aceworth2
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- Apr 7, 2014
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I thought I'd share my recent suit purchases with everyone as there are probably others in similar situations. I was looking for a navy suit to wear occasionally at weddings, interviews etc and I live in a town with only your basic suit stores (Mens Warehouse, Macy's, Nordstrom). The latter being fine, but too expensive for my needs. So to get a decent quality suit under my budget of $500 I had to go shopping online. I purchased 3 suits all at the same time to compare. Here's what I bought:
- Hickey Freeman Milburn II Navy Worsted Wool Classic Fit from Saks Off 5th - Made in USA - Price $399 after tax which included a $30 off coupon
- Suitsupply Napoli Italian Wool in Navy - Made in China from Italian Wool - Price $499 (No tax in CA)
- J.Crew Factory Thompson in Worsted Wool Navy - Made in China - Price $273 after tax which included a 20% off birthday coupon
(I almost bought a new Ludlow Traveler suit on eBay for around $350, but I decided the pants were too skinny, ie. fashion forward, and that I'd probably look ridiculous wearing it in 5-10 years.)
For starters all 3 companies have similar delivery times, the quickest was SS and the longest was JCF. SS's packaging was extremely protective where the suit came in a huge box and was in dry clean condition with no wrinkles. The Milburn from Saks and the Thompson from JCF came in a much smaller boxs, had a few threads and random hairs on the suit, and needs to be dry cleaned. The Thompson came in a cheap suit bag.
Right off the bat I noticed that the Milburn sleeves are noticeably longer than the Napoli by about an inch for the same size, so I had to order a Napoli in a 40L. It's hard to say which one is more true to size as I am a newb, but the Ted Baker ($700) suits I tried on at Nordstrom seemed to fit the same as the Napoli. So signs point to the Milburn sleeves running longer.
The Napoli pants were hemmed, the Milburn's were not. The Thompson pants were already pre-sized.
The Napoli color is slightly lighter than the Milburn, but both look nice. The Thompson is more of a grey-blue than a navy. My H&M navy blazer that I bought last year for $70 looks better than the Thompson.
The fabric on both the Milburn and Napoli seem like good quality. The Thompson feels cheap in comparison.
The Napoli has pick stitching, the Milburn and Thompson do not, which is more a matter of preference.
The Napoli is slightly slimmer around the chest and has higher armpits(?) And the Napoli pants are also slightly slimmer. The Thompson pants are the slimmest.
The Napoli has functioning sleeve buttons, the Milburn and Thompson do not. The Napoli's buttons are nicer.
The Napoli has slightly wider lapels than the Milburn. The Thompson has narrow lapels.
So all in all the Napoli and the Milburn seem very similar in most regards. If they were both the same price and both made in the USA, I'd pick the Napoli just because their attention to detail seems better (buttons, packaging, etc). But if I can get the Milburn altered for say less than $150 where I can bring up the armpits, take in the chest and hem and maybe taper the pants, then I would be spending the same amount of cash and supporting the USA at the same time.
The J.Crew Factory falls pretty far behind the other two, but that is to be expected for $130 and $230 less. I guess it depends on what you need it for, and how long you want it to last.
Update: I went with the HF Milburn and it cost $160 at my local tailor to get it completely chopped up. So $560OTD. If the tailor does a good job I can foresee wearing this suit for the next 10+ years.
- Hickey Freeman Milburn II Navy Worsted Wool Classic Fit from Saks Off 5th - Made in USA - Price $399 after tax which included a $30 off coupon
- Suitsupply Napoli Italian Wool in Navy - Made in China from Italian Wool - Price $499 (No tax in CA)
- J.Crew Factory Thompson in Worsted Wool Navy - Made in China - Price $273 after tax which included a 20% off birthday coupon
(I almost bought a new Ludlow Traveler suit on eBay for around $350, but I decided the pants were too skinny, ie. fashion forward, and that I'd probably look ridiculous wearing it in 5-10 years.)
For starters all 3 companies have similar delivery times, the quickest was SS and the longest was JCF. SS's packaging was extremely protective where the suit came in a huge box and was in dry clean condition with no wrinkles. The Milburn from Saks and the Thompson from JCF came in a much smaller boxs, had a few threads and random hairs on the suit, and needs to be dry cleaned. The Thompson came in a cheap suit bag.
Right off the bat I noticed that the Milburn sleeves are noticeably longer than the Napoli by about an inch for the same size, so I had to order a Napoli in a 40L. It's hard to say which one is more true to size as I am a newb, but the Ted Baker ($700) suits I tried on at Nordstrom seemed to fit the same as the Napoli. So signs point to the Milburn sleeves running longer.
The Napoli pants were hemmed, the Milburn's were not. The Thompson pants were already pre-sized.
The Napoli color is slightly lighter than the Milburn, but both look nice. The Thompson is more of a grey-blue than a navy. My H&M navy blazer that I bought last year for $70 looks better than the Thompson.
The fabric on both the Milburn and Napoli seem like good quality. The Thompson feels cheap in comparison.
The Napoli has pick stitching, the Milburn and Thompson do not, which is more a matter of preference.
The Napoli is slightly slimmer around the chest and has higher armpits(?) And the Napoli pants are also slightly slimmer. The Thompson pants are the slimmest.
The Napoli has functioning sleeve buttons, the Milburn and Thompson do not. The Napoli's buttons are nicer.
The Napoli has slightly wider lapels than the Milburn. The Thompson has narrow lapels.
So all in all the Napoli and the Milburn seem very similar in most regards. If they were both the same price and both made in the USA, I'd pick the Napoli just because their attention to detail seems better (buttons, packaging, etc). But if I can get the Milburn altered for say less than $150 where I can bring up the armpits, take in the chest and hem and maybe taper the pants, then I would be spending the same amount of cash and supporting the USA at the same time.
The J.Crew Factory falls pretty far behind the other two, but that is to be expected for $130 and $230 less. I guess it depends on what you need it for, and how long you want it to last.
Update: I went with the HF Milburn and it cost $160 at my local tailor to get it completely chopped up. So $560OTD. If the tailor does a good job I can foresee wearing this suit for the next 10+ years.
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