Brit living in New York - get a suit made here, or when I'm back in London for Christmas?

[blindlemonjeff]

I'm getting married in June, and planning to procure myself a made to measure suit for the wedding. I want a traditional English 3-piece, and my budget is around 800 dollars or 500 pounds. I could stretch it by a hundred pounds or two if that would result in a dramatic increase in quality.

I'm trying to decide whether to get it done here in New York, or wait until I'm back in London for the Christmas. Are there any English style tailors in New York within my price range? And if not, are there any standout recommendations within my price range in London, and will a 2 week trip give me enough time for fittings?

 

[hirschlederne]

MTM at that price probably means lesser cloths, right?

 

[comrade]

There are probably no "English-Style" tailors in New York at
your price point. In fact English-Style is not common except for
Longsdail and Reeves. I would also venture a guess that in London
it will be difficult, if not impossible to get several fittings owing to the
the tailors taking time off for the holidays.

Good luck.

 

[Torsion]

Unfortunately with that budget it's going to be really hard to find anything in either NY or the UK (from my experience)

Have a look a Suit Supply in NY for around $600-700 you can get a RTW with alterations. If you are just going back to Blighty for Xmas you should be mindful that any decent tailor is going want to fit you several times so a short trip back may not be enough to get one made up. Also 500 GBP it's going to be really tough....

 

[blindlemonjeff]

Thanks for the advice. Do my options increase dramatically if I were to go to, say 800 pounds?

I'm in a bit of a bind because until around a month ago I would have been able to secure a suit at the cost of materials from Hardy Amies. Unfortunately that opportunity has disappeared, leaving me scrambling somewhat.

 

[comrade]

Suit Supply is hardly English Style.

 

[hirschlederne]



Do my options increase dramatically if I were to go to, say 800 pounds?

Yes, that's about the price level you can use quality cloth at the MTM companies I know of (at least in Germany). However, with MTM, the first suit will probably not be optimal due to the personnel being more sales than tailors.

What I should have done years ago with MTM (and you should do, too) is to order a) just a jacket from b) the cheapest cloth they have to have something as a basis. Once you have that basis, figure out what needs to be changed and then order a suit made from good cloth with those changes.

Also make sure you check the demo suits of each MTM company. Some companies cater more to regular builds, some more to thinner people. Some make suits that look relaxed, some sporty. Ideally, they can also do overcoats and shirts.

 

[Torsion]



Suit Supply is hardly English Style.

Very true - my suggestion was based on cost vs styling in this instance.

 

[Marcellionheart]

I got a nice bespoke suit from Cad and the Dandy for 800 pounds for my wedding last year. They started at about 150 lower, depending on the cloth.

 

[BigBadBernard]

Personally I would avoid C&D like the plague. I had one of their so-called semi-bespoke suits a couple of years back and it was a disaster, taking many fittings and alterations to deal with fundamental fit problems, and still ending up looking worse than an altered off the peg. They were wildly unhelpful and were clearly just keen to get me out of the door, and needless to say I have never been back.

For sub £1k in London there are still a few options. Graham Browne have been well discussed on SF and you will get something in a cheaper cloth for under 1k. They can be hit and miss (I have 1 good and 1 slightly off suit from there), but are probably the only proper bespoke in your price range. Just north of £1k is Choppin & Lodge not far away from GB in the City. Never tried their suits, but have a lovely blazer from there.

In MTM you can try Ede & Ravenscroft. The advantage is they will only need a measure and a try on of a made in suit, so might accommodate your schedule. Not cheap for MTM, but they are well made and have a decent selection of cloths. Roddy Charles also do a cheaper MTM (round about £650 to kick off with). Not tried it myself, but I have seen a couple of their efforts on others and they don't look bad.

Suit Supply sell some monstrosities off the peg. I would avoid.