Best suit to buy on travel in Italy

[fabricateurialist]

The idea that expensive RTW is somehow better than bespoke if he’s set on spending that amount of money is just nonsense. I have no idea why someone would think spending €3-4,000 on RTW is a good idea but spending €3-4,000 on bespoke isn’t.

I hear you, the suggestion is to spend the budget on a selection of marked-down RTW instead of one bespoke piece - not that RTW at MSRP competes with bespoke regardless of price point

and since the OP did not mention whether RTW, MTM, or bespoke is a criterion, I'm just presenting some options

Zegna does offer a two-week turnaround on MTM orders, just in case time is of the essence

 

[JohnMRobie]

I think you are right in mentioning taste. My own experience with clothes has been of rapidly changing taste for the first couple of years since the moment I started having an interest in clothes. For example, I bought like 10 pairs of slim tapered chinos, which is the de-facto norm in Italy, before realising after less than a year that I really wanted a straighter fit instead, and without elastane ideally, and having to basically throw those away because no one wants my hemmed trousers (I'm fairly short).
Thankfully I only started buying jackets after months and months of reading about tailoring (mainly on permanent style), and so far my taste in that hasn't changed.
Nor has my stance of not buying suits but only sport coats and odd trousers - though I guess that depends on your use case, in law suits are probably still expected.

In any case, whatever you do, imho, don't buy a luxury label suits. Might as well go bespoke for that price, which at least will have someone guiding you, plus it's an experience in itself (not that I have ever bought bespoke myself, mind you).
If you don't have time for it, but are sure you want to spend that kind of budget this early (which I wouldn't recommend unless you can easily both afford and justify such expense), go try Attolini or some other real authority in tailoring (as opposed to luxury branding, who will sub contract their tailoring anyway).
But it is in fact likely a few mid-price suits would be more useful in the long run if you actually intend to wear them regularly.

I would normally recommend Boglioli for very soft casual tailoring, more reasonable priced than Attolini but still made in Italy and with modern but not trendy proportions, unlike e.g. Boggi. But it might be too casual for a lawyer.

The really interesting part about preferences changing though to me is that my eye for what I like hasn’t changed. I still the look love a good structured English cut. But over the years my preferences for what I wear changed and I prefer how the Neapolitan cut works for my body and prefer the feeling of wearing it.

My taste in designs and patterns has also changed and now I’d rather have a Neapolitan suit that is comfortable in a very conservative cloth. My uniform is basically navy Neapolitan suit, white or palest blue shirt I can find and a soporific tie.

 

[Druddra]

hi! i am form Florence. if I can give you some advice from a person who lives here. You should avoid associating spending a huge amount of money with the quality of the dress. Here you can buy a top quality suit, completely handmade with horsehair canvas for a price that starts from 1500 upwards, depending on the fabric (and made by hand by real tailors, not like at gucci's). Unless you want a special fabric or a strange cut, I strongly advise against exceeding 3000 euros (Again, it depends on the fabric), after that amount in my opinion you pay the name of the tailor, not the quality of the garment. Avoid brands and designers and go for what we call "bottega" our artisians are the best in the world

 

[fabricateurialist]

hi! i am form Florence. if I can give you some advice from a person who lives here. You should avoid associating spending a huge amount of money with the quality of the dress. Here you can buy a top quality suit, completely handmade with horsehair canvas for a price that starts from 1500 upwards, depending on the fabric (and made by hand by real tailors, not like at gucci's). Unless you want a special fabric or a strange cut, I strongly advise against exceeding 3000 euros (Again, it depends on the fabric), after that amount in my opinion you pay the name of the tailor, not the quality of the garment. Avoid brands and designers and go for what we call "bottega" our artisians are the best in the world

curious, where/who would you recommend in Firenze ? I used to live there

 

[Druddra]

It depends, if you care about the name of the tailor you have Liverano & Liverano that is one of the most famous here. As you can see this is one of, if not the best in Florence and the ready to wear suits (almost 100% hand made) are less than 3000. check the website https://liverano.com/shop/liverano-shop/

 

[Druddra]

I have to admit i never tried them, as i told you i prefer to go in a little shop and have a bespoke handmade suit for 1500

 

[Angel91]

and who are those artisans?

 

[Druddra]

Little ones. Like sartoria Speci for example, you don't pay the website or the cool interior, you just pay for a beatifull handmade product. Near san marco you have also a little place that seems really interesting called Luigi Melluso that is more focused on traditional napolitan style. You have Sagliano and many others. A place i really like (and really old) near san marco it's sartoria Vanni (you have 2 in Florence, the one in Via Alfonso la Marmora is the one i am talking about), but he make bespoke suits that are only half hand made ( we say semisartoriale) it' even cheeper because it's less time consuming for the tailor, but you can still have the best fabrics on the market and it's still a bespoke suit made just for you. It all depends about what you care and want. i rally like vanni because it's a wonderfull price quality ratio, but if you want a full hand made suit you shuld go with the other ones.

 

[fabricateurialist]

that's why I asked, there is sooo much more to the Florentine tailoring landscape than Liverano

Sartoria Sisto, Sartoria Marinaro di Mario Sciales, Sartoria Corcos, Sartoria Giorgio Manetti (unrelated to the actor), Vestrucci which will be folded under the Stefano Bemer brand as he is retiring

and many don't have any sort of online presence

 

[ctl]

I'll be in Milan and Turin in November. I'd like to make a few bespoke suits, sport coats and pants. Any good artisan tailors with affordable prices in the area you'd recommend? I've made several bespoke suits in Naples for around $2.5k 3-4 years ago. Thanks

 

[Professor_3]

hi! i am form Florence. if I can give you some advice from a person who lives here. You should avoid associating spending a huge amount of money with the quality of the dress. Here you can buy a top quality suit, completely handmade with horsehair canvas for a price that starts from 1500 upwards, depending on the fabric (and made by hand by real tailors, not like at gucci's). Unless you want a special fabric or a strange cut, I strongly advise against exceeding 3000 euros (Again, it depends on the fabric), after that amount in my opinion you pay the name of the tailor, not the quality of the garment. Avoid brands and designers and go for what we call "bottega" our artisians are the best in the world

Thanks for sharing! Any tips on finding or identifying these bottegas and artisans?

 

[Druddra]

Thanks for sharing! Any tips on finding or identifying these bottegas and artisans?

Usually they are tiny shops, you will recognize them because bottegas (it's not olways like that, but many times it is) tend to have old italian artisans inside. Many of this are a bit old school, and tend to not care too mutch about how the shop look, so don't get fooled, they sell exeptional products most of the time. You have to know a bit the city to spot this gems. If you want an example, i really love the bottega Mannina. they do shoes, but they sell 400 euro shoes that anywere else would be more than 1000. they do everithing by hand with maximum standards levels. Think about that their shop it's literelly just a tiny room full of shoes. Super easy to miss, but one of the best shoemakers in florence in my opinion.

 

[fabricateurialist]

Usually they are tiny shops, you will recognize them because bottegas (it's not olways like that, but many times it is) tend to have old italian artisans inside. Many of this are a bit old school, and tend to not care too mutch about how the shop look, so don't get fooled, they sell exeptional products most of the time. You have to know a bit the city to spot this gems. If you want an example, i really love the bottega Mannina. they do shoes, but they sell 400 euro shoes that anywere else would be more than 1000. they do everithing by hand with maximum standards levels. Think about that their shop it's literelly just a tiny room full of shoes. Super easy to miss, but one of the best shoemakers in florence in my opinion.

and Mannina's owner is one of the nicest proprietors you'll encounter - also highly this one

Thanks for sharing! Any tips on finding or identifying these bottegas and artisans?

but what "artisans" are you looking for in particular ? leather, silk, shoes ?

 

[Druddra]

and Mannina's owner is one of the nicest proprietors you'll encounter - also highly this one



but what "artisans" are you looking for in particular ? leather, silk, shoes ?

If you too are from Florence and you have some nice gem to share i would love to know! i swear i will keep the secret and not buy all the best stuff ahahaha

 

[Professor_3]

and Mannina's owner is one of the nicest proprietors you'll encounter - also highly this one



but what "artisans" are you looking for in particular ? leather, silk, shoes ?

So, I’ll be in Milan and Lake Como for the Christmas holiday. It’s a family trip so my time will be somewhat limited. I’m just beginning to take stock of what I need to compliment my wardrobe. Generally, I plan to hunt for items that I won’t typically find at home or other major cities. I.e., staying away from the big name brands. Although, I do want to see Prada! Rubinacci and Al Bazaar for sure. Specific items may include trousers (Rota), gloves, knitwear, and I’d imagine items that catch my eye. My plan so far is to walk the main streets and see what shops catch my eye. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.