MTM advice needed (southwick vs hickey freeman vs (maybe) samuelsohn)

[notfortheweak]

I'm getting married in October and I'm planning to order at MTM 3 piece suit in navy blue. I'm 6'3", 215 lbs, which I'd imagine might help in giving any advice. Right now I'm looking at either Southwick or Hickey Freeman. They would be around the same price, because I'd be getting the Hickey Freeman at Nordstrom's anniversary sale. Here are my questions:

1. My impression from this forum and others is that the construction on Hickey Freeman tends to be of higher quality than Southwick. Is this generally true?

2. One of the downsides of the Nordstrom anniversary sale is that they only offer one solid navy fabric as part of the sale, and being new to the MTM game, I don't know how good it is. (It's labeled simply as "100% Worsted Wool" with no super number or branding or anything. If anyone has seen Nordstrom's offerings for this sale and can comment on the quality of the fabric, that would be appreciated.

3. Another thing I'm wondering is whether I'm better off going to a smaller shop than a big department store, since a smaller store seems like it might offer more attention.

4. Are all H-F suits fully canvassed? I've seen mixed information on this. If they are not all fully canvassed, which ones are and which ones aren't? The prospect of fully canvassed is definitely one of the appeals of the H-F suit, but only if I know which one to order. (I'm assuming the H-F Handstiched line is not available at Nordstrom, although that sounds like it's their best line.)

5. If anyone in the Boston area has experience at Andover Shop, Drinkwater's or Nordstrom (either Burlington or Natick) and can comment on positive or negative experiences there, that would be great as well.

6. Finally, I'm going to explore the option of doing a Samuelsohn, although that may push out of my price range (Around 1600 or less is where I'd like to end up.) If I can find a Samuelsohn that works, where do they fall in the quality spectrum with H-F and Southwick?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I've really been enjoying reading and getting to know this forum lately.

 

[Cant kill da Rooster]

First of all, I am not the one to answer your questions however, I do have a question for you. Why MTM? I mean, you are obviously on a budget and by limiting to one material (item 2), which I assure you won't be as good as their other offerings. If you are able to fit an OTR suit, this is a much cheaper option and will get you more bang for your buck.

As far as I know, Southwick is better in quality and HF fits like a tent OTR. A least for me it does. I would urge you to seriously consider Samuelsohn OTR. Certainly this can be found for much less than $1600 (I have seen them in the $900-1k range for sure) and depending on the seller, you may be able to select the material and order it like an MTM.

For other forum members and help, you should indicate your location and budget.

 

[Costanza]

+1

MTM Sammy can be had here at about $1K recently.

 

[Cary Grant]

Start with Samuelsohn OTR first and see what you can find- but wanting three piece will probably kill that based on what I see at most shops.

You'll be hard-pressed to get in under your price for Sammy MTM depending on the cloth you choose. Ask them for their best prices on cloth; they might have something not in Sammy's stock books. Also ask them if they'll give you their trunk show price even if no show is near. Could save you around 15-20%.

The Sammy quality is excellent for the price; the issue with any MTM will be the ability of your local tailor to get your measurements right and do any post-order corrections.

 

[HomerJ]



I'm getting married in October and I'm planning to order at MTM 3 piece suit in navy blue. I'm 6'3", 215 lbs, which I'd imagine might help in giving any advice. Right now I'm looking at either Southwick or Hickey Freeman. They would be around the same price, because I'd be getting the Hickey Freeman at Nordstrom's anniversary sale. Here are my questions:

1. My impression from this forum and others is that the construction on Hickey Freeman tends to be of higher quality than Southwick. Is this generally true?
True in my experience.
3. Another thing I'm wondering is whether I'm better off going to a smaller shop than a big department store, since a smaller store seems like it might offer more attention.
I've seen solid navy HF for $600 down to $400ish after sale or discounts at Neiman Marcus Last Call. They had a lot of them in lately even in harder to find sizes like 36 or 38 so there's a good chance they have something in your size. Unless you are set on MTM, maybe pay them a visit. They were not 3 piece obviously...
4. Are all H-F suits fully canvassed? I've seen mixed information on this. If they are not all fully canvassed, which ones are and which ones aren't? The prospect of fully canvassed is definitely one of the appeals of the H-F suit, but only if I know which one to order. (I'm assuming the H-F Handstiched line is not available at Nordstrom, although that sounds like it's their best line.)
The HF Ltd are a lower line without full canvas. You should be able to tell by the tags and by pinching the jacket.
6. Finally, I'm going to explore the option of doing a Samuelsohn, although that may push out of my price range (Around 1600 or less is where I'd like to end up.) If I can find a Samuelsohn that works, where do they fall in the quality spectrum with H-F and Southwick?
I like the Samuelsohn. The one suit I have is nicer and has a better silhouette than my HF.

Congratulations. Comments in quote.

 

[Redwoood]



+1

MTM Sammy can be had here at about $1K recently.

where can you get Sammy MTM for $1k? I was under the impression that $1200 is about as low as it goes regular price.

 

[Cant kill da Rooster]



Start with Samuelsohn OTR first and see what you can find- but wanting three piece will probably kill that based on what I see at most shops.

Right. Good point.

 

[HomerJ]

By the way an odd vest would look natty.

 

[othertravel]



where can you get Sammy MTM for $1k? I was under the impression that $1200 is about as low as it goes regular price.

During sales, Sammys can be found in the 1k range.

 

[Costanza]



where can you get Sammy MTM for $1k? I was under the impression that $1200 is about as low as it goes regular price.

That's the price they gave me at Harry Rosen's @ 1st Canadian about a month ago when they couldn't show me anything RTW in the store that fit. I do think someone said the word "promotion" in there...and there was a floor sign advertising the service so maybe it was "special."

 

[southbound35]



By the way an odd vest would look natty.

I was thinking the same thing. Would widen your options in the OTR market and decrease your cost in the MTM market.

 

[Redwoood]



That's the price they gave me at Harry Rosen's @ 1st Canadian about a month ago when they couldn't show me anything RTW in the store that fit. I do think someone said the word "promotion" in there...and there was a floor sign advertising the service so maybe it was "special."

Ah, yes, at sales price. So did you do it? 1k is pretty good, and Samuelsohn makes good suits.

 

[notfortheweak]

Thanks for the comments/advice. I'd definitely be interested in checking out Samuelsohn, and I'm not opposed to OTR, but as Cary Grant said, wanting a three piece may make that impossible and I'm pretty excited about the three piece idea. I'm going to call a shop today about Samuelsohn stuff to see what kind of prices they have and I'm going to go in and check out their OTR stuff.

Also, I think I mentioned it in the first post, but I'm in Boston if that helps anyone with thinking about options for me.

Thanks again.

 

[mjf1955]

MTM- would possibly suggest contacting a Tom James sales professional that will visit your office and take care of your mtm needs. Full canvas construction, several hundred cloth patterns to choose from. MTM is there speciality, if you prefer a retailer Andover shop in the Boston area a great choice

 

[notfortheweak]

I called a couple of the shops around here that do Samuelsohn MTM and it looks to be pretty expensive (1600 for just a 2-piece suit with the most basic fabrics). I'm going to go back to look again at the fabrics available at Nordstrom's, Drinkwater's and Andover Shop to see if that helps make a decision. And if I decide to move away from the three-piece idea, I'll look at more OTR stuff. (I would've pulled the trigger on a sale two piece Oxxford 1220 at Neiman Marcus the other day, but they didn't have my size. Or rather they did in the blazer but not in a full suit. Beautiful garment, too. Oh well...)