How In the World Did A Yves Saint Laurent Tuxedo End Up At The Brigham City Deseret Industries...?

 Yesterday my wife and I ran errands. We still have a million things to do to prepare for our daughter's wedding next month. On the way to pick up a clothes steamer of all things, we stopped at the Deseret Industries thrift store in Brigham City, Utah.

It's where we found a tuxedo.

Made by Yves Saint Laurent.

I tried on the jacket...it fit extremely well considering it was the only tuxedo in the store. I held up the pants at the side of my legs and they looked to be the right length. Neither of us could believe it was a YSL tux. My wife asked how much it cost.

I said, "Thirty bucks."

"We're buying it," she said--no hesitation.

When we find something at a thrift store (or a yard sale...) that might be worth something, we come home a do an internet search so see if we've scored a great deal. This time, it's hard to say if it was a good deal or an incredibly amazing deal. If you search for Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo, the jacket can cost between $3400 and $4500. The pants will set you back $1350. I know this thing isn't worth that, but, well...if it is worth something close to that, how in the world did it get there? Who donated it? Where did they get it?

Another mystery is the only tag in the garments. It says, "Ancient Thai Silk Co., LTD. 100% Thai Silk." I thought the entire suit was silk, but I think it's wool with silk linings. I could be wrong--I've never owned a silk suit before.

So, we bought a suit that came with unanswered questions. There's someone out there who knows the answers to these questions. The questions make the whole experience more fun.

Allen Edmonds...Never Heard Of Them

"Hey," I got the attention of my counterpart as he was about to take the stage at today's rehearsal. "Did you get a chance to try on those shoes I got at the D.I.?" For those unfamiliar with the D.I., it's a local thrift store operated by the Mormon Church.

"Yeah, I did," my counterpart said. "Those are Allen Edmonds."

"So? What are Allen Edmonds?" I asked.

And so began my education of Allen Edmonds shoes. The other night I spoke to the costumers for Babes in Toyland, the next show my daughter and I are doing. All but one of my scenes takes place in Toyland. The first scene, however, takes place in the public square (or public market--not quite sure...). The shoes I wear in Toyland would not be suitable for the first scene. The costumers said I could wear any dress shoes I wanted, as long as they were true to the time period. And when we visited the thrift store yesterday I thought I'd take a look at the men's shoes. I saw a pair of wingtips for $6 and they were in pretty good shape. The fact they fit so well was a bonus.

I brought them to today's rehearsal and shined them up before we went on. My counterpart had not brought any shoes for that first scene, but luckily, we both wear the same size shoe so I said he should at least try them on. If they fit, we can both wear them for that first scene. That's when he told me about the shoes.

"Allen Edmonds are good shoes," he said. "I've been gifted a few pairs of Allen Edmonds--they're like, three-hundred dollars new."

Um, I thought. Suddenly the shoes that were in pretty good shape looked fantastic. When I got home from a long day at the theater, I checked out Allen Edmonds shoes online. Most of their shoes new cost almost $400.

I've found many treasures at the D.I., but probably none worth so much. The funny thing is, I almost didn't buy them because they cost six bucks. It's a little high for a pair of shoes, I thought at the time.

Little did I know...