The Duct-Taped Couch
And Other Second Acts
Do you remember the red couch in the old Jack Spade store on Greene Street? When it started to give way they just duct taped it. As it needed more tape it got more tape, simple as that. I loved that couch (and I don’t even care for the color), and over time it evolved into something else. Jack Spade, at its height, was refined and irreverent and always functional.
There’s a good lesson here and it applies to clothes as well. If something stops working then help it keep working. Fishing in Canada on a brutally windy day my cast deserted me (not for the first time) and I kept hooking the back of my Patagonia parka. A few of those hooks left holes and the down started coming out. Enter “dark green duct tape” into Amazon and now we’re back in the game. Incidentally, one of my favorite guides in England, a gentleman of a certain age, has his green Patagonia jacket patched and when I saw that, along with his ancient Defender, I knew we would get along.
The sartorially obsessed might find themselves objecting to a specific element of an otherwise good shirt, jacket or anything else they find on eBay. Do not let these imperfections stand in your way! There’s an Abercrombie & Fitch Safari line (from the 1960s as far as I can tell) and these shirts are great—I like collars, the pockets and the weight. I do not, however, like the buttons. They’re metallic and look totally out of place. There are plenty of stores in the Garment District ready to solve this problem.
A Barbour or waxed cotton jacket can be enlivened by our friends at New England Reproofers (quality advice from Matt Hranek. If you find a good deal and factor the $75 in to what you’re paying then you can have an excellent jacket ready to go by winter.