Deals and Steals for the Weekend - 11/22/2013

Back at it again. To recap: "Every Friday, check in on the blog for a collection of the best (read: my favorite) deals and steals on the interweb for some quality shopping over the weekend. Have any to add? Share them in the comments or shoot me an e-mail. Also, if you're biting on any of these hooks, I'd love to hear about it!"

This weeks Deals and Steals:

Lived-In Slim Moleskin Pants by Gap
Damn, I'm really happy I found this one, might be scooping it myself. I've been on the hunt for an affordable pair of moleskin pants, these might be the ones. Moleskin is a fantastic cool-weather fabric. It's warmer than flannel, with a similar 'brushed' texture, but much more durable. Think canvas, if it was as soft and fuzzy as flannel.

From the looks of the site, these will fit similar to the slim chinos, which are my go-to from Gap. The current 40% off regular styles with code GAPEARLY knocks these down to under $40, which is great for ANY pants. Sign up for the credit card (no commitment as far as I can tell, I did this for a deal earlier this year), and get a full 50% off. The code is site-wide on full-price items, so browse around.


Suede Norbeck Boot by Ralph Lauren
More boots, more Ralph Lauren. Deal with it. I actually saw this on Dappered.com, in all fairness, but I'm horribly tempted to buy these, and probably will. I've been looking for a pair of semi-casual boots for dealing with Chicago winters, and these may fit the bill. I love the moc toe, the color will go great with dark jeans, and the $90 price tag (down from close to $200) can't be beat.

My only hesitation is suede and wintry weather can sometimes be at odds. But really, I can waterproof and winterize these puppies and just stick to something else on really nasty days. Anyone else have any thoughts on them? The rest of the deets: this discount is part of their Thanksgiving sale, which also includes free shipping (extra bonus point to RL).


Quilted Layering Vest by J.Crew Factory
Ok, I definitely was all about this just two days ago in our most recent post, but I didn't realize just how discounted these were right now until I was wrapping that post up. This vest has been such a huge item for me, I had to include it here and bring to y'alls attention again.

You can get all the juicy details and styling suggestions here. Beyond that, All you need to know is that this beauty is also offered in grey and is currently part of the everything included in their '40% off everything sale,' which brings this vest, originally $74.50, down to only $44.50, and for some context, I paid $60 for mine and still thought it was a great deal. Yup, wore mine today.


Tweed Jacket/Blazer by UNIQLO
Honestly, I would have included this one even if it was at full price. $100 for a tweed jacket is fantastic, $80 is even better. I had great luck with a Uniqlo blazer over the summer and would expect nothing less from one of these.

GQ even gave this some play very recently, so it's endorsed by the pros, it's THE all-time fabric for fall and winter, and it's dirt cheap. What's not to love?

Last but not least:

The Gentleman's Deck by Frausto & Co.
Not a sale, but still a steal. This is a perfect gift for your sartorially inclined friend that you don't want to spend $60+ on for a nice tie, but who you know will be able to recognize and be disappointed by anything remotely subpar. These cards are exactly what they are called:

Classy, informative, and a nice touch for a dapper dude to pull out on a guys night. And after all, that's what all of this is all about, right? Being a gentleman? Swing this gift for a mere $15.95, game over.

Quilted Vests - The Ultimate Layering Piece

I've been spending the past few weeks working on a larger project for some collaborative work (more details to come), and have been focusing on cold-weather apparel. For obvious reasons, this has resulted in me spending a lot of time considering outerwear options facing the dapper dude as the temperatures continue to dip. While this year I'm really looking to grab my first quality topcoat, I keep coming back to what I see as the one outerwear piece you absolutely need. Yep, believe it or not, it's really that simple. The icing on the cake is you can get this item for a cool $50 if you know where to look, and try saying that for a wool topcoat or down parka.

Here, I'm talking about the quilted vest. It's the ultimate layering piece, and with one (just one!) in your closet, you can go seamlessly from crisp fall days to the coldest of the winter months and right back into spring without missing a beat. Case in point: I have now gone three brutal Chicago winters with no real outerwear to call my own, instead relying on an interchanging collection of thicker wool blazers, sweaters, fall jackets, and my go-to quilted layering vest.

For the most part, I started out just wearing this underneath a blazer. It added an insulating layer
without adding any unseemly bulk to my profile, which I like to keep slim, even in the winter.


This year, I've begun wearing it over top of some of my more form-fitting blazers. It's a look I wasn't 100% sure about at first but am really coming to love, and get compliments on all the time. The vest and blazer combo on it's own isn't terribly warm, but once you add some gloves, a hat and a scarf, the whole outfit gets nice and toasty.

My styling here is limited to my biz-casual work outfits, but you can work this into more casual
outfits just as easily (I do it all the time, but have yet to snap some pics). The vest is short and trim enough to wear underneath my Member's Only jacket, but still roomy enough to wear over a chunky cardigan. Bottom line, the versatility this piece offers makes it irreplaceable.

So, grab one of these for yourself, ASAP, I promise you won't regret it. Mine is from J.Crew Factory and is currently only $44.50, which leaves it under the $50 mark with shipping included. If you want a little more color, check out this gilet (gilet = vest for those across the pond) in navy and white.




Ed. Note: Due to a combination of crappy weather, earlier nightfall, and hectic schedules, my photographer (i.e. girlfriend) and I have been struggling to schedule photo shoots, and I hope you'll understand our being forced to rely on archived pictures and old selfies for this post.