• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Best Approach To Well-Tailored Suits & Shirts in Midwest?

Ahheck01

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
233
Reaction score
1
Good morning, gentlemen. I'm very excited to be asking this question, as I've been on a very tight budget for as long as I've been interested in proper men's style.

As it goes, I've positioned myself to earn an income that supports the purchase of a new wardrobe, which I desperately need. Although the many different aspects of a wardrobe require different discussions, this post is about purchasing good suits and shirts to have a nice business formal foundation.

The issue I run into with nearly anything OTR is that whatever fits my shoulders and arms is quite a bit too big in the rest of the torso. I'd really like to find a few great suits with a modern and "cool" shape to them - perhaps just a tad more traditional than the GQ look, but not far off. While I was originally going to take my chances with Indochino, I thought the new budget would open things up to going a safer and possibly higher quality route.

I think initially I'd like to get a few staple suits - Navy & Charcoal for starters. For these I'd probably go the highest in terms of amount I'm willing to invest.

Ballpark budget is $1500 per suit. That said, if $2000 would buy a suit that's twice as nice as $1500, I can swing that. Value trumps cost, to an extent. The final challenge is that I'm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There are one or two tailors in town, and neither with any sort of great reputation from people that know what they're talking about.

Any advice?

Many thanks!
 

CousinDonuts

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Messages
1,864
Reaction score
1,403
If you can make a trip to Chicago that will open up your universe immensely. At that price point you can get some of the better OTRs (peeps - can he get RLBL at $2k?) or some nice MTM.
 

JayJay

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
24,297
Reaction score
439

If you can make a trip to Chicago that will open up your universe immensely. At that price point you can get some of the better OTRs (peeps - can he get RLBL at $2k?) or some nice MTM.


+1. I recommend taking a road trip to Chicago.
 

Ahheck01

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
233
Reaction score
1

If you can make a trip to Chicago that will open up your universe immensely. At that price point you can get some of the better OTRs (peeps - can he get RLBL at $2k?) or some nice MTM.


I'm looking at RLBL on their website, perhaps I should have mentioned that the closest fit OTR for me is 40XL right now. At my ideal bodyweight, which I'm working up to, I hope to fill out a 42XL. I'm 6' 6", 180lb working up to a trim/cut 210lb ideal bodyweight. Going from scrawny/skinny to athletic build. Does that affect things? I want the suit to look like it was made specifically for my body. Can that be done with OTR + tailoring?
 

CousinDonuts

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Messages
1,864
Reaction score
1,403

I'm looking at RLBL on their website, perhaps I should have mentioned that the closest fit OTR for me is 40XL right now. At my ideal bodyweight, which I'm working up to, I hope to fill out a 42XL. I'm 6' 6", 180lb working up to a trim/cut 210lb ideal bodyweight. Going from scrawny/skinny to athletic build. Does that affect things? I want the suit to look like it was made specifically for my body. Can that be done with OTR + tailoring?



That's would be a big enough body change that you probably want to wait until you put on the weight. You're probably talking a few inches in shoulders, chest, thighs with an extra 30lbs, unless you plain to do it with beer, cheese fries, pretzels and pizza.
 

Ahheck01

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
233
Reaction score
1

That's would be a big enough body change that you probably want to wait until you put on the weight. You're probably talking a few inches in shoulders, chest, thighs with an extra 30lbs, unless you plain to do it with beer, cheese fries, pretzels and pizza.


Well, it will probably take a good 6-12 months to put on that weight without gaining a lot of fat in the process. Should I get an inexpensive suit for now and get the good ones when I hit ideal weight?

If so, where should I start?
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 91 37.6%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 90 37.2%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 25 10.3%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 40 16.5%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 38 15.7%

Forum statistics

Threads
506,849
Messages
10,592,409
Members
224,329
Latest member
DjangoJ
Top