Men's Warehouse

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by gj555

I presume the above is an exaggeration. The highest end suits on MW's website are made by Jack Victor, an extremely reputable manufacturer of partially canvassed suits. You could do a lot worse buying a suit in a bricks and mortar store than a $500 suit made by Jack Victor and I doubt anything sold at Target or BR comes close. Of course, I would agree with your comments on the other brands sold at MW (Nautica, JNY, etc.) and it is my understanding that the Victor suits are a relatively new offering at MW.

I was describing the low end of suiting at MW, but spending $500 at Men's Wearhouse is such a ridiculous waste of money that it's almost incomprehensible. FWIW Jack Victor suits (in solid charcoal or navy) are at Marshall's and TJ Maxx on a regular basis for < $200.

As far as what I was describing, most people that shop at MW are buying inexpensive suits, many with wool/poly blends <shudder> In that circumstance, Target is a much better choice IMO. They have solid navy and charcoal suits in a wide variety of sizes in stock, and as I mentioned before, the quality, while not Canali, was certainly servicable. The material was impressive and I wouldn't be surprised to see the charcoal suit that I purchased from Target lasting quite awhile being worn primarily during travel.

Going to Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, SOF etc isn't a bad choice either, and you may certainly find great deals there as well, although it's been well documented that it's difficult to find suits from good labels in solid navy/charcoal.

 

[TIEALIGN]

Originally Posted by marc237

Before I knew better, I picked up two sport coats from the MW. I liked the colors and patterns on both. Very versatile and quite useful for travel for work.

However, the construction was awful. On both the lining sagged below the line of the jacket with a few wearings. On one, a seam at the back opened after several uses. On the other, the seam open under the arm. On one, a button fell off after less than a year. They both remineded me of my first car, servicable if I was willing to spend the time and effort on maintenance.

I had a similar experience at MW. I bought a suit there when I was about 16, it was the first suit I had bought on my own and it only lasted about 6 months. The seem on the sleeve opened up and it was a fused suit that began to bubble after 5 or 6 trips to the dry cleaner. After that bad experience I took the time to learn how to buy a good suit and what separated a good suit from a bad suit.

 

[MrDaniels]

Since this question was asked on Christmas Week, I will re-post what I wrote on this topic last season:


Twas the day after Christmas
On late night TV
When the screen showed George Zimmer there screaming at me
His bad suit was hung off his body and looked
Like the skin of a jackass that got overcooked
His necktie was tied with a small, crappy knot
A pattern that looked like some petrified snot
And he stuffed a kerchief right into his breast
It just didn't match and I wasn't impressed


He looked all dressed-up but with style so cheesy
Then opened his mouth and his voice sounded sleazy
He said "Try Men's Wearhouse and buy my great suits
They'll look so damn swank with your cheap Payless boots
My suits are the best, just the best in the biz
And they're made out of wool, well steel wool that is
With tailors that tailor them just right for you
They fix them with staples and three kinds of glue"

And I saw how he dressed and it made me so sick
I said to myself "My God, who's this prick??
His style gives me ulcers and boy how they'll fester
A regular freakshow wearing cheap polyester
Oh Hickey and Freedman, oh brothers named Brooks
Why must I wear suits from these creepy crooks
Even in NYC and in every damn mall
George Zimmer is selling his cheap **** suits to all"

He sells double breasted that button from 4 to just two
Like donations to Goodwill 'fore the 80's were through
And bad-cut three buttons with the gorge cut too high
With trousers like flood pants that rise to the sky
And what of those neckties that take me aback
With patterns designed by a junkie on Crack
And ugly drab colors and materials that so
Remind one of Kleenex right after you blow
With no sense of style and no sense of class
People see me at meetings and say "Look at the tie on that ass"
But lo I believed George and thought I looked dapper
But wearing his clothes sent my career to the crapper


His suits, how they felt bad how they made my skin itch
I got hives on my hives from that son of a *****
I sat there in meetings and scratched like a mutt
And my co-workers laughed at my sorry-dressed butt
Those suits ruined my career, it fell right off the cliff
'Cause they made me look unkempt and made me look stiff
Now I got a demotion and my life is a mess
Because of George Zimmer they think I can't dress


It's time to dress right and to make a sensation
But my budget is small so I need a donation
It?s time that bespoke is the language I speak
And no more damn Macy's their suits are too weak
And you JC Penny and Sears don't you start
And no one should get a damn suit at Wal-Mart
So just send them to me, how I'll wear them so well
All my colleagues will say "Oh boy, there goes a swell"
So screw you George Zimmer and your damn stupid ads
Next time that I see you I might kick your nads
So I need new suits, I accept it so be it
But not from Men's Wearhouse-AND I GUARANTEE IT!!!!!!

 

[TIEALIGN]

Originally Posted by MrDaniels

Since this question was asked on Christmas Week, I will re-post what I wrote on this topic last season:


Twas the day after Christmas
On late night TV
When the screen showed George Zimmer there screaming at me
His bad suit was hung off his body and looked
Like the skin of a jackass that got overcooked
His necktie was tied with a small, crappy knot
A pattern that looked like some petrified snot
And he stuffed a kerchief right into his breast
It just didn't match and I wasn't impressed


He looked all dressed-up but with style so cheesy
Then opened his mouth and his voice sounded sleazy
He said "Try Men's Wearhouse and buy my great suits
They'll look so damn swank with your cheap Payless boots
My suits are the best, just the best in the biz
And they're made out of wool, well steel wool that is
With tailors that tailor them just right for you
They fix them with staples and three kinds of glue"

And I saw how he dressed and it made me so sick
I said to myself "My God, who's this prick??
His style gives me ulcers and boy how they'll fester
A regular freakshow wearing cheap polyester
Oh Hickey and Freedman, oh brothers named Brooks
Why must I wear suits from these creepy crooks
Even in NYC and in every damn mall
George Zimmer is selling his cheap **** suits to all"

He sells double breasted that button from 4 to just two
Like donations to Goodwill 'fore the 80's were through
And bad-cut three buttons with the gorge cut too high
With trousers like flood pants that rise to the sky
And what of those neckties that take me aback
With patterns designed by a junkie on Crack
And ugly drab colors and materials that so
Remind one of Kleenex right after you blow
With no sense of style and no sense of class
People see me at meetings and say "Look at the tie on that ass"
But lo I believed George and thought I looked dapper
But wearing his clothes sent my career to the crapper


His suits, how they felt bad how they made my skin itch
I got hives on my hives from that son of a *****
I sat there in meetings and scratched like a mutt
And my co-workers laughed at my sorry-dressed butt
Those suits ruined my career, it fell right off the cliff
'Cause they made me look unkempt and made me look stiff
Now I got a demotion and my life is a mess
Because of George Zimmer they think I can't dress


It's time to dress right and to make a sensation
But my budget is small so I need a donation
It?s time that bespoke is the language I speak
And no more damn Macy's their suits are too weak
And you JC Penny and Sears don't you start
And no one should get a damn suit at Wal-Mart
So just send them to me, how I'll wear them so well
All my colleagues will say "Oh boy, there goes a swell"
So screw you George Zimmer and your damn stupid ads
Next time that I see you I might kick your nads
So I need new suits, I accept it so be it
But not from Men's Wearhouse-AND I GUARANTEE IT!!!!!!

I like it

 

[MrDaniels]

I think his commericals are reason enough to avoid MW.

 

[Doc Martin]

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

In addition you have to put up with the annoying sales tactics at Men's Wearhouse


LOL... sooo true. A bunch of cheeseballs who borrow their suits from the back yet claim them as their own. "Oh yes, every well dressed man needs one of those in their collection... I've had one for years... blah blah blah"

I love grilling them about suit construction and the finer details. It's so funny to see the answers, reactions, and blatent lies come out of their filthy mouths!

 

[sho'nuff]

anybody know about "3 -day suit broker"?
i see alot of those around.
same passionate hatred for this company as well?

 

[TIEALIGN]

Originally Posted by diorshoe

anybody know about "3 -day suit broker"?
i see alot of those around.
same passionate hatred for this company as well?

I have never been in one while out in L.A. but I get the same Mens Wearhouse vibe from them.

 

[MrDaniels]

Originally Posted by TIEALIGN

I have never been in one while out in L.A. but I get the same Mens Wearhouse vibe from them.

What exactly is this place (asks the East Coaster).

 

[topbroker]

Originally Posted by TIEALIGN

I bought a suit there when I was about 16, it was the first suit I had bought on my own and it only lasted about 6 months. The seem on the sleeve opened up and it was a fused suit that began to bubble after 5 or 6 trips to the dry cleaner.

How often do you dryclean your suits, for goodness sake? Drycleaning is incredibly harsh on all suits, no matter what the "quality," and frequent drycleaning will do in any suit. There is not a single suit in my closet that I have had drycleaned as many as five times. Only one or two tan dress trousers that I have owned for more than a couple of years have been to the cleaners that often. Sending a suit to be drycleaned five or six times in six months is downright foolish.

If you treat a suit well (and have plenty of suits to rotate), even a suit of average construction and wool quality can last you a good long time, as adamm411 suggests above. And some high-end suits are either overly delicate, or just as shoddily made as some bargains are. The difference is, a bargain that doesn't work out or has a short lifetime is no great loss, financially speaking.

It's not just what you wear, it's how you wear it. Guys who can't pull together an absolutely smashing look on very little money, who rely on labels and dollars to do all the work, have very little sartorial self-confidence or savoir-faire, if you ask me.

I'll probably get clobbered for saying that, but that's why I don't post at the site all that often.

 

[Nantucket Red]

MrDaniels, well done. Your verse was the only thing that prevented me from getting sartorial indigestion from this thread!

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by topbroker

It's not just what you wear, it's how you wear it. Guys who can't pull together an absolutely smashing look on very little money, who rely on labels and dollars to do all the work, have very little sartorial self-confidence or savoir-faire, if you ask me.

I'll probably get clobbered for saying that, but that's why I don't post at the site all that often.

I can't imagine anyone taking issue with your philosophy. In fact, it sounds like as good a motto as any for SF (or, at the very least, for SF's disdain for full-retail Hugo Boss and the like)

 

[TIEALIGN]

Originally Posted by topbroker

How often do you dryclean your suits, for goodness sake? Drycleaning is incredibly harsh on all suits, no matter what the "quality," and frequent drycleaning will do in any suit. There is not a single suit in my closet that I have had drycleaned as many as five times. Only one or two tan dress trousers that I have owned for more than a couple of years have been to the cleaners that often. Sending a suit to be drycleaned five or six times in six months is downright foolish.

If you treat a suit well (and have plenty of suits to rotate), even a suit of average construction and wool quality can last you a good long time, as adamm411 suggests above. And some high-end suits are either overly delicate, or just as shoddily made as some bargains are. The difference is, a bargain that doesn't work out or has a short lifetime is no great loss, financially speaking.

It's not just what you wear, it's how you wear it. Guys who can't pull together an absolutely smashing look on very little money, who rely on labels and dollars to do all the work, have very little sartorial self-confidence or savoir-faire, if you ask me.

I'll probably get clobbered for saying that, but that's why I don't post at the site all that often.

I agree, when I bought my first suit on my own back then I didn't know better than to dry clean my suit after every use. I know better today but I was still very disappointed that it fell apart and bubbled up like that after only 5 or 6 trips to the cleaner.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

I can't imagine anyone taking issue with your philosophy. In fact, it sounds like as good a motto as any for SF (or, at the very least, for SF's disdain for full-retail Hugo Boss and the like)

I dunno, if someone can pull off THIS look, then they have more savoire faire than most.