Overpaid for no-name suit in London?

[legin]

I bought a suit recently and have been trying to figure out who made it. It has a tag that says "woolmark". Apparently, thats just where the wool is from. And their website (woolmark.com) claims to be Australian but they have a lot of Asian stuff there.

Theres another tag that says "Empire Mills". I found a few cheap Ebay suit (£50) with that name. No website. After much searching, I figured out that its another name for Alfred Brown. Apparently, this is a company in England that's been around for some time. But you go to their website (alfredbrown.co.uk) and its just a single page. Again, you find a few ebay suits with that name and theyre all quite cheap.

I paid £250 for this suit. I bought it on Friday and when I came to pick it up today (they were doing some alterations) the salesman was very cold to me and obviously wanted me to leave. I guess he thought that I might have done some research over the weekend and would realise that I overpaid.

I bought the suit at a small shop in central London. They apparently have a few other stores as well. It seems reputable with a few people on the internet recommending that you go there (for rentals, anyway) but their website is very sparce.

The suit seems ok and fits well but I think I grossly overpaid. Its the second suit that Ive bought and I dont really know how to buy suits (what to look for, etc). Do I seem correct in thinking that I overpaid?

 

[goretexman]

About the "woolmark" bit "” I believe Woolmark does not actually manufacture anything at all, they just own the brand and license it to companies and/or products that meet their quality standards. I have no idea what those standards are, or to what extent they make any sense, though.

Neither am I an expert on suit pricing, but given how expensive everything is in London these days, and assuming that the suit fits well, looks good and does not fall apart after a week, £250 does not sound too bad to me. And since you probably can't back out anyway, there does not seem to be much point in worrying. Wear it, enjoy it, and do some more research so that, next time, you can buy with more confidence.

 

[GBR]

Wool-mark is an irrelevance, it is purely a symbol which confirms that the cloth is wool (supposedly).

Empire Mills sounds like a very old name and is certainly not a brand that I have come across on any forum or in any shop of repute in many years. (I hope it is new)

I fear that you have paid too much but if you are happy with it...

 

[legin]

It says on the Empire Mills label "since 1915". And on the Allen Brown website it also says they've been around since 1915. But theres virtually nothing on the internet about them and even their site is just a single page.

I paid at least twice what I should have, but theres nothing I can do. Its a learning experience and they lost a customer. I needed to buy quite a bit of other suit-related stuff, but Ill do it at a different store now.

 

[ysc]

For £250 in london go to TM Lewin, the suits are that price on "sale", which is most of the year, when they have a real sale they are even cheaper. They are by no means the best, but most people think they are pretty decent value for money. They have a decent range, their staff are very obliging and they do alterations for free.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Originally Posted by legin

It says on the Empire Mills label "since 1915". And on the Allen Brown website it also says they've been around since 1915.

Alfred Brown (Worsted Mills) Ltd is the cloth weaver, not the suit manufacturer.
So, you've got a suit made from Yorkshire (not Chinese) cloth. A rarity these days.

For GBP 250.00 you cannot get a "name" suit. If the suit looks nice and fits well, you have nothing
to complain about. You probably got better value than from some cheap "designer" labels.

 

[FidelCashflow]

You almost certainly got a no-name suit. Whether you over-paid or not depends on what you expected. If you were expecting a fancy name... you certainly got hustled. What store did you get it from?