There is no way a Chaps suit retails for anything near $1,200. I have seen flyers in the Sunday paper advertising Chaps suits for well under $300 brand new. Here is a link to numerous Chaps suits at Kohls for $300, and they are even running a buy one get one free promotion,bringing the price to $150 per suit!

That said, I personally would not buy one.

 

Many ebay sellers are notorious for bumping up the "retail" price of the items they sell. They know that people will see "RALPH LAUREN....chaps" and not know the difference. No way a chaps suit goes for $1200 anywhere. Even if you are hurting for a suit, I would say that $70 is paying too much for that. On ebay, if you are patient, you can find a better suit for $70 or just a little more.

 

EBay Is sadly predicated upon the point that 50% or more of its adherents are idiots - especially n this sort of case. Couple that with overoptimistic/flagrantly dishonest sellers who really don't understand the terminology they use then there is a recipe for disaster.

Another example is the generous use of the word 'bespoke'. Literally it means bespoken as we know and refers to a suit made to a personal pattern cut for the customer. There are significant numbers of the most appalling rags at low end RTW thus described: Some even have "Bespoke BNWT' and quote a size such as 44R. Bespoke does not come with tags and certainly has no labels which describe a standard RTW sizing.

Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware.

 

This probably isn't the Kohls version if it is from Boyd's in Philly.

My guess is that it is an old suit. But who knows?

 

My guess is that it is an old suit. But who knows?

It's a very old suit. And old Chaps suits are pretty common on eBay. I wouldn't pay $10 for this one.

 

This probably isn't the Kohls version if it is from Boyd's in Philly.

My guess is that it is an old suit. But who knows?

The Boyd's thing is what is throwing me off - that's a pretty high end store in Philadelphia. Why would they be selling Chaps? Was it a much better line in the past?

 

The Boyd's thing is what is throwing me off - that's a pretty high end store in Philadelphia. Why would they be selling Chaps? Was it a much better line in the past?

No, it has always been the very bottom tier of the Ralph Lauren family, and one would be hard pressed to find a Polo suit retailing for $1,200 much less a Chaps suit.

 

No, it has always been the very bottom tier of the Ralph Lauren family, and one would be hard pressed to find a Polo suit retailing for $1,200 much less a Chaps suit.

Normal retail for new Polo suits in stores and on the Polo.com website is right around $1200, actually.

 

Good grief, you missed my point.

Yes, the Polo suits at www.polo.com retail for $1,195 (they are all on sale right now for under $900), but my point was more if Chaps are bottom tier, and the seller was claiming they retailed for $1,200, this would put them at or above Polo in terms of price point, which is not correct.

I have bought 4 suits at Polo here in Atlanta, and never paid more than $1000 for any of them.

 

I could be mistaken, but I think Kohl's may currently have Chaps exclusively. There is no mention of Ralph Lauren on the current labels, but about a year ago I was on polo.com and was amazed to see the number of stockists listed in NC. Following to the end, past outlets, Belk, Dillard's and pro shops I began to encounter Kohl's locations. Then I realized they were selling Chaps.

Chaps and green Label Ralph Lauren, which was/is a sub. of Jones Apparel, I assume are still made by > www.peerless-clothing.com

Prior to Peerless, Chaps was at one time made by Grief in Baltimore, a division of Genesco (Johnston & Murphy, amongst other brands). The suit in question is probably of the Grief Brothers era, and made better than the later edition. When new, a regular line Grief Brothers Chaps suit of the '80 or early '90s probably retailed for no more than $400? Chaps sportswear was previously made by Warnaco (Hathaway, mongst others).

The original mid '70s Chaps was labelled "Chaps Ralph Lauren" in silver letters on a dark blue label. It was made by B&G in Manhattan, a private label maker, and was designed to retail for about 2/3 of the Norman Hilton or Lanham, Ltd. made Polo Ralph Lauren of the time. (I've seen items labeled "Chaps since 1977", or some such. Chaps RL actually existed earlier) There was some hand sewing in the first Chaps but the fabrics were less expensive than Polo.

For some reason, PRL introduced "Polo University" tailored clothing in the early '80s at about the same price points as Chaps. PU has more recently been found only in PRL Factory Stores.

 

Nyet, no, nunca.

 

No, it has always been the very bottom tier of the Ralph Lauren family, and one would be hard pressed to find a Polo suit retailing for $1,200 much less a Chaps suit.

well, my real point was the Boyd's thing. Implicit in this was the possibility a label switching fraud thing, but perhaps I was too subtle....

 

Good grief, you missed my point.

Yes, the Polo suits at www.polo.com retail for $1,195 (they are all on sale right now for under $900), but my point was more if Chaps are bottom tier, and the seller was claiming they retailed for $1,200, this would put them at or above Polo in terms of price point, which is not correct.

I have bought 4 suits at Polo here in Atlanta, and never paid more than $1000 for any of them.

I didn't miss your point at all. I got it, agreed with it, and didn't see any further need to comment on it. I just thought you shouldn't use an inaccurate statement to make your point.

 

well, my real point was the Boyd's thing. Implicit in this was the possibility a label switching fraud thing, but perhaps I was too subtle....

I had the same thought, but I wonder whether or not the fact that Boyd's is a high-end store is widely known and hence, would add to the "provenance" of the suit? Maybe.

 

Boyds hits many price points and back in the early 1990's they probably did carry CHAPS suits, which sold for around $500.

 

I could be mistaken, but I think Kohl's may currently have Chaps exclusively. There is no mention of Ralph Lauren on the current labels, but about a year ago I was on polo.com and was amazed to see the number of stockists listed in NC. Following to the end, past outlets, Belk, Dillard's and pro shops I began to encounter Kohl's locations. Then I realized they were selling Chaps.

Chaps and green Label Ralph Lauren, which was/is a sub. of Jones Apparel, I assume are still made by > www.peerless-clothing.com

Prior to Peerless, Chaps was at one time made by Grief in Baltimore, a division of Genesco (Johnston & Murphy, amongst other brands). The suit in question is probably of the Grief Brothers era, and made better than the later edition. When new, a regular line Grief Brothers Chaps suit of the '80 or early '90s probably retailed for no more than $400? Chaps sportswear was previously made by Warnaco (Hathaway, mongst others).

The original mid '70s Chaps was labelled "Chaps Ralph Lauren" in silver letters on a dark blue label. It was made by B&G in Manhattan, a private label maker, and was designed to retail for about 2/3 of the Norman Hilton or Lanham, Ltd. made Polo Ralph Lauren of the time. (I've seen items labeled "Chaps since 1977", or some such. Chaps RL actually existed earlier) There was some hand sewing in the first Chaps but the fabrics were less expensive than Polo.

For some reason, PRL introduced "Polo University" tailored clothing in the early '80s at about the same price points as Chaps. PU has more recently been found only in PRL Factory Stores.

Interesting post, James!