THRIFTY THURSDAY: Made In Italy

It's boots like these that will forever have me preaching the eBay gospel, ladies and gentlemen. Is it too early for boots? Perhaps. But when I saw these bad boys on eBay while doing some pre-fall bargain hunting, I had to pull the proverbial trigger (get it?). After all, for the price of about four Chipotle burritos (and I'm talking steak burritos here, or barbacoa, depending on my mood) plus shipping, how could I go wrong? You're right, I couldn't. Now, I'm sure all of you calculus teachers out there have done the mental math, but for those that haven't, the purchase came out to a little over $30, shipped. That's, like, ¥2400 for all ya'll in Japan!

Not bad for some vintage cap toe Cable and Co. work boots, handcrafted in Italy. They're used, weathered, and scuffed, which only adds to their appeal. Those contrasting brown suede panels on the uppers are pretty out of the ordinary. Plus, those who are weary of workwear are shifting toward the Italian influence, right? BUT WAIT! You forgot about - *dun dun dun!* - Italian workwear.

#menswearsatire

On Cameron: thrifted s/s madras shirt (Wild Man Vintage, $7) by Royal Knight, size medium; grey chinos (J. Crew, $65) by J. Crew, size 31; "Preston" eyeglasses (online, $95) by Warby Parker; cap toe work boots (eBay, $30 shipped) by Cable and Company, size 10

Photos by Jarred Donalson

FAVORITE: Shearling-lined Bean Boots

(I topped the whole thing off with this here waffle henley. Hey, it's casual day at the office.)

I've had these puppies less than a week, but they're fast becoming a huge favorite. Spring may have gotten here on Sunday, but it's still colder than a well-digger's ass in January, so I'm getting everything I can out of these boots. And I've been waiting long enough—when I ordered them earlier this winter, there wasn't a pair to be had until March. (Something about the demand being through the roof...L.L. Bean had to make more pairs.)

I first came across the 10-inch shearling-lined Bean Boot about a year ago in Minnesota when I saw hot-mess-and-theologian-in-training Marta Douglass flouncing around the cold Rochester streets in them. (She's since fled the country to be with some Englishman, but I have no doubt the boots are serving her well in the London fog.)

At $149, they're admittedly pricey. But quality is worth a Benjamin to me. In the review section, a guy posted a picture of his 30-year-old boots next to his brand new ones, and the only thing noticeably different was that the old boots had weathered character. Seems like a fair price for kicks that are going to last me three decades.

A word to the wise: Bean Boots run huge. Per the site's instructions for half-sizes to order down, I selected the 7. When they showed up, they were still about two sizes too big. (My brother, a size 9, fit into them comfortably.) Thing is, the 7 is the smallest men's size available. Womp, womp.

I'm not one to sacrifice fit, so I called the company and exchanged them for a women's size 8. Let it be known: L.L. Bean's customer service is fantastic. They took the order with zero ridicule about my baby-man feet, and shipped them off about a month faster than promised.

Marta wore them rolled down like so:

She totally pulled it off, and L.L. Bean advertises the roll-down as one way to wear them, but I'm not sure it's for me.

10-inch shearling-lined "Bean Boots" (llbean.com, $149) by L.L. Bean, women's size 8–I'm over it; "1969" jeans (retail, sale $44, reg. $64.50) by Gap; grey waffle henley (Walmart, $5) by Fruit of the Loom.