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Navy Service dress blue vendor

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Engineerfrommaine

New Member
hoping for some insight into whether or not getting navy dress blues through a vendor like marlow white is a viable alternative to the exchange. I was only able to find a few reviews. All positive, but very limited number of them. Seems like I can save a good bit of money going that route. Anyone have experience with this?
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
The last set I got were the nicer Brooks Brothers SDB's from the exchange and were plenty nice enough for the few times I have worn them. Personally I think anything but chokers from Abbott's or other 'high-end' retailers are largely a waste.
 
Scruff

Scruff

Registered User
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Contributor
Brooks Brothers SDBs also carry lifetime free tailoring and repair at the Uniform Shop. I ripped a shoulder out of mine and they fixed it right up.
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
Scruff said:
Brooks Brothers SDBs also carry lifetime free tailoring and repair at the Uniform Shop. I ripped a shoulder out of mine and they fixed it right up.
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Fat guy in a little coat...

15yrs ago Abbott's khakis used to be amazing. Abbott's had a branch in ATL so they used to come to my NROTC unit and offer a career starter kit. My Abbots SDBs lasted me until I left (with some alterations for when they, um, shrank in my closet). Abbots was also incredibly helpful when the cleaners lost my SDB trousers right before my winging; they were willing and able to tailor me a new pair the morning of my winging.
 
nittany03

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
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Super Moderator
Contributor
Pags said:
Fat guy in a little coat...

15yrs ago Abbott's khakis used to be amazing. Abbott's had a branch in ATL so they used to come to my NROTC unit and offer a career starter kit. My Abbots SDBs lasted me until I left (with some alterations for when they, um, shrank in my closet). Abbots was also incredibly helpful when the cleaners lost my SDB trousers right before my winging; they were willing and able to tailor me a new pair the morning of my winging.
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Can also vouch for Abbott's customer service. My chokers also unfortunately shrank in the closet prior to my second winging. Funny how that works. They were more than happy to turn a new coat around on short notice.
 
Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
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Super Moderator
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Given the documented tendency of dress uniforms to shrink in storage after commissioning, and that (barring weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs) you’ll wear them maybe a half-dozen times over your Naval career, I don’t see the point of spending big coin on SDBs or chokers.

If you really want to drop a few hundred bucks on clothes, buy a nice civilian suit or two. Just the sort of thing a grown-ass man should have in his closet.
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
Good points. You really won't wear your dress uniforms much in the fleet. I lived in either flight suits or flight deck jerseys for most of my time in the Navy. If you end up in a job where you have to wear a real uniform then it might be worth spending the coin on them (aide, DC staff?) but if you're just going to use them for change of commands and weddings it's better to go cheap so when you have a good time at a wedding you ruin a cheap pair of chokers as opposed to some nice ones. My Abbots khakis lasted me through API which was the only time I ever wore khakis on a consistent basis.
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
jmcquate said:
See them a lot in DC.
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Like I said: DC staff. I could probably count on one hand the times I wore SDBs once commissioned. I wore chokers more but they're a wedding favorite. If it hadn't been for the week straight I wore whites at fleet Week (worth it) I probably wore whites 2-3 times in the fleet. I wore khakis a bunch because my first squadron had a weird thing about khakis on duty but after that tour I only wore them while briefing flags during my test tour. Did wear aviator blues while pulling in to Sydney. Also wore greens a few times most memorably when the old SWOs on the boat did a wash khaki sea and anchor detail. The Boss and I showed them up with greens (Big XO was upset we didn't ask him to join). Taking a straight deck carrier out of Japan in greens felt like being on the set of Bridges of Toko Ri. Good times.
 
ichneumonidae

ichneumonidae

Well-Known Member
Where do Abbots and Brooks Brothers rank in expensiveness? Are Brooks most expensive? Then Abbots? Then..? Just trying to get a feel for what to look for when I get to OCS.
 
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