Picking a suit for my wedding day: roll the dice online or go local MTM?

I'm 6'3", 135... yeah. 15" neck, 35" chest, 35" sleeve, 31" waist, 33" inseam. Obviously my measurements don't exist off-the-rack. I don't think a 36L even exists. I guess it would be cool if I could get something off the rack and have it altered but that doesn't seem possible. If you think it is though, I'd consider it.

I think my budget is roughly somewhere in the $1,000 - $2,000 ballpark. Probably best if I stick to the mid to lower end of the spectrum.

My wedding is early September in New Orleans—going to be fairly casual. Should be early evening. Knowing New Orleans I'm sure it will be hot as hell, mid 90s or something.

There aren't many good menswear options where I currently live: there's a Brooks Bros and an old local menswear place. The latter is somehow more conservative than BB. I talked to both places about getting a MTM suit. BB priced the 3-piece at $1,500, the local place would do it for $1,900-$2,800 depending on which fabric I went with.

My tastes are not at all conservative, and what is slim fit for most is fairly loose on me: e.g., I have a tailored J. Crew Ludlow suit that fits me like a zoot suit. And I don't really like it very much... but perhaps that's because it's just too large to begin with.

So I guess my dilemma is this—do I roll the dice ordering a MTM suit online from a place like Black Lapel? Or do I just swallow my pride and spend $1500 on a Brooks Bros suit I probably won't even like in the first place?

In a perfect world I'd just buy a Paul Smith or a Reiss suit and get it altered.

Or, just go to NYC for a weekend, and get a suit made by Mr. Ned: http://mrnednyc.com/, for $950 (maybe a bit more depending on fabric.) You can get a pretty good flight and a couple of nights in a good hotel under a grand.) So... profit. NYC trip + custom suit for the price of a single suit that you don't really want anyway.

Yeah, that's a good suggestion. I've been thinking about that. I have friends in NYC and LA so I could even cut the expense of a hotel out of the equation. I'd probably lean towards LA though.

Suitsupply has 36L with free shipping and free returns. You might need to have the waist taken out in the pants as I think the default with a 36 is a 30

skeletor said:

Yeah, that's a good suggestion. I've been thinking about that. I have friends in NYC and LA so I could even cut the expense of a hotel out of the equation. I'd probably lean towards LA though.

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While I personally like LA more than NYC, it's much easier to get around in NYC, and the tailoring options are considerably greater.

Claghorn said:

Suitsupply has 36L with free shipping and free returns. You might need to have the waist taken out in the pants as I think the default with a 36 is a 30

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This might be the most economical idea.

Ideally, I would try to contact Haspel's for a summer suit. They're based out of New Orleans and their offerings should be in your price range. Not sure how it would work logistically (would you be able to go one or two times before the wedding for fittings?)

Not sure about your location, but if you're close to Atlanta, DC, or Texas, you can try Sid Mashburn. Many of their suits are under $1.5k and alterations are free of charge. You could also purchase their suit online. They have great customer service, so you might be able to get it altered even if you buy it online.

Bellafonte27 said:

Ideally, I would try to contact Haspel's for a summer suit. They're based out of New Orleans and their offerings should be in your price range. Not sure how it would work logistically (would you be able to go one or two times before the wedding for fittings?)

Not sure about your location, but if you're close to Atlanta, DC, or Texas, you can try Sid Mashburn. Many of their suits are under $1.5k and alterations are free of charge. You could also purchase their suit online. They have great customer service, so you might be able to get it altered even if you buy it online.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out Haspel's. I'm in Memphis, so I'm pretty centrally located to a lot of bigger metro areas. ATL, New Orleans, Dallas, etc., are all about 6-7 hours away. My fiancee's whole fam is in New Orleans so multiple trips wouldn't be a problem. I'm sure Nashville might have some good options as well.

My dad suggested Sid Mashburn to me the other day actually, because they were buds in college. I think they were frat bros at Ole Miss or something.

I'm leaning towards traveling somewhere to find a suit now. I just worry I'll drive like 7 hours away or fly across the country and have to go back for multiple fittings. If that's the case, so be it, but New Orleans or Dallas would probably make the most sense bc I have places to stay in both cities.

That's awesome! I can totally imagine Sid as a frat bro in college.

The guys at SM are pretty spot on when it comes to alterations. An initial and final fitting is all it took for them to get it right for me so I wouldn't worry about going back and forth. They're also very accommodating so they'll try to make it as painless as possible.