Those online tailors from India sound interesting. I’m going to check it out, but would you guys suggest buying a suit from a store and just having it tailored? I can definitely wait til Black Friday, so where would you guys go looking for suits?
When I was in Ohio, the salesperson at Nordstrom recommended a [Hong Kongese] tailor in town, instead of their in-house tailor. As long as the jacket fits right in the shoulders and is long enough in the arms, and the pants are big enough waist and length, a good tailor can work with that and get it to fit right. Arms can be shortened, waist tightened, etc.
Also I recommend to get whatever shirts you plan to wear with it tailored by the same person.
If time is not a concern, wait for a sale. I buy my suits at the nicest men’s store in the city, one day a year. Every July they have a great sale and I usually end up buying at 50-60 percent discount. I’m not much into fashion or material possessions, but I’ve found a good suit is something worth investing in.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
When I was in Ohio, the salesperson at Nordstrom recommended a [Hong Kongese] tailor in town, instead of their in-house tailor. As long as the jacket fits right in the shoulders and is long enough in the arms, and the pants are big enough waist and length, a good tailor can work with that and get it to fit right. Arms can be shortened, waist tightened, etc.
Also I recommend to get whatever shirts you plan to wear with it tailored by the same person.[/quote]
some of those local low budget (looking) tailors/suit shop can have some real quality, but you have to sift through it.
Honestly, I’ve bought all my nice clothes off E-bay. It’s hard to try them on, but most good merchants measure them precisely, and a good tailor can do the rest.
This is a secret of mine that I don’t want to share, but there’s some really nice stuff on there. Even the vintage suits are in good shape and are of a generally better construction than a lot of the higher-end bulk made stuff for sale today.
A gentleman needs a few tailor made suits; a dark navy, black or grey/pin stripe is a must for funerals and for when you need to convey a formal and sober impression. He needs some less formal wear: sports jacket/s, slacks and preferably a tweed or flannel jacket. And lastly a double-breasted blazer; preferably in navy blue with brass or gold plated buttons and suitable grey flannel slacks or mustard/fawn slacks. This is a traditional English gentleman’s wardrobe and usually also includes a summer suit of some sort - maybe a white linen suit with white/cream straw hat.
[quote]theuofh wrote:
Honestly, I’ve bought all my nice clothes off E-bay. It’s hard to try them on, but most good merchants measure them precisely, and a good tailor can do the rest.
This is a secret of mine that I don’t want to share, but there’s some really nice stuff on there. Even the vintage suits are in good shape and are of a generally better construction than a lot of the higher-end bulk made stuff for sale today. [/quote]
This is another really good idea, but you have to know what you’re doing. I would suggest reading how the measurements are taken on one of the internet clothing forums (I think Ask Andy may have this) and then compare the listed measurements to the same measurements on a well-fitting suit that you own. If it needs to be let out somewhere, make sure there’s enough cloth left to make the alteration.
To sort through the good stuff from the crap, I would suggest putting a term like “full canvas” in my search. If someone goes to the trouble of making a fully-canvassed suit, the odds are that the rest of the quality is good too. Some reliable brands that popped up when I did this included Oxxford, Hickey Freeman, H Freeman, Southwick and Brooks Brothers.
You might also run across some “bespoke” suits in your search. These are suits that are custom made for the owner and they won’t have a size, so it’s doubly important to pay attention to the measurements. These suits also normally have a fair amount of extra cloth left in for alterations, so they can be let out quite a bit if the owner gains weight. It’s probably a safe assumption though, that many of these suits are on the market because the owner gained so much weight that they can’t be let out any more.
A few other suggestions if going this route:
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You won’t be able to see how well the jacket fits across the shoulder. As I mentioned previously, fixing a problem here is time consuming and expensive. Make sure that you’re buying a very high quality suit to justify the cost of this alteration if necessary.
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The jacket length can’t really be lengthened or shortened very much.
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Functional buttons on the sleeve are one hallmark of an expensive suit. If buying a jacket with these functional buttons, make sure the sleeve length is just about right. If anything more than a minor adjustment is required, then the sleeve needs to be removed at the shoulder and adjustments made at that end. A bespoke jacket will probably have some extra fabric there in case the sleeves need to be lengthened, but most off-the-rack jackets probably won’t.
Regarding MakeYourOwnJeans…I used them for a pair of jeans and it did not work out (they’ve been relegated to yard work clothes pile). Suits you might have more room for error since you can have them locally tailored if you need to (I have a notoriously hard time finding jeans that fit properly). But might be worth the gamble considering some of their prices; just measure at least three times to make sure they’re right. There are no returns.
This summer I picked up a blue Boss suit that I found on sale online at Nordstroms for $350. Had to pay $100 for tailoring because I stupidly ordered a long when I needed regular. But it’s a damn nice suit that fits well
I also agree with Macys, but take someone with you that knows how a suit should fit or hope they have a good salesman that can. You want it as close as possible and get as few alterations as possible. Those mix-and-match suits are good where you can mix jackets and pants. I wear a 50 or 52 jacket and have a 38 waist so the standard drop doesn’t work for me.
Also look at Mens Wearhouse as previously suggested, also Jos A Bank. They have sales all the time. I got my last suit, a tux at a place called K & G. They mixed a suit and pants for me, it went for $160 before alterations and I got some great shoes to go with it for $50.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
A gentleman needs a few tailor made suits; a dark navy, black or grey/pin stripe is a must for funerals and for when you need to convey a formal and sober impression. He needs some less formal wear: sports jacket/s, slacks and preferably a tweed or flannel jacket. And lastly a double-breasted blazer; preferably in navy blue with brass or gold plated buttons and suitable grey flannel slacks or mustard/fawn slacks. This is a traditional English gentleman’s wardrobe and usually also includes a summer suit of some sort - maybe a white linen suit with white/cream straw hat.[/quote]
Unless the very last thing on someone’s mind is making sure they strut around looking like an English gentleman.[/quote]
Unless of course you are trawling for cock…
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
A gentleman needs a few tailor made suits; a dark navy, black or grey/pin stripe is a must for funerals and for when you need to convey a formal and sober impression. He needs some less formal wear: sports jacket/s, slacks and preferably a tweed or flannel jacket. And lastly a double-breasted blazer; preferably in navy blue with brass or gold plated buttons and suitable grey flannel slacks or mustard/fawn slacks. This is a traditional English gentleman’s wardrobe and usually also includes a summer suit of some sort - maybe a white linen suit with white/cream straw hat.[/quote]
Unless the very last thing on someone’s mind is making sure they strut around looking like an English gentleman.[/quote]
It’s a timeless, classical and traditional aesthetic that transcends cultural specifics. The Italianate gentleman’s wardrobe is the same. They just prefer a few minor differences like pleats in the centre of the jacket instead of the sides. It’s not an “English” aesthetic as such. It’s a traditional, timeless and classical aesthetic.
There are two radically different styles you can go for with a summer suit:
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The white linen summer suit of European colonialism; this is what you’d see European gentlemen wearing in the tropical and subtropical colonies. Always with a straw hat.
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The South of France/Italian stylish summer suits of European playboys. Linen or very light wool single breasted; small lapels; colours usually not dark but can be. Often worn with slip on or loafer style shoes. Sometimes a light polo neck shirt is worn instead of a collared shirt. Homosexuals would wear a small cotton scarf tied around the neck.