.Best Men’s Clothing: Indulging your male vanity

Want to dress as well as a clothing-catalogue model without the catalogue prices? Then we suggest that you get in your hoopty or hitch a ride to Jeremys, a high-end discount retailer in Berkeley’s Elmwood district. There are always amazing deals on the racks for items that would normally fetch at least twice the price. How do they pull it off? On a recent visit, a sales clerk claimed that even the employees don’t know how the store buyers obtain the clothes. Turns out she was being unnecessarily cryptic — the store’s Web site explains how Jeremys sells brand names so cheap. Some of the clothes were used in department-store window displays, some were returned by customers, and some are overstock from the past season. Jeremys offers a variety of names like Armani, Martin Gordon, and Lucky Brand, but it specializes in J. Crew clothes — sometimes sold at ridiculously low prices. A few weeks ago, for instance, you could walk in and buy a lambswool sweater for only $39. The coat selection is usually fantastic: A J. Crew Italian wool peacoat was on sale recently for $59. The store also sells designer shoes — Prada! — but the selection is slim and limited to one size. But if you stick to the shirts, pants, sweaters, and jackets you’ll leave more than pleased.