The Mr. Ned Appreciation Thread

[Sam H]

About a year ago, I was looking to get my first custom tailored clothing made in a price range I can afford, and had heard of Mr. Ned from these forums. However, upon further inspection, most people either never followed through with pictures or the pictures were lost to bad image hosts and time. Furthermore, many pictures and testimonies are from the mid 2000s.

It would be nice if anyone else with Mr. Ned clothes came out of the woodwork to post pics, preferably on a reliable image host such as Imgur, or just uploaded to Styleforum directly (rather than the endless sludge of dead Photobucket links).

Here's a basic overview of Mr. Ned, if you aren't familiar.

• Vahram is the current owner. Some threads discuss a father/son team but Vahram (the son) took over at some point over the last 10 years. I never knew the shop when it was father and son as I started going a year ago.
• The clothes are made in the United States. There is a workshop behind the fitting area and fabric bolts.
• The jackets are all canvased.
• There are multiple fittings (I usually have three) included a basted fitting.
• There is NOT an individual pattern made (you can pay a lot more and go somewhere else if this is super important to you rather than get in a pedantic argument about the boundaries between MTM and bespoke)
• You can get working buttonholes and pick stitching (each is $50 extra).
• There are tons of books if you want to go that route but the prices will jump up.
• Apparently there is also CMT but I have never gone that route and don't know anything about it except that the cost is not significantly cheaper according to previous posts on this forum.
• Buttons will be synthetic as far as I can tell but you can bring your own which I do anyway as I like picking out buttons.

I have never done any MTM or custom programs before going to Mr. Ned, but you get the idea from these forums that they are generally a bust and in many cases you get measured by a sales person with no idea how to make a well proportioned suit. This is not the case at Mr. Ned's, you are in an unassuming yet nice and clean loft space filled with bolts and people working and someone measuring you (Vahram) who knows what they are doing.

Here is a list of what I have had made for me since last year:

• Navy blazer - In house bolt of Gladson Mercury 120 navy twill (serge? I don't really know, just some standard, non-hopsack navy blazer material that Vahram recommended) with patch side pockets and set-in breast pocket. I've been wearing this as my go to non-summer jacket ever since (although to be fair I skipped the navy blazer phase until this purchase and never really had a go to jacket given my job doesn't call for such a thing and so I sort of just started doing it on my free time whenever I go anywhere where it's not completely out of place to wear a jacket to).
• Yellow/tan/beige slubby linen jacket - In house roll of some linen that I have no idea where it's from but it matched the picture I brought of a jacket David Gandy was wearing. This one has triple patch pockets. I wore this like 10-15 times last summer and realized I really like summery tailored clothes. This also is unlined in the lower back which is nice (Vahram wouldn't do a fully unlined jacket because those are more work, not sure if there is some price point for this but I didn't really care enough about it and he offered to do this 3/4 lining with no extra charge I believe).
• Tuxedo - In house bolt of a Vitale Barberis Canonico fabric. I don't know what kind of fabric it is but it's black, lightweight and when I look closely it appears to be an open weave. Grosgrain facings and buttons (I don't know if he has other options, I wanted grosgrain and he had it), no vent, peak lapels, flat front. More on the tuxedo, below.
• (In Progress) Double breasted charcoal pinstripe flannel suit, 6x2 buttons - I am going to go with forward pleats on this suit as well as cuffs. Also I will be getting pick stitching on this and kind of want to ask if I can go back and add pick stitching to my two odd jackets.

On the tuxedo:


Over the summer, I got news that I needed to attend a black tie event with one week to go. I've wanted to have a tuxedo for over five years but I never had a reason to buy one. Everything in store I could find in my price range had finishing and styling issues to my eye (preference, more than construction), specifically they were all cut with a very high buttoning point. I believe that must have been popular this summer as I could find no one in my price range offering something that didn't look like it was almost a three button suit jacket in terms of buttoning height (exaggeration, but still).

So I went to Mr. Ned which I would have done anyway if I had more than a week and asked him if he could do it. He said yes but it would be an extra $$$$ to have it done in a week and I would have to be available whenever he called if I wanted it done on time. Now at this point I was looking at Paul Stuart tuxedos I barely liked for $1700. already pushing my initial price range way up.

A frugal man would have said "do not rush it, I should have just had a tuxedo made before I needed it, make me one for next time and I'll rent for this time" seeing as how Mr. Ned will make a tuxedo for $1050 when you aren't in a rush. But I had wanted a custom tuxedo since before graduating college and don't get invited to black tie galas very often (yet another frugal person red flag ) and decided to splurge. They really delivered on this, a custom tuxedo with if I remember correctly two fittings including one basted all in a week turnaround (maybe 10 days? can't really remember exactly). Anyway, they did a great job with the rush order. Also shout out to Carl at CEGO who did the same thing with my tuxedo shirt (but without a rush charge).

Concerns I have seen on Styleforum/elsewhere


So anyway, some of the main concerns I have seen are, does Mr. Ned make a jacket that is super boxy and padded and baggy or not? In my experience, no, he does not. Now, I have no experience whatsoever with the completely unpadded shoulder of certain Italian suits and I'm sure that is a different level, but I have never had a problem with asking Mr. Ned for a natural shoulder and fitted jacket.

There *is* some shoulder padding (I don't know what happens if you literally want no padding, I just don't want a super built up shoulder and I won't micromanage from there). Also, I don't want a shrunken suit so if you do, I assume you can get one but I have no experience with that. But I don't want a super bulky, unshaped suit which I think many people maybe assume when they hear "American", and I don't get one.

In fact, I feel like most of the time I agree with Vahram on issues of fit. I'm not sure where all the stuff comes from about leaning too far in a super American direction except maybe that was all from threads 10 years ago? I don't feel like it's a fight to get something that fits well, but I do make it clear what I'm looking for a perhaps I wouldn't have known exactly what I was looking for a few years ago if I had gone.

Pictures


Anyway, with all this build up I wish I had some better pictures. I will try to get some better ones soon, taken by someone else, in natural light, etc. I will also try and get pictures of the tuxedo following NYE, I have three blurry photos of the tux right now where my arms are lifted up around people's shoulders for group photos and three posed in a artificial light in a mirror with an unsteady selfie hand.










Hopefully in spite of the bad lighting, you can see that these jackets are cut with nice shoulders and with a fit silhouette. Furthermore, the back shots are not great given that I have to hold my camera backwards up to a mirror but hopefully you can see how the back is pretty nice with the only thing ruining it being the pull from my awkwardly raised and positioned arm. Also, the linen back shot is with an open jacket, not a closed one. Probably should have closed it. I hope to get better photos of those anyway.

Also as my arms go up, there is some slight divoting but when they are by my side the sleeves are nice (the linen is a probably in need of a press though, but I kind of like when linen is allowed to get wrinkly).

 

[mosivy]

Does Mr. Ned allow a ton of style customization? For example, higher armholes, wider lapel, etc?

 

[GBR]

Has he steered you away from customisation - hardly true bespoke if this applies. I bespeak a garment, I bespeak every last detail: If the cutter is not pleased with that, then I do not burden him with my commission.

 

[mosivy]

Has he steered you away from customisation - hardly true bespoke if this applies. I bespeak a garment, I bespeak every last detail: If the cutter is not pleased with that, then I do not burden him with my commission.

I don't think Mr. Ned claims to be bespoke, nor do people tend to call it that. The reputation seems to be best value MTM in New York, especially given that it's made in the city itself.

 

[mikealvaa]

do you have any photos of the DB suit you commissioned?

 

[Sam H]

Bumping this thread for some new, better pics.

I've continued going here for jackets and trousers over the last few years but became less active online. However, I have some photos of some new commissions.

Vahram has never steered me away from anything, only offered his opinion on some of my choices which in some cases snaps me out of a bad idea I had or in other cases we agree to disagree on taste and he'll make it for me. The only sort of things he won't do in my experience is completely unlined (he can do the kind of partially lined where there is an unfinished lining in the upper half of the back of the jacket + sleeves + front) and I don't believe he will do completely unstructured jackets either.

Without having experience at other MTM places but seeing plenty of bad results on these forums of "inexperienced salesman takes terrible measurements and sends them halfway across the world" it's really night and day with what goes on at Mr. Ned's, where Vahram knows what he's doing and you come in 2 or 3 times including for a basted fitting.

do you have any photos of the DB suit you commissioned?

So this brings me to my next point. I recently bought a $17 tripod on Amazon and live somewhere now with a lot of natural sunlight and I had the intention of taking photos of a lot of the stuff and posting it here. The 2016 photos above in my OP are garbage of course and I finally was going to fix that. However, long story short, I've been weightlifting on and off since college 10-12 years ago. I bought a lot of these jackets when I was lazy and thus shrunk down, and during the tail end of the "everything should be really tight" phase of the 2010s (which ironically was always this weird SF concern that Mr. Ned's wouldn't make extremely fitted clothes; he would).

Now that I'm working out again, these older jackets and suits (including the DB) are pulling from the back and extremely tight. Combined with my hollow lower back, the shaping of the back and the pulling of my upper body makes these jackets now have extremely bad vent flare and underarm pulling from the back. The trousers are also suffering from my legs growing. To post the photos now would be a disservice as I no longer fit into the clothes.

I have brought the suit in for touch ups at Ned's as now even if I fluctuate back down in weight I'd rather have something that fits more gently when I'm less muscular than something that fits too tight when I'm more muscular. So in short, possibly in a few weeks if these alterations go well I can post photos of that suit. And I'll start gradually bringing in more stuff for touch ups as well that suffer from the same outgrowing symptoms (no rush given the COVID situation).

Without further ado here are 2 things I had commissioned the last month. Both use Loro Piana outerwear book wool. One is a sports coat with really nice casual finishing (3/2, patch pockets, swelled edge) which I got because it looks like a lot of stuff may be outdoors these days. The fabric is nice and "heavy" (it's not old school heavy but modern day heavy, ~18oz).

The other is a double breasted Chesterfield (paletot?) which is something I've wanted for years and finally splurged on. It's almost a clone of a Lord & Taylor single breasted Chesterfield I purchased maybe 8 years ago, except longer and DB and cut/fitted to be easier to wear with a jacket underneath. The collar is Scabal velvet that Vahram had a bunch of in house. The fabric is an ~18oz Loro Piana charcoal herringbone wool (black and charcoal up close).

Here is the fabric in the book next to my old Lord & Taylor Chesterfield:


Basted Canvas Fitting:




Second Fitting:




Sports Coat 4 angles + unbuttoned:







Chesterfield 4 angles:

 

[Sam H]

Sports jacket detail shots

 

[Sam H]

And finally as a bonus, here is my blazer from the OP, made back in 2016 or so, pressed and some loose seams cleaned up at Mr. Ned's the other day, but with much better photos. Unlike stuff after this blazer and before my recent commission, this was made when I still had some of the muscle I recently gained back so it isn't suffering from the outgrown issues my interim commissions currently suffer from.

 

[papado]

Bumping this thread for some new, better pics.

I've continued going here for jackets and trousers over the last few years but became less active online. However, I have some photos of some new commissions.
Second Fitting:

View attachment 1492370
View attachment 1492369

Sports Coat 4 angles + unbuttoned:


View attachment 1492389




Chesterfield 4 angles:

View attachment 1492384

View attachment 1492383

That SC looks beautiful--all the details aren't my cup of tea but the execution and fit looks marvelous!

Is there an issue with your right sleeve pitch on the overcoat though? I see it in the basted photos and the shots at home--it's the only thing that just doesn't seem right when looking at the coat. If that was fixed then I'd say both commissions would be borderline perfect!

 

[Sam H]

There may be, I did notice something too, but I think a lot of my sleeve issues I have tend to be, I still can’t put on coats without twisting my shirt or in the case of overcoats, my jacket. If anyone has any tips lol

Also thanks, yeah the sports coat came out great and it feels great to wear. I think somehow people got it into their head that local NYC tailor = some negative stereotype about “American” fit, but this jacket is just exactly what I wanted. Obviously like everyone in the internet menswear world I’m in the Neapolitan mindset and this really leans into that styling and fit-wise a lot.

 

[mosivy]

Those coats look really solid. I have one suit and two pairs of odd trousers from Mr. Ned.

I am happy with the trousers and think they are solid value.

The suit, however, did not turn out great. The chest, back and waist are shaped nicely. The shoulders though are extended with some padding such that they look lumpy and too "American."

 

[Sam H]

I've been putting off posting this newest commission out of laziness and because I'm kind of sick of setting up the tripod for those 4 angle robopose shots. I think at this point I've made my point about fit and there isn't much of a need to keep doing those boring static poses.

These are much more interesting photos, taken by my gf on vacation.

All shirts are by Carl at CEGO and the trousers are Rubinacci "leisure" trousers (linen sweatpants basically). The trousers wouldn't always be my first choice for the fits but I was packing for vacation and I wear them as casual trousers also. I also am not sure how I feel about the casual pink linen shirt here with the jacket, but I was just trying it on and thought it was a good photo. I always like the light gray/pink color combo. Navy shirt is a voile, Hawaiian print is a linen.

Anyway in my first post I said "Vahram wouldn't do a fully unlined jacket..." and this is untrue. Same with some comment I made about unpadded jackets. This jacket has no padding (just some shoulder felt) and no lining (except for a flying open lining at the top of the back which he said he can take out but is good as a sweat guard; underneath the seam is still taped and prepped for no lining). No sleeve lining, no front lining.

He told me some of the main reasons for his usual hesitancy are just due to people buying stuff they hear about (no sleeve linings, no shoulder padding) and then being unhappy with how it actually looks or feels (no sleeve lining specifically leads to people complaining how hard the sleeves are to use). This is likely due to the internet pushing those features heavily and then people coming in and insisting on them and then sending the jacket back for changes later.

Anyway, here's an example of a fully unpadded and unlined jacket made in Loro Piana wool/silk/linen blend light gray.