Need advice for a 'world suit' ..

[ricestyle]

Okay,

I live in Asia (Thailand) but am originally from NYC. In the past I've had my tailors here create custom suits for me for around $500 (pretty cheap). They look good (for awhile) but there's no longevity. Also the suits invariably have the same 'cut' - seems like they have one template and re-use it no matter how many pictures you show them.

Recently I went to an 'authorized dealer' of Zegna fabrics and they created a VERY nice suit for me - for around $2000.00

However I'm a little concerned about the authenticity/longevity. Is it REALLY zegna fabric, are the lining, stitching, bunting all cheap? Who can say; although the buttons are dirt cheap plastic.

I went to an upscale mall today - to the Zegna store - but even they use local Thai tailors the make their custom suits.. Their custom suits start at at $3000.00 - so again not sure if I'll be getting the right cut and workmanship.

I travel quite a bit for business - so my question would be.. If you had $2000 - $3000 for a set of custom suits (6 suits) where would you go?

I've read before (on this board) that some members support going to London (Saville Rd?), to get high end fabric and then having it sewn elsewhere (Hong Kong, Thailand?)

I'm a pretty large guy, so nothing off the rack will fit me, I need custom designed suits.

Out of all the suits I've encountered my fave by far seemed to be from a shop in Manhattan -
Eredi Pisano.. Very light, a bit of shine, excellent (to me) material.

So if you had a budget - where would you go for your suits? What's a good place to start to look for fabrics - I don't know much about the best blends.

Also I'm noticing on my 2k suit that although it appears to be sewn well there are some inconsistencies - like the cuffs are not smoothly cut but instead are uneven.

Is it cheaper to go to Italy for a week (need a vacation anyway) and get some suits made?

Any help is MUCH appreciated.. The market is too bad to waste cash on suits that won't last.

THANKS!!

 

[Nicola]

Originally Posted by ricestyle

Is it cheaper to go to Italy for a week (need a vacation anyway) and get some suits made?

You won't get a suit made in one week. Even one month might be pushing it. At least the Italian tailors I've talked to won't do anything that fast.

The local satoria [tailor shop] charges 550-600 Euros for MTM depending on the Zegna fabric you pick and features. Factor in exchange rate and that's almost $900 US. It can go higher if you start demanding more features. Be it extra pants or just nicer buttons.

If I'm understanding 3000 for six suits? That's $500 per or less then 400 Euros. You won't get better RTW for that.

 

[ricestyle]

no looking for 6 suits - each 2 - 3k usd, i want some very nice up-end suits

 

[TheFoo]

There are Zegna-made suits, and suits made with Zegna fabric. You appear to have the latter.

 

[TC11201]

Originally Posted by ricestyle

no looking for 6 suits - each 2 - 3k usd, i want some very nice up-end suits

If you are ever in Hong Kong for a week or more (or are there regularly for shorter visits), you could much worse than going to some of the upper end Hong Kong tailors - WW Chan, A Man, Baroman, etc. (a search here will turn up the right names). I've had suits made by WW Chan (like many others here), first out of their HK store and subsequently on their regular tours of the US, as well as bespoke suits made by Anderson and Sheppard (along with lots of high-end MTM and RTW - Oxxford, Battistoni, Isaia, Kiton). In terms of bang for the buck, Chan is hard to beat in my experience (A&S has been disappointing in many aspects from customer service to workmanship and the MTM route has produced good but not completely satisfying results, particularly given the prices charged. RTW has been sometimes acceptably good, sometimes far less so). That said, I will allow that my success with Chan is partially the result of trial and some error as I've refined my pattern and preferences over time and many garments. If you know what you want, they will very faithfully execute it and the quality of the workmanship is high (perhaps not the absolute pinnacle, but high enough that it would be difficult for any but the most picky / discerning to find any fault - once you get the pattern down, you'll get a suit that to me is 90-95% of the best out there at 1/3 or less the price. Everyone has their own mental trade-off to make, for me, the additional 5-10% isn't worth the additional upcharge to get to the pinnacle). Perhaps the one place that I would say they are a noticeable step below SR and their brethren in Europe and the US is in styling. The default style is a relatively conservative English-style suit, but without some of the flair that the better SR et al tailors will produce. They will correct for individual posture quirks, etc., as any good tailor should, but they will give you a very well made, middle-of-the-fairway garment - you'll get less stylistic guidance than you would in Europe or the US. If you want something with more flair, it will be up to you to lead them, at least to some degree, from a stylistic perspective. They can execute lots of different styles well, but will default to their standard cut construction unless specifically asked. Suits from Chan (and the other high-end tailors in HK) will generally run $1100-$1500 for good quality fabrics, but can certainly go well above $2500 depending upon fabric. Hope this helps.