Suits!

[jlstyle]

I have tailored suits and few designer suits (un-altered) and cheaper tailored suit (usually around $600~700) always fit me the best with materials that is comparable to $1200~1300 designer suit. But lately, I've tried 2 two Theory suits from Century 21 and had them altered and now that fits me very good, almost as if it was tailored, and the fabric is much better than what I got from tailor shop. I spent $500 (marked down from $1,300) for the suit and paid $100 each for alteration. I don't think I can find any better suit for the money in terms of fitting and fabric quality.

[M3 Number 86]

Hugo boss tailored. Cheaper but pretty good.

[shoei]

Originally Posted by jlstyle

I have tailored suits and few designer suits (un-altered) and cheaper tailored suit (usually around $600~700) always fit me the best with materials that is comparable to $1200~1300 designer suit. But lately, I've tried 2 two Theory suits from Century 21 and had them altered and now that fits me very good, almost as if it was tailored, and the fabric is much better than what I got from tailor shop. I spent $500 (marked down from $1,300) for the suit and paid $100 each for alteration. I don't think I can find any better suit for the money in terms of fitting and fabric quality.

Theory makes so great slacks and some other articles of clothing, but their suits always left a little to be desired... Something with the arms where they never quite seem to do right... It has to be the material...

As for designer suits - $1300 price range IMO, is mostly just markups and paying more for a cheap suit because of name brand... Someone mentioned Hugo Boss and that's a crap shoot... You've got Hugo, Hugo Boss, green, orange, red, black label etc... I liken it to comparing a 320, 330, 340 and a M3... Even the low end their price points are way too high... To me, Kiton, Brioni, Tom Ford - those are designer suits... Even Prada / Gucci / Dolce etc, aren't exactly Italian, even though theoretically they should be... You can get them from Saks and they'll still be made in Turkey or similar... It's not until you get to some of the brands mentioned above that it's an actual designer suit...

Same thing happens with men's dress shoes... Lower end Bruno's or Ferragamo's - probably assembled in a sweat shop... They just slap the name on them and charge a premium... It's not until you get to the high end stuff where they are what they should be... It's just a racket for the most part...

[angelr]

off the rack Armani tailored...not too costly and looks great

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by shoei

Theory makes so great slacks and some other articles of clothing, but their suits always left a little to be desired... Something with the arms where they never quite seem to do right... It has to be the material...

As for designer suits - $1300 price range IMO, is mostly just markups and paying more for a cheap suit because of name brand... Someone mentioned Hugo Boss and that's a crap shoot... You've got Hugo, Hugo Boss, green, orange, red, black label etc... I liken it to comparing a 320, 330, 340 and a M3... Even the low end their price points are way too high... To me, Kiton, Brioni, Tom Ford - those are designer suits... Even Prada / Gucci / Dolce etc, aren't exactly Italian, even though theoretically they should be... You can get them from Saks and they'll still be made in Turkey or similar... It's not until you get to some of the brands mentioned above that it's an actual designer suit...

Same thing happens with men's dress shoes... Lower end Bruno's or Ferragamo's - probably assembled in a sweat shop... They just slap the name on them and charge a premium... It's not until you get to the high end stuff where they are what they should be... It's just a racket for the most part...

A lot of truth in that post.

Fortunately for me, I don't have the eye to discern the difference of a $5000 Tom Ford suit versus a $1500 off the rack Hugo Boss suit.

(Especially if Tom Ford is wearing it! Will get lost in his dreamy eyes)

Wearing it? Probably would be able to tell the difference in texture and fabric quality by comparing one immediately after the other.

Other than that... soft is soft...

I do appreciate a designer who makes subtle "trademark" designs in their fashion.

Years ago, I remember Marc Jacobs would use amazing buttons. The pieces themselves looked very common. But when you saw the button, you knew it was an MJ piece. I would pay money for that attention to detail.

Like this designer - subtle details that tell a lot

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

A lot of truth in that post.

Fortunately for me, I don't have the eye to discern the difference of a $5000 Tom Ford suit versus a $1500 off the rack Hugo Boss suit.

(Especially if Tom Ford is wearing it! Will get lost in his dreamy eyes)

Wearing it? Probably would be able to tell the difference in texture and fabric quality by comparing one immediately after the other.

Other than that... soft is soft...

I do appreciate a designer who makes subtle "trademark" designs in their fashion.

Years ago, I remember Marc Jacobs would use amazing buttons. The pieces themselves looked very common. But when you saw the button, you knew it was an MJ piece. I would pay money for that attention to detail.

Like this designer - subtle details that tell a lot

Yeah I wear Vans dress shoes. They're really just Vans lol

[pokeybritches]

One of the perks of living in the Middle East is I've found high quality work is inexpensive. My last custom made suit was $240 (including jacket, pants, vest, tie, and shirt). The suit would go for at least $600-1000 in the US.

The comments about a well-fitting cheap suit looking better than a ok-fitting expensive suit are 100% spot on.

[fecurtis]

I clicked the link thinking this was a thread about the drama on USA.

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Yeah I wear Vans dress shoes. They're really just Vans lol

haha! leather vans with a black sole to pass off as dress shoes?

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

One of the perks of living in the Middle East is I've found high quality work is inexpensive. My last custom made suit was $240 (including jacket, pants, vest, tie, and shirt). The suit would go for at least $600-1000 in the US.

The comments about a well-fitting cheap suit looking better than a ok-fitting expensive suit are 100% spot on.

Love your avatar!

[danniexi]

whatever you buy, get it tailored.

[Alpine300zhp]

Originally Posted by angelr

off the rack Armani tailored...not too costly and looks great

Armani is not what it used to be years ago. The quality is no longer there and I stopped buying them ages ago.

[PoorLurker]

Originally Posted by Alpine300zhp

Armani is not what it used to be years ago. The quality is no longer there and I stopped buying them ages ago.

TL;DR - I've been balling for ages.


How often do some of you wear suits? I rarely wear suits so I just have three suits. Black, gray, blue...

What would be a fourth suit?

[Alpine300zhp]

Originally Posted by PoorLurker

TL;DR - I've been balling for ages.


How often do some of you wear suits? I rarely wear suits so I just have three suits. Black, gray, blue...

What would be a fourth suit?

After your staple black, gray and blue. The next suits should be variations on the shade of gray and blue. Also consider a striped gray or blue if you like that look. I hate light color suits and do not buy them.

[Biorin]

Originally Posted by Alpine300zhp

After your staple black, gray and blue. The next suits should be variations on the shade of gray and blue. Also consider a striped gray or blue if you like that look. I hate light color suits and do not buy them.

But what are you going to wear when you drive your 4C?

[smoosh]

Originally Posted by Vegetable

Recently I lost 55+ lbs putting me (currently) at 170 at 5'11." Great, right? Not really because this means I need to find all new suits, as my now 170 lb body looks like it's swimming in my designer suits that once catered to my 225lb body. I had a few made tailored to fit me, but they were all a 'so so' fit at best. I went to a reputable online store and ordered a few suits 1. a Prada suit and 2. a less expensive Burberry Suit. Both just looked shitty. Then I went to Kohl's and tried their extra slim fit Apt. 9 suits which fit f-ing phenomenally to my new body. My questions is this.. would you wear a cheaper suit if it fit you like a glove or would you spend hours/days trying to find a designer suit to fit?

Cheap/expensive, I don't really care...only thing that matters to me is fit and that it has better durability than a piece of printer paper...

good fitting cheap suits are far superior to poor fitting expensive suits...learned this when I was buying jeans: I have thick, muscular thighs and slim waist, and kept buying Bonobos jeans for $100-140 a pop...the fit was never quite right and they looked pretty bad, like tight ass Hollister/Abercrombie high school jeans...so I bought a pair of Dickies jeans on Amazon for $30 and they looked like custom Gucci jeans that fit perfectly...

fit is EVERYTHING, find something that compliments your strong points/body shape

[08njSTEP]

I always go traditional Levi Strauss classic jacket, Levi 501 pants and Lee shirt. I have a guy who sews my patches on and they're always straight. He is also excellent at removing jacket sleeves(for summer). He can manage the perfect amount of fringe. Bollo tie and nice black leather biker boots with some kind of chain detail. Got to keep it classy.

[GoHokiesGo]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

I clicked the link thinking this was a thread about the drama on USA.

Same here! Season Premiere is tonight!


Best deal I've found in actual suits: Kabul, Afghanistan
I had custom-tailored suits made for me when serving in Afghanistan for about $70 each. The man let you pick your own fabric from a large selection, and he had a couple of rather nice fabrics, takes all your measurements. About a week later he would show up with a beautifully tailored, custom suit that fit like a glove. There were some areas where they saved time, like not having functional button holes on the sleeves, but I would gladly put these on over any of the other sub-$1k suits in my closet.

Many of my other foreign service buddies have also had excellent bespoke suits custom tailored in Bangkok and Hanoi, Vietnam

[itrsteve]

Has anybody tried indochino yet? ( http://www.indochino.com/ )

Neat concept as you provide all of the measurements to them and then it's shipped to you already tailored. Seems like a pretty neat concept but the reviews seem to be a little mixed; also, I don't put any weight into what bloggers say.

[Zane90]

Originally Posted by itrsteve

Has anybody tried indochino yet? ( http://www.indochino.com/ )

Neat concept as you provide all of the measurements to them and then it's shipped to you already tailored. Seems like a pretty neat concept but the reviews seem to be a little mixed; also, I don't put any weight into what bloggers say.

Seems like a cool idea, I'm not usually a big fan of online shopping though as more often than not, it doesn't fit and then you've got the hassle of sending it back. But I guess if you give them your measurements that eliminates that problem...just got to hope the materials are nice!

[itrsteve]

Originally Posted by Zane90

Seems like a cool idea, I'm not usually a big fan of online shopping though as more often than not, it doesn't fit and then you've got the hassle of sending it back. But I guess if you give them your measurements that eliminates that problem...just got to hope the materials are nice!

I believe they send you material swatches if you request as well.

[c1pher]

I am pretty happy with Indochino for the type of work I do. The key is to go in to a storefront and get measured and don't do it online. I got one suit just to see how it would work, then got some fine adjustments once it arrived. From there so far, I have gotten good results over eight suits purchased. There are a lot of customizations you can do compared to some of their competitors that cost more. Suits arrive in about 2 weeks via DHL. One lesson learned is to remove the signature required for delivery because they, for some reason in N.VA will say they showed up or if you don't answer the door after a single knock, they won't deliver the suit and you can't really go to the DHL site after hours to pick up very easily. Since then my suits arrive no problem.

I'm just an IT guy and not in high finance. Plus I feel if I dress too good, they might think they are paying me too much lol.

[2008M36MT]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Hugo boss tailored. Cheaper but pretty good.

Agreed, I have a tailored Boss to wear to first time customer meetings, it is $950. My daily drivers are Brooks Brothers suits which are about $700.
My first few suits were Men's Wearhouse. You can make anything fit well by getting it tailored, but the Boss just fits a little bit better.

All that said, I wore a suit twice in the past year because I WFH permanently now. So I've "traded" the suits in for a Ralph Lauren robe lol.