Where to buy a suit in London for £150 - £300

Marks & Spencer?

i think suitsupply might be in this price range

The people who I know that wear RTW Lewin look decent.

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My experience with M&S is that their trousers seem to be made to flatter the larger gentleman, so unless need flattering in that way, I would be careful. However, I would say that their suits vary quite a lot from range to range so best to try them. 

 

To be honest though, if you only want to spend that much on a suit, I would make weekly visits to one of the larger branches of T.K.Maxx until something half decent appears in your size. They do get some reasonable continental brands in there now and again, like Daniel Hechter, Pierre Cardin and so on, that are going to look better than anything M&S can offer. 

 

Otherwise, go with Lewin.

Call Pal Zileri at Bicester Village, if you are lucky they may have a suit in your size for around £300.

Daniel Hechter and Pierre Cardin are hardly 'reasonable continental brands', they're diffusion-label fused junk. Of the brands suggested so far M&S will provide good quality with less of the suit price going on marketing than the other options. TK Maxx can offer some decent stock, just inspect it carefully to get a feel for quality and then only buy it if it fits well. There are quite frequently sample sales for the likes of Gieves & Hawkes where you can do well within your budget, otherwise Bicester is well worth the £20 train fare if you have the time.

M&S suits at that price level are made exactly the same way AFAIK. The OP wants a cheap suit and he's going to get a cheap suit and fusing isn't the end of the world at this price range. I can't imagine you are ever going to get a Gieves & Hawkes suit even at a sample sale for £150-£300, unless you can tell me different. At least the T.K.Maxx option means you have the chance of something better, but it is only a chance, and as you suggest, you have to make sure you are getting what you want. Another option is the Paul Smith sale shop in Avery Row in London, but you can't guarantee that they will have something in your size that you like at any particular time. And the prices are still only occasionally in this band. The place in Bicester sounds great...

Last time I went to Bicester (which admittedly was a year or so ago) I managed to get two suits from Brooks Bros and Gieves and Hawkes for less than £300 each. When went to a sample sale about a year ago there was stuff at a similar price and would have got a dinner jacket for £295 I think it the sleeves had been long enough. Richard James also do sample sales, but neither they nor G&H really publicize them beyond adverts in the Standard.

Also, I just got a suit from Austin Reed, which I ordinarily think is pretty overpriced but it was £105 in the sale. Only issue with it seems to be that their long sizing is very long and I'm going to have to get the sleeves shortened which I've never had to do before. Other problem for you is that the sale is pretty much over.

If you're on a budget and don't mind wearing second hand, you could have a look in Old Hat over by Putney Bridge. I got a Daks tweed suit for £75 in good condition barring a couple of the cuff buttonss being broken,and you can probably get something from Savile Row on your sort of budget.
Edited by Not Ed Harris - 10/30/11 at 4:34am

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Those are some pretty serious bargains there. I have to admit, I didn't think you could manage to find G&H suits in this price range.

 

Just try a couple of suits from the mentioned brands and pick the one which fits best. I've voted for CT because they have a really nice range of suits. Last time I was in London I went with Lewin instead, though. It simply fit me better.

 

One more option would be Boggi Milano... very sharp suits and reasonably priced. Quality-wise only slightly above CT/Lewin I'd say, but obviously more Italian-style (modern without being too trendy).

G&H have normal sample sales where suits are £200 and up, and then every so often they have a mega-discount one where suits are £100 and up.