2016 Retrospective

[bels]

[bels]

Here we go
Ebay
Puma (1 of 1 Sample) Lightweight Tech Jacket Supreme - Veilance Acronym £50
Literally the best thing I have ever bought. I'm CONVINCED it's part of the puma vexed generation collab. But it might be part of the puma chalayan collab. Either way it's amazing. No visible branding, stretchy nylon softshell type material. Perfect bike ergonomics. One of those items that makes ebay seem worthwhile.
Finisterre Merino Polo Shirt, Size Men's Medium, Great Condition £16
Not worn this yet, it's just an upsize on my previous finisterre merino polo shirt that's size S. Does anyone want it actually? Can sell it for £16. It's yellow. I'm talking about the size S one, I'm keeping this one for the two times of the year I travel.
Miu Miu Men's Shirt Size 41 £10
This was a good shirt but the seller had adjusted the sleeve length so it didn't fit. Flipped it for £7. Whoops (see miu miu taupe blazer for fitpic)
MIU MIU By Prada 2 Button Vented Taupe Cotton Casual Blazer Sz. 38 R Modern Fit £60
Eughhhhhh. I saw this for ages and ages. It was the matching jacket to some of my favourite miu miu trousers, but it was in America! I resisted for a long time but in the end I caved and ordered it. Paid a fortune in shipping and got stung through customs too. It was too big. Sold it for a loss. Never Import Clothes If You Live In The Uk It's Not Worth It

ARCTERYX VEILANCE NEMIS BOMBER JACKET - MENS M - MR PORTER - ARC'TERYX £190
Got this because I had sold my Private White VC harrington and was desperate for a replacement. It seemed OK but it was so boring that I couldn't really deal. It just gave me nothing. Good sleeve articulation, probably a nice fabric but really. So dull. Maybe I'd have liked it in a different colour or something. Resold it for the same price. It was really easy to resell too. Guess that's what happens when you buy hype items
Jigsaw Men's Cotton Trousers 32" Waist £5
These are chill. They've got huge cargo pockets, draw string. Very lightweight. Would wear them on holiday if I ever went
Maharishi 100% COTTON Summer sweatshirt PVC Arms Black Military Design Jumper M £30
Dceent sweatshirt. Woludn't say it was very summery but it's nice. Goes well with green maha stuff. I think it fits me but maybe a bit short on the arms. I can't really use the thumbholes. I wear it all the time though. Woludn't mind another one in a more fun colour

Maharishi Men's Pants £25
Slim snopants. Sounds like blasphemy but it's actually great (as part of a balanced diet of slim and wide snopants). The fabric is a kind of shiny, almost waxed cotton. But it's not waxed. I got drenched wearing them once.

Men's blue Ventile jacket £77
Unbranded blue blazer style ventile jacket with a wool blanket lining and an action back. ALmost definitely designed for cycling, even has a rear game pocket. I've never worn it
Maharishi shorts size m £5
Some nice navy blue snoshorts. Nice to wear when you want to wear shorts. I almost never want to wear shorts because I have "small calves" but when I do want to wear them, they're great.

Folk Shirt 3 £33
This was too small. Folk sizing is bananas. It somehow gives the impression that it's all freezy breezy hippy dippy fun fit, but it's actually very slim. Anyway the material was crazy good. Slept on brand is Folk. resold it
MENS COMBATS BY *****MAHARISHI ***** SIZE MEDIUM 9.99
Think this is just a pair of snopants. Snopants are good to own. You can never have too many pairs of snopants (but if I get one more pair of snopants it wil be too many) (featured in maharishi checked shirt pic)
Mens Maharishi Shorts £12.99
Green shorts. NOT snoshorts so don't call them sno shorts!!! Maharishi green is a really nice colour and I look forward to wearing these shorts again this summer. Maybe by then all my working out will have meant my legs don't look so emaciated! (it won't)

Maharishi Shirt Short Sleeved £9.99
Way too big. Donated to the major.
Joseph homme men's shirt £5
This was fucked from a wash cycle. Binned it
Prada Short-sleeve cream shirt - Men's 41-16 - M/L £9.99
This is cool. It's got a velcro fastening so if I ever want to take my shirt off really fast then.. I'm gold. It's just a nice short sleeve cream shirt with the fit and quality you've come to expect from Prada! Can't complain!

Prada men's shirt 42" 16 1/2 £7.99
Another prada short sleeve shirt. I have enough now. Another thing I can tick off the list.

Maharishi Mens Shirt, Patchwork, Blue, Grey, Green Fabrics Size M, , Collar 18 £25
The long sleeve version of a short sleeve shirt I already owned. It's good to buy maharishi clothing that isn't trousers. I recommend it to everyone.

MARGARET HOWELL JOB LOT MENS TROUSERS SIZE MEDIUM - X 5 PAIRS BARGAIN! NEW £80
Now we're fucking talking. That's less than £20 a trouser! Why would you bother buying from fast fashion for old people shops like Marks and Spencer when you can get Margaret Howell for less? came at a great time as well because I'd basically outgrown almost all of my size S trousers and these were all size M.
I could actually do with selling one or two of them, which would probably make this whole thing even better value. (featured in prada harrington and red prada shirt pics)
MAHARISHI MEN'S GREY LOOSE FIT T-SHIRT SIZE MEDIUM £4
This tee makes me look kind of fat. But it's also quite good. It's good to buy maharishi t-shirts for £4 because it means you can enjoy summer fashion and don't become one of those zombies who only likes wearing black coats and can't dress themselves in the summer.

MAHARISH combat pants size 32 Good used condition £25
Guess this is another pair of snopants! But maybe these were for someone else or something. Surely I don't need anymore snopants...(featured in paul smith pic)
Nicole Farhi £5
Cool shirt but I gave it away because I never wore it. It was short sleeved and had a geometric pattern, I believe.
Paul Smith Men's short sleeve shirt. Very Rare! Size Medium. Hawaiian, VGC £16
This is an amazing shirt with a picture of a crashed plane. Abandoned machinery like planes gives me the shivers. I can't wait until I wear this shirt again. What a bargain. I'm a genius

PRADA Italian Poly TECHNO Fabric TAILORED TROUSERS Pants SIZE 4O IT £5
Yeah it says 40 IT but I thought it was just...40... which I thought was like... a 50 in trouser sizing? I don't know what I was thinking really. These are women's trousers. Sold to a user on here.
Maharishi. Snowpants / Snopant. M £6.50
This is definitely the last pair of snopants I bought. Who could possibly need more snopants at this juncture. Snopants are great, don't get me wrong, but I must have bought enough. (featured in maharishi sweat pic)
Prada (Mainline Collection) Harrington jacket in brown / beige £80
Still desperately searching for a replacement for his Private White VC Harrington, bela makes a purchase that can only be described as peak IT nerdcore. Great jacket but too long for me I think. Sold to Illiam who is taller than me so looks better when wearing this.

Uniqlo X Lemaire Men's Pocket T-shirt Medium 4.99
Good tee. I will try and buy more in the next UUUUUU collection. Nice boxy fit without being clumsy.
Gorgeous, quirky Issey Miyake Men's Shirt, L/M £35
Like fuck was this shirt an L/M. It was tagged an L/M but I couldn't even hardly squeeze into it. The first costly issey miyake shirting mistake I made.
Unisex Wool Jigsaw Nordic Icelandic Style Roll Neck Jumper Sweater £25
My neck is short and rollnecks don't suit me. That's just a fact. Sold it for £10 or something
6876 Shortsleeve Striped Shirt Medium £5.50
6876 is a great brand that gets slept on forever. There's so many really good shortsleeve shirts on eBay that sell for less than £10 that I don't even think going to a charity shop would be worth it. (see Prada harrington fitpic)
Community Clothing Men's Khaki Harrington Jacket £109
Great harrington. I've worn it twice but I'm sure I'll wear it a bunch more in the future. Or maybe I won't, it's impossible to tell with me. But at least I have a water resistant harrington again. My life was just a mess without it.
IM Issey Miyake Design Studio LS Pink Striped Shirt Made In Japan £9
The second Issey Miyake Shirt Mistake. No idea why these shirts were SO much smaller than they should have been. Sent them both to mellowyellow for a reasonable fee.
martin margiela £19.99
Not actually margiela. It's a 6876 pullover jacket that I would wear when I'm on my way to tennis but it sucks on the bike so... it's not getting much use. I'd sell it but no one would want to buy it.
Maharishi twisted grey trousers size M £30
These are NOT snopants. They're "custom pants" which are slimmer. These also have a crotch gusset and the knees made of a woven cotten with more stretch. I guess this is meant to make them more functional but they're still not as ergonomic as my swrve trousers so they never get worn.
Maharishi Trousers, Rare, Storm Super, Winter-warm, Grey, M, 100% Wool.£35
OK definitely the last pair of snopants but what a pair. These are Loro Piana storm system, so wool with a waterproof membrane backing it. Insanely warm and weatherproof. I've never worn them because the weather has never got that bad but I feel safe knowing they're in my wardrobe. (featured in acronym and adidas boot pics)
Margaret Howell Wool Linen Trousers £35
Very cool black trousers with pleats at the top. I promise next summer I will tuck my shirt into them and look like I shop at other store.
UniQlo and Lemaire Cardigan (M) Olive Green £15
I sold my old +J cardigan (to bigbee?) because it was too small. Then I bought this one. I've never worn it.
NEW JOHN LEWIS & Co. Belted Trench Coat - Fully Lined Rain Winter - Tobacco M £37
Donated this straight to charity. Bought it on a truly dark night and really wasn't thinking straight.
Issey Miyake Crinkle Shirt - White Size 3 £50
Finally! An Issey Shirt that fits! It's great. I've worn it once. It's very itchy.
COS Men's Yellow T Shirt £4.99
Yellow looks good on me. It makes my arms look bigger.
6876 Mens Shirt Size Medium Oi Polloi Made In Italy £13.95
This is another short sleeve shirt. I think I might have too many. But they're so good in the summer! I really enjoy the way short sleeve shirts are cool again. I've not worn this yet but that's because I bought it in November.
Nice Genuine Men's Rohan Globetrotter Pants size 34W X 32L, Good Condition £4.99
Rohan pleated trousers. Not worn these yet because they are summerweight. Will wear them for country walks or infiltrating garden centers.
Mens Unworn Lemaire Showerproofed Cotton Macintosh Raincoat Trenchcoat, Size 38" £60
Another desperate evening resulted in me buying this thinking it was actual lemaire. Bloody stupid. I think I still have it for sale. Please buy it!
cp company trousers sportswear company £9.99
Hmm. Yet another pair of "just nice black trousers for a reasonable cost" They'll never get worn of course because I have cycling trousers with DWR and stretch but these do have an "interesting texture"

BNWT Finisterre Portland Merino Baselayer Medium Anthracite Cold Water Surf CWS £25
Black merino wool tshirt for £25.. Good deal. Merino wool... is good. And I should own more black t shirts.

SWRVE
Durable Cotton 3/4 length regular fit black £72
lightweight WWR regular fit grey £72
durable cotton regular fit black £60.00
The best cycling trouser company there is. I could buy as many pairs of these trousers as I wanted and it would always be worth it because I wear a pair almost every day. I can evangalise further if necessary.

Yoox
Boglioli Steel Grey Suit £262
I wish this was caruso but it just wasn't to be. Boglioli is fine though. A bit trendy I guess but whatever.

Christopher Raeburn Packable parachute jacket £58
I wanted a packable jacket for awaydays. This has a decent amount of features which should make it decent on bike but I have to say the breathability is disappointing. Probably OK as an emergency option.

Old Town
Unity Suit Jacket and Trousers £200
This is actually Very Good. You think it's just a gimmick, but it's actually really comfortable and very practical. Look forward to wearing this all the time once summer comes back. Trousers actually work well on the bike too. Long overdue


Howies
Uniform Stretch Chinos £34
All my trousers have to have stretch now. That's just the way life is. I'm glad I bought these, they're khaki. I look forward to rolling up the cuffs and riding my bike in them if summer ever comes back around.
Active Stretch Chino £69
Undecided how much better than uniqlo chinos are (I assume they have stretch now?) But I wanted to have at least one pair of stretchy trousers with slash pockets instead of frogmouth (the only downside to all my swrve trousers: frogmouth pockets)
I've not worn either of these trousers.

Whistles
Checked Harrington Jacket £70
Maybe I overcompensated for the loss of my Private White VC harington by buying too many other harringtons? This looked really good on me in the shop, but I'm yet to recapture that magic in real life. Um. Maybe I will when jacket season comes back around. Unworn

Maharishi
7328 ASYM VENT SLOUCH POCKET T SHIRT £40
Great coloured tshirt. Does seem to have gone a bit skewed in the wash but has only made me want to buy more Maharishi t shirts in great colours. To go with my collection of white tshirts I guess. I guess I have a perfect collection of white tshirts (long sleeve, short sleeve and linen) so I have to buy SOMETHING.

Purple Kurta Shirt like... £100?
This is a cool colour and has great maharishi pockets (best in the world) but honestly it doesn't fit that well. It's just like two bits of fabric (one for the front, one for the back) which are stuck together with a gusset for the arm pit. This means it has basically no space in the shoulders so would suit people who can't do pullups (I can do five)
Tiger Camo Bucket Hat.. maybe £30?
I wanted a bucket hat! Is that so wrong! Sure it doesn't suit my stupid face, but it keeps the sun off me. Also goes inside out to be just a plain white bucket hat so it's basically half price.
Long Shorts.. about £70?
These white drop crotch shorts would be great if I spent a lot of time hanging out on a beach, but I don't. Think these were a bit of a miss. If someone from california wants them lmk.

Wellgosh
Nemen X Acronym Nylon J28 Leaf Green/Bottle Green £500
Good to get something like this and remind yourself how acronym is overpriced. Not that it helps with wanting acronym but still. Glad I bought something that at least looks aggro rather than a plain black shell. But I do wish it had a double zip and more expensive velcro. "Oh Well"



Bureau Belfast
Malibu Sandals Whiskey Zuma Sandal £60
It's good to have sandals. Really get yourself a chilled jizz with sandals, that's what I advise to you. Wear them in the house, wear them on the street. Wear them on holiday if you're capable of leaving home without crippling anxiety overwhelming you until your stomach cramps so bad it's like you did a hundred sit ups.

Drakes
Wine Woven Solid Satin Tie £105
Green Woven Semi Solid Jacquard Tie £105
I needed ties for two different events. Through some confusion with paypal Drakes actually emailed a receipt to my mom (I don't know how this could have happened) and she went crazy asking me what I thought I was doing spending so much money on ties. I sent Drakes a really snitty email about it but they never got back to me. So maybe I won't go back there again. Not that I need to. I think that my tie needs are basically sorted at this point (they better be)

Muji
Linen tshirts x 6 Price... known
I bought six 100% linen tshirts from muji. 2 white, 2 beige, 2 black. They're brilliant in the heat (obviously useless right now) And when they wear out I will definitely just buy more (though I don't know from where?). Merino wool is a very cool alternate tshirt material, but if it's summer, you've got to go with linen.
Grey Cotton Silk jumper £30
Just a replacement for the exact same jumper that I had, this is a size M rather than an S (too small). Just a crew neck jumper. Sometimes you need one!

COS
Slim wool trousers £40
Just plain black wool trousers! Another replacement buy. I had the same trousers in blue but they no longer fit so I got these. Say what you will about COS but they bring back a lot of classic styles in a reliable way.
I probably have enough black trousers now (hahahahha, classic)
Silk Linen blue knit £40
This is a duplicate of a black merino wool knit I have that I wear everyday. No brainer to buy this. It's got "tastefully rolled cuffs and hem" so that it doesn't interfere with t-shirts worn underneath. Essential. I'll buy two if they ever make them again.
Oversized Mock Neck Sweat £30
I really didn't need this.. but I wanted it. I wanted a mock neck with an oversized fit to go with my snopants. And this was pretty cheap. Looks very goofy with slim trousers though. I pity you if you're wearing this with slim trousers

G-Star Raw
Rovic Cargo Pant £70
Combat trouser with a cropped, taper fit. Made out of a stretch fabric so it works well on the bike too. They are slightly overpriced I think though. Definitely don't pay retail.


Aoku
Tech Musette £120
I bought this with Paypal money so it didn't count. It's alright but a bit small. It can hardly fit anything inside it. Also the strap is too narrow so it starts to hurt if you fill it at all. ALso it doesn't have a stabilisation strap. Also it looks kind of like a handbag. I'm still unsure if this was a good buy. I'll be able to tell you when summer comes round and I don't have a jacket anymore.

Size?
adidas originals pro model gore-tex boot £53
I bought these assuming I'd use them in the city on rainy days. But obviously, they aren't that great to cycle in them. So I only ever wear them on country walks. They seem to cope OK with that kind of thing and I like the way they look.


Closing Thoughts
For me personally 2016 was a pretty shitty year and I think that's kind of obvious from the amount of time I've spent cruising ebay. I actually put myself into a slight bit of debt through frivolous insane spending earlier in the year (not just eBay, other stuff including therapy) which I've only just got under control. That said I bought some great stuff this year! Probably the best items in terms of wear were my swrve trousers and puma softshell. Both of which I wear near daily. My old town unity suit and acronym jacket don't get as much wear, but I really enjoy owning them.
Looking over my purchases it seems like I bought a lot of summer clothes. Almost all of my maharishi purchases work best in the summer (bar maybe the sweat and one or two pairs of snopants) and I got so many cool short sleeve shirts. I can't beat myself up about buying these things because they really did cost fuck all.

How does 2017 look? Same as I hoped 2016 looked I guess. Hope I don't try and buy any big ticket items but I'll be OK with getting random ebay purchases for less than £30 every so often. Gotta have something to look forward to in life.

EDIT: I have given sknss my ebay password and asked her to change it.

[CMYK]

[ramseames]

2016 was very restrained, spending was just under 1/3 of what I put up in 2015

Bought 23 things in total and I basically like all of it baring a few errors

7 of these were socks; I bought a few of the usual chups/anonymousisms before I discovered a new fav brand which I'm going to slowly convert myself too. not going to blow up the spot here though

9 tees and a tank:

More plain RCs, don't see the point in blanks from anyone else honestly

couple random screenprinted things

a cdg shirt with a whimsical mountain scene on it. never thought I'd buy anything from them but i needed to have this

this really heavy overdyed uniform experiment jawn that ended up being $135 after tax/exchange rate even at 40% off and was well worth it

one from FPAR, sized properly this time so i'll have it for ages unlike the 2 I sold last year

and then a Kitsune "je suis alle" tee cuz I've always had a soft spot for them, but I fucked up the sizing on this and I need to go up one. definitely will sell/rebuy though because its fun

2 midlayers:

an IE zip rib face cardigan on big sale that i wore a lot to work this summer and I think that ruined it for me in a sort of reactionary way. its a nice garment but I don't enjoy it anymore

and then I rebought my black RC polartec in XL because my grey XL one was a lot nicer than the black L I had. these are very good multiuse clothes, get worn as much for running/skiing as they do day to day
footwear:

sock darts in light grey, back when these were still kinda hard to get your hands on. great shoe

lazer air tech challenge IIs in birch: the best. i was regretting selling my old pair of ATC2s but this is a much better cw for me and the lazer cuts are neat. will probably scoop a 2nd pair as backups on ebay or grailed at some point.


the one big(ish) purchase of the year:

veilance nemis in playa, sized up to XL

bela found it extremely boring but honestly its such a good jacket. sized up it fits over my down cardigan nicely, its the perfect tan/sand colour, quite windproof/water resistant for how light it is, has excellent big pockets.


2017:
the one thing I should have bought this year but didn't was sunglasses; I lost my last pair in like dec 2015 and I stubbornly went without any all year because I couldn't find any I wanted. I briefly bought mykita mylons which were insane and in every way perfect except for the fact that they were too narrow, so those went back to ssense. I don't know what to do to be honest, having those in my hands for a few days probably fucked up my chances of being happy with anything else. I assume I'll end up compromising and getting something middling by like april i guess

I need another pair of "nice" sneakers to wear out to dinner, thinking wings classics or another pair of marosticas

more shirting, looking at the veilance field shirt in grey, something SI, and of course jungle LSs

I could use a really fucking warm coat so I don't have to wear my ski jacket all the time when I'm in whistler. feels like the patrol IS is never coming back though so I'll have to sort something else out.

haven't bought pants in like 20 months or something. might grab navy voronois

oh and backups for my mayfly wovens and for the atcs as mentioned above

[mc-lunar]

[nope]

Tell me about how you did in 2016

I bought 36 things. 21 of them were made by Jan-Jan Van Essche (22 if you include an O Project tee). Having sat down and actually added it all up the end result is totally absurd, the most I've ever spent on clothes in a year by miles. This is peak in the game.

Non-clothes wise 2016 kinda sucked but we all knew that already.

Did you buy more than you had hoped/planned or less

I didn't have any kind of plan but if I had made one it would definitely been to buy a lot less than I did.

What did you buy that you really love (post fit pics)

The best thing I bought this year was COAT#11 from COLLECTION#6 (aka SS16). It's made of "elephant padded cotton", so called because it has this super cool wrinkled texture that's bit elephant skin like. Ends up being almost like neoprene but still soft and with a bit of cotton drape. So nice. Almost tech-y compared to most Jan-Jan stuff, really holds its structure. It's just really cool to wear.


The second best thing I bought was COAT#13 from PROJECT#4 (aka AW16). Cotton / wool blend, kinda folds in on itself like glorious soft origami, you end up with nice drapey layers just on its own. Perfect for any occasion when you wish to waft around but also be mad cosy. This turns out to be pretty much every occasion in autumn and winter.


Non-JJVE entry: The Soloist x Oliver Peoples sunglasses. Buying glasses online (second-hand as well, so no returns!) seemed quite risky but these are perfect.


What did you buy that was a huge mistake

An old Number (N)ine coat off ebay that had shit photos and was spelled wrong so it was cheap. It's ok but doesn't go with anything else I own and it's sat pointlessly on a hanger ever since.

Some shoes that didn't fit (also off ebay)

Some Eytys trainers that I don't like (... yeah, from ebay)

To focus less on buying — look back on your styling in 2016.

I just put Jan Jan things on until I'm not cold. Everything I have is black, white, grey, or blue so it's a piece of piss. "Styling" would be significantly over-selling it.

What did you like wearing?

My absolute favourite outfit of the year was an ultra-casual "suit" comprised of JACKET#14 and TROUSERS#31, both made from a linen / ramie blend. I'd never even heard of ramie before but apparently it's some kind of nettle. Seems to add a bit of structure to the linen so it doesn't get so crumpled while still being super breezy. I wore them damn near every day over summer, unbelievably comfy and relaxed. I liked it so much I got a slightly different pair of trousers in the same fabric so I can rotate.


What did you expect to wear more often than you did?

I bought some nice Label Under Construction trousers off ebay that are made of this really beautiful slubby raw silk. They are lovely, but cut like skinny jeans and it turns out I can't really be arsed with restrictive garms these days so they don't get much use.

Also a really sick Peir Wu jacket from AW12 that's ultra minimal and futurist and thus doesn't go with most of the Jan Jan at all. Thankfully still works with some other bits from the rest of the wardrobe so it does get some use. Should wear it more though, makes me look like a CEO villain in some dystopian sci-fi film.


What does 2017 look like from your head?

Gonna buy a few more Jan Jan bits. A lot less though, I'll aim to grab 3 or 4 pieces from each collection I reckon. Other than that I'm not going to buy any more shit off ebay just because it's cheap(ish). My goal is to buy no more than half as much stuff this year, which gives me a maximum of 18 purchases. Seems totally doable? Also finally get round to selling all the things I don't wear.

Edit:
Went into my cold-ass garden to take some crappy fit pics just for u and
: I'm here to help

[sknss]

[dakaf_fal]