Early Fall?

If only... but fall clothing is starting to show up online, which is the next best thing.

There's been a lot of anticipation in blogland for the fall collection from L.L. Bean Signature. The new items went live online on Monday, and I really wanted to be more excited about it than I was about the initial spring collection, but again it just isn't doing it for me. I like that some of the pieces are inspired by items in Bean's archives, but I don't see anything that I feel like I need to have. Maybe there's more to come later in the season, and maybe I'll find it more interesting.

Part of the problem, I think, is that I can't go to any of the nearby Bean stores to see and touch the pieces. I was in the Burlington store a couple of months after the line launched, but they weren't carrying any of it, and the staff person I talked to didn't know if or when they would be. I don't think I'll be up in Freeport any time soon, so I doubt I'll be getting any hands-on time with these clothes.

Lands' End has been dropping new stuff onto their site for a couple of weeks now, in both the regular and Canvas lines. I noticed some rather blatant copying on both sides. Canvas has a pair of boots that looks very much like the Red Wing boots you can get at J. Crew: the moc toe, the lug sole, the laces, and even the color of the leather are virtually identical. I like the look of these a lot, and I've been thinking about getting a pair.

The Canvas boots are $150, which is $75 less than the J. Crew version, but those are made in the USA, and if I were to buy them, I would honestly rather spend more for the US-made product. Another pair of Canvas boots at the same price looks a lot like some of the dressier Alden "Indy" boots, again not a bad starting point for a knockoff, though in this case the price difference is much larger (probably about 1/3 what the Aldens cost).

Canvas is a bit late to the party with its version of a red chambray workshirt, but at $40 it's an excellent value, and this one is refreshingly devoid of the fussier details found on some others. I quickly grew annoyed with the extended throat tab on the one I bought from Gap, but the placement of the buttonholes makes it almost impossible to lop it off and resew the edge without it looking horrible, so I am seriously considering replacing mine with this one. (I also don't care for the fabric of the Gap shirt, which is too thick and too stiff; I probably shouldn't have bought it.) This shirt is also available in the more common blue and gray, as well as a darker blue with white stripes and a darker gray they call black with black buttons instead of white, both nice variations on the look.

In the regular LE line, there is a new waxed cotton coat that is a shameless copy of a Barbour coat. It is most certainly not made in England, and the plaid lining is kind of ugly, but for $160 it would be a decent alternative to the $400 Babrour for some people, and with LE's near-constant coupon offerings, it should be easy to score this for at least 20% off the regular price. I'd like to get a look at this in person, to see how well it's made and how it otherwise compares to the original.

One other nice piece that isn't necessarily a direct copy of any particular item, this heavy twill plaid workshirt ($60) fits in nicely with the overall aesthetic of work boots and a waxed cotton coat, and it would also work well as a shirt-jacket when the weather turns cool but not quite cold.

Even Brooks Brothers is getting into the heritage/Americana movement (which, if you think about it, might suggest it's peaking, or has already done so) via a collaboration with Levi's. Yep, BB is now selling co-branded Levi's in the 501, 505, and 514 styles. J. Crew has been selling 501s for a few months now alongside its own jeans, but the BB Levi's are manufactured in the US (specifically Los Angeles, according to the LA Times fashion blog All The Rage). They're certainly not worth $150 to me, but if you're into this kind of thing, you might want to visit your local Brooks Brothers.

BB also has a new group of nice-looking casual shirts, with details like a back collar button, that they are offering in both their regular fit and their newer extra-slim fit. Several of these appeal to me, but I'm going to have to see them in person and try them on in order to figure out which size in which fit looks and fits best on me.

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I've noticed that my mailbox doesn't brim with quite as many catalogs as in years past; between the ubiquity of the internet and the cost of printing and mailing, companies are cutting back on their catalog mailings. It's unfortunate, because I like being able to sit down with a catalog and take a good, close look at the garments in the photos. Often they are larger than the online versions, and colors tend to be more accurate.