Australian Members - Page 12

strange though, on the old herringbone MIJ suits it felt like they were fully canvassed because i tried the pinch test all the way below the bottom button hole and there was a 3rd layer. On the new MIC ones it appears that the canvas is only on the chest piece. Anyone with more experience care to chime in?

I'd be scared to see what any Tom Ford piece would cost after harrolds mark ups.

i actually didnt know that harrolds at melbourne sells TOM FORD until i saw that on TOM FORD website, saying its the only retailer in Australia.so i was just wondering/interested to see if they have anything decent there

+1. I think you will be looking at a second mortgage.

- aren't you the tyre kicker that waisted Ethan's time not once but twice? You then went to another store to order the suit & still got the wrong size? Then had the hide to go & see him again & still walked out with nothing.. - how many suits do you have under rotation? - sorry about the harsh tone, but Ethan is such a patient & knowledgeable (if not one of the best in the in industry) & it pisses me off as I know how much time he invests in internet tyre kickers.. - rant definitely over.. - understand that Ethan is too much of a gentlemen to not say anything, respect that he has to make a living & filling air in your tyres is not cutting eat. - you would also be pissed to here where they get their stock from.. FYI - the majority is not current..

well, its better than nothing even though they are not current. btw, PG, have you ever gotten a chance to have a look at TF concession in HK?

- yes & LC will cease stocking TF in the new year.
- FWIW - TF is definitely not worth the premium he charges & the stuff looks better in magazines. You would be amazed at how stiff the canvas they use.

that i have heard, apparently, LC is in a bit of trouble....

Damn... what a bitch move. I got Ethans contact details off Joe and won't contact him until I've got the funds (bonus time next year). Wouldn't dream of wasting his time like that.

Hey man, I was actually about to go back this Wednesday to pick up another suit! I am just learning alot about suits atm so I don't want to just jump in uninformed, I try to learn as much as I can. I think you've got me wrong PG, I didn't go to ethan's store the first time to try on a suit and then buy it from another store. I got fitted with a suit the first time I went in, however it was a different suit to the one I eventually bought which was only stocked at the Chifley Plaza store. I truly respect Ethan's time and patience, especially with someone of his expertise. His level of knowledge is just amazing.

Quite so: poor selection, monstrously overpriced. As a Anglo-Scot 'blow in' to Canberra, it does seem that a fair number of Aussies would rather be fleeced by another Aussie than given good value by a foreign company. Canberra's fairly mince, unsurprisingly (Herringbone closed with the recent rationalisation; the local DJs announced they a particular range had proven popular so they sent the rest of the stock to Sydney. Clowns). But even regular trips to Sydney are proving unsuccessful: have been making do with several pairs of Loakes I had when I arrived, mail order, and restocking on trips back to the UK every couple of years (next one in November and I can't effing wait). [Edit. And another thing, can anyone recommend a well cut, 'unbranded' polo shirt over here? Everything seems to have crappy logos]

How could anyone treat Aussie retailers as having any form of ethics? They took the ethics out of it with their extraordinary mark ups of pure junk clothing. IMHO of course!

Meister, PG and others - thanks for your repy. Much appreciated.

Hi All,

I'm brand new to this forum and have only recently started appreciating fashion.

Hoping you guys will be able to provide some advice - I'm posting here rather than in another thread as I'm hoping to get some australian focused responses.

So here's my situation:

I will be starting my first professional job just after christmas after graduating from uni. Will be needing to wear a suit (with tie) every day. To get started I am budgeting around 3 - 3.5K...once I start the job and earning I will be able to continue to add to my wardrobe.

Is that budget realistic/achievable if I don't want to skimp on quality too much (I acknowledge that most of the top quality stuff is well out of range). If so where would you guys go looking for suits and at what price? I was thinking of getting a 2 suits from someone like Steven Aver or maybe something OTR (if OTR which brands would you recommend?). 2 suits I would estimate would cost in total 2K give or take $100 with alterations (BTW how much are alterations roughly in Sydney?).

The next question is shirts...I honestly don't know what is good and what isn't. I would like at a minimum 7 shirts - is budget of about 700 ok?

For ties I was budgeting around $70-100...is that reasonable in Sydney? Are the ties from Tie Rack ok?

I particularly stumped with shoes. I don't like the pointy ones but neither do I like the chunky plain high school type shoes. I've seen a few good ones at Florsheim but don't really know any other place to look other than maybe Aquila.

Sorry for the long post and for any 'dumb' questions. Any help/advice would be great!

InsiderTrader, I am in the same position as you. What line of business are you in, finance i presume by your screen name?? With regards to Steve aver, I'm not sure about it because 1) I am not confident in measuring myself, and 2) I'd definiately like to see it in person first, especially since I don't have any experience in suiting. I decided to get a Herringbone suits which are also around that 1k mark, bit over. I'll be adding another one very soon! When i start full time work I plan to add to that eventually, maybe one every 6 months. With shirts, a big consideration for me are ones that don't wrinkle too easily - as I discovered recently, hard to iron shirts are such a hassle. If you have about $700 left, maybe just get 5 shirts, which still should be plenty, until you can afford to add more. I'd go for whites, pale blues, lavender, pink, mild patterns with some form of blue. Shoes are also so important. Unfortunately, there are only few good sellers in Sydney, and the good shoes are really expensive. After reading more on this board, it seems that buying from the net is very popular for good prices, such as www.pediwear.co.uk and www.plal.com. Within your budget I think it's probably necessary to buy online for decent quality. Classic options are always good, such as a black captoe oxford. As regards to ties, don't skimp too much on ties because the cheap ones will look cheap. But at this stage ties under $100 are more than enough! Maybe even find some on ebay if be. Eventually you can add more in.