Help me remember a catalogue/company.

June 25, 2010 9:54 AM

I'm trying to remember the name of a company from which I received a catalogue sometime back in 1996-1999. They sold adventure/retro clothing/gear in sort of a J. Peterman style, but the catalogue presentation was more Orvis-y. The clothes/merchandise could also be compared to Abercrombie and Fitch from when it was an expedition/outdoor outfitter and not aimed at teens. I remember one catalogue had a picture of an classic open car and they were participating/sponsoring in some sort of road rally or driving journey re-creation.

I remember the price point being higher than LL Bean, because while I remember being able to afford stuff from LL Bean, I didn't buy anything from these folks.

posted by Jahaza to shopping (10 answers total)

Could it have been Tilley Endurables?
posted by sueinnyc at 10:07 AM on June 25, 2010

That's pretty broad. But maybe Filson?
posted by enn at 10:10 AM on June 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Eddie Bauer?

"nobody's been inside an Eddie Bauer since...1996!"
posted by namewithoutwords at 10:35 AM on June 25, 2010

I think I know exactly what you're talking about, but I can't quite remember the name. (can't remember anything nowadays!) But I'm thinking it was something like Tierra or Sierra, although neither of those are actually correct. They always have pictures of exotic places and little blurbs about those places, right? Mostly mens' clothes, and some women's tucked in the back of the catalog? Expensive leather satchels and such?
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:41 AM on June 25, 2010

The Territory Ahead?
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:43 AM on June 25, 2010

I think it may have been J.L. Powell.
Mexican Yenta jogged my memory and I searchd for "Safari boot" and "safari clothes" and one of those found it.

I remember The Territory Ahead from back in the day. I think they have more men's clothes now than they did back then? Or maybe I just got the wrong catalogue from them in the past.

J.L. Powell looks like it's probably still too expensive for me!
posted by Jahaza at 12:02 PM on June 25, 2010

Is it possible that you are remembering the earlier incarnation of Banana Republic? It used to sell surplus adventure clothing and gear, and the catalogs you describe sound very much like the old Banana Republic catalogs.
posted by jayder at 1:16 PM on June 25, 2010

Yeah, I was thinking that, too, jayder, but I think the timing is wrong. I do remember BR selling all kinds of surplus stuff from various military organizations of the world.
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:43 PM on June 25, 2010

Those old Banana Republic catalogues were fantastic. There should really be a database of them online (or, better yet, a database for this entire genre of catalogue). A published compendium of all the old issues would also work. Hey, they've done it with Sears-Roebucks of just about every decade!
posted by Mael Oui at 9:21 PM on June 25, 2010

Sounds very like Boden in style (models with little blurbs about their favourite moment or ultimate pudding) but they're more casual than adventure.
posted by mippy at 3:07 PM on June 27, 2010