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Thank God for Ralph Lauren

chanteuseCarey

Call Me a Cab
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2,962
Location
Northern California
Thankfully, for our young teenage son (13yo) there is also the lower priced Ralph Lauren Chaps line at Kohl's chain store out here. Good way to snap up their dress shirts and ties for him. I've also found some RL things for him at Nordstrom Rack. Seems like Norstrom's boys dept and RL are the only really good sources for classic clothes for his age. Daniel's most recent acquisition bought on sale RL online- linen and cotton cricket sweater. He wore it here to the ADSC Gatsby Summer afternoon 13 September 2009, and a couple more times since.
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Mid-fogey

Practically Family
Messages
720
Location
The Virginia Peninsula
Your son...

chanteuseCarey said:
Thankfully, for our young teenage son (13yo) there is also the lower priced Ralph Lauren Chaps line at Kohl's chain store out here. Good way to snap up their dress shirts and ties for him. I've also found some RL things for him at Nordstrom Rack. Seems like Norstrom's boys dept and RL are the only really good sources for classic clothes for his age. Daniel's most recent acquisition bought on sale RL online- linen and cotton cricket sweater. He wore it here to the ADSC Gatsby Summer afternoon 13 September 2009, and a couple more times since.
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374084744.jpg

...seems like a good sport with the vintage stuff.
 

MrBern

I'll Lock Up
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4,469
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DeleteStreet, REDACTCity, LockedState
RRL cinchback/buckleback

For the trouser lovers. (Pants envy?)
A pair of RRL trousers. Cinchback, splitback waistband, heavy herringbone wool, fully lined to the ankles. Full cut, & high waisted. Buttonfly of course.
3994473358_bdd91da07b.jpg
 

Lamplight

One of the Regulars
Messages
210
Location
Bellingham, WA
Having never owned a single article of Ralph Lauren clothing, I recently purchased (on sale) a shirt, casual grey trousers, and a jacket. So far I am very impressed by the comfort and quality of these things. I know what brand my next pair of jeans will be now, too.
 

mike

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2,000
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HOME - NYC
MrBern said:
For the trouser lovers. (Pants envy?)
A pair of RRL trousers. Cinchback, splitback waistband, heavy herringbone wool, fully lined to the ankles. Full cut, & high waisted. Buttonfly of course.
3994473358_bdd91da07b.jpg

Are those new? Where did you find em? RRL/Rugby although have some terrific style are often frustratingly slim cut and low rise :eusa_doh:
 

chanteuseCarey

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2,962
Location
Northern California
Thanks for your post! Yours helped me to remember that up in the top of my closet were my two pairs of RL cords and a pair of RL jeans. I had put them away months ago when the hot weather hit, and forgot about them! I just got them down and put a pair on late this afternoon. Perfect for our at last Autumn weather here.

Lamplight said:
Having never owned a single article of Ralph Lauren clothing, I recently purchased (on sale) a shirt, casual grey trousers, and a jacket. So far I am very impressed by the comfort and quality of these things. I know what brand my next pair of jeans will be now, too.
 

chanteuseCarey

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2,962
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Northern California
That's why I have hung onto my three pairs (winter white, lt. grey and caramel brown) of RL ladies high waist full cut pleated wool trousers I bought at Nordstrom in 2003. They are a great classic style. I just had the brown pair relined and a small tear rewoven in the summer. I had originally bought them in a size 12, and when I lost weight I had them altered to be a size 8. When one pair finally falls apart, I'm going to take them apart and use the pieces as a pattern to have more pairs made. The new trousers these last couple of seasons are synthetic blends and the low rise is awful!

mike said:
RRL/Rugby although have some terrific style are often frustratingly slim cut and low rise :eusa_doh:
 

chanteuseCarey

Call Me a Cab
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2,962
Location
Northern California
wow, lined to the ankle too? Those are a beauty! Would be great for my husband or our son...

MrBern said:
For the trouser lovers. (Pants envy?)
A pair of RRL trousers. Cinchback, splitback waistband, heavy herringbone wool, fully lined to the ankles. Full cut, & high waisted. Buttonfly of course.
3994473358_bdd91da07b.jpg
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
Those fully lined trousers can probably only be worn while outside. I had a pair that were lined to the knee in silk and it was intolerable indoors!
 

chanteuseCarey

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2,962
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Northern California
just trolled evilBay for boys size 12/14/16 RL clothes... put a couple of things on my watch list. If one of the items (have some questions out to the seller) works out and I score it, I'll be sure to post a pic of it.
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
The pants were wool (if I remember correctly) and the lining silk. Wool and silk are both warm fabrics and I think silk the warmer of the two. Silk is thin but retains heat very well. A double dose of insulation!
These were dress pants in a nailhead pattern. Really nice but not made for a modern office environment!
 

Brummagem Joe

Familiar Face
Messages
78
Location
CT, USA
Popularisation

I'm a qualified Ralphie fan but I think you're being a bit unfair to the the legions of classic British, Italian, French and American purveyors of classic clothing items like Charvet, Harvie and Hudson, New and Lingwood, J. Press, and Italian and British tailors too numerous to mention. It was always there, and still would be there, Ralphie's skill was as marketer and merchandizer who has created a global brand. It also needs to be remembered that over 50% of his revenue comes from his outlet stores which have a lot of dreck in them. You can certainly make the argument that he actually harmed more traditional retailers rather as Wal Mart harms main street stores in small towns. I'm not going to criticise him for this, it's part of the Darwinian nature of business but he hasn't really grown the market in overall terms (more suits are not being sold than thirty years ago when he started up) he's just taken market share off others. I like some of his high end stuff although he can exaggerate a bit at times so that I suspect the "old money" on who he models his clothes might not always go for his look. Re reading this I realize that I'm perhaps damning him with faint praise so it's probably fair to say about him as Hillary Clinton said about Wal Mart ....he's a mixed blessing.
 

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