Dear Diary

[andrewducker]

Today I spent more on an item of clothing than I ever have before.

Having looked fruitlessly for a full-length woolen overcoat a couple of weeks ago I was offered advice by joexnz to try the Shelter on Nicholson Street, so Julie and I dutifully spent half the day scouring _all_ of the charity shops in Edinburgh (Well, the 6 in that area, and all the ones we could find in Morningside, where the rich people give nice things to charity shops). Sadly, the only coat we found that was suitable was (a)£75 and (b)in a charity shop that was didn't open on Sundays.

So I took the advice given to me by a friend at work, and went to Slaters on George Street, where we found this one for £90. Which is more than I've ever spent on a single item of clothing, but for something which will hopefully last a few years, is made of wool, and should keep the damnable Edinburgh winter off of my thighs, is well worth paying. Especially when I couldn't find anything similar for less than £120-£150 elsewhere.

They also had a wide selection of other smart-ish clothing, so I'll have to try them again next time I need something for work.

Comments

[joexnz.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry you didn't get the one in Jenny's shop.
Glad you found one though!!

[andrewducker]

Oh, no need to apologise - I should have got my arse down there a lot faster!

[aitkendrum.livejournal.com]

Slaters are excellent. if you are ever in Glasgow hit the main store in Howard St, selection is fantastic.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

90 quid is not bad for a coat.

[andrewducker]

Oh, absolutely. £90 is pretty fantastic for a coat. Which is probably why I've always had them out of charity shops until now.

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

[call-waiting.livejournal.com]

YES! That's exactly what I thought.

Also: I used to have a glorious long overcoat with lovely purple lining, which similarly was the largest amount of money I ever spent on one item of clothing, but it was worth it. The lining eventually got shredded and the tailor I took it to told me I should just buy a new one because it would cost more to get it re-lined than to just buy a new one. So I recycled it, and started looking for a replacement. Sadly, they seemed to have gone out-of-style since I'd bought mine. Wish I'd kept it and had it re-lined now, I still haven't quite found its match.

[andrewducker]

Madam is made of pure awesome.

[bluegreen17]

how does a shark roll on the floor? just curious...hee.

[fearmeforiampink]

I've spent £200 on an item of clothing. But that was a full length leather trenchcoat for a 6'4" person, bought in Camden Town (as that was the only place I could find a choice of decent coats that would fit me), was bartered down from £260, and is still surviving and being useful to me half a decade later.

[matgb]

Even I've spent more money than that on a single item of clothes before (and my jacket, a gift from GW after 10 yrs work, is worth more'n that as well).

A good coat is worth good money. I'm tempted to try to get a much longer coat for this winter, Yorkshire winters can be cold and I work outside most days.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are some things that are just worth sinking your cash into.

In other news that might be useful for you I believe that Slaters tailor your purchases for free.

[andrewducker]

Oooh, that is useful. Thanks!

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Wow, really??? I've paid more than that for shoes or a handbag before!

[andrewducker]

You're a girl.

I don't really see the point in paying more than about £30 for shoes, unless I'm buying specialist running shoes or something like that.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I think I only have one pair of shoes that cost me less than £30.

[andrewducker]

Yes. That doesn't surprise me at all :->

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Hmm, most of my shoes easily exceed £30 in cost - I'm a shoe and bag whore as such - I'm more frugal with clothing(except for corsets) though.

[naath.livejournal.com]

As a girl...
*shiny-pretty shoes of great pointlessness are so painful and nasty to wear even if they are very pricey that I buy cheap ones in the 20-30 pound range which are no more painful on the feet but much less so on the wallet
*sensible every-day shoes made from decent, sturdy leather that can be properly fixed rather than thrown away when they break... cost about 50-100 pounds, more of course if one wants them custom fitted (I've not managed to pay for that yet though).
*specialist shoes can indeed cost much more, although my running shoes were only about 30 my hiking boots were more like 150 (but I wear them to work in winter because OMG IT IS COLD in this office).

I've spent a lot on clothes in the past, and probably will in the future. But mostly fabric and yarn for making my own these days (no, it's not cheaper than buying things).

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I've paid more than that for clothes :-)

So did you have a momentary midlife crisis where you realised you could buy an army surplus greatcoat, but then realised you were past that part of your life?

[andrewducker]

Didn't even think of it, to be honest. I've never had an army surplus coat before - they've all been charity shop cases. Looking at army surplus ones online, they're not really the look I'd want anyway.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

That look being "guy in an obviously army surplus coat" :-D

*wipes tear from eye*

They grow up so fast.

[andrewducker]

It's never a look I've particularly liked.

[princealbert.livejournal.com]

My wardrobe is of extremes. Lots of bargains like the coat I'll be wearing tomorrow (£20 out of Topshops online sale), underneath that will be the handmade suit I got in Hong Kong.

[zz]

my most extravagant purchase (by volume) along those lines has to be £100 for a pair of sunglasses. Although they have lasted 5.5 years without breaking or the coating wearing off so far, where previously i had to buy new ones every year.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Seconding £90 being not at all bad for a coat.. I paid £80 just for the fabric (not including the lining fabric, buttons, thread, interlining or interfacing) to make one last year. They are expensive things, decent coats.

[andrewducker]

Yup. I went in prepared to pay more (although not vastly more), and was very happy to find one for that amount!

[cybik.livejournal.com]

If I'd been able to afford a warm, nicely cut coat in a colour I liked I would have bought one, but I couldn't find anything. If I'd bought a tweed coat it would have been at least a couple of hundred..

You should post photos of your coat so we can all admire it.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

(Ignore the dodgy grammar of that comment; I'm ill, I'm at work and it's Monday morning.)

[andrewducker]

I've pretty much trained myself to be blind to dodgy grammar. I think of LJ comments (and most LJ posts) as being in the spoken mode rather than the written.

[andrewducker]

You can see photos of it by clicking on the link in the post. Not with me in it, right enough. I may post one of me in it at some point though.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, but it's always nice to see what something looks like on! :) It looks warm, though, and that is definitely the important thing..