Suit Question Lanvin/SLP vs Sid Mashburn/ Freemans

highcatcher91 · Aug 13, 2016

I have a fairly ignorant suit question as I am not very educated in the space. I understand fused, canvassed, half-canvassed etc but beyond that little else. I'm looking to get a basic navy and a basic grey suit and have come across well priced (discounted) Lanvin and SLP pairs. However - from the research I've done it seems mostly what I'm paying for is the name vs quality and craftsmanship. My alternatives here would be the standard suits from Sid Mashburn and Freemans which both seem to have gotten great reviews. As a note all 4 of these would be fully canvassed.

So my question here is am I wrong that I'm mostly paying for the name and that the Sid/Freemans suits would be better? Anyone have insight into any of these 4 brands suits? There are some threads on all of these but they are fairly dated.

Murlsquirl · Aug 13, 2016

highcatcher91 said:
I have a fairly ignorant suit question as I am not very educated in the space. I understand fused, canvassed, half-canvassed etc but beyond that little else. I'm looking to get a basic navy and a basic grey suit and have come across well priced (discounted) Lanvin and SLP pairs. However - from the research I've done it seems mostly what I'm paying for is the name vs quality and craftsmanship. My alternatives here would be the standard suits from Sid Mashburn and Freemans which both seem to have gotten great reviews. As a note all 4 of these would be fully canvassed.

So my question here is am I wrong that I'm mostly paying for the name and that the Sid/Freemans suits would be better? Anyone have insight into any of these 4 brands suits? There are some threads on all of these but they are fairly dated.

Moving this to the Menswear Advice forum...

To answer your question, yes. You're mostly paying for the brand. I do not own any Sid Mashburn or HF, but from what I've seen/heard, they are pretty good quality. How much are you looking to spend?

highcatcher91 · Aug 13, 2016

Murlsquirl said:
Moving this to the Menswear Advice forum...

To answer your question, yes. You're mostly paying for the brand. I do not own any Sid Mashburn or HF, but from what I've seen/heard, they are pretty good quality. How much are you looking to spend?

Thanks for moving to the appropriate thread - by Freemans I meant freemans sporting club, not hickey freeman so should have been more clear. in terms of spend I'm looking in the $1000-2000 range.

Murlsquirl · Aug 13, 2016

highcatcher91 said:
Thanks for moving to the appropriate thread - by Freemans I meant freemans sporting club, not hickey freeman so should have been more clear. in terms of spend I'm looking in the $1000-2000 range.

Gotcha. With that kind of budget, you really have a ton of options. We have a thread that is dedicated to creating a "quality list" that you might be interested in. The current list (it stays up to date with new makers), can be found here post #1341

Caustic Man · Aug 13, 2016

With that kind of budget you could go to one of the less expensive bespoke houses and get a very nice suit made specifically for you. You could even go with Kent Wang MTM and probably spend much less than $2000 for two very nice suits which would exceed the quality of all those brands.

vida · Aug 13, 2016

Caustic Man said:
With that kind of budget you could go to one of the less expensive bespoke houses and get a very nice suit made specifically for you. You could even go with Kent Wang MTM and probably spend much less than $2000 for two very nice suits which would exceed the quality of all those brands.

Terrible, Terrible advice. Once again...
This guy is not an experienced suit buyer so to suggest bespoke is a tragedy.
highcatcher91, since you are in NYC drop by the Armoury or Paul Stuart for advice, styling suggestions and good value. If you aren't happy then try other options. Just the fact that you have NY at your disposal is a huge advantage.

Caustic Man · Aug 13, 2016

Actually bespoke is the best way to go for the inexperienced.

vida · Aug 13, 2016

Caustic Man said:
Actually bespoke is the best way to go for the inexperienced.

How, exactly?

WSW · Aug 13, 2016

vida said:
Terrible, Terrible advice. Once again...
This guy is not an experienced suit buyer so to suggest bespoke is a tragedy.
highcatcher91, since you are in NYC drop by the Armoury or Paul Stuart for advice, styling suggestions and good value. If you aren't happy then try other options. Just the fact that you have NY at your disposal is a huge advantage.

I'm curious why you think this is bad advice. The only risks are finding a good tailor to work with, of which there are plenty in NYC and can be researched on the forum, and finding the time to go through the fitting process.

A good tailor should be able to guide the client to a proper suit regardless of level of experience and knowledge.

Caustic Man · Aug 13, 2016

Because a good bespoke tailor will be able to tell YOU what to look for in a well constructed, well fitting, suit. The fit will be made to your specific body measurements and adjusted, over several fittings, to your specific self. If you buy off the rack you will have to know exactly what fits you well, how it is to be altered, and what is and is not right for you with the specific brand. Talking to some sales rep may or may not yield good info. Talking to the actual damn tailor making your clothes usually will.

vida · Aug 13, 2016

"actual damn tailor"

I seem to have ruffled your Cardinal feathers.

Caustic Man · Aug 13, 2016

No argument against my point?

vida · Aug 13, 2016

He says he's new and is just trying to get some basic clarification. Before going to bespoke, you need to have some sort of indication of fit, style and fabric.
There have been huge spoke mistakes made by different posters on this forum as evidence through several photos and diaries. Of course, there has been some great successes too.
But for someone so new at this suiting game dear is too much risk to assume.

Caustic Man · Aug 13, 2016

What a stupid thing to say.

vida · Aug 13, 2016

OK. You win.

Suit Question Lanvin/SLP vs Sid Mashburn/ Freemans

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