Hugo Boss, Ted Baker Endurance suit elbows worn, torn after 6 months

[Roma2010]

Bought 3 suits for $4-500 each at Nordstrom Rack in Feb-March, tailored each one (never going back to them for tailoring again). I've worn them most every work day since (have one black pinstripe Ted Baker, one navy blue pinstripe + one all-grey Hugo Boss (grey is endurance line, navy blue is a classic line/not sure). I usually keep them on at my desk, and I typically worked between 10-12 hours a day. I also wore the Hugo Boss suits out to bars/clubs most weekends.

Both Hugo Boss suits are torn at each elbow pretty bad, about 1-2 inches above the elbow. The grey one you can clearly see the linen underneath the wool. The Ted Baker is shiny at the same spot. I basically now have to throw these away, or have them retailored into a sport jacket for nights out. And, I'm out $1500.

1) How do I ensure this doesn't happen again, is there anyway to keep a suit jacket on at the desk (maybe put pads on the inside of the jacket sleeve elbows)?

2) Why did this happen, I thought that 100% wool jackets were supposed to last a long long time? I never brushed them, and dry cleaned them maybe 5 times thus far. I never gave specific instructions to the dry cleaner.

I have 4-5,000 I'd like to spend on 3-4 suits and 10-12 dress shirts come March, and I'd like to do things the right way this time. Hopefully they can last at least as long as my Allen Edmonds next time around

 

[Jmm722]

First, Hugo Boss and Ted Baker endurance suits are not good suits. They're typically cut well and have nice patterns, but the quality is pretty awful. I had two Hugo Boss suits wear out after 5 months with being worn 1x week max.

Not all wool is created equal, some is better than the other, but thread count is no the only thing to look at. As you become more familiar with makers and the feel of fabric you can usually tell if it is good quality or not.

You are dry cleaning your suits too much. 5x in an entire year is too much unless you are spilling all over yourself constantly. Buy a brush for $80-100 and use that regularly. Dry cleaning drastically reduces the lifetime of a suit if you do it frequently.

For your budget, I'd get MTM shirts for $150-200. Leaving you with $2000-3500 for 3-4 suits. At that range you can play the eBay game, scour Nordstrom Rack for Canali and other high end suits, or go with BB1818 or SuitSupply for consistent suits in that range with some cash left over. I may be in the minority, but my BB1818 (Italy, not USA) is nearly indestructible and has lasted me over A LOT of wear with no noticeable wear in the fabric. For a workhorse suit it is hard to beat and still looks nice.

 

[Roma2010]

First, Hugo Boss and Ted Baker endurance suits are not good suits. They're typically cut well and have nice patterns, but the quality is pretty awful. I had two Hugo Boss suits wear out after 5 months with being worn 1x week max.

Not all wool is created equal, some is better than the other, but thread count is no the only thing to look at. As you become more familiar with makers and the feel of fabric you can usually tell if it is good quality or not.

You are dry cleaning your suits too much. 5x in an entire year is too much unless you are spilling all over yourself constantly. Buy a brush for $80-100 and use that regularly. Dry cleaning drastically reduces the lifetime of a suit if you do it frequently.

For your budget, I'd get MTM shirts for $150-200. Leaving you with $2000-3500 for 3-4 suits. At that range you can play the eBay game, scour Nordstrom Rack for Canali and other high end suits, or go with BB1818 or SuitSupply for consistent suits in that range with some cash left over. I may be in the minority, but my BB1818 (Italy, not USA) is nearly indestructible and has lasted me over A LOT of wear with no noticeable wear in the fabric. For a workhorse suit it is hard to beat and still looks nice.

Thanks sir

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Frequent dry-cleaning shouldn't make suits tear (at least not much faster than they would otherwise). The first step should be to determine whether the suits fit properly, especially with the current trend of skinny suits.

 

[chogall]

How do you wear holes in your suit jackets? Doing planks?!?

It's not the suit or the brand, it's most likely you.

p.s., finer suit/shirt fabrics will wear out faster.