I am Awaken to the World of Bespoke

[rudals1281]

So I just made an appointment with a tailor to have my dress shirts custom made. Being somewhat of an idiot, I've been shopping at Zegna and Neiman Marcus and have purchased a lot within the last 6 months ever since I started working for a suit and tie only work place. Damage? 5 OTR suits, countless shirts and ties at full retail price, FML. But I'll give this a try and see how different a custom made shirt is from the OTR shirts. I did do a thorough research and digging around before I settled on the OTR brand of my choice and they all fit me quite well. I am hoping bespoke takes things a step above for me. I like to thank the SF members who made me feel like a maniac (much deserved) for going after OTR at full retail and steering me to this one particular tailor.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Who is the tailor? Field?

 

[rudals1281]

Who is the tailor? Field?

How'd you know?!

 

[Eustace Tilley]

How'd you know?!

He's the only real bench tailor in DC, so it was an easy guess.

 

[unbelragazzo]

He does really great alterations work as well. You might consider bringing in one of your RTW jackets and asking if he has any tweaks he'd suggest or if it's best just to leave it as is. That will help you understand what his preferred silhouette is like too, should you consider getting a jacket or suit made by him in the future.

 

[Dempsy444]

I don't have experience with field other than stopping in his shop once to consider commissioning a suit. The shop has an excellent rep and if I lived in DC that is where I would go. In general the only cautions I would say about bespoke in general is make sure you find a very good tailor, which Fileld is suppose to be, as bespoke doesnt necessarily mean a better suit if you're use to a high-end OTR and end up working with an average tailor. Second, be particular about the trim and finishing if it matters to you. Some tailors will cut a great suit or shirt but when it comes to the stitching and the buttons it is not as fine as a quality OTR like Zegna or Brioni. I had this experience with a tailor I once used in San Francisco - very comfortable shirts but cheep buttons that always fall off.

Make sure your tailor gives you good MOPs for your shirts and good Horn for your suit.

 

[rudals1281]

He does really great alterations work as well. You might consider bringing in one of your RTW jackets and asking if he has any tweaks he'd suggest or if it's best just to leave it as is. That will help you understand what his preferred silhouette is like too, should you consider getting a jacket or suit made by him in the future.

Yes, I would love to get his opinion on the RTW suits. It would baffle me if he says they look perfect on you LOL.

 

[unbelragazzo]

He probably wouldn't say they look perfect, but he might tell you there's not much that you could do now to improve them, so in that sense they are as good as they're going to get.

I think Mr. Field uses all horn buttons on his jackets.

 

[rudals1281]

I don't have experience with field other than stopping in his shop once to consider commissioning a suit. The shop has an excellent rep and if I lived in DC that is where I would go. In general the only cautions I would say about bespoke in general is make sure you find a very good tailor, which Fileld is suppose to be, as bespoke doesnt necessarily mean a better suit if you're use to a high-end OTR and end up working with an average tailor. Second, be particular about the trim and finishing if it matters to you. Some tailors will cut a great suit or shirt but when it comes to the stitching and the buttons it is not as fine as a quality OTR like Zegna or Brioni. I had this experience with a tailor I once used in San Francisco - very comfortable shirts but cheep buttons that always fall off.

Make sure your tailor gives you good MOPs for your shirts and good Horn for your suit.

Okay, now you've thrown me off a bit here. So I shouldn't expect Brioni-like or Zegna-like quality from a tailor? I think I might have misread you. I think you're saying make sure you say all the right things and know what the heck you want and ensure that it is delivered to the tailor or you'll end up with something less than OTRs, right?

 

[unbelragazzo]

There are plenty of tailors that will just take your measurements and send it to a factory, some of which make suits nowhere near as well made as Brioni. Brioni makes a very nice suit.

Even some famous houses sometimes use crappy finishings. A&S supposedly used plastic buttons for a long time, perhaps still. Some people like them maybe.

 

[Shirtmaven]

I mentioned this in your previous thread regarding kiton shirt
If you want a Brioni or zegna suit then go to Brioni or Zegna..
Field may be an excellent tailor, but i doubt he is going to produce a suit with the
same expression and feel.
I would guess that he is more of a British/american cut. a more conservative garment.
the needle and fit should be good, but it won't look like a zegna suit.
Brioni and Zegna a re large companies.
they have canvas, and shoulder pads, made specifically to achieve that look.
Field may not have access to the same sort of trimmings.

a local NYC tailor looked at the canvas at NSM jacket.
he was impressed with the canvas that was used.
he said he would have to source that type of canvas in Europe.

 

[unbelragazzo]

NsM does use really nice canvas. This is kind of rehashing some of the discussion from this thread:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/345360/i-bought-3-tom-fords-and-i-feel-terrible-about-it

OP, read through that thread if you want. As indicated by that thread, and Carl's comment, Mr. Field will make you a nice suit, but not a Brioni suit. You can see examples in his shop of suits he's made and talk to him about what you want, then come to a decision as to whether it's a good idea for you to have him make you a suit or not.

 

[rudals1281]

I mentioned this in your previous thread regarding kiton shirt
If you want a Brioni or zegna suit then go to Brioni or Zegna..
Field may be an excellent tailor, but i doubt he is going to produce a suit with the
same expression and feel.
I would guess that he is more of a British/american cut. a more conservative garment.
the needle and fit should be good, but it won't look like a zegna suit.
Brioni and Zegna a re large companies.
they have canvas, and shoulder pads, made specifically to achieve that look.
Field may not have access to the same sort of trimmings.

a local NYC tailor looked at the canvas at NSM jacket.
he was impressed with the canvas that was used.
he said he would have to source that type of canvas in Europe.

Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about when you say that Zegna look. It's what I've come to love about their suits. And like I said before, I am 6ft and 165lbs and 38R slips right on and I am ready to go. But I'll still give this experiment a try with shirts. Suits?! Now, that's an investment.

 

[Dempsy444]



Okay, now you've thrown me off a bit here. So I shouldn't expect Brioni-like or Zegna-like quality from a tailor? I think I might have misread you. I think you're saying make sure you say all the right things and know what the heck you want and ensure that it is delivered to the tailor or you'll end up with something less than OTRs, right?

Well, Field has a great rep and I imagine being the only bench made suit maker in a big suit/tie town like DC he has some pretty exacting clients, so I imagine you are in good hands. Given this, Im guessing Field's customers will tell you to expect a much better suit From Filed than high end OTR.

My comment about bespoke in general though is true. Often people mistakenly believe a "bespoke" suit is automatically better than OTR and unfortunately this is not true. There are a lot of mediocre tailors who use the term "bespoke" to describe their product, but it is far less then true bespoke. They farm out a lot of the sewing or just don't possess the incredibly hard skills to acquire. In this case, a high end OTR often is better.

In this case though, you seem to have solved for this risk by going to Field. The cut will likely be a bit more English - I believe he told me their cut is similar to Henry Pool in style.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Zegna shirts are no bargain.
I actually get fabric at the end of the season that was used in Zegna shirts(Zegna does not make shirt fabric)

good fabric, but i can make a better fitting shirt with the same fabric for $225 (made in the USA) not all Zegna shirts are being made in italy