My Suit NY

[davids]

PS- NO ONE looks good in a rental tux.

Only twice in my life and I felt clown-like both times.

[54ny77]

hey if you're about 5'2" or shorter and you want to feel like an easter bunny, we have a bunny suit you could wear at a kids-centric fun easter event in greenwich. seriously.

Only twice in my life and I felt clown-like both times.

[Til Dropp]

Indochino of Hong Kong - I've heard about but don't have any experience with them yet.

[chasea]

So I had my fitting today at 4:00. Mission Control and her roommate came along, as they had some shopping to do in the city. I met with Brian at the Madison location. He was polite, offered the girls something to drink, and we got down to business.

Long story short, Brian knew his stuff. Took a boatload of measurements and explained to me what each measurement was for; how one adjustment over here can affect something else over there. I always prided myself about knowing how a suit should fit; but now I know a little more about what adjustments can be made to attain that fit. He explained to me that I have high shoulders, and diagnosed why certain jackets fit me poorly. I didn't have to tell him that I often get a roll across the shoulders or that my lapels sometimes flare out from the chest; he already knew. Explained to me how adjusting certain things up top would correct discrepancies in arm length before messing with the actual length of the sleeves. Arm length can depend on musculature in the upper body. My right side is dominant, so my left arm hangs lower.

After taking measurements, we went through the myriad of options offered. I chose the fabric, lining, piping, button holes, waistband style, pocket styling, number of pockets, felt under the collar, etc. Brian explained what came standard on the suit (pretty much everything) and never tried to up-sell me. He was friendly and we ended up talking about many things other than the suit I was buying. My one-hour appointment went over by 30 mins because we got along pretty well.

All of my measurements and options were entered into a database. The suit will be made in Korea and will be ready to pick up in New York two weeks from today. I will go in for a final fitting before they let me walk out the door with it.

Overall, the experience was great. Brian was knowledgable, friendly, patient, and more than accommodating with my indecision. Cannot wait to see the final product.

Considering that I'd have paid more had I bought something off-the-rack and then had it tailored, I must say that I don't see why stores like this don't pop up in more major cities. If a truly handmade suit is not in your budget, this is the next best thing.

2 piece dark grey herringbone suit, 2-button, slim fit
Notch lapels, slim, 5/16" pic stitching
Side vents
Hatching pockets with flaps
Ticket pocket with flap
Slant button holes (first button hole on each arm with with pink threading)
Black paisley lining
Grey interior piping
Pink interior threading
Monogram
Black felt under collar
Flat front pant
No belt loops, no cuff, slight break,
Square tab front
Elastic side tabs

$565 with tax

[sjauch]

Glad you had a good experience!

[david]

chase, did you have an appointment with brian or did you just get lucky?
let us know how it turns out.
thanks

[54ny77]

chasea when you get it pls. do a review. if you give thumbs up i'll be going. i need some stuff, am tired of brooks brothers. falls apart, don't make it like they used to. thanks amigo.

[davids]

hey if you're about 5'2" or shorter and you want to feel like an easter bunny, we have a bunny suit you could wear at a kids-centric fun easter event in greenwich. seriously.

I am neither that short nor that committed to Easter.

[chasea]

chase, did you have an appointment with brian or did you just get lucky?
let us know how it turns out.
thanks

Wandered in and wound up talking to him. It was only when I checked my email later that I realized that he was actually who my appointment was with. I had a change of heart on the colored buttonhole thing. Decided I'd rather it be second buttonhole from the wrist, rather than the first. Some people will leave on button undone just to show off the working buttonholes on the jacket sleeve. I decided that I'd rather have the colored buttonhole moved one position back, so that if I left the first button undone, the colored hole would not be the one left exposed without the button done up- slightly less in-your-face. Called Brian today, he emailed the factory and said we probably caught it in time. Here's hoping. He's been great to work with.

chasea when you get it pls. do a review. if you give thumbs up i'll be going. i need some stuff, am tired of brooks brothers. falls apart, don't make it like they used to. thanks amigo.

Will definitely post a review, hopefully with pictures. I am pretty optimistic that the quality will be on par with department store suits in the same price range. The only difference being that I was able to choose every aspect of the suit. I expect it to be at least as good as $500 suits from the likes of J Crew, Calvin Klein, DKNY, etc., which are all machine made overseas as well. From some of the finished customers suits I saw, they have already exceeded this.

[Bittersweet]

Chase: I realize we're talking 2x the price of this custom but thoughts on this suit vs. a stock Paul Stuart (basically a Samuelsohn I believe)?

[chasea]

Chase: I realize we're talking 2x the price of this custom but thoughts on this suit vs. a stock Paul Stuart (basically a Samuelsohn I believe)?

Paul Stuart will have more options with fabric and styles; truly bespoke. But that comes at about 3 times the cost. As for quality, that remains to be seen. I'll know more when I pick mine up on Saturday. Do you know if Paul Stuart suits are entirely handmade?

[Bittersweet]

Paul Stuart will have more options with fabric and styles; truly bespoke. But that comes at about 3 times the cost. As for quality, that remains to be seen. I'll know more when I pick mine up on Saturday. Do you know if Paul Stuart suits are entirely handmade?

I'm not sure of all the manufacturing details. I'm intrigued by this new suit you have coming. Let us know your thoughts.

[chasea]

I went in for my second fitting today. The suit is made, it is stateside, and it fits pretty darn well. I put on the jacket and Brian (same guy I worked with before) noticed something in the shoulders. I wouldn't have ever noticed it and it would have never bothered me. Regardless, its getting taken care of and the suit will fit that much better. The pants legs are being taken up from a slight break to no break as well. He said that alterations like this usually take a week. I said I'm leaving town Friday and need it by Thursday. He scheduled to have it done and ready to pick up by 3:00 Wednesday.

So far I'm very pleased with the experience. The service is excellent. The guy I'm dealing with really seems to know his stuff, and is friendly and easy to work with. The suit fits better than an off-the-rack suit would have, and costs less than had I bought one and taken it to a tailor. It also has little details that I've selected that would't be available from a department store.

So is this the right way to go for you? It depends.

What are you looking to spend on a suit? For the money, you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal than this. Sure, there are a few suits in this price range with higher-quality fabrics. But, are they fabrics you like? Are you happy with the details on the suit? Do you fit off-the-rack suits well? More importantly, does someone who knows more about these things than you think you fit off-the-rack suits well.

What should you expect from more expensive clothing? A greater selection of fabrics. Perhaps fabrics of a higher quality. Hand stitching. An infinite number of available options. A name and a face to go with the label on the inside of the jacket.

If you regularly spend 3x this much or more on a suit, then you'd be better off finding an alternative. But if your budget for a single suit is in the $500 range, then I would definitely suggest giving this place a try. You're going to get a better fit than a $500 department store suit OR you're going to spend more taking that same department store suit to be altered.

[Bittersweet]

Chase: What's your equivalent for shirts to My Suit NY?

[chasea]

Sorry for the delayed update. Wedding was great, but I was too busy to comment on how the suit came out. In a word, "great." Definitely worth the money. If you're looking to spend $500 on a suit and tailoring, this should be your first stop. I'll try to snag a photo once the wedding pictures are online.

Chase: What's your equivalent for shirts to My Suit NY?

Well, according to Brian. There is no equivalent to mysuit.com for shirts... yet. They are looking into adding shirts to their catalog.
For now, I'll have to mention a few cheap favorites.
Any chain store catering to a younger crowd will have affordable slim-cut shirts. J Crew, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. Brooks Brothers now offers slim-cut clothing as well.

But for $30, H&M can't be beat. They have a few different collar options. The shirts are cheap and of decent quality. Most men should have 5 white button-ups in their closet. At H&M you'll get 5 shirts for $150. Ya can't complain.

[chasea]

Are the shirts here made-to-measure?
Custom Suits & Mens Suits | Indochino

Anyone bought anything here? Do I have to be the VS guinea pig again?

[geoffk]

I bought a suit last year from Indochino when they were running a $100-off sale. A light grey three-piece for $319 shipped.

Great options, once you found the (slightly hidden) website feature that let you add them: working buttons, ticket pocket, higher armholes, etc., no extra charge.

The self-measurement system was clumsy (or maybe it's just me). The pants were too tight and the jacket not quite right when it arrived. But that was all fixed by my favorite tailor, and Indochino paid for the alterations. The changes were also uploaded to their site, so if I order another one -- or a shirt -- it should come out closer to perfect.

So far no quality issues after having the suit in rotation for about four months. The fabric seems about what you'd expect for the price -- not fantastic. But if they run another promotion I'd consider getting a warm-weather suit or maybe a twist on the basic blue business suit, for most of the reasons already discussed in this thread.

[boundgear]

JakobCustomClothiers.com
this is the same idea, right?

Any experiences with them?

[christian]

But if your budget for a single suit is in the $500 range, then I would definitely suggest giving this place a try. You're going to get a better fit than a $500 department store suit OR you're going to spend more taking that same department store suit to be altered.

I'm glad that your experience was a good one, but to be honest, that seems to be the exception, not them norm (say, for instance if you look on Styleforum) and the suits aren't very well constructed. I think that, barring being a very very odd size, the average person will be better served by going an getting a half-canvas 1818 suit from BB on sale at $598.

Chase: What's your equivalent for shirts to My Suit NY?

The most reliable custom shirtmakers in NYC appear to be CEGO and Geneva. I've used Carl at CEGO very happily, but also find the extra slim shirts at BB to fit pretty well, so MTM shirts aren't usually a requirement for me.

Are the shirts here made-to-measure?
Custom Suits & Mens Suits | Indochino

Anyone bought anything here? Do I have to be the VS guinea pig again?

There are some _great_ threads on Styleforum about Indochino (if you like to LOL). Some of the suits look pretty good. One of them made the wearer look like a walrus in a burlap sack with two-dimensional pants. I think "computerized" made to measure has a way to go. Off the rack and a good alterations tailor is usually a better option.

[chasea]

The difference between Indochino and Mysuit is that Mysuit has an actual location where you are measured and fit by a professional. Indochino is just mailed-in measurements. These numbers don't mean anything if you are unable to interpret them. And even if the numbers are right, the suit will need a final fitting and a few areas touched up. Ordering from Indochino is akin to having a frame built to spec but not aligned.

As I stated before, the quality of a Mysuit.com suit is on par with other made-overseas, machine-stitched suits. The only difference is the style is determined by the consumer, and a separate trip to the tailor is not necessary. I was satisfied with my purchase. And the service I received well exceeded the money I put down.