Bespoke in atlanta, part iii

[tdial]

Well, I went in for the 3rd and final fitting of my bespoke suit last Thursday. I had already tried it on a week before last, so I thought I wasn't going to be surprised when I picked it up. Well, I was wrong. While I have many suits that I believe fit me very well, this suit is easily the best fitting suit I own now.

To review, the suit is a very dark navy with thin, tight, light blue pinstripes. Fabric is Super 180, 9 oz., I believe. 3 button, rolled to the second. The lapels are slightly wider than normal (similar to my Borrelli suits). The shoulder is somewhere between what one would see in a Brioni on one end, and a Borrelli on the other. As I said before, I would probably prefer more toward the Borrelli natural shoulder look, but this slightly more structured shoulder is still beautiful.

The sleeves have the high, narrow arm holes I love from my Borrelli suits, and the tapered sleeve that I believe compliments the arm quite nicely. I did get a ticket pocket on the suit, and it's double vented.

The entire jacket is hand sewn--button holes (sleeve, jacket, and lapel), lapel handwork, canvasing, lining, label, pockets, shoulder attachment, breast pocket, back seam, etc. (My tailor said the real key to a great fitting and great feeling jacket is the canvasing done in the lapel and chest piece, for whatever that's worth.) I had decided for a deep burgundy benberg lining. It's gorgeous.

The pants are quite nice, though nothing special in the style. Double pleated, with side pockets and two besom back pockets. They are also hand sewn however, for whatever that's worth as well. They have nice handwork visible on the pockets and seams. Two button closure.

Total cost: $2500 USD. Is it worth it? I believe so. This is obviously the most expensive suit I've ever bought (all of my Borrellis were bought from Ian Daniels at VintageUSA) and even though the same tailor altered the Borrellis to fit me perfectly, this one does fit just slightly better in the pants and chest. The whole bespoke experience, to me, was what was worth the premium over my other suit experiences. It's a lot of fun going through the fabric selection and settling on the specs of the garment.

When I get my digital camera back, I'll take some pics and post it. If anyone is in the Atlanta area or surrounding areas and is thinking about a bespoke suit, I highly recommend Mario Bosco. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up and I'm anxious to go in again soon.

 

[banksmiranda]

Sounds nice, esp. since you're happy with the finished product. Do you know which CMT(cut, make, trim) facility your tailor sent the bundle to for stitching after he did the cutting? Just wondered since it sounds like very good work.

 

[tdial]

Sounds nice, esp. since you're happy with the finished product.  Do you know which CMT(cut, make, trim) facility your tailor sent the bundle to for stitching after he did the cutting?  Just wondered since it sounds like very good work.

I don't know the exact name, but I know it's somewhere in Rochester, NY. I'll ask him the name when I go back this week to pick up a jacket he's altering for me.

 

[banksmiranda]

Tdial, thanks for answering my question. There's a 99% chance that if it's in Rochester, it's Adrian Jules.

 

[jester]

Thanks for the writeup. Sounds like a very good experience.

 

[tdial]

Tdial, thanks for answering my question.  There's a 99% chance that if it's in Rochester, it's Adrian Jules.

Banks, do you know anything about Adrian Jules? I found the garment excellent. My local tailor did the cutting and then sent it to be assembled, I know that much. Then my tailor did the hand stitching and restitched the lapel by hand (he moved the stitches closer to the edge).

I find this process fascinating, so please excuse my questions if you're bored to tears.

 

[banksmiranda]

Not boring in the least. What I do know about Adrian Jules is that it is one of the major cut, make trim facilities in the USA. Ciccarelli/Primo Coat in Long Island City and Giliberto in NYC are two of the other major facilities used by custom tailors.

 

[Millerp]

Adrian Jules will also do MTM (I'm not sure if it's true bespoke) directly for individuals. http://www.adrianjules.com/ http://www.democratandchronicle.com/homes....02.html

 

[jerrysfriend]

Mario Bosco is on Piedmont Road, only a couple of blocks away from Bennie's. I guess we now have to jump Atlanta over London, Naples, Millan, Paris and Rome, etc., as the world's best shopping city.

 

[tdial]

Mario Bosco is on Piedmont Road, only a couple of blocks away from Bennie's. I guess we now have to jump Atlanta over London, Naples, Millan, Paris and Rome, etc., as the world's best shopping city.

Ha. Good one. Atlanta, as far as major cities go, is pretty lousy for high end shopping. We have Saks and Neiman's of course, but a real shortage of men's specialty shops. Our large upscale mall now has Armani boutiqie, Versace, and I believe a Zegna store opening soon. Saks is one of the anchors, though it's product lines are much more mid tier than other Saks locations (NY, SF, eg.). Our other in-town mall, with Neiman's as one of its anchors, has Ferragamo and Hermes (also Burberry and Polo, though the Polo store has a very limited selection of RLPL). The men's specialty shops such as Mark Shale (I know, a chain) and H Stockton, only go so far as Canali in the upper range and MTM shirtings from Ike Behar. The Neiman's has a decent product offering of Kiton, Brioni, and Oxxford, though the shoe selection there is pretty bad--Farragamo and Magli are about the top limit. No EG, eg. <-- yes, I did that on purpose.

I've known about Bennie's for years, since they used to advertise quite a bit on local talk radio. They would do a lot of live spots with the hosts, talking about what they had in stock. I've only been in one of their locations, and was frankly quite surprised to hear them carrying Grensons. I always associated them with AE and FootJoy golf closeouts, for example. Good to see I was wrong.

I found Mario Bosco rather by accident. My brother gave me a really nice suit he didn't wear anymore and I asked a salesperson at Neiman's who he would recommend. He said if it was something I cared about, to see Mario, who was more or less around the corner. I wouldn't dream of going anwhere else now, and am getting worried about what I'll do when Mario retires, as he says he will in a couple of years. A quality tailor is essential when you do the type of bargain hunting and ebay shopping I like to do.

I guess that's my missive to you folks fortunate to live in NY or London, for example, and the wealth of shopping opportunities you have. It's one of the reasons I like this forum--those of us stranded in poor shopping cities can live vicariously through the rest of you.

 

[jerrysfriend]

Actually, I agree about Atlanta.
Why such a poor selection of shoes at Neiman's, Saks and most everywhere else? We only have [a few] C&J, Alfred Sargeant and Alden at Brooks, Alden at Stockton's and (I think at) at Guffey's, and Grenson at Bennie's. A number of places carry AE, but that is it.
I had never even heard of Gravati, Lattazini, etc. until I started reading the forum.
New Orleans metro is 1/4 the size of Atlanta, but you can buy both EG and Weston there.

 

[tdial]

Actually, I agree about Atlanta.
Why such a poor selection of shoes at Neiman's, Saks and most everywhere else? We only have [a few] C&J, Alfred Sargeant and Alden at Brooks, Alden at Stockton's and (I think at) at Guffey's, and Grenson at Bennie's. A number of places carry AE, but that is it.
I had never even heard of Gravati, Lattazini, etc. until I started reading the forum.
New Orleans metro is 1/4 the size of Atlanta, but you can buy both EG and Weston there.

The serious shoe shortage in Atlanta is one of the great mysteries of life (might I be overstating that some?). I suppose the market here doesn't support the top manufacturers, though I think it's an education thing, of course. I was pretty clueless before finding this board a couple of years ago. My dress shoes were predominantly Church's (which I bought at the mall before they stopped the retail business). I learned about C&J here and now just about all of my dress shoes are C&J. I had a pair of Brooks loafers I bought in 1996 or so that I suppose could have been Peal, though it never occured to me to explore it.

But onward and upward. The internet has removed many barriers. And now, with site such as plal and pediwear, as well as the great smaller vendors like Lance at Virtual Clothes Horse (just bought a Barbara jacket from him), Ian (who can now build a new wing to his store thanks to all of my Borrelli purchases), and Chuck at Carlo Franco (3 ties bought and a shirt on the way), even the most isolated people like us can enjoy great deals on great clothes.

Can I get an Amen?

 

[william]

tdial,

Did you ever get around to taking any pictures of your Bosco suit? I'm thinking about using Mario myself and would love to see some pictures of his finished product.

Chris

 

[Artisan Fan]

The serious shoe shortage in Atlanta is one of the great mysteries of life

Maybe there is a business opportunity here...

Pictures of the Bosco suit mid-construction would also be valuable.

 

[william]

Maybe there is a business opportunity here...

Seriously....that's something I wouldn't mind looking into myself. Anyone else interested? Artisan Fan?