First Bespoke - Which Way to Jump?

[Augusto86]

So after a number of local inquiries, I've located a tailor with a good reputation amongst the expat community here in Cairo and a number of nice samples. The price isn't bad for a full made-to-measure suit, either - 600 EGP, which is about 105, 110 dollars! I'm not sure if it really classes as "Bespoke", but it's pretty close, AFAIK.

Anyways, I'm now unsure what to try out. My suit selection consists of one black Boss pinstripe, one (rather old) Blue Burberry that still needs alteration, and one white cotton suit(a rather silly luxury).

I was thinking maybe a navy pinstripe, something along these lines:

But I also do not have any grey suits, which is another staple. Is a charcoal pinstripe a good idea?

Finally, should I try to ask for features like hacking and ticket pockets - which I love - without any samples for reference. It would seem to me that if tailor screws up something like that, it'll throw the whole thing off. It should be a simple affair to make parallel pocket flaps but a lot tricker to make equally angled ones, AFAIK.

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by Augusto86

I was thinking maybe a navy pinstripe, something along these lines:

Hello? How can you call that ugly coat he is wearing a 'suit' if he is wearing jeans?

The coat he is wearing doesn't even fit him properly as you can tell by the X shaped creases around the front. And you want a tailor to copy that disaster?

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by Sator

Hello? How can you call that ugly coat he is wearing a 'suit' if he is wearing jeans?

The coat he is wearing doesn't even fit him properly as you can tell by the X shaped creases around the front. And you want a tailor to copy that disaster?

Ummm...well from the distance all I can REALLY see is the color, the pinstripes, and the hacking pocket. Cut and such are a little harder to judge. But I didn't want the tailor to copy that picture per se. I was more talking about the TYPE of coat than exact details.

 

[Sator]

So are you after just a separate sport coat, or a two/three piece suit?

The picture you posted is a sport coat (without matching trousers) - and thus not a suit. The term suit comes from the French word "suivre", "to follow". Only when the waistcoat or trousers are of matching material (ie 'follow' on from each other) is the ensemble called a "suit".

Also are you going to trust your Egyptian tailor to source fabric or have you brought your own? I can tell you that quality fabric usually costs over $100/meter. That's the reason why even Chinese tailors charge more than $100 to make just a sport coat.

Suppose these Egyptian tailors charge you $40 for labour and $70 for 2 meters of fabric needed for a sportcoat - that's $35/meter of fabric. I can tell you that's going to be a pretty mediocre fabric. If it's a two piece suit you need about 3.5 meters ie $20/meter of fabric. Even if it was a half decent piece of polyester, it would cost more.

Now a proper bespoke two piece bespoke suit will take about 60 hours to make. That means they would be charging you about 55 cents per hour of labour. It takes years for a tailor to learn the trade and I would be surprised if anyone in even the third world would accept a wage like that.

You can tell by the maths that the whole thing sound extremely dodgy. There is no way this is bespoke. If it sounds too good to be true...

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by Sator

So are you after just a separate sport coat, or a two/three piece suit?

The picture you posted is sport coat (without matching trousers) - and thus not a suit. The term suit comes from the French word "suivre", "to follow". Only when the waistcoat or trousers are of matching material (ie 'follow' on from each other) is the ensemble called a "suit".

Also are you going to trust your Egyptian tailor to source fabric or have you brought your own? I can tell you that quality fabric usually costs over $100/meter. That's the reason why even Chinese tailors charge more than $100 to make just a sport coat.

Suppose these Egyptian tailors charge you $40 for labour and $70 for 2 meters of fabric needed for a sportcoat - that's $35/meter of fabric. I can tell you that's going to be a pretty mediocre fabric. If it's a two piece suit you need about 3.5 meters ie $20/meter of fabric. Even if it was a half decent piece of polyester, it would cost more.

Now a proper bespoke two piece bespoke suit will take about 60 hours to make. That means they would be charging you about 55 cents per hour of labour. It takes years for a tailor to learn the trade and I would be surprised if anyone in even the third world would accept a wage like that.

You can tell by the maths that the whole thing sound extremely dodgy. There is no way this is bespoke. If it sounds too good to be true...

While labor is ridiculously cheap here - that math is pretty compelling. Hmm. I'm going to have to re-examine this.

 

[The_Foxx]

here is what i think is going to happen-- you'll get a great deal on a bespoke suit, in a super 100s cloth of some kind. maybe even a super 130s, 150s. you'll like the cloth, just the pattern you want.

suit will be inexpensive, a super deal.

when the suit is delivered, it will look cheap and shoddy-- even if you don't notice it at first. i've lived in cairo; it's no place to have a suit made. it's the same with most of these bespoke jobbies from the orient; people are enamoured with the great deal they got, but the suits suck. I'll take an off the rack suit by brioni or oxxford any day--ANY day over that stuff, and chances are I will get a great deal on it as well.

Want a new suit? order one at a discount from ehaberdasher.com or virtualclotheshorse.com , so your money will be well spent and you will actually be happy with the garment for years to come.

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by The_Foxx

here is what i think is going to happen-- you'll get a great deal on a bespoke suit, in a super 100s cloth of some kind. maybe even a super 130s, 150s. you'll like the cloth, just the pattern you want.

suit will be inexpensive, a super deal.

when the suit is delivered, it will look cheap and shoddy-- even if you don't notice it at first. i've lived in cairo; it's no place to have a suit made. it's the same with most of these bespoke jobbies from the orient; people are enamoured with the great deal they got, but the suits suck. I'll take an off the rack suit by brioni or oxxford any day--ANY day over that stuff, and chances are I will get a great deal on it as well.

Want a new suit? order one at a discount from ehaberdasher.com or virtualclotheshorse.com , so your money will be well spent and you will actually be happy with the garment for years to come.

Would buying the cloth here - since cloth is so incredibly cheap in this country, it's a major manufacturer - and then bringing it to a respected and practiced tailor in my area save me much money? I don't know how much of the cost of these things is raw materials and how much is labor.

The thing is, while I can judge the quality of a finished suit or what not with decent accuracy, I have a lot more trouble with cloths. I just don't have the instinct for what is good and what is bad, and I don't particularly trust those little label-bands that run along the edge of the bolt - aren't they easy to fake?

Any links to cloth-judging tips?

 

[Ludlow]

Egyptian cotton is wonderful quality stuff for shirts - but all the best shirtmakers get their Egyptian cotton from English, Italian, and Swiss mills. I imagine the same might be true for wool.

I have never bought my own material to be tailored before, but people mention the practice often in this Forum. Do a search and use what you find to purchase your own material. Then negotiate with your new tailor for his time and labor. It will cost you a few bucks more but the outcome will likely be better. That is, of course, if he knows how to cut. What do you mean that he has "nice samples"?