UKC

The last couple of business suits I bought (about three years ago from Austin Reed), are starting to look a bit baggy & shapeless - I've lost quite a bit of weight since then, so I can probably wear something a bit more complimentary.

So, I'm thinking of getting a suit tailor-made instead of buying off the peg as I've done in the past. I'm sure quite a few guys on UKC have gone down this route, so I just wondered whether my budget (about £400) is realistic, and what should I be looking for?

thanks

In reply to FrankBooth:

You coudl try 'Raja Fashions' - you see them advertising in the FT and Sunday papers etc. Their model is to send guys out from Hong Kong who measure you up and take digi photos of your body shape etc in a hotel in various UK locations. You pick the style, cloth, lining etc and can take an example picture of something you like and want them to make if you want. It gets made up and sent and can then be adjusted again on a follow up trip if required.

Only things to watch that I am aware of having used them a few times is they are totall sharks... their starting gambit will be to slap down a fabrics book of their best cloth, you say that ones nice, they say that one is £2,000.... So tell them your budget and with a basic cloth you will get a suit and probably a second pair of trousers for that.

I forget if their prices theoretically include import duty or not.. I think when I first used them they claimed it was an all in price (or fudged the issue), then the suit arrived in a package marked 'samples, $10' or something... since then I think they may have 'gone legit' and state that VAT and import duty is your responsibility.... however I've never paid anything extra although it is a few years since I last used them.

For ref, I bought over the course of about 3 years, 5 suits from them, 4 of which have second trousers. I wear them in rotation and they all still look as new and I first used them in 07 I think. So combo of having several and especially having 2 pairs of trousers really makes them last. Letting your suit hang and air/dry properly is way better than putting on the same one day in day out.

In reply to FrankBooth:

I had a suit made to measure by a bunch working on the same basis as 'Raja Fashions' - I didn't think the result was that good. It takes more visits and a lot of cash to get a proper result.

What did work for me was getting a good suit from a factory shop and having it altered by a good tailor.

In reply to FrankBooth:

I had a dinner suit made by dress2kill. I was pleased with the results and it wasn't too bad on price.

In reply to FrankBooth:

I think for £400 you are pushing it to get something tailored. You should be ok to get something made to measure from a template design but the cloth will probably be average and not last too long, especially in the trousers. Also the fusing of the jacket material will be cheaper and more susceptable to bubbling from dry cleaning (especially if your dry cleaner just whacks them in a very high temp clean.)

Having said all of that, it should look great for a while and if your weight keeps changing, you will want to change suits more regularly anyway and you can keep up with the latest trends

In reply to Turdus torquatus:



Mr TC does this - he's tall and very slim but with broad shoulders, so 'off the peg' suits never quite fit him. He's fond of French Connection suits for whatever reason, and he's just ordered some in their sale, which will then be adjusted by a tailor.

Mr Rushby of this parish extols the virtues of his mate who's a tailor somewhere in Bradford - if I remember rightly, very good prices for bespoke suits.

In reply to Tall Clare:

A friend of mine 'in the know' suggests the best way is to buy a quality and roughly fitting one off Ebay or from a good second hand shop and then pay to have it altered.

In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Haha... agreed, with 5 suits hanging in the closet, in my case I have a strong incentive to not have a fluctuating weight! Keeps me on the slender and narrow as it were....

In reply to FrankBooth:

I would recommend tailoring for as much as you can afford. I buy most of my clothes from http://trotteranddeane.co.uk/ in Bury St Edmunds. Don't know where you live, but they've got an offer on for March (so last chance this weekend) for a tailored suit for £550. Their clothes and service are second to none.

In reply to FrankBooth:

I used to go to that wonderful old shop, Baron, in Piccadilly - now closed down courtesy of the Crown Estae who wanted to redvelop the building.

They did traditional factory made suits and altered them to fit strange climber physiques. They lasted for years (well they're still lasting for years). The oldest dates from about 1997, may be earlier, and still looks good.

I need another good factory outlet - not too impressed with Aquascutum - doesn't hold its shape.

Good fabric and a good cut - then get it alterered.

In reply to nniff:

Gosh, Ali G's dad

In reply to FrankBooth:

thanks, everyone - the hybrid solution, altering a standard suit, sounds like it might be the best way to go

In reply to FrankBooth:

Bernard Gross tailors (Leeds) I have heard on good authority will do you a 3 piece, 2 pairs of trousers, for £660. That is very good value although it may not look like it . The last tailor I spoke to complained that he was working for far less than minimum wage when you consider the hours that are put into a bespoke suit.

I once had two very good Raja Fashions suits (3 piece, 2 pairs of trousers) which cost me £350 each. Be prepared to haggle though he was asking £500 each at first. That was 10 years ago.

A bonus of getting bespoke is that you can order heavier/more substantial cloth than the usual lightweight rubbish sold on the high street- it will last longer.

In reply to FrankBooth:

I can recommend a good tailors in Bangkok - I have 2 suits (with spare trousers) from them, for just over your budget. Shame about the plane tickets.

From experience, make sure the jackets have enough room in them - one of mine is a bit neat. The trousers are spot on, though.

If you order a shirt, it's worth specifying the number of buttons.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

A number of Bangkok tailors travel Europe to do sizings then have the completed suit shipped over to you. That can be worth it.

Unfortunately Bangkok was also notorious for over-doing the shoulder pad side of things with a somewhat retro 80s look.

In reply to FrankBooth:


If you are having a suit altered, go to an alterations tailor and not a normal one.

Normal ones are utterly crap at the job, even if they made it in the first place.

In reply to FrankBooth:

Sam's in Hong Kong... I was back there last weekend, if you want quality you just need to see the photos of who has been before you. but can be inconvenient, unless you travel regularly.

Raja does acceptable alternative.
Cheers
LD

In reply to FrankBooth:

I've gone down both routes - off-the-peg and adjusted (Hugo Boss suit from an Outlet shop ~400 euros) and tailored (Asuitthatfits.com you have the fitting here and they send the measurements to their factory in Nepal - 680eurs).

The off-the-peg and adjusted suit fits really well - a bit tight across the legs possibly but otherwise great. The tailored suit is taking ages but that is mainly because they are in London and I am in Spain. If I was based in London it would have taken probably 6 - 8 weeks in total. But I reckon once they've got my measurements the next time round should be quicker.

In reply to FrankBooth:
With shoulders like an ox and a small waist, suits (and other clothing) are a constant problem.

I did go through a stage of trying tailored stuff many many years ago and it was a disaster. They simply didn't seem to believe that those measurements belonged to the same human being.

I tend to use the blazer and chino formula a lot now and therefore don't wear suits too often so they will last me a while. This is just as well since it can be several years before I'll see another suit that can be fettled to fit.

In reply to FrankBooth:
I have a different suit for every day of the week and a few more (in fact I have acquired 2 new suits in the last week).

For your budget yes you could get a tailor made suit but I personally wouldn't as the type of cloth you could have will limit the life of the suit etc. For your budget you could get a high quality off the peg unfinished suit and have it fitted.

I normally buy unfinished suits and take them to a tailor to be fitted. My advice would be buy a quality off the peg unfinished suit, size the jacket for the shoulders with arms slightly long etc and then get it adjusted. The suit I bought last Saturday the alterations I had done included

Reduce the trouser waist
Shorten the trouser legs
Reduce the seat of the trousers
Reduce the upper-thigh and make the whole trouser leg slightly slimmer
Reduce the length of the jacket arms
Re-instate the button holes and detailing
Reduce the body of the jacket from tailored fit to slim etc etc. The suit fits me as comfortably as it could without being purpose made for my body.

Make sure the jacket is pretty close to your final fit as it can be and in the style you like i.e Traditional, Tailored, Slim, Skinnt etc and don't buy anything too large as some jackets depending on the number of vents and original stitching configuration can only be adjusted by 1.5-2.5 inches max in the body etc.

In reply to FrankBooth:
I've recently discovered that most off the peg suits have a degree of adjustability in-built. This means I can buy a relatively cheap off the peg suit, send it to a tailor for adjustments and end up with a final result that is very similar to a tailor made suit for a fraction of the price. The guy i use charges £5 per adjustment so for me that's trouser waist/seat, legs, jacket waist and arms for £20 on top of the cost of the suit.



Edit: i.e. just like AlanM says! Sorry just read that post

In reply to M0nkey:

I buy suits from Jaeger. They do alterations/ fitting.

A good suit with 2pr trousers is £500

In reply to FrankBooth:

I got a really nice three piece suit and shirt tailor made whilst in India last year for £50. Flights aren't even that expensive...