“Two thousand dollars for one suit?! Are you crazy? I don’t have
that kind of coin to spend on one suit! Yes I am well aware of
the quality and that it is well worth every penny. I just can’t
justify spending that kind of money on one garment. Oh but I
sure would love to have an Armani.”
Rest assured if you hear yourself in the above comments, you’re
not alone. Countless businessmen would love to have fancy
designer suits but their budget doesn’t allow for it; champagne
tastes on a beer budget … understood! There’s a way you can get
one or more of these suits without costing you an arm and a leg.
If you could buy one for anywhere from $15 to $300, and it wasn’t
stolen goods, would you? Read on.
Definitions on what makes a men’s suit categorized as “Designer”
may vary. One eBay seller’s definition is “any brand of
pre-owned suit that has sold on online auctions for $300 or
more.” She continues, “See for yourself. Do a search on
completed auctions–MEN’S SUITS, sort High to Low in price and see
what brands repeatedly come up.”
Here are some of the brand names classified as “designer”:
Acquaviva, Barberini, Baroni,Belvedere, Brioni, Canali, Charvet,
David Eden, Dolce & Gabbana, Enrico Venturi, Ermenegildo Zegna,
Fendi, Gene Meyer, Gianni Manzoni, Gionfriddo, Giorgio Armani,
Gucci, Hugo Boss, Leonardo Valenti, Luciano Carreli, Natazzi,
Nino Bertini, Otello, Prada, Rossetti, Trussardi, and Versace.
Where are you going to find these suits? If you want to pay under
$20, you’re going to start hunting all the thrift/second hand
stores. Yes you will indeed find them there, but you need to
search. If you don’t mind paying a little more, just go directly
to eBay. They are out there.
If you opt to hunt for your own, here are a few simply tips for
thrift store hunting. Don’t expect these wonderfully made
designer suits to jump out at you. And don’t expect to find a
boatload of them all in one place. It is truly a matter of
treasure hunting.
Thrift stores, estate sales, storage unit auctions and garage
sales will be your best hunting ground. Not to discourage you,
but it won’t be uncommon for you to look through 100+ suits until
you might find one “good” one. The good news is that after you
have a little experience under your belt, you will be able to
whip through an entire rack of suits in mere minutes and tell
just by look and feel which ones are even worthy of looking
inside for the labels. Take your list with you and become
familiar at which brands you’ll pause and take a second glace.
You may need to have a circuit of approximately 10-12 second hard
stores that you frequent hoping to hit the mother load. You
you’re intrigued in the quest, shop a minimum of once a week at
each locale! Your efforts will pay off. But as mentioned above,
if this is more work that you care to spend on finding a suit,
you know the way to eBay.
Enjoy your new dashing designer suit!
