The Choosy Beggar

Online and in stores, Oak has commenced its three week end of season sale, during which time markdowns will increase from 40% to 70% off. So, if you play your cards right — and stock holds out — you could walk away with a velvet Band of Outsiders jacket for close to $500.

Steven Alan oxford shirts are down to $68 at Gilt.com, which is about as cheap as they get. HERE‘s your invite to the members-only sample sale site.

Got ten minutes to spare? Treat yourself to this spirited portrait of Johannesburg-based “afro-rock” band, BLK JKS (pronounced ‘black jacks’). Presently residing in New York, they’re one tight-knit group of artists adding their own inviting style to the kaleidoscopic aesthetic of the city. These guys put on a virtual eyewear clinic, for one. And, their approach to life is quite like The Beggar’s: It is, as one of the bandmates explains, a “do what you can with what you have where you are kind of thing.” [BLK JKS via Huffington Post]

Esquire has released a 12-step program (entirely unrelated to your questionable behavior over the holidays.) Rather, it’s a guide to buying clothes like a man, which — while woefully oversimplified and entirely devoid of sale shopping advice — does offer some helpful pointers.

When buying a suit, for instance, “Check the seams on the inside of the jacket. If they’re hand-sewn, you’ll see one single thread running in a wavy pattern; if they’re machine-sewn, you’ll see two threads joined in a chainlike pattern.”

Esquire’s larger message — and The Beggar’s — is “When you know what to look for and how to make your money go the extra mile — (shopping) becomes less of an obligation and more of an opportunity.”

Operations – 50 9th Ave between 14th & 15th – 212-924-1971 – Map
Operations – 60 Mercer St at Broome – 212-334-4950 – Map