Australian Members - Page 1378

Re: Should I buy a $350 jacket or not...
In fairness to Michael Sy, I think that his issue is not so much whether he should spend $350 on a jacket, but whether he's getting value for money for said jacket. It's my impression that he's happy to pay $350 - or more - for a jacket but that he doesn't want to throw away his money on a piece of rubbish and as he doesn't yet know a great deal about clothing, he's concerned that he might buy "the wrong thing".
I think that the only way to deal with such an issue is for Michael to do exactly what he intends to do - get out and about and try on as many suits and jackets as he can. Trying things on, seeing what fits, seeing what feels good and getting an idea as to what constitutes a "good" jacket or suit can take time and effort but is well worth it if a person wants to build up a good wardrobe.

^^Yeah, the guy clearly doesn't have as much cash as a lot of the posters on here.
I mean come on, even the most well-heeled among us regularly inquire as to where we can save $15 shipping on saphir.
Why not save money and learn a few things at the same time. If the posts are too petty for you, just skip over them!

Michael Sy
I haven't followed in detail but I can sympathise with your problem. Part or most even of your problem is these bloody internet forums. They are full of rules and obsessions with details and have very little helpful information about the whole look or your needs or your body shape etc. You'll have overdosed on full or part canvas, lapel roll, tie knots, Goodyear welt shoes, bespoke rules, high armholes, handmade shoes, and so on and so forth. All very interesting in a way and a nice hobby as you go on and wonder why things work or not. But ultimately not all that useful starting out - other than general ideas and framework. (Don't get me wrong, no one enjoys obsessing about details, history materials etc like I do - but its a trap)
You'll make mistakes, everybody does. None of the details matter if something is what you want and works and is the right price. Everyone is concerned about price - otherwise everyone would have bespoke shoes, suits ties and shirts.
At the same time if you are an assiduous forum reader (looker?) of photos you'll see that some of the biggest disasters are not people who have picked up an outfit from"thrift shops" but are displayed by expensive bespoke wearers. Some are just lapses of taste, which is easy to fall into, but reversible within a day if its a combination, less so if its a wrong suit. Others are truly dreadful executions by expensive tailors fropm Savile Row (no NOT Jimmy's street) . It is even possible, and I know this might shock you, to look like a 30 year old school boy whose mum washed his suit in the machine and shrunk it, in P Johnson suit, bare ankles and camo driving shoes. (not anyone on this thread naturally. It would be bad mannered of me to point you to pictures.)
It only takes a quick search to see tales of woe of those with (seemingly) unlimited disposable cash ordering Perfect Pants From Across the Sea that cost as much as a small car, or HECS debt, or 3 months without a job. Ordering pants that don't turn up (note small pants/cuff wordplay) for over 18 months and if they do arrive are the wrong waist size. ref: Wallace and Gromit - The Wrong Trousers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6zbY8i4_8 Or even better an actual but rare documentary of an iGentt receiving the aforementioned Perfect Pants From Across the Sea. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qibJ1gL0dzI
These people are not like you and me. They live in another dimension.
Again - you'll make mistakes.
Opshops sometimes can give you a decent, not perfect, suit or sportcoat for $30. Don't worry if the armholes are not high etc etc , just get it to fit basically at shoulders waist and length right. Don't worry if its a tad too big on shoulders or other small things. Opshops aren't for all. Thankfully. And they are getting less and less interesting.
Brand warehouses like, Gazman, Sportscraft are good to pick up affordable jackets, pants and shirts that are end of season, on sale or...
Exorcise those forum voices from your head and enjoy the clothes.

Today I popped into the Herringbone store at Macquarie Place – where all the wanker bankers go. I was checking out the metro cotton jacket in the beige colour and the navy colour. Both jackets were slightly too long, the sleeves were too long and there was excess fabric at the back of the jacket. The navy was nice, but beige made me look like a 50 year old guy at the Ivy Bar on a Saturday night. Each jacket was $315, and it would have cost about $100 in alterations. I held off.

While I was there, I got speaking to Stephanie – who has been working at Herringbone for 7 years. I asked her about Ethan Newton, Guido, Patrick Johnson and her sister’s fiancé, Thomas, who runs a blog called HespokeShespoke. She knows them all. She spoke highly of Ethan and his shoe polishing skills. I didn’t know he was responsible for Herringbone’s MTM service. That is how he must have met Phat Guido; through Herringbone. She says they were in the same ‘watch club’ amongst other things. PG got her tick of approval for style. Apparently Ethan bought almost every C&J shoe Herringbone stocked. She also raved on about how good Patrick Johnson looks in suits; which sought of pissed me off. A lot was said about Joshua leaving the business, Matt Jensen starting MJ Bale and the buyout of Herringbone from a few years back. A lot was said. It was the hand gestures that mimicked a plane heading towards the ground that said the most. Anyway, it was a good crash course into the history of some of the ‘Styleforum Elite’.

Afterwards, I met Markus at Myer to try on the P Johnson jacket. Markus was sensational to deal with: he wasn’t pushy at all, he was relaxed and he was honest. He claims that the jacket hadn’t been worn outside the house. Considering the thread that holds the double vents closed was still attached on both sides, I believed him. I did Rob’s test of checking the boutonniere hole – it was open and there is a thread to hold a flower in place. Tom was the one that commissioned the jacket, not Patrick. Perhaps that is why there are 3 buttons, not 4. The buttons are working buttons – which are quite nice. On the inside of the jacket there is a red monogram ‘MW’ which is Markus’s initials.

The shoulders, chest, waist, sleeves and the fabric at the back of the jacket are perfect. However, it was too long by about an inch. In other words, it was perfect, except for length. I paid $250 to Markus and went to my tailor who measured the jacket to make sure that it would be absolutely fine to take it up an inch. There is nothing worse than having besom pockets that are too close to the bottom of the jacket. I am pretty lucky because the besom pockets are quite high and shortening the bottom of the jacket does not affect the proportion of the jacket. To shorten, it costs $50. So all up I paid $300 for a jacket that I like, that fits well, and feels great.

On a side note, I was asking my tailor about the 3 jackets I have brought him over the last month. I didn’t tell him it was a P Johnson jacket. He said, “The elite suit jacket is very average quality. The MJ Bale suit is about 10x better than the Elite suit jacket. This jacket (P Johnson jacket) is about 20x better than the MJ Bale Jacket”. He pointed to the lining on the sleeve, the shoulder, the inside of the jacket and said that it must be made by a single tailor in Europe – “true MTM”. He held up a $2,000 Bagozza jacket and claimed that the P Johnson jacket was a slightly better finish. I questioned him and he defiantly claimed that tailoring is his profession and life’s work, and that he can tell straight away whether something is quality or not. So I guess there is a logical reason after all, as to why P Johnson is more expensive than MJ Bale or Elite Suits. I was really hoping 1-2 months ago, I could get P Johnson quality at Elite Suit pricing. The world just doesn’t work like that unfortunately.

I could have popped into the Herringbone warehouse, but I didn’t have time, and I assume that their would fit pretty similar to the 2 jackets I tried on at Macquarie Place.

Anyway, my experience laid out for any new young fellas, like me, that are thinking of buying their first jacket or suit.