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. Mossimo® Men’s Slim Fit Polo Shirt – $14.39 w/ SAVE20 ($17.99)
Waitaminute… these aren’t the same as the ribbed cuff/collar options with the pocket on the chest? Perhaps they’re a little more like the old mossimo polos? 60% cotton / 40% poly “stretch” fabric. Haven’t seen these in store yet (says they’re not sold in stores online). Lots of potential here. Hat tip to Luke S. for sending in the heads up on these.
2. Worn & Wound “Model 1” Horween Leather Watch Strap – $79.98 ($89)
Just a touch over $75, and a major splurge for a watch strap, but good grief they look incredible. Made in the USA from one of three shades of Horween leather (crimson, rye, or coal), and your choice of either matte steel or black PVD coated hardware. On sale through the flash sale site Huckberry… so you’ll have to fork over an email address to get access. Ships for under $4.
3. J. Crew Factory Navy Seersucker Necktie – $21.00
A solid seersucker tie? Sure. Why not? Seems like a decent way to inject a little summertime style into your spring wardrobe while the temps are still reasonable. And when summer does finally heat up, it should go great with many a summer suit… except for seersucker. Seersucker suit + seersucker necktie = too much pucker.
4. Target Merona Oxford Cloth Club Shorts – $8.74 ($24.99)
Shorts weather is a comin’, and one of the best deals out there is the oxford cloth Merona shorts at Target. These sure appear to be similar if not the exact same as the oxford cloth shorts they sold last year (pictured above). Look for the option that has the weave type as “oxford” instead of “twill”. Twill is just fine, but it’ll be a bit heavier. These things are super soft and extremely comfortable. Hits at about the knee. Not super slim through the legs, but not huge either.
5. “Road Tripping in America” – by Lisa McNamara & Paul Olson – $3.99
Graduate from college, land a couple of solid jobs, then buy a condo in Chicago and a sailboat on Lake Michigan. Living the dream right? Turns out, for at least one couple, it’s not. What ended up being the dream, was jettisoning that “normal life” and instead spending a year living out of the back of a Toyota Sienna, exploring the U.S., filthy rich with time. It’s not a step by step chronology of Paul (tech dude extraordinaire here at Dappered) & Lisa’s year on the road, but instead a meandering w/ purpose tale that dips in and out of introspective conversations, what ifs, why nots, and the occasional talking inanimate object. And there’s plenty of stories from the road too. Available just on the Kindle/Kindle app at present.
6. Tretorn Nylite Linen Sneakers – $62.99 ($78)
Tretorns lightweight sneaker gets even breezier with linen uppers. Available through a bunch of different places (6pm has the sale price, they were just 25% off at East Dane over the weekend, and the pic above is from AE) so with sales these might dip down into the $50s range. Comes with both fabric and leather laces.
7. Bespoke Post’s “The Den” Candle – $10 ($15)
Was originally part of their “Churchill” box, but worth picking up on its own. A candle that actually smells pretty darn manly. Wood, leather, tobacco, maybe a hint of some sort of spice in there too. A nice item to add on if you’re coming up a bit short of the free shipping at $45 threshold.
8. Saks Fifth Avenue BLACK Tech-Touch Leather Driver Gloves – $32
Hey, it’s still cold in the morning in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere… Has a similar looking design to the extremely well liked Orvis Lambskin drivers (less ventilation, more glove). Ships for five bucks if you use the code FLATSHIP. Brown is down to just mediums. Part of their extra 40% off sale event that ends today.
9. Link Up Knot Ball Cufflinks – $26 via GILT
Heavy metal cufflinks don’t seem to “fit” with all of the lighter weight, lighter shade spring & summer suits, so consider investing in a pack of knot cufflinks like these. Ebay has a bazillion of these sets (some with an insane amount of options for a cheap price) but perhaps you have some credits at GILT. Or perhaps you just want to buy from a known merchant, instead of some no name eBay seller on Mars. Fifteen pairs gets you all the basics and then some.
10. Nordstrom Mini Check Trim Fit Non-Iron Dress Shirt – $49.50
A newish arrival. Nordstrom’s house brand shirts are worth the cash. Great collars, good quality (not stiff/scratchy) non-iron fabric, and a slimmer fit that still allows you to move. This baby gingham / micro check would look great with the J. Crew factory seersucker tie and under a medium grey suit. Business, but still nodding towards the coming rise in temperature. Ships and returns free.
For other best bets under $75 from previous months, click here.
What’s the code for the Target polos?
Looks like the Merona shorts come up as as 20% off online, not 50%.
SAVE20
As an alternative to the candle listed above, try Man Cans. Manly-scented candles, but with a good cause.
http://man-cans.com/index.php?route=common/home
The Tretorn’s are great; really light. There’s also a linen in a different model with more of a boat shoe styling: http://www.zappos.com/tretorn-otto-linen-gray
The Nordstrom house brand trim non-iron shirts are definitely worth the money, though I will say that I find them maybe not quite as trim as I’d like. Ratio is better for me. But, then, at half the price, you can afford to bring the Nordstrom shirt to a tailor to make it better than Ratio, and still cheaper.
Not under $75, but SuitSupply has some suits on sale at Huckberry as well. Same thing applies with the email of course.
Looks like a fat sale (the semi men’s wardrobe event) ended last night and they replaced it with the 20% off code SAVE20. Updated above. Thanks for the heads up.
Whoa. Didn’t see that coming. Thanks Joe!
If I wasn’t already broke because of SuitSupply, I’d be all over that grey 3-piece. All over it!
The Bespoke candle seems to be back up to $15.
I take that back. I clicked on the link above and it was $15. When I clicked through the website, it came up at $10.
I’ve got a pair of those merona shorts in the teal color and I love them. Oxford shorts are a nice way to get some color into your wardrobe without being quite as bright as a twill green might be.
There are so many things I “should” pick up way, way before a light gray linen 3-piece…. But damn.
I’m drooling over the same exact suit. Problem is it’s linen (wrinkles) and the return policy for Huckberry if it isn’t perfect (store credit). Any advice on either of these “concerns”?
Also, could this “pass” as office-worthy, or is that just asking and hoping for too much?
I’m not an expert, but combining the linen with patch pockets…I’d think this might be a little too “cool” for a strictly corporate environment. But if you’re the cool guy in your office or get to show off for Casual Fridays, it could work (in my opinion).
I mean, what is HR going to say? “Marc, you’re just looking a little too sharp for this office. It’s making everyone else look bad, we’re going to need you to tone it down. So we pitched in and got you a gift certificate for Joseph A. Bank. Pick something neutral, and make it boxy.”
Or get their card and get it altered for free, in house.
If you’re near a Suit Supply, I’d try on a Havana-line in person and then order the proper one. But it looks like you might be in Boston (yay Marathon today, way to go USA) and you may not be close to one. So maybe call one of the stores and tell them you are trying to order a Havana online (they may think you’re ordering it off their site) and ask for a fit recommendation. They also have measurements on their website. You’ll probably have to get it tailored anyway so as long as it’s close you’d be alright.
If it can’t be returned, it seems like a good deal on a suit if you have that kind of money lying around. You may have to wait a little bit, but maybe someone else would be willing to buy it off you later at that price on one of the style forums or Reddit when it’s not on sale anymore?
If you’re concerned it may wrinkle too much for you, combined with the return concern…your best bet may be to continue drooling over it like many of us. Like southy alluded to, there are a lot of things you could pick up instead for $500.
Great advice, this is a good deal and a nice looking suit, but the deal isn’t so crazy that it becomes a no-brainer must-by.
Then I’d have an extra 5 suits due to their sales promotions! What a deal
Thank you very much for the advice. For the record, it’s not so much that “I have that kind of money lying around”, I have been throwing some cash aside every month for over a year while saving up for one really nice grey suit. Currently rocking a navy TH Trim fit and a clearanced JCrew Oxford cloth suit. I think due to sizing (9″ drop) I’m going to hold off, keep saving, and look into Suitsupply’s MTM if I can ever get into a store for a fitting.
Well played with the savings! Didn’t mean any insult by that line.
I have an 8″ drop (42 Long with a 34″ waist) and my last two Suit Supply suits, the in-store tailor recommended I buy a 40L since the pants would fit better instead of butting belt-loops together to take in the waist, and they elongated the arms about a 1/2″. Cost about the same as if I had a 42L adjusted, but there were less alterations this route.
If I may, and I know many people only get on the web to criticize, but I have read some not-so-great things about their MTM. Looong wait times, and sometimes not happy with the result. Again, I don’t have any personal experience. But I can tell you if you spent that money to go to an actual store instead, the in-store tailor will transform a pretty good fitting suit into one that feels like it was almost made for you. I think I have a bias for some reason because I’ve never been completely happy with things I’ve had made specifically using my measurements, but I wanted to throw that out there as an alternative.
Again appreciated advice. Sort of just wished they sold separates for their solid suits and made a 41″ jacket. I can fantasize. The main problem with heading to a store is the closest one to Boston is NYC – not exactly close or a cheap trip.
bummer
i have one bought from nordstrom rack, very boxy fit.
Height/weight?
I will say this, the “Nordstrom Rack” shirts aren’t anywhere near as nice of quality as the normal house brands.
They were a few years ago, but lately they’re made with a different fabric and no pocket. The shirts from Nordstrom Rack definitely an outlet-quality shirt nowadays(the fit is still great).
The other jersey polos are running out of sizes, ill keep an eye on these
are 2.5in ties still going to be around for a while? i was debating 2.5 or 3, I have a smaller frame if that matters
6′, 170 lbs, really not skinny at all.
I’m in on the Havana Brown Check. I had been looking at that exact same one. My son is getting Christened in July. In Philadelphia. In a 130 year old church that has no air.
Also – exchanges can be processed right through Suit Supply on their purchases.