NY made-to-measure: LS Men's Clothing

[corpseposeur]

I've been looking for a reasonable MTM shop in New York for trousers and shirts and I finally made it to LS Men's Clothing on W45th Street (not to be confused with homonymous L&S Custom Tailors on E61st Street). I wanted to start this thread to gather some of my personal experience and have a space for others that have used LS to share their experiences. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot on the forums about LS but the few experiences I've read about had been positive.

What I really liked about LS is that they offer MTM services that are manufactured in Canada (Coppley) or the US (Hickey Freeman or H. Freeman) for tailoring and Induvidualized Shirts in NJ. I was also impressed by their fabric selection which had a number of British mills like Holland and Sherry and Hunt and Winterbotham in addition to the standard issue Italian Loro Piana and VBC books.

Prices are quite reasonable. I ordered a pair of trousers in 9oz Zegna hi-twist fabric for about $350, with the British fabrics being a bit higher at $450 and two shirts (there's a two shirt minimum order) a cotton/linen $100 and a light grey oxford $120.

I was measured by Izzy who was knowledgable--but not a pushy salesperson like some other MTM services in New York. He offered his opinion but I felt like he had a good sense of how I liked my clothes to fit--pants with a slightly higher rise and trim leg.

I expect I will receive the order in mid-late August. I'll report back then. I have high hopes because if it works out I expect to be back regularly.

 

[classicalthunde]

I'd be curious to hear how this stacks up against your other MTM endeavors...I reached out to Chipp Tailors to see about doing a classic American-style blazer last year during lock down (I think I read somewhere that he used to do the jackets for JFK) and he said that he was sliding into retirement due to his age, the pandemic, and the age of his suit makers.

He directed me to Izzy at LS Mens and said to ask him for "something that looks like Chipp made it" but I never wound up following through...

 

[ter1413]

Following.

 

[knittieguy]

I feel that LS has been around forever as a NYC MTM outfit, and has a good reputation, although I could have it confused with L&S. Is Mr. Ned still around?

 

[Mark Seitelman]

Gee, I have been a customer of LS Mens since the late 1980's. I have a suit a couple of pairs of slacks being finished.

It started selling overstocks which it purchased direct from Hickey Freeman, H. Freeman & Son, Norman Hilton, and others. Although it carries some RTW, it has evolved to selling mostly custom and MTM clothes. Through the years manufacturers have come and gone.

I give LS Mens my highest recommendation.

 

[An Acute Style]

I would love to see some pictures of there work. Looks like all stock photos on their website.

 

[corpseposeur]

I'd be curious to hear how this stacks up against your other MTM endeavors...I reached out to Chipp Tailors to see about doing a classic American-style blazer last year during lock down (I think I read somewhere that he used to do the jackets for JFK) and he said that he was sliding into retirement due to his age, the pandemic, and the age of his suit makers.

He directed me to Izzy at LS Mens and said to ask him for "something that looks like Chipp made it" but I never wound up following through...

I’d compare them to the Meyer and Mortimer trousers as in my opinion they’ve been making excellent MTM trousers and pricing is about the same.

My shirts have been looking a bit tired so I’ll likely visit LS more for shirts if they work out well.

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the classic American jacket myself, but I do think that this would be a good place to check out for something like a classic Chipp, Brooks Brothers style.

 

[corpseposeur]

Gee, I have been a customer of LS Mens since the late 1980's. I have a suit a couple of pairs of slacks being finished.

It started selling overstocks which it purchased direct from Hickey Freeman, H. Freeman & Son, Norman Hilton, and others. Although it carries some RTW, it has evolved to selling mostly custom and MTM clothes. Through the years manufacturers have come and gone.

I give LS Mens my highest recommendation.

Very glad to hear it! My appointment ran a bit long and some other seemingly long customers came in and seemed like they’d been visiting LS for a long time. My initial impression struck me as a fairly priced high quality MTM source with a good selection of cloth.

 

[corpseposeur]

UPDATE:

I received my trousers a while back. They're OK. The fabric I chose was a Zenga high-twist but it doesn't really have the kind of body or drape of Fresco. The make up is pretty nice and was done by Coppely in Canada. I've also decided that in future I'll only do side tabs from British tailors...The D-ring that was put on is fine, but it's a bit showy.

The shirts have become a bit of a joke...but not LS's fault. Induvidualized took a really long time to make them I think it was about 2 months and when I received them, they put the monogram in the wrong place. Izzy said he'll have it taken care of.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Izzy is an old school clothier. His previous place was larger and he hung more RTW. He would get close out deals from the manufacturers.
He won't over sell or tell you he can make a style that he can't deliver.
No one here is going to be overwhelmed by his clothing. There are many vendors who work with the same factories. His pricing his very fair and he stands behind his work.
The shirts from individualized are not the best. They do have good fabric. In fact izzy has sent me shirt customers and I have sent him a few suit customers over the years

Izzy is one of the last guys left of a type of clothier that was very common in NYC. Fifth ave below 23rd st had plenty of upstairs rack showrooms that had both Rtw and also offered custom made clothing. The clothing was often made in factories a few blocks away.

 

[corpseposeur]

Izzy is an old school clothier. His previous place was larger and he hung more RTW. He would get close out deals from the manufacturers.
He won't over sell or tell you he can make a style that he can't deliver.
No one here is going to be overwhelmed by his clothing. There are many vendors who work with the same factories. His pricing his very fair and he stands behind his work.
The shirts from individualized are not the best. They do have good fabric. In fact izzy has sent me shirt customers and I have sent him a few suit customers over the years

Izzy is one of the last guys left of a type of clothier that was very common in NYC. Fifth ave below 23rd st had plenty of upstairs rack showrooms that had both Rtw and also offered custom made clothing. The clothing was often made in factories a few blocks away.

I agree with all of this. His suiting seems to be a very good standard of MTM clothing at fair prices. I've come to think of LS like I think of Allen Edmonds for shoes. Nothing to blow anyone away but they're made relatively domestically in Canada and the US and perfectly serviceable in most instances.

My younger brother will be my best man at my wedding next year. I may send him to LS to get tailored if he doesn't have anything that is up to standard.

I think I'm going to skip the shirts in the future for the reasons you mentioned. I have a few Individualized shirts from Epaulet and the two that I hope to eventually receive from LS. They've been inconsistent. I ordered an Epaulet shirt with a pocket and got no pocket--no follow up from Epaulet either.

But with LS, Izzy said he'll fix the monogram issue and while it's a bit annoying I believe that he'll take care of it.

 

[Despos]

Izzy is an old school clothier. His previous place was larger and he hung more RTW. He would get close out deals from the manufacturers.
He won't over sell or tell you he can make a style that he can't deliver.
No one here is going to be overwhelmed by his clothing. There are many vendors who work with the same factories. His pricing his very fair and he stands behind his work.
The shirts from individualized are not the best. They do have good fabric. In fact izzy has sent me shirt customers and I have sent him a few suit customers over the years

Izzy is one of the last guys left of a type of clothier that was very common in NYC. Fifth ave below 23rd st had plenty of upstairs rack showrooms that had both Rtw and also offered custom made clothing. The clothing was often made in factories a few blocks away.

@Shirtmaven
thats a fair and honest assessment. Have heard of this place since the 70’s but never met them.
remember a few of those old shops, Catania, Firenze Fashion, Gilberto, (still around) Traguardo, Emil Klein.
Few other shops but I can’t remember their names.

 

[comrade]

Oh, the nostalgia. In the 70s my brother in law, a "white shoe" attorney
on the way up, had a college classmate who was a textile engineer and fabric designer,
who got both of us Southwick and Hertling suits at upstairs places. The prices were
significantly lower than Paul Stuart, the major retailer of Southwick in NYC at the time.

 

[Shirtmaven]

@Despos those were just some of the tailoring shops. 85 Fifth ave was filled with menswear companies. In the "golden age" of AAAC I talked about all of the shops I knew. You had to know where to go. One small shop made for both Dunhill tailors and Murray Bittman. Same suits were miles apart in price. By the end of the 1980's shops started to close due to off-shore competition and aging out of the Italian tailors. I do miss those days.

 

[Despos]

@Shirtmaven
it was a vibrant trade in those decades