Newc's Bespoke Adventure.

[brax]

Vest > cummerbund

 

[Newcomer]

I am on team vest. I am also A-OK with wearing a RTW cummerbund...

 

[DLJr]

I am on team vest. I am also A-OK with wearing a RTW cummerbund...

This is the smart decision IMOp; and you wear enough black tie to switch it up. If you made the decision to go bespoke for black tie, it'd seem like a waste to me not to do the vest.

 

[Patrick R]

I am on team vest. I am also A-OK with wearing a RTW cummerbund...

I am on team "see you Thursday?"

 

[ericgereghty]

Nice. Very nice! I went with exactly your options except that I opted for no button hole. Which of the two midnight blue suitings did you chose?
On your vest options, let me know if you want some shots of the "standard" Despos option. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have gone with the U-shaped option. No regrets whatsoever on the other choices.

I wanna see some pics

 

[GBR]

After much, much, much consideration, I have finally chosen my next order... *drumroll*

View attachment 820566

Despite the appeal of a navy jacket, I have decided to go for a midnight blue tuxedo. The first fitting with Chris will be on August 10, so I will update the thread sometime after then.

I am getting married later this year, and, after considering the limited options available for a tuxedo, decided to #treatmyself.

Here are the details that Chris and I have discussed:

Dinner Jacket. Midnight Blue Barathea cloth for everything except for lapels. Black Satin peak lapels. Prefer for peak lapels to be on the wider side with some belly (but still proportionate). Single breasted. One button (covered). Ventless. Jetted hip pockets. Barchetta jacket pocket (i.e., normal pocket). Button hole with boutonniere loup. Bit more roping on the shoulder. 4 sleeve buttons.

Pants. Pleated. Normal side striping. No cuffs. Suspenders.

Vest. Currently working out the details.

This is undoubtedly an extravagance. But I am very excited.

Sounds to be a wise choice, different in midnight blue yet the same suitable for most functions. Have you gone for a midnight blue lining or a flask of some vibrant colour? Presumably no back pockets in the trousers?

It would be good to see some photographs of it when it progresses. A while since we have seen a suit 'grow'.

 

[Newcomer]

Alright, a brief update.

For those keeping up, I decided to order a midnight blue tuxedo to wear at my wedding. I went to Chicago about a week ago for my bachelor party (slow to update, finally recovered). As an initial matter, for any upcoming grooms, I would heartily recommend the trip. I have been to Miami, Vegas, New Orleans, NYC, Reykjavik, Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, etc. for various bachelor parties, and everyone (including myself) thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Chicago - a great combination of inexpensive flights and lodgings, good food and nightlife, etc.

In any event, four of us wanted to go to Alinea, and went a day earlier than the majority of the group. I went even earlier than that with my brother, so I could arrange a fitting with Chris.

Alinea was superb. However, over the past few years, other restaurants have definitely "caught up." By and large, there are other restaurants that I have preferred. Nonetheless, service was outstanding, as was the food. The wine pairings were also fun. Some food pr0n pics, for those who are interested are spoilered.

Spoiler: Food Pics

And now, to the good (well, relevant) stuff.

The cloth is from the Schofield & Smith Knightbridge II bunch. It is a super 120s midnight blue barathea, wool with a bit of cashmere. The fabric drapes wonderfully, and has just a hint of that luster that comes along with cashmere. It is a beautiful cloth. It is not delicate either - it feels very sturdy. A lux work-horse fabric, if there is such a thing. I would not say that it looks "different." My brother, who accompanied me to the fitting, had no clue that it was not black. Chris showed me some black swatches (since I chose the fabric, with his assistance, sight unseen), and the midnight blue really did look "blacker than black" under artificial lighting. All of the black fabrics took on a grey or green cast, which was rather unfortunate.

We also ironed out some details. The coat is traditional - one button, satin peak lapel, ventless, etc. We did opt for slightly-wider-than-normal lapels, because, well, I like FU lapels. The vest is the traditional u-shaped vest. The pants have no back packets, forward pleats, and have a high rise. The pants are wonderful. They are not cut for suspenders or side tabs - they just sit there.

We toyed with the length of the jacket for quite sometime. The jacket will be a bit shorter than my rust jacket I believe (which in turn, is a bit shorter than my suit). Also, an interesting caveat. Chris cut the basted jacket from the same pattern as my rust jacket, and the jacket (at our first fitting) was way too tight. My shoulder blades were about burst out of the jacket. Different fabric, evidently, makes a big difference.

This was a basted fitting, so I did not really take any pictures. At the next fitting, I will take some better snaps. That next fitting will be in the somewhat near future.

Spoiler: Moderately Blurry Fit Pic

 

[Keith T]

FU lapels, indeed. Well-played, sir! Off to a good start.

And yeah, Chicago is probably underrated as a "fun" destination if you know your way around.

Tons to do there.

 

[Newcomer]

Thank you sir!

We definitely had a good time. Hit the beach, went to various bar-areas, and stayed out until 5-6 each morning. We had an absolutely blast. And more importantly, everything was reasonably priced (unlike Miami, where I had to pay $35 / drink at times).

 

[Caustic Man]

It's a mystery to me how the Miami board of tourism scams anyone into going there.

 

[ericgereghty]

It's a mystery to me how the Miami board of tourism scams anyone into going there.

Mystery solved

 

[Newcomer]

I was about to say... Miami is awesome. But I somewhat agree with CM, it has its downsides.

 

[jonathanS]

How many inches are your lapels? I don't look at those and think they look noticeably wide. But maybe that's bc I like a wider lapel.

 

[Newcomer]

Not certain, to be honest. And they are certainly not exaggerated. Well within the realm of normal.

 

[brax]

I wanna see some pics

The setup is very similar to Newcomer:
Same tailor
Same fabric
Both 1 - button
Both peak lapel
Both ventless

Differences:
I went with no holes in lapels while I believe that Newcomer went with one.
I chose black grosgrain rather than black satin for lapels.

And a couple shots of my suit (also Despos) from the afternoon wedding: