Eastern European Tailors, anyone tried them?

[Spurious]

Hey,

Nowadays a lot of suits are manufactured/produced in Eastern Europe (and Turkey), what about their tailoring, has anyone ever tried it? Tbh, I am not even looking for full canvas, I am still young and my suit/wardrobe turnover will probably be extremely high within the next ten years. So, who has experience wrt to Eastern European tailoring?

Thanks in advance.

 

[koolhistorian]

Many (too many acording to SWIMBO) times a year. Can find full canvas bespoke (or what ever definition you have) at great prices in Bucharest, which fuels my gluton side.

 

[Spurious]



Many (too many acording to SWIMBO) times a year. Can find full canvas bespoke (or what ever definition you have) at great prices in Bucharest, which fuels my gluton side.

How much are prices for a full canvas or half canvas suit approximately? How expensive are shirts, coats and the like?
A flight to Bucharest is super cheap for me, so I'd really like to try it.

 

[koolhistorian]

If you go for tailor made (canvas or - between 200 and 400 US$ per suit CMT, overcoats around 150-250 US$ CMT, shirts don't know (might go north of that, but not very much). The big problem is that you have to source your own fabric, even if you can find some decent wool fabric on the heavy side (locally made, but mostly exported). The process will go with 3 fittings in around 3 weeks, even if they can expedite (depending on the work load), but the real problem is that most tailors here are quite old, so you have to hassle over some "fashion forward" details, and probably they do not speak foreign languages.
On the MTM side, can be done, mostly because a lot of enterprises are working with west european fashion, but it is rather tricky on the construction side (most will do fused) and the fabrics are not great - if you want Dormeuil or H&S there are some joints doing that - but the price is high relative to quality.
St the idea is to plan everything very carefully, and to have in mind that the first suit is never the perfect suit!

 

[Spurious]

Thanks for the input, greatly appreciated.

Finding fabric will be the main problem then, I assume. 300€ for a full canvased suit + fabric is not expensive, I assume.
I guess a suit might be something I should hold off for now, given that I have 0 idea where to get fabric from. I could import from Italy or Britain, but not sure how much I'd end up paying.

3 fitting in 3 weeks is extremely slow though, is it the same for overcoats? I might start out with a coat and then decide if I want to do it again.
I mean, I dont really care if the suit is fused, given that I will probably have a high turnover on them anyways, but I would care about quality fabric, which seems to be rather rare.

Do you have links to Romanian fabric distributors?

 

[koolhistorian]

To be clear, Romanian tailors are not running operations like Hong-Kong or Bangkok - i.e. short term turn-around destined to cater foreign travelers - it is mainly oriented towards local clientele, like in Southern Italy or Greece. The price difference is given by the relative value of work price in the general context of Romanian economy.
Time - of course they can do a rush job, but I, personally, cannot guarantee that. Three weeks is quite a good turnaround - for three fitting - if you compare with London or New York. Btw, you can find MTM operations in Western Europe that are comparable in price with Bucharest, if you add travel costs, etc. I am saying that mainly because you want to start with just a coat...
Fabrics - I am buying mostly over internet, there are at least three fabric shops in Bucharest - two will sell Italian "designer" and Zegna fabrics - one I suspect is dealing mostly in remnants bought from Italy, sold at quite a hefty price - the other one is selling Romanian made fabrics - the pure wool is ok, but only if you want a substantial classic fabric. Of course there are Brioni, Scabal, Isaia etc., but be prepared to pay a higher price than in US or even Western Europe.
So, if you did not made your mind, it is quite a lottery - in the sense that you have to come prepared with very specific demands and style,including your fabric, and having in mind the fact that you are dealing with honest artisans, more than with stylists. Probably they can do Tom Ford - never tried - but you have to be the stylist.

 

[Spurious]

Travel costs arent a problem. I live in Germany fwiw, a flight to Bucharest is 120€-150€, so no big deal. I wouldnt only do a coat, but was planning on doing something "safe", before a full canvased suit.

I am not sure if Eastern Europe is the right place for me though after all.

 

[fritzl]



Travel costs arent a problem. I live in Germany fwiw, a flight to Bucharest is 120€-150€, so no big deal. I wouldnt only do a coat, but was planning on doing something "safe", before a full canvased suit.
I am not sure if Eastern Europe is the right place for me though after all.

go to bratislava.

 

[banis]

You should have a look at the Polish tailors. There is a member here macaroni, who has also has a great blog. Try searching his posts in the WAYWRN. He uses Polish tailors and result is really great.

 

[Spurious]



go to bratislava.

Could you elaborate or link posts/blogs with further information?

You should have a look at the Polish tailors. There is a member here macaroni, who has also has a great blog. Try searching his posts in the WAYWRN. He uses Polish tailors and result is really great.

Thanks for the tip!