Average price paid for suits

[brescd01]

Remember, look at ALL your suits (not sport jackets), try to remember how much you paid with tax and alterations, and average the costs. This is my poll, repaired. I will ask about one item every week. Sorry about the previous screw-up (I did not realize you can make only one selection so I have to ask about one clothing item per poll).

 

[mano]

What I pay and what they retail for are miles apart. I'm an inveterate cheapskate with expensive taste.

 

[Alias]

I can't imagine paying over $1000 for any article of clothing. Maybe when I'm 30-something with more money than I know what to do with, I'll look into getting something from Raphael. I hope he's not planning on leaving this existence for 6 years.

 

[montecristo#4]

How many suits do I need in active rotation? Seven? How many years will they last, especially given that I'm dressing casually half the time in the office? Five to ten? That's the math that drives my decisions to spend $2500 - $3000k on a suit, once or twice a year.

M#4

 

[kabert]

I'm with mano on this one -- I always try to buy clothes on Ebay or at Filenes (or at least at Neiman's last call sale), so what I pay (which is the subject of this poll) is often way, way below full retail. I assume this is the case for most forum participants.

 

[slave2fashion]

As a struggling New York lawyer (anyone not a millionaire living in NYC is struggling&#33

, I have to rely on the kindness of relatives, who work at Barneys, and who receive very nice employee discounts. I choose my relatives carefully

 

[marc237]

I buy 80% from e-bay and thrift stores. (I am blessed with a reasonably good off-the-rack 43" regular body.) Accordingly, with alterations and initial cleaning, I average under $100 per suit.

 

[retronotmetro]

I'm curious what conclusions you intend to draw from this poll. Personally I would have set different break points. $500 including alterations and tax can be a very different class of suit from $1000 including alterations and tax. I can (and have) drop $500 to get a discounted Hugo Boss suit and make necessary alterations, or I can (and have and probably will again) drop $950 for a custom WW Chan suit from very good cloth. Totally different products, but statistically identical in this poll.

 

[sirgarnetwolseley]

I'm an inveterate cheapskate with expensive taste.

This reminds me of the motto of my favourite vintage store in London, Old Hat, "where Savile Row elegance can be purchased with Skid Row credentials".

 

[brescd01]

Retronometro, I intend to draw precisely the conclusion for which the data provides, the amount people pay for suits, no more, no less.

 

[retronotmetro]

Retronometro, I intend to draw precisely the conclusion for which the data provides, the amount people pay for suits, no more, no less.

fair enough. I wasn't sure whether you had a deeper analytical purpose in mind

 

[Zubberah]

I now ONLY buy from eBay and would never ever pay more than A$1000 (US$700) for any item of clothing despite being able to afford doing so. I have over 30 suits and have never paid beyond US$700.