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glovercom's account of his first trip to Europe while watching the Italian men walk around Sardinia carrying "man bags" reminds me of the time I first discovered clothes.
I was an impressionable kid, I'll admit. One day when I was 14, I was standing on Sutter Street with my Mom. She had run into a friend and you know how women are, they jabber incessantly. So while they're jawing away, I looked into this store. Inside was some of the neatest clothes I had ever seen. It was the summer of 1975. I turned to my Mom and said "I'm just going to go in and look."
The store? Wilkes Bashford. The clothes? Ralph Lauren.
If you look back at the mid-seventies, clothing styles were all over the place. You had the perennial preps in their Lacostes (the alligator), the left over hippy-dippy's in their thrift shop/pre-Annie Hall gear, the Leisure Suited polyesterlings (along with some of the worst hairstyles to ever be created).
As I walked farther in I found beautiful sweaters in a kaleidescope of colors; wonderful shirts, neat ties, all with the eponymous polo player emblazoned on it. In 1975, Wilkes was the only store that carried Ralph Lauren as well as a host of other designers like Peter Barton, Jhane Barnes and Yamamoto. And with all that exclusivity came some of the best looking men you ever laid eyes on.
In short, I was in heaven. Even better, nobody at school wore or even knew the label. So in a way, I stood out.
Through a thoughtful, beautifully attired salesman named Jim, he taught me all about quality. In those days, a simple polo shirt started at $26 - a fortune then. I still have the first shirt I ever bought there, a simple blue polo shirt. I keep it because it was a milestone and a love affair with the label that's been going strong for 31 years. Jim was smart enough to alert me to when things would be going on sale (twice a year in those days; January and June) and would hold stuff for me before it hit the sales rack. I was always working from the time I was 13 and while I was good at hoarding money, I always had a special "clothing savings account" I would throw a percentage of pay into each month for these special forays.
In those years when Wilkes was at 336 Sutter (now at 375 across the street), the store was designed on different levels. The floors were beautifully worn Mexican pavers. Wilkes had his own line of clothes with his own logo that was carried on to t-shirts, duffel bags, even socks. It was fun without being stuffy, exciting without being outrageous. In an era where taste flew out the window, the best taste was right here.
Wilkes lost the Ralph Lauren exclusive years ago. The label expanded into a cottage industry of its own with its own shops and products. I can tell you that their sheets and towels are dreadful, the dress clothing never fits me correctly and their ties are a little too frumpy. However, their claim to fame - sportswear of the shirt, sweater, shorts, belts and outerwear variety - still maintains a decent quality and design that's timeless and fun.
Over the years, I've amassed a large collection of clothes from Ralph Lauren. I still stick to my old habits and purchase during the sales (these days it's the Private Sale that yields the best buys) and every now and then, things do wear out after a long amount of use so they need to be replaced. And while I sometimes find interesting items at the outlets, its walking into the store at Post and Kearny and seeing all those beautiful clothes that gives my step an extra zip and it's all those colors in the sportswear department that make me smile and remember the first time this 14 year old kid was introduced - no, mesmerized - by color, style and quality.
glovercom's account of his first trip to Europe while watching the Italian men walk around Sardinia carrying "man bags" reminds me of the time I first discovered clothes.I was an impressionable kid, I'll admit. One day when I was 14, I was standing on Sutter Street with my Mom. She had run into a friend and you know how women are, they jabber incessantly. So while they're jawing away, I looked into this store. Inside was some of the neatest clothes I had ever seen. It was the summer of 1975. I turned to my Mom and said "I'm just going to go in and look."
The store? Wilkes Bashford. The clothes? Ralph Lauren.
If you look back at the mid-seventies, clothing styles were all over the place. You had the perennial preps in their Lacostes (the alligator), the left over hippy-dippy's in their thrift shop/pre-Annie Hall gear, the Leisure Suited polyesterlings (along with some of the worst hairstyles to ever be created).
As I walked farther in I found beautiful sweaters in a kaleidescope of colors; wonderful shirts, neat ties, all with the eponymous polo player emblazoned on it. In 1975, Wilkes was the only store that carried Ralph Lauren as well as a host of other designers like Peter Barton, Jhane Barnes and Yamamoto. And with all that exclusivity came some of the best looking men you ever laid eyes on.
In short, I was in heaven. Even better, nobody at school wore or even knew the label. So in a way, I stood out.
Through a thoughtful, beautifully attired salesman named Jim, he taught me all about quality. In those days, a simple polo shirt started at $26 - a fortune then. I still have the first shirt I ever bought there, a simple blue polo shirt. I keep it because it was a milestone and a love affair with the label that's been going strong for 31 years. Jim was smart enough to alert me to when things would be going on sale (twice a year in those days; January and June) and would hold stuff for me before it hit the sales rack. I was always working from the time I was 13 and while I was good at hoarding money, I always had a special "clothing savings account" I would throw a percentage of pay into each month for these special forays.
In those years when Wilkes was at 336 Sutter (now at 375 across the street), the store was designed on different levels. The floors were beautifully worn Mexican pavers. Wilkes had his own line of clothes with his own logo that was carried on to t-shirts, duffel bags, even socks. It was fun without being stuffy, exciting without being outrageous. In an era where taste flew out the window, the best taste was right here.
Wilkes lost the Ralph Lauren exclusive years ago. The label expanded into a cottage industry of its own with its own shops and products. I can tell you that their sheets and towels are dreadful, the dress clothing never fits me correctly and their ties are a little too frumpy. However, their claim to fame - sportswear of the shirt, sweater, shorts, belts and outerwear variety - still maintains a decent quality and design that's timeless and fun.
Over the years, I've amassed a large collection of clothes from Ralph Lauren. I still stick to my old habits and purchase during the sales (these days it's the Private Sale that yields the best buys) and every now and then, things do wear out after a long amount of use so they need to be replaced. And while I sometimes find interesting items at the outlets, its walking into the store at Post and Kearny and seeing all those beautiful clothes that gives my step an extra zip and it's all those colors in the sportswear department that make me smile and remember the first time this 14 year old kid was introduced - no, mesmerized - by color, style and quality.
