But for those of you that like that gangster look, the sale coming up at Ed Hardy brings the clothes 30% off right off the bat. Now, if you haven’t noticed, a lot of Ed Hardy has been showing up at places like Winners and other discount stores and even their Outlet stores have over 50% off some stuff. This is an indication that they are not selling as well as they had hoped – especially the stuff like shoes and handbags.

Allen Edmonds Hastings
I really like this shoe. Allen Edmonds makes a great shoe, probably one of the best American-made shoes on the market, especially given their modest cost. While I like English and Italian made shoes, I would be happy with a closet full of AE’s as well. The Hastings is a bit stiffer than other AE shoes that I’ve owned, and is a bit less comfortable. The broguing along the sides looks a bit funny intially, but when worn the shoe looks fantastic. As with most Allen Edmonds these are Goodyear welted.

Allen Edmonds Lambert
The Lambert was my first pair of Allen Edmonds shoes. They are very versatile since they are basic oxfords, with a pebble grain pattern. The pattern does flatten a bit over time, especially with repeated polishing. Another thing I like about Allen Edmonds shoes is their wide range of sizes. With my wide feet, they are the easiest to find a perfect size for me.

Walter Steiger Wingtips
I picked these up for 70% off at a local store, which still worked out to a pretty pricey shoe since they retailed at $950. They are handmade in Italy and probably the tougest pair of shoes I have owned. They are very well cobbled shoes with amazing detail in the wingtips and broguing. Leather is a cordovan color with full leather soles.

John Varvatos Wingtips
I dig the Varvatos style, and these are great Italian made JV’s. Recent Varvatos stuff is no longer made in Italy as these are, so quality has suffered. These wingtips are more casual in their appears and go great with a pair of jeans as well as a summer suit. Very comfortable and flexible shoes, with tremendously soft calf leather uppers. Retail on these shoes is somewhere int he $350 range.

Balenciaga Pour Homme actually used to make some very comparable ties to the Hermes ones, but I don’t believe that they still do. Most of the other brands can be inconsistent in their ties. One of the things you need to watch out for when collecting and buying Hermes Ties is the fakes out there. The best guide I have found for this is the Ebay Guide for Spotting Hermes Fakes. Read it, its a good read.

Here are a few of the factors that I use to determine the level of quality of the shirt:

1. 100% Cotton – This is the basic requirement. Sometimes fashion houses will use some sort of Cotton blended with a few percent of spandex or something synthetic to make a stretch shirt. This is acceptable but I still prefer the 100% Cotton shirt. The best quality dress shirts are always made from 100% Cotton. This can go a bit further by defining the threadcount with 80s, 100s or 200s, and sometimes with descriptions such as 2-ply broadcloth.

I find the best quality cotton fabrics tend to have a softness to them, and are less course and “crisp”. When bunched together they have a bit of spring to them. The biggest factor is the feel, however. Something like feeling the difference between cheap bedding and good bedding.

Examples of Entry Level Cotton: DKNY, Joseph Aboud, BCBG, Black Brown, Calvin Klein, Bill Blass.

Examples of Mid-Premium Cotton: Canali, Boss, Armani, Etro, Isaia, Kiton, Brioni

2. Stitch Density – Measure the stitches in the seems to see how many stitches you get per inch. The highest quality shirts have at least 20 stitches per inch. This is an often overlooked and unknown characteristic of high-quality shirts. Once you know this one you will be able to spot the difference between a Bay Dress Shirt and a Harry Rosen. Typical dress shirts are stitched at 14 stitches per inch.

Examples of 20+ Stitch Shirts: Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Blue and Black Labels, Harry Lipson, Thomas Pink.

3. Mother-of-Pearl Buttons – This is one separates the luxury shirts from the semi-luxury shirts. Many high quality shirts are made from quality cottons and stitched well, but the MOP Buttons are the crowning touch. Additionally, the thickness of the Mother-of-Pearl also determines the quality. The thicker the buttons the priceier the shirts usually are, with the thickest buttons often using stacked Mother of pearl.

Examples of Mother-of-Pearl Button Shirts: Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Kiton, Brioni, Canali, Armani Collezioni, Fendi, D&G, Prada.

4. Horizontal Bottom Button – This one is pretty obvious, but the last button should be sewn horizontally to reduce stress on the button.

5. Sleeve Placket Button – The sleeve should have a placket button to keep the placket closed when you are wearing it. Some plackets are shorter, and thus when made customers elect not to have one put in. This is common with MTM shirts.

6. Pattern-Matching – While not entirely possibly throughout the whole garment, it is possible to line up the sleeves with the shoulder seam. Most decent shirts will be at least partially lined up at this seam.

7. Removable Collar Stays – No exception here, good shirts should always have removable collar stays.

8. Pocket Top-Fold – If your dress shirt has a pocket, the pocket may or may not have a top-fold. If the top is folded behind the pocket and sewn, then it does not have a Top-Fold. However, if the top is folded forward, creating a thicker edging then it is more costly to make and looks fancier like this Canali here:

Examples of shirts with Top-Folds: Kiton, Canali, Borelli, Isaia.

Summary

Hope these tips help you in deciding what kinds of shirts are better quality. It also helps for spotting others wearing shirts to see if they are well made. Some guys buy a nice suit then cheap out on the shirt!

The Bay in Canada is now carrying the Polo by Ralph Lauren line of cothing throughout all their stores. This is a SIGNIFICANT step for the Bay as traditionally they have only carried clothing from Ralph Laurens cheapest lines such as Chaps and Lauren Green Label. While the Polo Blue Label line is not their top tier, it is still a bona fide luxury brand, with much brand awareness and iconic status.

This will start to bring the Bay just a little bit closer to the department stores of US fame such as Nordstroms, Saks and Neiman Marcus… but they are still far from that.

A friend and I were browsing the jeans at JCY HOUSE in Parker Place, Richmond BC. They sell real Ed Hardy’s and True Religions but we also found two pairs of fake True Religions in the store, selling for the same price as the real stuff.

There are theives everywhere. Here’s a video off youtube of a guy showing some of the differences between real and fake Ed Hardy:

Revolve is carrying it, and generally they have good taste, but the Neon I cannot condone, even if you’re a hipster!

Maui and Sons on Revolve

Keep a lookout for tons of other Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier sales as they are sure to come up. However, even with the Trendy look of Ed Hardy and many out there that call the designs Gaudy and Overly Trendy, google trends shows improved interest over the sale time last year.