Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 25,081
- Location
- London, UK
Two things: the idea of a cheap version as a style tester is genius i think. I've bought jackets (and other clothing!) myself in the past that I've lusted over for ages before finally taking the plunge, to discover i never actually wear them in anger. No matter how good something looks and how much you dig it, if you don't feel it suits you once it's on you won't feel comfortable. And if you don't feel comfortable, you never reach for it.
There is somethin to be said for it, though I would tend to be wary of buying cheap without the chance to handle it first. Other thing to bear in mind, of course, is that cheap can sometimes mean you're the last owner. If you then end up buying the Aero or whatever anyhow.... so a lot depends on how cheap is really cheap if you take a big peroportionate loss on resale, or end up buying the "real" thing anyhow. One alterantive approach is to wait for the big name version to crop up on eBay; if you're careful, buying used means that you can resell without any real loss if it doesn't work out.
That said, there are some jackets I favour on the cheap because I know I'm not going to wear them especially often, even though I want one - take the Indy jacket. Got to have a decent Indy, but will never wear it quite as often as a halfbelt, so the Wested is an ideal compromise. Also bought a Schott 618 for my Perfecto cravings, and saved the extra for an Aero in a style I will wear much more often.