10 Best Bets for $75 or Less – suede, oxford, & is the Camlin’s return nigh?

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. Radiolab Podcast: kg – Free

“Have you ever listened to radiolab?”
“No… what is it?”
“It’s great it’s… really hard to explain.”

What it is, is a constant companion on many a dog-walk, hike, long drive, house-cleaning, dish-washing, or just sitting on the back porch sipping a drink watching the sun set. Their new podcast, “kg” is sorta the essence of what Radiolab is, all wrapped up in under 25 minutes, and totally free.

 

2. GAP Lived-in Colorblock 10″ Shorts – $26.97 w/ THANKS

A former co-worker used to favor the phrase “Well I’ll be dipped in sh*t and rolled in breadcrumbs!” to express surprise and shock. These shorts obviously look dipped, but instead of in the defecational variety, it looks like they’re dipped in… SUMMER FUN! YEAH! BRIGHT COLORS! A SURPRISE RIGHT ABOVE THE KNEE (wait, that sounded dirty). No, really, they’re kinda fun. Super relaxed fabric. Nice & soft “lived in” twill instead of a stiff chino. Now, Hansel, hand over the breadcrumbs.

 

3. Stafford Logan Wingtip Lace ups – $59.99

A new arrival. Waitaminute… are they… could it be… might they be reverting back to the Camlin’s quality of leather, instead of the plastic-like stuff that’s on their Stafford Wingtip shoes (& boots) from this past season? Efforting an in person.

 

4. Everlane Suede Belt – $65.00

A warm weather appropriate belt that’ll do just fine in the colder months as well. Most O-ring or D-ring belts are flat out chunky. Not this one. 1.25″ wide. Made in San Francisco.

 

5. Maratac Silicone Watch Strap – $18.00

Perfect for putting on an old, somewhat forgotten in your collection sport watch. Flexible Silicone strap that you cut to the desired length, and connects with a satisfying snap thanks to its deployant clasp. Multiple colors available in 20mm, just black for 22mm.

 

6. H&M Suede Drivers – $69.95

Gotta love H&M when they use “PREMIUM QUALITY” in their item descriptions. Not sure you should really get your hopes way up for a $70 loafer, but as always, cheap suede is a safer bet than cheap leather. Liking the washed out navy color especially.

 

7. J. Crew Factory Slim Tee in Sea Stripe – $11.04 w/ BEACH

Now down to Target-Mossimo like levels. All cotton, a nicely trim fit, and a bit of color without going nuts. Extra 40% off most clearance with the code CLEANUP. Just large, XL, and XXL left at post time though. Size shown above is a medium.

 

8. Flowers for your Significant Other

Red roses on Valentines day are not only cliche, they’re cliche concentrate. Pretty much same goes for the anniversary. But a random dozen red roses for no particular reason? Even if you’re hitting the grocery store together, and you walk up and hand them to him/her and say “here, I’m getting these for you because (fill in specific detail that you really like about your S.O. here)”… that actually works. Don’t have a significant other? Go blow that flower money on a really expensive cut of meat for the grill. Treat. Yo. Self.

 

9. WORD Pocket Notebook leather cover – $45.00

If you’re a note taking, list making, it’s-all-jumbled-in-my-head type, then perhaps one of these is in order. Why? Well, if you’ve got a stack of notebooks working all at once, and you want to distinguish one  as the primary, “this is the important one” notebook… then why not a leather cover? That and it looks pretty darn sweet. Made in the USA. Free monogramming too. Fits more than just the “WORD” brand of notebooks.

 

10. J. Crew Factory Oxford Cloth Jacket – $93.99 & Pant – $53.99 FINAL

So just the pants are well under the $75 threshold, but $147.98 for the JCF oxford cloth suit, and there are tons if not all sizes? Not bad. It’s lurking in the clearance section, so it’s pretty easy to miss, but it’s worth considering. Sixty bucks ($5 shipping) isn’t bad for a pair of oxford cloth pants, even if you just use those on their own. Fully lined jacket but at least it’s lined in acetate. A warning: the pants are final sale. Head here for ZCM’s pro/con review on threads. Unfortunately, the extra 40% off clearance code CLEANUP doesn’t apply to Thompson suiting.

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