Epaulet shop - Official Affiliate thread

[wj4]



Loving nearly everything I am seeing - fantastic stuff mike. If only we had this kind of style, quality and price in Australia. So many decisions so little monies. Before I pull the trigger on some trousers can anyone who is a smaller gent comment on the rise? I'm a size 30 and I'm a little concerned about the 12.5" rise on the slim walts. I have plenty of suit pants that are 10-10.5" and I'm not sure I would want to go much higher....thanks.

What's a "smaller" gent? I'm 5'9'' at 155 lbs, size 31 and the trousers, both Walt and Rivet, are great for me.

There's also a member, SN is runningfrog I believe, who is pretty petite...I wanna say 5'5'' at 130 lbs? He also rocks both cuts nicely.

 

[Spandexter]

Thanks wj4, I'm pretty much exactly the same size as you. I certainly won't be rocking mine with your kind of style but I just wanted to make sure the rise wouldn't look silly. Any chance you could post a pic of you in a slim walt? If not, I'll dig through the thread and see if I can find one. Thanks again.

 

[CHRK33]

For anyone on the fence regarding the Veneto jacket -- I popped into the Manhattan store on Friday and I need to give Mike the highest of compliments regarding this piece. It is absolutely the best product I have seen Mike put out and knowing all the sick pieces Mike drops on the regular, that is saying something. Obviously it is a bit pricey, but very similar jackets easily run upwards of 4Gs from Brunello or Loro Piana and the finishing and details on the Veneto is just as stellar as those other brands. Well worth the price, as always.

It really is testament to Mike's sick eye for detail and vision that he made this piece. You might be thinking double-breasted puffer?! What the hell am I going to wear that with, but honestly it is ridiculously versatile. I tried it on over raw denim and it immediately took my outfit to the next level. You could easily rock it with grey pants, any blue family, just throw it on over basically anything, the colorway is so versatile. And with a thick sweater, you are looking at being able to wear this jacket almost all winter long.

The only warning I would give (and the damn reason I am not wearing it now) is if you are tall with long arms (6'3 like me), you might struggle with the length of the sleeves. Just too short for me, very sadly, very sadly and there are working buttonholes, so no real way to lengthen. But absent being tall with long arms, I can't recommend it highly enough. I was skeptical about it, but I want that jacket so bad, I am thinking of chopping off some arm length (kidding sorta).

All our recent talk about the best Epaulet piece, I really think it has to be the Veneto jacket. Check it out fellas. And so ends my PSA. Thanks for indulging me.

 

[wj4]



Thanks wj4, I'm pretty much exactly the same size as you. I certainly won't be rocking mine with your kind of style but I just wanted to make sure the rise wouldn't look silly. Any chance you could post a pic of you in a slim walt? If not, I'll dig through the thread and see if I can find one. Thanks again.

You can probably find at least 20 pictures of Walts in my blog. I take pictures pretty much everyday. I skipped like 3 days since the blog was formed.

Here are some of the Walt in various fabrics:

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/31436284853

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/33682665907/oxford-seersucker

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/34203328469/trying-to-enjoy-the-awesome-awning-trousers-before

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/32443152805

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/31510574254

http://wisith.tumblr.com/post/31321987564

 

[wj4]

If I ever see a female with these on the streets, I think I would...well I'm not sure what I would do, but man they are dope!

http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/the-1899/Kincaid-Captoe-Python,-70mm/Detail

 

[Roguls]

Steep twill shall be ordered in Rudy.

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

New Site & Trouser Preview:

We're grinding away on the new website! Here's some preview shots of the new design:







It's coming along really well, and I'm hoping to have the site active and available for testing in about two weeks. We're retaining our basic side-nav structure, but adding top drop downs and cleaner images. As a customer, you'll notice a few big improvements over our existing site:

1. Cleaner layout and easier browsing through categories. More robust search abilities
2. 1000px zoom images pop up within the item (not in a separate window) and you can flip through all zoom images easily
3. Measurements will be a clean HTML popup rather then my handicrafted excel spreadsheet images
4. Immediate tracking number emails dispatched for EVERY order
5. Robust customer accounts. If you choose to make an account (you don't have to) you can see much more of your order history
6. New arrivals section which is sorted chronologically. They'll also be a New Arrivals Blog that will show all of the new product along with our comments on it - like what we do on this thread. That way you can go there and get a really solid overview of everything new
7. We'll most likely add some new blogs too. I love shooting photos so they'll be a photography blog. And I'll do a kind of Staff blog where our guys can talk about all sorts of things that aren't necessarily clothing related. Book reviews, album reviews, cocktail recipe, weird ramblings. Pictures of Sunday's Ghostface Killah concert. Just a cool way for everyone to get to know us.

This looks great and I think it's shaping up to be a huge upgrade from the current site. Here are my thoughts:

- having the photos pop up within the item will be a huge time-saver and the current method of each opening a new tab is probably one of the clunkiest things on the current site. as long as the pop-ups still allow you to zoom to full size 1024x1024 even if your browser window is smaller, then this is a big improvement. some sites i've seen with this feature try to size the pop-up window depending on the size of your browser window which can result in quality loss to the image because it's being resized to an odd size within the browser. check and stripe patterns can start to look weird if you don't force it to one or two pre-set sizes.

- the new arrivals being sorted chronologically suggests you have the ability to sort items built into the functionality now. if possible, it would be great to be able to sort by price, especially for new customers who might want to be able to quickly find the $130 shirts to start with before they make the leap further upward the pricing scale. and I know you've said this version won't have this, but for the record I'll just reiterate that being able to sort (or narrow results -- even better) by specific sizes would really kick ass.

- for limited-run items, it would be great to know how many are remaining. I know it's a problem to coordinate the website with in-store sales, but for pre-orders that are online-only, maybe this would work. for everything else, you might not be able to say there are 2 left of something if its possible they'd sell in-store before the site updates, but maybe you could have a setting where if an item dips below 5 units in stock, it's indicated as "low stock" so guys know that it's time to pull the trigger (and that the item might be subject to having sold out in-store already; fair warning...).

Ultimately the best thing obviously would be to have the backend of the site linked directly to your POS in store so that the site's inventory would update immediately ever time you sell something in-store. But I suspect that may be a fair ways further down the line as the business grows.

- on the blogs, one thing you might consider would be having a dedicated blog or area of the site for customer photos. I know you've reblogged a couple of mine and others' on the tumblr, and guys like NYR and wj4 are contributing on a near-daily basis. You wouldn't have to copy everything over, but if you guys picked the better ones and kept them all in one place, that's something that I think a lot of people would find useful. It's somewhat baffling given that your photos are 100 times better, but we seem to routinely get requests for photos of something "in the wild" on this thread, so clearly there is interest from other customers in seeing "non-studio" pictures of the merchandise.

If you really wanted to go all out, you would have a link on individual items to "customer photos" of that item. Something like the Caine navy blazer could easily have an associated gallery of the 10 best customer shots. This would be a great way to highlight your customer relations to new shoppers as well; it'd be a way of saying "hey, our customers love our items so much, they send us these photos."

ANYWAY... new site looks awesome. I don't really see anything I don't like, so all of the above is just a wish list for what more you could do beyond what I already see. The layout looks clean, minimal, and functional. You're providing more functionality without cluttering anything up; if anything, it looks like there is less "noise" than the current model. It looks like it will be a big improvement. Can't wait for it to go live!

 

[leftofthedial]

RUDY DUDES

So the Rudy trousers from the preorder/Factory Finds haven't been cut just yet. They're being finished up this week, however, due to the hurricane, our factory is closing tomorrow.

If any of you guys want to put in an order for the Blackwatch Super 120's or the Navy Steep Twill to come with the last preorders, drop me a PM with your info and I'll shoot you a Paypal invoice. (The same goes for size 28 guys as well!)

 

[Epaulet]



Mike: If the Carminas came in already, you expecting the pythons to clear customs soon?

I hope so - waiting for status on that next week. I know that they haven't left Spain yet - they actually need the permit before they can ship. It's weird as we got the womens shoes in Python with the last shipment. But I've seen a photo of it, so I know that they're finished. Should be pretty soon. I'm so excited to see them too!

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Olive Windowpane Rudy from FF Round 1 arrived today. Can't wait for my tailor to get these back to me. Thanks Mike, Adele & the EP crew!

Rock and roll! Thank you!

Loving nearly everything I am seeing - fantastic stuff mike. If only we had this kind of style, quality and price in Australia. So many decisions so little monies. Before I pull the trigger on some trousers can anyone who is a smaller gent comment on the rise? I'm a size 30 and I'm a little concerned about the 12.5" rise on the slim walts. I have plenty of suit pants that are 10-10.5" and I'm not sure I would want to go much higher....thanks.

Thank you! And the fit should be right on given your size. Really, it's pretty rare for customers to find our rise too high. It's very much a normal rise (compared to the very low rise you often see on slim fit trousers) and provides a very comfortable and natural fit. I think that you'll really dig them!

For anyone on the fence regarding the Veneto jacket

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

-- I popped into the Manhattan store on Friday and I need to give Mike the highest of compliments regarding this piece. It is absolutely the best product I have seen Mike put out and knowing all the sick pieces Mike drops on the regular, that is saying something. Obviously it is a bit pricey, but very similar jackets easily run upwards of 4Gs from Brunello or Loro Piana and the finishing and details on the Veneto is just as stellar as those other brands. Well worth the price, as always.
It really is testament to Mike's sick eye for detail and vision that he made this piece. You might be thinking double-breasted puffer?! What the hell am I going to wear that with, but honestly it is ridiculously versatile. I tried it on over raw denim and it immediately took my outfit to the next level. You could easily rock it with grey pants, any blue family, just throw it on over basically anything, the colorway is so versatile. And with a thick sweater, you are looking at being able to wear this jacket almost all winter long.
The only warning I would give (and the damn reason I am not wearing it now) is if you are tall with long arms (6'3 like me), you might struggle with the length of the sleeves. Just too short for me, very sadly, very sadly and there are working buttonholes, so no real way to lengthen. But absent being tall with long arms, I can't recommend it highly enough. I was skeptical about it, but I want that jacket so bad, I am thinking of chopping off some arm length (kidding sorta).
All our recent talk about the best Epaulet piece, I really think it has to be the Veneto jacket. Check it out fellas. And so ends my PSA. Thanks for indulging me

.

Thanks for the writeup, I'm really glad to hear that you dig the jacket so much! We've had a few inquires for extended length in the body and sleeves. I'm not sure if the factory can do it, but I'll meet with them again in January for Fall '13 deliveries, and if we can do special orders, then I certainly will.

This looks great and I think it's shaping up to be a huge upgrade from the current site. Here are my thoughts:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

- having the photos pop up within the item will be a huge time-saver and the current method of each opening a new tab is probably one of the clunkiest things on the current site. as long as the pop-ups still allow you to zoom to full size 1024x1024 even if your browser window is smaller, then this is a big improvement. some sites i've seen with this feature try to size the pop-up window depending on the size of your browser window which can result in quality loss to the image because it's being resized to an odd size within the browser. check and stripe patterns can start to look weird if you don't force it to one or two pre-set sizes.

- the new arrivals being sorted chronologically suggests you have the ability to sort items built into the functionality now. if possible, it would be great to be able to sort by price, especially for new customers who might want to be able to quickly find the $130 shirts to start with before they make the leap further upward the pricing scale. and I know you've said this version won't have this, but for the record I'll just reiterate that being able to sort (or narrow results -- even better) by specific sizes would really kick ass.

- for limited-run items, it would be great to know how many are remaining. I know it's a problem to coordinate the website with in-store sales, but for pre-orders that are online-only, maybe this would work. for everything else, you might not be able to say there are 2 left of something if its possible they'd sell in-store before the site updates, but maybe you could have a setting where if an item dips below 5 units in stock, it's indicated as "low stock" so guys know that it's time to pull the trigger (and that the item might be subject to having sold out in-store already; fair warning...).

Ultimately the best thing obviously would be to have the backend of the site linked directly to your POS in store so that the site's inventory would update immediately ever time you sell something in-store. But I suspect that may be a fair ways further down the line as the business grows.

- on the blogs, one thing you might consider would be having a dedicated blog or area of the site for customer photos. I know you've reblogged a couple of mine and others' on the tumblr, and guys like NYR and wj4 are contributing on a near-daily basis. You wouldn't have to copy everything over, but if you guys picked the better ones and kept them all in one place, that's something that I think a lot of people would find useful. It's somewhat baffling given that your photos are 100 times better, but we seem to routinely get requests for photos of something "in the wild" on this thread, so clearly there is interest from other customers in seeing "non-studio" pictures of the merchandise.

If you really wanted to go all out, you would have a link on individual items to "customer photos" of that item. Something like the Caine navy blazer could easily have an associated gallery of the 10 best customer shots. This would be a great way to highlight your customer relations to new shoppers as well; it'd be a way of saying "hey, our customers love our items so much, they send us these photos."

ANYWAY... new site looks awesome. I don't really see anything I don't like, so all of the above is just a wish list for what more you could do beyond what I already see. The layout looks clean, minimal, and functional. You're providing more functionality without cluttering anything up; if anything, it looks like there is less "noise" than the current model. It looks like it will be a big improvement. Can't wait for it to go live!

Thanks for taking the time to write out all of these comments!

For the near future, we won't have the functionality to sort by price or size, but I'm optimistic that we can bring that in down the road. Especially sizing, as I can see it being very valuable for a customer to easily see every trouser available in a size 32, every shirt available in a medium, etc. Our plan is to do a soft launch for the new site around Nov 7th and test it for a bit. I don't imagine that we'll shut off the existing site and fully transition until after the holidays.

Special orders will be a crucial new part of the website. Our new programming allows for multiple variants that can hold stock or not. And on items with limited possible orders (factory finds, shell cordovan preorders, etc) we'll most likely be able to integrate a stock countdown on things like that.

The really brilliant thing is that the new site will slash my current costs and allow us to afford an off-site designer on call each month. The template is open, so we can keep rolling out incremental improvements as time progresses. I'm really excited for it.

 

[Epaulet]

FOUR NEW ASHLAND SHIRTS

Hey guys,

A little while ago, I put together a "basic" Ashland program. My thinking was to establish a little collection of season-less fabrics that we can work to restock every season. We just got our first delivery, and they came out brilliant. I won't have fit pics until next week, but the shirts are online and available for purchase now. We used smoke MOP buttons on all of the styles, and each is made in brilliant Japanese cloth, and Gitman's best single-needle construction.

Ashland Button Down Blue Oxford: $150

Ashland Button Down Grey Oxford: $150

Ashland Button Down Micro Tattersall: $150

Ashland Button Down Navy Gingham: $150

 

[thirdman]



- for limited-run items, it would be great to know how many are remaining. I know it's a problem to coordinate the website with in-store sales, but for pre-orders that are online-only, maybe this would work. for everything else, you might not be able to say there are 2 left of something if its possible they'd sell in-store before the site updates, but maybe you could have a setting where if an item dips below 5 units in stock, it's indicated as "low stock" so guys know that it's time to pull the trigger (and that the item might be subject to having sold out in-store already; fair warning...).

You might already know this, but if you try to add more units of an item to your basket than are available it will tell you how many are left. So, just add 10 of whatever you're interested in and when it warns you there aren't that many available you'll be able to see exactly how many there are. This might not always account for in-store sales, etc. but it's good if you just want to know if there are only one or two of something left in your size.

 

[bestak]

hello
i juste hear here in Paris at the news that some serious weather trouble is coming to reach you soon.

Anyway it will be maybe a perfect enduring test for the Dowanhill and the Dunoon

(l'occasion fait le larron, It is a french expression meaning the context gives you a chance to do something you might not be able to do in another context)

good luck

 

[edubs01]

Hey Mike-
Really diggin' those blackwatch trousers.
When can we expect them to go live?

 

[stevent]



Hey Mike-
Really diggin' those blackwatch trousers.
When can we expect them to go live?

Yeah don't want to miss out myself, Matt can you send us a presale invoice or something like that?

 

[wj4]

Mike: Do you have plans on doing a denim shirt?