10 Best Bets for $75 or Less – Bonobos, Blazers, & More

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.

 

GAP Cotton-Linen Blazer – $89.95

65% cotton and 35% linen. Totally unlined back. Hasn’t arrived in stores quite yet, and the lingering question has to be: are the sleeve buttons functional? GAP has a tendency to cut their tails short (not quite as short at UNIQLO) while slapping functional sleeve buttons on their blazers & sportcoats. Here’s hoping this one doesn’t suffer from that double-whammy. Perfect muted “blurred blue” shade is shown above. Also availble in a light khaki color called “moonstone”. Always on sale, so with codes it’ll drop under $75 with ease.

 

Merona Oxford Cloth Club Shorts – $24.99

They’re back, and in more than just the dark blue that came out a few months ago. Caught these in store the other day, and it appears that there might be another color or two (an aqua and/or light blue) that hasn’t worked its way online quite yet. They are oxford cloth once again, but note that the “xavier navy” option, online, has a small print/pattern to it. Does go on sale every so often.

 

Bonobos Slim Fit Washed Chinos – $52.80 ($88)

Three summer-ready shades on sale at Nordstrom. The flagship Bonobos pant in their slimmer fit. Ships and returns free. There are more colors than just those three shown above, but sizes are extremely scattered in those other options.

 

Jomers Made in the USA Cotton Macrame Belts – $20.00

Word is these are going to be back in stock very soon. So, keep an eye on the Jomers website for em’ to reappear. One of the better warm weather belt deals out there. Slim width, not bulky, three colors, and holds up great. Just twenty bucks.

 

Target “Contents” Toiletry Bag- $18.99

Ever gotten bit by your Dopp kits zipper as you were rooting around down in its corners for something that got buried under something else? Right. Re-positioning the zipper is a simple fix for that problem. Seems like more and more designers are starting to build their dopp kits like this. Much easier to set it on a hotel bathrooms counter and have full access to whatever you need.

 

Brooklyn Tie Co. Made in the USA Linen Tie – $25.00

Made in the USA. Texture thanks to the linen, but still dark and clean looking thanks to the saturated navy shade. 2.5″ so it’s on the slim side, but the price is right for being made here in the states.

 

H&M Cotton/Linen Barely Lined Blazer – $59.95

Another ultra cheap, barely constructed warm weather sportcoat option. Size up. That’s a 42 shown above. 2/3 roll on this one, nice 77% cotton/23% linen fabric, and barely lined. It’s H&M, so the blazer tail is pretty chopped, but it should make for a decent, uber-cheap summertime blazer for those on a really tight budget. Sleeve buttons ARE functional (which is maddening), and while the arms are a touch on the long side, it’s not too bad. One of those blazers that wouldn’t look half bad with the sleeves turned up and rolled back a touch.

 

UNIQLO Tape Belts in Narrow Width or Regular – $12.90

A boatload (Ha! They’re Nautical!) of color combos to pick from. Super inexpensive. Easy to wear with shorts, chinos, or jeans. Woulda been nice to know what the measurements were on these things. Guessing the “narrow” is an inch, with the regular width being 1.5″?

 

“Young Skins” Short stories by Colin Barrett – $12.02

Contemporary smallish town(s) Ireland is the backdrop for the ambivalent and often void lives of 21st century 20 and 30-somethings. Author Colin Barrett fills that vacuum with what loneliness often attracts: substance abuse, violence, and the pursuit of the short-term that doesn’t matter. By bad luck or by bad choices, his characters never got a real chance to pursue the long-term goals that some of their peers did. And that brutally reduces the time it takes to realize that almost all of it, carpe-diem pleasures or stereotypical long term grails, doesn’t amount to shit in the grand scheme. It’s a book for when the summer thunderstorms are rolling in. “‘But Teddy is harmless.’ ‘Teddy is a gentleman,’ Matteen said. ‘Teddy is too afraid to be anything other than a gentleman.'”

 

Brooks Bros. Red Fleece Button Down Polos – $22.31 w/ BBFNF25 ($59.95)

Consider these a late addition to the Polopalooza. It’s from their Red Fleece line, so expect them to be trimmer than the regular Brooks Brothers polos. All cotton and they claim it’s oxford? Looks like pique. A shirt cut in that form in oxford cloth would be more of a pop over than a polo, no? Deep placket. Big thanks to Tom B. for sending in a style tip about these. Code BBFNF25 has been extended through today, 5/19, and that takes an additional 25% off.

 

BONUS: Ebbets Field Flannels Team USA 1934 Cap – $45.00

If you’ve ever put on an Ebbets Field Flannels hat, then you know how big of a difference their Made in the USA construction and attention to detail makes. This one is a replica of a cap worn by some of the biggest names, ever, as they spent a month barnstorming Japan in 1934 (and perhaps, doing a bit of recon on the side). Six panel wool broadcloth, so, maybe a little thick for some in the dead of summer, but it still breathes just fine, and the cotton sweatband keeps the itch at bay. Adjustable navy version sold through Bespoke post. Fitted true-blue over at Ebbets Field Flannels.

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