A visit to Astor & Black - Page 6

I see your point - and was actually wondering the same thing.

My guess is celebrities, athletes and the Scott Disick's of the world get higher quality workmanship, better fabrics and more preliminary fittings. I think their A&B experience (via their agent or whomever) is a little more involved, expensive and handled with better care vs. Joe Schmo from the suburbs.

Just a guess. Because I too have seen athletes and other well known individuals wearing an A&B suit that seemed to fit them well and be above average in construction. Yet the reviews on here almost uniformly suggest it's cheap, ill-fitting junk.

I'm not sure how it can be both, even if it is extremely hit or miss.

Count me as one of their happy customers. I'm exceptionally hard to fit and they did an excellent job. I've used local MTM, true bespoke and multiple internet tailors in the past and I have to say that Astor and Black was just exceptional in fit and materials. Just by happenstance I have their COO as my rep so I may get a higher level of service than others but I have referred friends and co-workers to them and haven't heard these horror stories. While I still plan a trip of my own to HKG next year to get some more things done I will be an A&B customer for as long as they stay consistent.

..

Who have you used for bespoke?

Briggs Providence and then Marc Allen Clothiers when they changed hands here in Providence, RI.

Quote:

how much were you paid to write this?

I give an honest response and you give a dick reply like that? Sorry I don't jump on the band wagon of haters. I've had good experiences with their service and products.

don't be fooled by celebrity endorsements.  They get their suits for FREE! Who doesn't like free stuff?

They almost got me with the marketing aspect of it.  Now after reading this thread I'm a little hesitant to even spend.  Im a young banker and I like looking and feeling good in my suits.  I just don't get the concept of buying a MTM suit, then it doesn't fit you correctly so the company will send it to any tailor it chooses that just sounds a little shady to me.  

Hmmmm... Just ordered a sportcoat this past weekend. Not a huge investment, but interested in how the quality will turn out. I am not big into posting pictures of myself, but maybe I will do so this time.

I did not seek them out, but my brother -in-law had a friend at the beach who was a A&B salesman. We had a few beers one night and I asked if I could come over the next day for a fitting. He obviously agreed and I got the coat.

More to come in 4-6 weeks.

I was very unsure of even looking into this company, but I bit the bullet and scheduled a meeting with one of their Boston reps.  The rep was very nice and did his best, but, for me, too many lingering concerns.  First and foremost, the price I was quoted was no different than having the suit made by a local tailor.  For Scabal or Dormeuil fabrics, he wanted over $2100 for one suit.  While they claim fully custom, that makes no sense to me if they only do a final tailoring after the whole suit is made.  I asked if they cut new patterns for each suit and he clalmed they did, but I don't see this as a credible claim.  This feels much more like Made To Measure to me.  Moreover, they have a no refund policy that took me a while to get him to admit.  He explained that they want to make you happy, but the final arbitor of this is Astor & Black so good luck if you have a real dispute over the final fit and quality.  Maybe they do make good, but the no refund concerns me.  Also, the time it takes causes me some concern because 6-8 weeks feels like a long time, but he wouldn't even guarantee that.

 

Also, I didn't say "yes" or "no" to the rep, just that I wanted him to get more info and contact me.  He never did.  I guess he felt that I asked too many questions or was just too skeptical.

 

I am off to the wonderful folks at Giblee's in DAnvers, MA for my first effort to have them quote me a suit that is Made to Measure.  I have bought other clothes from them--never a suit-- and the service is very special.  NO high pressure, very knowledgable, kind of a throw back.  I will compare their price on a Made to Measure to AStor and Black and another Made to Measure clothier in Sudbury, MA,  Post Road Clotheirs, where I had my first Made to Measure suit, that, by the way, is beautiful and fits well.  I am just trying to see how much difference there is out there in the Boston Metro area.

 

I think you're right on here. First of all, they throw the word "custom" around because frankly the masses don't know half of what a Style Forum regular knows. They say that choosing your lining, button stitching color, number of vents, type of lapel, pick stitching, pleated/flat front, hemmed or cuffed, all constitute "custom." And to the person who just goes to Macy's and sees suit A or suit B, then by all means it's custom. And it's a good marketing strategy. But to the informed, it is just a made-to-measure service that never truly tells you how it's made or properly involves an acceptable alternations policy, either by providing in-house support or offering a monetary coverage.

I own 3 suits from A&B and have had to make a lot of tweaks since I purchased 3 years ago. Some of that are simply changes in my tastes and knowledge level. But some were glaring items like pant and sleeve length, which should have been covered and wasn't. On the positive side, the fabric is great. I have the Zegna-level fabric and I love the softness of it. But overall I still feel like I didn't truly get my money's worth.

For those of you who have bought from A&B in the last year or so, what is your experience?

so to all of you experts...what is the best online custom suit maker?

 

I have been doing lots of research, read this entire thread... (amazing btw) and I've come up with these three options...can someone tell me their reports or advice on the below:

 

-Astor and black....apparently not worth dealing with?

-Indo Chino...seems legit?

-www.knotstandard.com - a seemingly new business but a friend recommended me to them after a really good experience...any others know about this company? I've used them for some stuff already and was pretty happy...but before I go back I want more feedback...as my order price is going to spike next time

 

(big wedding day)!!! :)

 

thanks,

 

evan

I'll go ahead and keep things pretty vague about myself seeing as Astor & Black apparently contacts their less-than-happy customers through this forum. I work in a profession that requires me to wear a suit everyday; thus, I appreciate a well fitting, well tailored suit (whether is be made-to-measure, truly custom, or what have you). I've forgotten exactly how I first heard of Astor and Black, but I did, and subsequently called to schedule an appointment. My clothier was professional. Good guy, well dressed (of course), and he seemed to know the basics regarding his product. Measurements were taken, and I'm assuming the order was shipped out.

 

Time for the complaints:

1) I ordered in the fall and didn't receive my product until February. FEBRUARY. I get it, its christmas time, lots of orders....whatever....but knowledge that you have a lot of orders going through you company won't put a suit coat on my back. You know what does put a suit coat on my back? Sending me my order!

 

2) It's made in China. And this isn't a bad thing. Trust me, turn over any product in your house and its all made in one of the following countries: China, Vietnam, Thailand....name another asian country. All I want from a company is a little honesty. Don't call your self Astor & Black (two seville row tailors from the 1800's), when your name is Schottenstein, and profess that you own all these factories when your really just a distributor/reseller of suits from China. Moreover, being a reseller/distributor of suits from China is NOT a bad business model (as long as you have a trusted and experienced manufacturer), but don't go telling your customers that your something your not....customers are smarter than that...especially the ones that wear suits everyday.

 

3) When I finally did receive the suits, the sleeves were too short and the jacket was too big. My clothier was very apologetic and offered to have it fixed, but I was sick of the experience and just told him "No worries, I'll get it done". So I just went to my local tailor and got the thing chopped up to fit me

 

All in all the experience was a bit displeasing. Nice people, good salesmen with mediocre measuring ability <- That is probably how I would sum it up.

I was at my tailor yesterday here in Columbus, the hometown of Astor and Black. Without getting into too many details because I don't want to out the tailor, this guy worked very closely with the company and its founder.  I asked him what he thought of the quality of product they produce. He went on a 10 minute tirade about how terrible their suits are constructed. He no longer works directly with the company but showed me a receipt for a customer who needed $500 worth of alterations. Yes, $500!!!!  Don't ask me why you would spend that much to fix a suit when you could just get a new one for a few hundred more. This tailor is a bit pricy (and worth it), but it is a great testimny to the low quality products they sell. The tailor showed me the lining Astor and Black uses vs. their in house suits and it was remarkable how flimsy it was.

 

I think they push the "customized" suit experience on uneducated customers. Then they flash fancy fabric names like Zegna and loro piana and it blinds people to the flawed constrsuction on the suits. The concept of the company is interesting, but I think they would be better off charging an extra $100 and making everything here in the US, or even mexico, with higher quality standards.

 

FWIW, they had an indochino suit there also. The tailor had never heard of it but said it was a much higher quality product than Astor and Black. When I told him it was ~$400 he thought it was a good value.