Good place for a 'tailored' suit online?

[thraddash]

Hello everyone,

I was recommended to ask here by some folks on reddit

I have to attend a wedding in a few months and don't own a suit. 30yo male here, I know. So I'm looking at getting a suit, one that could be used for everything and not just to attend a wedding.

They are prohibitively expensive where I live, so I thought about getting one tailored online. I've read about good experiences with this kind of thing, since they make you take a lot of measurements and all that.

Can anyone recommend a few places or share any suggestions?

Thank you so much.

 

[Quesjac]

Ready to wear (not custom measured) will be cheaper for any decent suit. If you mention where you live and what your budget is then people can suggest retailers.

 

[thraddash]

Thanks for the reply! I live in New Zealand FYI.

I have looked at ready to wear suits in the past and they are A) usually more expensive than custom tailored suits I've seen online, and B) I think wouldn't fit me as well as a custom tailored suit (obviously). I'm a fairly slim guy

Having said that, local places have ready to wear suits (not tailored) for about 200 (which would be roughly my budget). https://www.hallensteins.com/suits

But there are places like www.itailor.com which do custom suits for only slightly more.

I dunno, am I getting too hung up on the custom tailored aspect? I've always heard if you're going to get a suit, get it custom tailored

 

[Quesjac]

People who know NZ can chime in with suggestions. I'll just say this: as a rule of thumb you will get a far better product buying RTW and getting it altered rather than buying cheap custom items. I can't speak to the specific brands you mention.

On the thing you've 'always heard' --- what people likely mean is getting it adjusted/altered (which is good advice).

 

[breakaway01]

The concept of custom tailoring is appealing, and it is easy to imagine how it should be better than RTW. The reality of custom tailoring is that inexpensive custom tailoring (not true bespoke where a pattern is cut specifically for you with multiple fittings to make adjustments) is hit or miss. While is entirely possible to get a great result with an inexpensive online tailor, there is also significant risk of getting a poorly fitting suit that cannot be salvaged by alterations. For example, most (if not all) inexpensive custom/MTM tailors make adjustments to a standard 'block' pattern based on measurements. If the block pattern that the manufacturer uses fits you poorly, then the corresponding adjustments have to be larger and the chance of a poor fit increases. Other measurements are very hard to capture with body measurements -- for example, shoulder slope, prominent shoulder blades, stance (erect vs stooped, etc). The suit is usually shipped finished with no opportunity to make alterations at an earlier stage of construction.

The people who have potentially the most to gain by custom tailoring because of unusual measurements or other issues have the highest risk of poor outcomes, while those who have standard body types (i.e. closest to the block pattern) would have done fine either with RTW or with custom. This is YMMV of course.

With RTW you can actually try on the finished suit before paying for it -- then you will know whether it works for you or not. With custom tailoring you are paying up front.

A hybrid model that some online custom suit makers use (like Kent Wang, there are likely others) is to ship you a standard jacket and then make adjustments based on photos. I have seen pretty decent results for KW jackets here though I have some reservations about their trouser pattern from what I've seen (no personal experience).

Do some searches here for common online tailors -- you will see that it is a hit-or-miss proposition.

 

[thraddash]

Wow, thanks for the detailed info! That really answers my question I think. Sounds like RTW is going to be the easiest and best way to go, short of spending a fortune on bespoke.

Thanks!

 

[DFWWingnut]

Spier and Mackay has some great RTW suits. PM them to see if they can ship to New Zealand and then find a good tailor to improve the fit. For basics RTW is a better option IMHO than MTM. Spend the $$ on a good local tailor.

 

[thraddash]

Thanks, that seems to more or less follow what the previous posters said. Appreciated!

 

[minimal1]

i also find that knowing your general measurements will help immensely when looking at RTW options. it can save you some headaches in returns.