Hi everyone,
I just wanted to post about my experience with TAT. I met with Jason in August at his local tailor in San Gabriel.
I received my suit in the mail about a month later. I got my suit pressed and ready to wear. After trying it on, something seemed off to me for the fit, but I really didn't know if that was normal because it was my first suit and I didn't know what to look for. Since then I really never had a need for the suit so I just let it hang in the closet.
Come October, I needed to get it altered and ready for a presentation in November. I took it to a local tailor who checked it out and immediately noticed that the right of the suit under the arm was not fit proper. He said that since my right shoulder was lower than my left, it made a lot of creases under the right arm. Also he said the collar was loose and not fit proper. He quoted for for $140 for the alterations of the suit, but I got him to agree on $120. Even then he said that the suit would improve but not be able to be fully fixed because of the fabric of the jacket already being cut and limiting the amount that could be altered.
I emailed Jason about the issue that the tailor brought up, and his response was not as empathetic as I was expecting. After a few emails he agreed to meet to see the suit. So I took it to him and with his tailor we looked at it. His tailor agreed that the armhole could not be fixed, it was too high and needed to be lower. Jason agreed to make me a new suit jacket which I'd get in a month. I was surprised that he did not take any measurements on my body wearing the old suit. I even asked if he needed to take measurements or make notes but he said no he didn't need to. The one thing that stood out to me was the fact that he said it was "my body" that made the suit not fit, as if it was my problem! As if the suit was not measured on my body? The reason I chose MTM was because I wanted something custom to my fit, if wanted something that didn't fit I wouldn't choose MTM. Didn't get a good vibe about that.
I just got the new jacket last week and its a little better, but still not right. The jacket was just widened under the armholes instead of addressing the issue of uneven shoulders. There are still creases on the right armhole. To fix it my tailor needed to take the right arm off and pull up the fabric and drop the armhole. Also he'd need to alter the left arm because it would be thrown off by the right being changed. Total costs for alterations: $160!
I really wanted to love the suit I got from TAT but unfortunately it didn't work out as well as I was expecting. I understand that MTM is not a perfect process, but after showing Jason the first suit with the problem, I was expecting to get a second jacket that fit proper. The total cost for the suit with alterations turned out to be $525+$160 = $685. For just a about $100 more I could have gotten a custom suit from my local tailor who has been in business for over 20 years, which would include multiple fittings and all alterations included.
I'm not saying TAT is not good, its a good service if you fit into most RTW suits in the store and are looking for something with more features or colors. If you have some interesting or unique physical attributes then you might reconsider. I was expecting my second meeting to go better and be able to resolve the problems of the first jacket but that was not the case. I can't imagine what people who cannot meet locally would do about a situation like that. I have an Alfani Red Slim suit off the rack that was altered to fit better than my TAT suit, at less than half the price (sale price, $290 with alterations). Obviously the Alfani is not as stylish as the TAT suit, but it works really well for the price. I really wish the TAT suit fit proper because I love the styling and color options, just not the need to put $160 in for alterations on a second attempt jacket. I really wanted a VBC 130 suit, but I think I'll hold out on that.
Attached are pictures of the suits (first and second jackets, marked as 1 and 2, respectively). Includes pictures of problem arm taken off by my tailor to get the right fitting on it.
Edited by goldenboy16 - 12/11/12 at 2:58pm
