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Need help buying a suit for my engagement

kabougha

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Dec 2, 2018
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Hi,


My engagement party is coming up and I am having a hard time picking out a suit. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to do a MTM so I’ll have to go with off the rack combined with a few alterations. Looking for a slim fit very dark navy suit, for the MTM I put a budget of 3,000$. I feel that since I am going with a OTR it should be a little less. I spent the whole day today shopping for suits and here is what I found.


Went by Canali first, I personally really like the brand but couldn’t find the color I was looking for. They had a milano midnight blue that’s a little lighter than what I was looking for, similar to this one

https://www.canali.com/en_us/midnig...WdlAR2kAwp3Zw8qWRscaAq5lEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It was for 2000$


Then went to Ermenegildo Zegna and also found a dark navy milano. The color was kind of what I was looking for but the suit had a shine to it that didn’t look very appealing. Also it was for 3,500$ which is a little bit over my budget. I am not sure if it’s the best idea to spend that much on an OTR suit that I don’t totally like the color of. Here is a picture of it:




I finally visited brooks brothers and tried out their dark navy milano. The fit and the color were almost perfect, the color is exactly what I am looking for and the fit will be perfect after a few minor alterations; that one was for 1000$ after tax. Here is the link for it

https://www.brooksbrothers.com/Mila...upIv1VMMPeuSBjUNu74aAr_GEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


What made me not pull the trigger on the BB is that I am not sure whether the quality of the suit itself is much less than Canali or Zegna. It is definitely much cheaper and it would be nice to save the difference. I just don’t know how it compares to the other two in terms of quality and how nice of a suit it is. I noticed that it doesn’t have he stitching on the lapels like the other two which I sort of like.


I also found a dark navy Canali Milano fit online at Barneys and they surprisingly have my size, but it seems risky to order a suit online. I would have to get it altered by a tailor here and it may look different in real life. Here is the link for it:

https://www.barneys.com/product/canali-natural-comfort-neat-wool-two-button-suit-505825480.html


Other things I considered were brunello, Brioni and Tom Ford but they were out of my budget since most of the garments started from 5000$.


I am sorry if the wall of text is overwhelming, I would really appreciate any advice.
 

johnnymiz

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I'd buy the BB suit. Actually, if I had the need, for $200 less than the suit from Barney's, I would buy TWO BB suits....one blue and one grey.
 

breakaway01

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Wait...you found a suit that you like, fits you very well, and is half the price of any other alternative you’ve found so far? And you don’t even know how that suit (Barney’s) fits you?

It doesn’t sound like you wear suits regularly if you don’t already have a navy suit. So why spend 2x or more for a suit that might not fit as well and that I’m guessing you won’t wear often? Yes, the BB jacket is probably half-canvassed while the Canali and EZ will be full canvassed. But fit is by far the most important attribute if a suit.

You could also just order the Canali suit from Barney’s and return it if it doesn’t fit well.
 

paxonus

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I would try on a Regent fit before you purchase the Milano. The Milano is a very trendy cut, and it is already on the way out of fashion. The Regent is more classic and will always look stylish when it fits well.
 

johng70

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Yeah, I'm going to agree that you are way overthinking this. Brooks may not be top quality but it's better quality than what the vast majority of consumers are wearing and they often wear suits more than it sounds like you will. And, to be honest, if this suit is going to be a wear-twice-a-year to weddings and funerals then you're not going to see any real difference between the $1000 Brooks suit and a $500 suit. The bigger key is appropriate tailoring. Out of the gate, Brooks doesn't do more than very basic alterations. So, if you're not used to wearing a suit, you may want to find a better tailor. A $500 suit that has better tailoring will look better than the $1000 suit that does not. For a suit you're going to wear a couple times a year, $3000 is a bit of a waste (unless you are a wealthy individual and $3000 is something you would spend in an average month on clothing).
 

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