SPIER & MACKAY - Official Affiliate Thread

[classicoutfits]

My cream count is now +2 from the last time we mentioned this, inspired by Coach here. I'm including the "stone" VBC covert trousers which are BTW my new travel go-tos and probably a good candidate for desert island pants in general. They wear like iron, hold a crease, go with basically every jacket color for those packing light, can be worn with casual shirts, sweaters, hoodies, etc. and hide stains better than straight off-white.

100%. I recently bought the same pair of stone covert, they're super easy to style.

 

[7_rocket]

Anyone pick up any of the cotton crew neck sweaters this season?

 

[ghh923]

Adding to the record here: last order shipped really quick for me. Maybe quicker than any other, so it seems there's improvement.

And the full canvas MTO sport jacket I ordered over the summer--a grail fabric for me, from Dugdale--came out absolutely nails. Couldn't be happier with that, though there were a few hiccups on timing that weren't S&M's fault.

 

[sid11111]

Sharing my quick and dirty review to break up the monotony of complaints.

Tobacco - Quest Cotton - High Rise
Trousers - Size: 33
Trousers - Fit: Contemporary
SKU 406091-HR-02-SS22-C-33
US$102.40

Great trousers. Superbly constructed. Would buy it again.

The quest fabric is great. Densely woven with a subtle sheen. 3 season midweight that may not be suitable for extremely humid heat due to the tight weave.

I have thick thighs and calves and the trousers fit me well with an aggressive taper to the calves. I have worn non-high rise S&M trousers in the same fit and size and they always fit me weirdly. Rise too low with some pulling at the thigh and calves. Moving forward I will buy only high-rise trousers from S&M.

 

[blewnote1]

Sharing my quick and dirty review to break up the monotony of complaints.

Tobacco - Quest Cotton - High Rise
Trousers - Size: 33
Trousers - Fit: Contemporary
SKU 406091-HR-02-SS22-C-33
US$102.40

Great trousers. Superbly constructed. Would buy it again.

The quest fabric is great. Densely woven with a subtle sheen. 3 season midweight that may not be suitable for extremely humid heat due to the tight weave.

I have thick thighs and calves and the trousers fit me well with an aggressive taper to the calves. I have worn non-high rise S&M trousers in the same fit and size and they always fit me weirdly. Rise too low with some pulling at the thigh and calves. Moving forward I will buy only the high-rise trousers from S&M.

I agree, I picked up pairs in Khaki and British Khaki last summer. Fantastic trousers!

They are more generous in the thigh than the same cut high rise trousers made up in VBC high twist though, perhaps we just lucked out with these (I also have thick thighs/calves).

 

[1st Step]

Nice!

I am a fan of Color 8 shell cordovan - so have quite a few burgundy shoes and boots in that material. The color pairs well with many suits and trousers!

Thank you Sir!

 

[sid11111]

I agree, I picked up pairs in Khaki and British Khaki last summer. Fantastic trousers!

They are more generous in the thigh than the same cut high rise trousers made up in VBC high twist though, perhaps we just lucked out with these (I also have thick thighs/calves).

Damn, that sucks.

 

[c689]

PSA: Spier is changing their return policy

I happened to look at the return policy today and noticed that effective Feb. 1st, their exchange/return policy is changing.

There will no longer be exchanges, you place an order for the replacement item and are issued either a refund or store credit from the initial purchase. They also make it explicit that if you contact them within the return window that it satifies the requirements for "returning within x time period".

The one that really got my attention is the following: There will be a $7.95 ($5.95 for Canadians) fee for USA customers returning shirts, trousers, accessories and small items. This means if you're exchaning something for a different size there is a fee associated with it (which may be how it is currently, my only experience with requesting an exchange was to be told the item was out of stock when they got around to answering my email).

What concerns me, and apologies for adding to the constant stream of criticism of customer service, is that since it takes forever to get a response from them you either run the risk of having something you're interested in purchasing sell out of stock or having to pay to ship it back because you needed to buy multiple sizes because they don't respond in a timely fashion, their sizing charts are not always correct, and their products vary in fit even for the same style.

On my last order it took me 11 days to get a response to a question I asked about the potential for shrinkage of the shirts I purchased (the first cotton dress shirts I have purchased, previous have been linen) putting me 1 day outside of the return window. If I had been asking about sizing prior to making a purchase during a sale I would have either had to eat the cost of returning the extra shirt, run the risk of them selling out and only order one size (and eat the cost of returning it for an "exchange" if the size wasn't correct), or miss out on the sale and have to pay full price.

I like Spier's offerings a lot, they're one of only two menswear companies I've purchased from in the last couple years that I was willing to pay full price for because I felt the value/quality proposition was good. I've been willing to put up with slow shipping speeds (sometimes as long as 4 weeks), response times that vary from a couple days to over a week, and ephemeral stock that often sells out in a blink of an eye for core products like shirts and trousers because I like their stuff.

However, it really bums me out to feel like I'm going to get nickle and dimed on top of all that other stuff moving forward, especially when I compare it to my experience with another small menswear company I found out about through Styleforum (with similar costs) who ships either the same or next day and responds to queries within the day.

Sorry for the long diatribe, I will share my thoughts directly with Spier since they're the ones who really need to hear it, but thought I'd give the heads up on the changes to come here as well.

Can you share the name of "another small menswear company" ?

 

[Betelgeuse]

Maiden voyage for this S&M cardigan. Still debating if I like the fit or if I should size down. I don't like to wear my knitwear to tight but don't know if this one is a bit too much roomy. My chest is 44" so the L goes from 42-44 and the XL 44-46 so... I'm in-between sizes. Thoughts?

 

[TheLawBeard]

I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of Spier purchases. Hopefully they’ll put out more in the future that I’m interested in.

I’ve returned two purchases from them. Ever. One was the Drago solaro which was mostly just a fabric color issue. The other was during the armhole adjustment phase. Those short lived S/S armholes just didn’t work for me. Next up will probably be more trousers (I’ve got around a dozen pairs from them) or another MTO sportcoat next time they run a promotion/sale.

 

[taargus_taargus]

just wanted to share my personal experience for the contemporary fit high-rise off-white jeans.

it's closer to stark white than ecru, but that doesn't bother me (and makes them a little more versatile with lighter blue jackets).

the fabric is a great weight—should be wearable in the warmer months, but any lighter and it'd be too see-through. one of my big issues with Sid Mashburn's almost-perfect natural jeans is the fabric is just too heavy to wear June-September here.

My other issue with Sid jeans (which have been my go-to recommendation for jeans) is the taper is just too much. Size-for-size, the Spier contemporary hem opening is about around 5/8 inch wider. I'm measuring the hem width on my size 36's as a hair over 8 inches, which is within the 1/2-inch tolerance they cite on the size chart.

Anyway, the fit is perfect and I'm thrilled with them especially at this price—the other options are $175 or more. Just sharing my experience.

Spoiler: High Rise Denim Photos

View attachment 1883440 View attachment 1883441

Looking sharp, my man. Would you mind sharing what shoes/boots those are?

 

[mossrockss]

Looking sharp, my man. Would you mind sharing what shoes/boots those are?

Astorflex Greenflex

 

[masernaut]

Oh, boy. The newly updated return policy (Canada, at least). $6 free return for shirts, pants and other small items (sweaters was missing from this list so that's probably on here). I'm not down with that. Now, if S&M was consistent with sizing from one product to the other, and from one season to the next, no problem. I wouldn't have an issue because I would be confident knowing that the garment would fit.

But COME ON, RICK. I've largely stepped away from buying S&M simply BECAUSE there's such a huge variance in product sizing consistency. I've had sweaters that fit perfectly then the next year the same size wouldn't fit at all. Same goes for shirts. Same goes for pants.

Not happy with this at all. I understand returns are costly but until you get your sizing correct from the factory, that's a cost you have to put up with.

 

[taargus_taargus]

Astorflex Greenflex

Thanks. Thought they looked suede bluchers. looking for a pair of those...

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Maiden voyage for this S&M cardigan. Still debating if I like the fit or if I should size down. I don't like to wear my knitwear to tight but don't know if this one is a bit too much roomy. My chest is 44" so the L goes from 42-44 and the XL 44-46 so... I'm in-between sizes. Thoughts?

This specific item runs notoriously large (the size chart doesn't mean a whole lot AFAIK). My chest measured about 46" around, and I wear a large without any snugness.

I posted a bad fit pic here:

SPIER & MACKAY - Official Affiliate Thread

Anyone else having issues with the cart? I keep adding shirts but they keep getting removed when I get to the secure checkout stage. This. Or when it says "2 left in stock" then when I click on it it says OOS!

www.styleforum.net

EDIT: I was living in Boston at the time and this made for some peak-COVID goodness. Physically it was warm enough to ward off the cold in the drafty old New England house I was WFH-ing in, and, perhaps more importantly, a garment like that is in many ways armor for the soul during uncertain times (an "armoury against the world and all its horribleness," to quote Peter York). I then made the horrible decision to move back to Northern California, where the heaviest sweater anyone might need is a thin little merino vest, and I don't need it for spiritual reasons anymore either because this place is just a gigantic celebration of end-stage capitalism, and has crushed my soul.