A pleasantly sunny and warm, yet comfortable September day working from home. Perfect weather still for some Madras shorts, leather deck shoes, and a now 20-year old OCBD from Land's End that is finally too worn and frayed in places to wear with a jacket and necktie or suit. But until a tear develops somewhere, it remains ideal for frumping around the house, albeit tucked in and with a casual belt. Said shirt is also great for recording, editing, processing, and uploading another episode of my podcast.
As I have written here a number of times before today, this particular shirt was one of several 'Original Oxfords' purchased from Land's End when I took my first teaching job outside of Minneapolis, following graduate school, at a small college now long closed due to highly questionable ethical and financial practices.
Of that, the less said, the batter. But I still have and wear several items purchased in 2003-2004 when it became clear that my existing professional attire was in need of bolstering with a few additional items. Oh, yes. I already possessed a suit, a blazer, tweed jacket, two dress belts, two pairs of tasseled loafers, a couple of pairs of khakis, and several dress shirts -- a solid starter wardrobe -- thanks to both implicit and explicit family guidance over the years. But a few additional items were necessary for teaching undergrads five days a week in more than a graduate teaching assistant capacity.
It was time to move beyond the typical jeans and Dan Post cowboy boots so typical of my grad student attire in other words. But I digress!
I still have this particular model of shirt in several colors, but as I have lamented previously, I should have had the foresight to purchase several in this very shade of light blue. Luckily, we have the likes of Mercer & Sons, J. Press, and several others that offer superior products, but at prices that far exceed the cost of the now defunct 'Original Oxford' by Land's End.
I am almost certain that they used to retail for approximately US$8.98 around 40 years ago when I recall seeing nondescript ads in my maternal grandmother's issues of Yankee Magazine. Considerable sartorial bang for the buck when you think about it. Even back then.
-- Heinz-Ulrich
My many Original Oxfords in the nineties retailed for $19.95 as I recall. They were great. Long gone, and now so is the (exact size, dress shirt style) Hyde Park which, in its last years, was basically thinned down to Original Oxford thickness. Was too new in my career to pay $45 for Hyde Parks back then but found one recently on Ebay, the old thick version, for a song. Now I never want it to wear out, so admire it in the closet more than in the hamper. JDV
ReplyDeleteAh! So it is possible that, 10-15 years before, the price was in the neighborhood of US$8.98. IN any case, thank you for commenting, JDV. Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteH-U