SPIER & MACKAY - Official Affiliate Thread

[JTrent82]

How much shrinkage do you account for in MTO shirts? I cold wash and hang dry. My experience with the OTR lightweight OCBDs is -0.75 inches in the shoulder and about half that with the linen shirts.

 

[pyunghwa]

I noticed the site has two listing of a Minnis tobacco fresco suit, one in the full canvas, and the other in the mto section. Although they're from the same mill, the photos make it seem the mto version is darker. I prefer the tobacco being closer to the darker chocolate collir than the burgundy.

Are these the same fabric, just under different lighting?

 

[JTrent82]

I noticed the site has two listing of a Minnis tobacco fresco suit, one in the full canvas, and the other in the mto section. Although they're from the same mill, the photos make it seem the mto version is darker. I prefer the tobacco being closer to the darker chocolate collir than the burgundy.

Are these the same fabric, just under different lighting?

They have different product codes, but neither correspond to the fabric codes in the Huddersfield catalog. Curious.

 

[TheLawBeard]

Harrington jacket buyers- how did you find the sizing to be? Did you buy your normal size? Size down? I’m tempted to size down because I’m concerned about sleeve length.

 

[ebayhtl]

Hi both (and anyone else) - any photos of the unstructured sports coats in real life? Thinking of picking one up (either green or rust) - being in Asia, I think these would work well, but keen to see what they look like in real life (as opposed to Spier website photos).

Thanks!

I just received the VBC green mesh unstructured. It's very light and airy, and unstructured makes it feel like a shirt. I'm one of the new Neo armhole complainers, but the armholes actually feel pretty good with this one, I think from being unstructured.

Back to the discussion of Speir, I've recently picked up some nice pieces and need to put some pictures up, but wanted to hip anyone living in a hot climate to the VBC mesh sportcoat. I almost didn't pick it up because one of the guys here shared his impression that it was too "sack like" but it went on sale and I figured that the worst that could happen was to send it back.

https://www.spierandmackay.com/product/vbc---green-mesh---unstructured---neo-cut-556-70111-nesc-01u-ss22

 

[ebayhtl]

Just saw this, thanks!

Here are some pics, sorry I don't have a full shot haven't quite figure out how to do that, but it may give some idea of how it looks. It's has a slightly darker green tinge in person but the tan/grey overtones are definitely there as shown.

Not sure what you mean about the sizes, almost all contemporary are in stock and most of the R sizes in slim as well. Also, this sportcoat has been up for months, I was eyeing it forever and finally pulled the trigger the last time it went on sale.

 

[ebayhtl]

Also, a couple of other questions:

- I've got a number of 36R slim and contemporary blazers. I'm now more of a 38R slim / contemporary (mix of too many bench presses and too much carbs...)

Has anyone had good results from letting out the 36R to become a (close to) 38R? Hate to waste all these blazers (although some of them, and the fully lined suits, will be going on sale shortly).

- 38R slim suits these days - are the drop 6 pants REALLY tight, especially around the thighs? Is there any way Spier could exchange the drop 6 slim pants for contemporary pants? I see a few suits I want, that are available in 38R slim but not 38R contemporary - I can make the slim jacket work (although not preferred), but probably not the pants...

- (Related to first point) where's the best place to sell lightly used Spier items these days - in the exchange thread, Grailed, somewhere else? I've got to get rid of some of those 36R items unfortunately...

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

I think the “hijack” comment was a joke, haha.

I certainly hope it wasn't, because I want to fight, dammit.

Jokes aside, I doubt Rick will mind a guy whose workhorse rotation is all SM MTO at this point, who is asking about thingers to pair with future SM purchases.

I wear a Longines Hydroconquest most days, but I also own a Carpenter Watches Brooklyn Gent. I think they could be a good option for the price point. Good luck!

Thanks. This is huge. I had not looked into Longines before but I think the Hydroconquest is exactly what I had in mind. What size do you recommend? I don't really know if watch-fit is a thing but for what it's worth, I wear a 46R jacket and size 9 - 9.5 gloves...........and this is as fussy as I'll get, I promise.

@DonRaphael Thanks for all the recommendations. Your pics are actually the ones I was thinking of when thinking about what I'd like to wear with tailoring. It's probably going to take me longer to sort this one out though, as a lot of these look equally nice right now. The engineer in me is falling down the rabbit hole hard of sorting equally beautiful pieces by how their individual movements work...

----

Interestingly, my maternal grandfather was a real clotheshorse in the most classic English sense, but that gene must have skipped a generation, as my mom couldn't possibly be less interested in this stuff. In fact, while trying to make her own way, she worked in a garment factory when I was a kid and can't stand anything about the clothes trade.

However, for some reason she loves watches, and this week thought it was bizarre that I was suddenly interested as well, though she hasn't bought a new one in over thirty years and isn't all that curious about how they actually work, just how they look. She doesn't have any recommendations on the men's side unfortunately but it doesn't matter; the neat thing for me is, she and I don't have much in common and I think this is our first new shared interest since I was a kid.

Uh, to get the thread back on track, today I wore my gray Frescolite MTO suit and it's...pretty great for what it is. Feels delightfully breezy on a warm day and isn't scratchy at all either like Fresco is often accused of; anyone who isn't looking or touching closely will just assume it's a regular worsted. It drapes reasonably well too, which was surprising. The pants in particular hang quite cleanly and I wear them a lot as odd trousers. I am definitely glad I got the jacket fully canvased though, as I notice the parts of hte front and back where there's no canvas handle almost like gauze, and tend to catch onto my shirt, pants, the wind, etc. instead of draping cleanly, but that was a known tradeoff.

 

[St1X]

Also, a couple of other questions:

- I've got a number of 36R slim and contemporary blazers. I'm now more of a 38R slim / contemporary (mix of too many bench presses and too much carbs...)

Has anyone had good results from letting out the 36R to become a (close to) 38R? Hate to waste all these blazers (although some of them, and the fully lined suits, will be going on sale shortly).

- 38R slim suits these days - are the drop 6 pants REALLY tight, especially around the thighs? Is there any way Spier could exchange the drop 6 slim pants for contemporary pants? I see a few suits I want, that are available in 38R slim but not 38R contemporary - I can make the slim jacket work (although not preferred), but probably not the pants...

- (Related to first point) where's the best place to sell lightly used Spier items these days - in the exchange thread, Grailed, somewhere else? I've got to get rid of some of those 36R items unfortunately...

If those 36R jackets fit you well in the shoulders, you can always let out a few cm from the back and side seams. Same thing with trousers

 

[jermyzy]

I noticed the site has two listing of a Minnis tobacco fresco suit, one in the full canvas, and the other in the mto section. Although they're from the same mill, the photos make it seem the mto version is darker. I prefer the tobacco being closer to the darker chocolate collir than the burgundy.

Are these the same fabric, just under different lighting?

Hi, I own a suit with MTO Minnis tobacco fresco fabric. I'd say closer to the darker colour. Here's a quick picture I just took, hope that helps.

Meanwhile, I snagged the light brown check 3-piece suit I've been eyeing for awhile! Bought the blue check wool/linen pants last week. Was thinking of waiting for the sale, but it was the last in my size and was afraid it would sell out.

 

[jermyzy]

Also, a couple of other questions:

- I've got a number of 36R slim and contemporary blazers. I'm now more of a 38R slim / contemporary (mix of too many bench presses and too much carbs...)

Has anyone had good results from letting out the 36R to become a (close to) 38R? Hate to waste all these blazers (although some of them, and the fully lined suits, will be going on sale shortly).

- 38R slim suits these days - are the drop 6 pants REALLY tight, especially around the thighs? Is there any way Spier could exchange the drop 6 slim pants for contemporary pants? I see a few suits I want, that are available in 38R slim but not 38R contemporary - I can make the slim jacket work (although not preferred), but probably not the pants...

- (Related to first point) where's the best place to sell lightly used Spier items these days - in the exchange thread, Grailed, somewhere else? I've got to get rid of some of those 36R items unfortunately...

So I used to be a 36 slim, but now am a 36 contemporary (thank pandemic weight gain!). I had my tailor let out the waist on the 36 slim jackets as much as possible - depending on the jacket he was able to let out 1 to 1.5". So as long as the shoulder fits, and same fit should get pretty close (S&M size chart shows 1.6" between 36 and 38). I think 36 slim to 38 contemporary might be too much though.

Regarding trouser swap, yes definitely possible as long as they have inventory. I've had them switch out my trousers on multiple orders of suits now. (My perfect combo now is 36S contemporary jacket and 32 slim trousers)

 

[DonRaphael]

I noticed the site has two listing of a Minnis tobacco fresco suit, one in the full canvas, and the other in the mto section. Although they're from the same mill, the photos make it seem the mto version is darker. I prefer the tobacco being closer to the darker chocolate collir than the burgundy.

Are these the same fabric, just under different lighting?

They have different product codes, but neither correspond to the fabric codes in the Huddersfield catalog. Curious.

There seems to be some confusion here.

This suit has product ID X30089 and is discontinued from the Fresco catalogue. It's an older fabric, which is the same as @jermyzy is referring to. It's a brown fabric with a red undertone. This particular fabric is 310 gms.

This suit however, seems to be mislabeled. If I'm not mistaken, it's product ID 510211 from the Fresco Lite book. This particular fabric features a more pronounced red undertone than the one above (X30089) and is 290 gms.

Here's a pic comparing the two fabrics above.

Minnis offers several brown fabrics. Below are pics of product ID 510382 (290 gms), X30089 (310 gsm) and 510263 (310 gsm).

Below are swatch pics of Minnis' brown fresco selection.

 

[marchello]

I'm 81 cm waist. I take 30 contemporary mostly because 32 is just too wide in the seat and thigh area for my build. I get a much better fit in 30 and letting out the waist by 1-2 cm.

Just curious, how much do your thighs measure? I'm also 81cm and can't decide on the sizing.

 

[Nitrogen]

I'll post this here, since I haven't yet received any response from S&M via emai:

I ordered a waistcoat size 46 that didn’t quite fit perfectly, and I am considering ordering one MTO. Now, I’d like to use the measurements from the 46 waistcoat to guide my MTO purchase, but the waistcoat sizing guide and the measurements in the custom section of the website are different.

E.g. https://www.spierandmackay.com/fit-guide/waistcoats-fall-winter-21the sizing guide says 46 chest is 46.3, but when I select 46 as the option for MTO, chest size is 47.25. Which one of these is correct?

 

[sdjackofclubs]

I certainly hope it wasn't, because I want to fight, dammit.

Jokes aside, I doubt Rick will mind a guy whose workhorse rotation is all SM MTO at this point, who is asking about thingers to pair with future SM purchases.



Thanks. This is huge. I had not looked into Longines before but I think the Hydroconquest is exactly what I had in mind. What size do you recommend? I don't really know if watch-fit is a thing but for what it's worth, I wear a 46R jacket and size 9 - 9.5 gloves...........and this is as fussy as I'll get, I promise.

@DonRaphael Thanks for all the recommendations. Your pics are actually the ones I was thinking of when thinking about what I'd like to wear with tailoring. It's probably going to take me longer to sort this one out though, as a lot of these look equally nice right now. The engineer in me is falling down the rabbit hole hard of sorting equally beautiful pieces by how their individual movements work...

----

Interestingly, my maternal grandfather was a real clotheshorse in the most classic English sense, but that gene must have skipped a generation, as my mom couldn't possibly be less interested in this stuff. In fact, while trying to make her own way, she worked in a garment factory when I was a kid and can't stand anything about the clothes trade.

However, for some reason she loves watches, and this week thought it was bizarre that I was suddenly interested as well, though she hasn't bought a new one in over thirty years and isn't all that curious about how they actually work, just how they look. She doesn't have any recommendations on the men's side unfortunately but it doesn't matter; the neat thing for me is, she and I don't have much in common and I think this is our first new shared interest since I was a kid.

Uh, to get the thread back on track, today I wore my gray Frescolite MTO suit and it's...pretty great for what it is. Feels delightfully breezy on a warm day and isn't scratchy at all either like Fresco is often accused of; anyone who isn't looking or touching closely will just assume it's a regular worsted. It drapes reasonably well too, which was surprising. The pants in particular hang quite cleanly and I wear them a lot as odd trousers. I am definitely glad I got the jacket fully canvased though, as I notice the parts of hte front and back where there's no canvas handle almost like gauze, and tend to catch onto my shirt, pants, the wind, etc. instead of draping cleanly, but that was a known tradeoff.

That's a personal preference. That said, I have fairly small wrists and wear a 39mm. They also have a 43mm, which would probably be best for you. Try one on in person, if you can. Some beautiful options currently available online. Good luck!