They look amazing though for $32!
Probably need a 10! All out of stock though!