As I’ve mentioned before, men’s clothing enthusiasts often tout the importance of buying high-quality products, an ideal that I generally agree with. Of course, few of us have the funds to buy the best of the best of everything, so the process of finding and purchasing clothing and accessories becomes more of a decision of when to save and when to splurge. Even then, cost does not inherently imply quality, so determining where money is well spent can be difficult. This is a series of posts that show some of my purchases (both expensive and affordable) after a year or more of hard wear in order to display how they have held up over time. Only you can decide what is worth spending on and what isn’t, but the more information you have the better-informed your decision will be.
Whenever I post pictures of myself on this blog I always make a point to document what I’m wearing. I’ve found it helpful when other bloggers do this, so it seems reasonable that I should take the time to do the same. Even so, whenever a picture of this blazer ends up on my site I get tons of questions asking who makes it, where I got it, and how much it costs. So let me set the record straight, once and for all: this blazer is made by Boglioli. I bought it off of farfetch.com, the discount site for around $400. I’ve had it for well over a year now, so it seems like a good time to check in and reevaluate the purchase.
Boglioli is a very hot brand in the menswear scene, so owning this means two things: 1) I get tons of internet points when I wear it, and 2) it’s an item that I probably overpaid for. Understanding that popular items will most likely present a less impressive cost-to-quality ratio is all part of the game, so let me be upfront and say that paying the full retail price for a Boglioli jacket ($995, in this case) is a terrible idea. Fortunately, there are many places to find them on deep discount. Yoox, farfetch, threedifferent, and more regularly have Boglioli blazers at or under $400, and they can even be found at less than half that with some luck (I’ve seen Boglioli blazers at threedifferent for under $80, but they were only in larger sizes). All of these sites provide minimal information and take horrendous product photos so it’s good to go in with a strong idea of what you’re looking for.
Anyway, back to this particular blazer. This cotton jacket is from Boglioli’s “Coat” line, which is their lower tier of jackets. The “K Jacket” line boasts higher construction quality and much better fabrics (cashmere is generally a main ingredient). This jacket has all of the popular details – unlined and unconstructed body, natural shoulders, patch pockets, 3-roll-2 button stance, and functional cuffs with delightfully iridescent mother-of-pearl buttons. The buttons in particular are truly exceptional – they really make the jacket feel special. Of course, I don’t condone buying a jacket purely for the buttons, since it’s a change you can do yourself for quite cheap.
The construction quality is solid, although not out of this world. The jacket’s infamous washed look comes from the fact that it actually is washed, which made the item seem a bit more delicate to me. Some of the threads were a bit loose, and its worn in look, although wonderful to wear, made it feel a bit more fragile off the bat. That being said, I have worn this jacket hard for the past year and there are no major signs of deterioration. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve been wearing this jacket aggressively – it probably gets at least two days of wear every week. The weight of the jacket makes it perfect for downtown San Francisco, where temperatures are rarely outside of 60-75 degrees. Moreover, the neutral color and casual style make it ideal for frequent wear in this notoriously laid-back city. It’s taken the regular wearings well, only showing slight fraying and thinning on areas like sleeve ends and buttonholes. However, these signs of wear are not too concerning to me and only add to the charm of the garment.
I bought this jacket in a size 36R, which is infamously difficult to find and is also closest to my measured chest size (36.5-37ish). I don’t regret buying this size at all and the fit is great, albeit somewhat trendy. if I were going to buy another similar blazer, though, I might try a 38R. This would add a bit to the shoulders and torso, while also lengthening the jacket a touch and lowering the button stance a smidge. All of those changes would help the jacket have a less aggressive silhouette, and I think that would be beneficial. I also have long-ass monkey arms, so longer sleeves are rarely an issue for me.
All in all, this jacket has treated me well and has become one of the cornerstones of my wardrobe. I paid a good amount of money for it, but did so understanding that I was buying a trendy item and was dishing out a bit of extra money because of it. The construction quality is not as high as the original price tag might suggest but it’s more than enough to warrant frequent use and abuse. It’s one of those items that I see myself wearing until it’s completely threadbare (and I’m sure it will look all the better for it).
The rest of the “One Year Later” series can be found here.
