Shopping the Life Fantastic

I love my occasional trips to Atlanta. It's the best shopping in the South, period. While there's great stuff all over town, the majority of the great name-brand goodies are at two malls, Lennox and Phipps, which happen to be directly across the street from each other. Lennox is for your average-joe (if average-joe were rich as hell), and Phipps is everything that's better than that. Needless to say, I found some things that I liked....

FOUND: Great off-the-rack tux >$1k

Hugo Boss' basic tux is a single button, peak lapel made from super 100's wool. The fabric isn't unbelievable, but it feels better than the thread count that they're claiming. It's quite nice for just under $800. Go to the Boss store. Upstairs at Saks the same suit is $100 more.

FOUND: Inexpensive, silk ties, 2 7/8 in. wide

Hermes and Ferrogamo make great ties in that width for just $140+ dollars. Skip the pricey name and go to Kenneth Cole and Sisley where they've got great ties in that same width for under $50. They're good quality and lovely, but the limited selection does present a challenge. Boss had some fab ties and a wider selection with a price that wasn't scary. (Oh, and if you live in a state without a Boss like I do, they'll ship for $15 and leave off the tax.)

FOUND: Kenneth Cole made some shoes I like (at last).

Kenneth Cole, despite my typical aversion, won my competition for the best inexpensive formal shoes. They had a pair of leather-soled slip-on calfskins that combined good construction, comfort, and a reasonably high-quality leather for $175. The KC obsession with rubber-soles was managed with a rubber inlay in a leather sole. It's the best of both worlds. (Though I still prefer all-leather soles.)

FOUND: Reasonably priced pre-shave oils

Art of Shaving had a lovely selection that I just loved. As the dollar falls against the pound, I'm rendering my shaving purchases domestic. They just got my business.

Some losers this trip were:

Nordstrom's, Phipps - My girl tried to buy a ton of shoes, and they didn't have her size (6 1/2) in any of them. Boo. You're a department store. If I can get a 36 R dinner jacket, she should be able to get mainstream shoes in mainstream sizes.

Saks - Your absolutely fabulous sales staff (I mean, they were great.) can't make up for the fact that you're marking up clothes that are available in the same building for $100 less. It just seems greedy. (My thanks to the unnamed sales rep who sent us to Boss.)

Kenneth Cole - Hire some sales reps who can be friendly and multi-task. I spent a lot less money than I was prepared to just because I didn't feel like dealing with the sales girl anymore. There were 2 customers in the store (assuming you count my girl and I together). One rep was doing some administrative tasks while the other was trying (and I use the term loosely) to assist all of us. I suppose that's why I wasn't paying more for the ties. Maybe they could just install one of those self-check registers and drop another 20% off.