St. andrews suits

[kabert]

For fans or admirers of the ultra-rare St. Andrews suits, check out this line-up of new ones on EBay. Straight from Bergdorf's. 75% off too. Very tempting for me -- I've got 3 St. A's suits and they are incredible -- the best I've got. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws....&stab=0

 

[johnnynorman3]

Kabert,

These are A. Harris's auctions, so you know they are quality. On the St. Andrews, how does the shoulder sit? The auction says it has absolutely no shoulder padding, and I'm wondering if you've gotta be a linebacker to give it a nice silhouette?

 

[kabert]

There is some padding in mine, but it's thin. I'm not sure the "padding" is padding like you'd find in a Brioni suit either -- I think it is mostly just some additional fabric that is sewn in to give the shoulder structure. You'd never know looking at the suit that there is not a piece of padding, as the line where the sleeve attaches to the shoulder is slightly raised (roped) and the overall line is very smooth and elegant. The suits most definitely do not have "no padding" in the sense that your dress shirts also don't have padding. There's plenty of fabric there to give you the look and feel of some (just the right amount, IMO) padding. They are great suits. Incidentally, $699 is a great price. Mine all had Bergdorf price tags on them of $2,700 when I bought them at Filene's Basement for $599 (an unbelievable steal IMO).

 

[johnnynorman3]

What freaking Basement did you see SA at?

 

[kabert]

I've seen it at two of them, from a big shipment of Bergdorf Goodman clothes they got in after the post-Christmas sales -- in late January or early February IIRC. The one where I bought the suits was in Washington, DC on Connecticut Avenue (near Burberry's, the Mayflower hotel, etc.). I've also seen (and bought) St. A's slacks at that store and at the Mazza Gallerie store, which is also in DC on upper Wisconsin Avenue (near the Maryland line). In fact, the labels in these EBay auctions are the same as the labels in the ones I got.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Would you mind posting pics of you in the SA jacket? It would be better than a manequin. I am keenly interested in the 38R auction.

 

[kabert]

Sorry JN, I've never uploaded pix from my digital camera. My wife always does it and she'd give me too much crap if I told her this was the reason. Here's the St. Andrews' website: http://www.saintandrews.it/eng/index.htm Also, I haven't looked but I suppose the Bergdorf-Goodman website might have some pictures of 'em.

 

[A Harris]

Kabert described the shoulder very well. There is of course the canvas in front, plus perhaps one more layer of fabric. In back there is a couple of layers of fabric to equal the thickness in front. Not padding persay, but not just the suiting fabric either. Their is also just a bit of padding in the top of the sleeve to give the shoulders a bit of a rope.

It is an extremely nice shoulder. I kept one of these myself. I've only ever seen this cut on the SA suits from Bergdorf.

 

[johnnynorman3]

Touche. Thanks for the website. Very cool. How close would a RLPL be to the SA that A. Harris is selling?

 

[A Harris]

Not at all close - it's a completely different cut. IN the first few seasons the RLPL cuts, while different than this SA, were VERY nice. Lately I just find them ridiculous.

 

[johnnynorman3]

I guess the you answered my question, Andrew. So this is not like a RLPL. Geez, you know, I've gotta be honest. The suit is in my price range, but I'm still just torn about whether to put my money into Chan MTMs or a SA, Oxxford, or similar at a 7-800 price point.

 

[dorian]

drew, why do you say rlpl is ridiculous? the cut, fabric....?

btw, some one at bergdorf's was trying to convince me (i still didn't believe it) that ralph lauren bought st. andrew's so he could have direct control over his pl suits. can anyone corroborate this?

 

[STYLESTUDENT]

I looked at the St. Andrews but bought the Barbera gray flannel. For those of us who live in the Midwest, it's really unusual to find a high-quality flannel suit on EBay, let alone Barbera. It's also very rare to find a St. Andrews suit on EBay in a selection of sizes.

 

[imageWIS]

Not at all close - it's a completely different cut. IN the first few seasons the RLPL cuts, while different than this SA, were VERY nice. Lately I just find them ridiculous.

Why are they ridiculous? (Curiosity has gotten the best of me)

Okay, the sleeves are way too high, showing over an inch of cuff; but other than that...

Jon.

 

[A Harris]

He was doing a cut that while still fairly soft in the shoulders, was EXTREMELY tapered in the waist. For instance, several of the size 40L coats I had measured 42-43" in the chest and 36-37" in the waist.. Standard difference between chest and waist measurements is 2-4", not 6-7". I've never seen anything with that much waist suppression. Now he seems to be doing a cut with much wider shoulders, a lot of padding, and with a very suppressed waist, not as much as before, but still more than just about everything else on the market. It's very dramatic, and not to my taste (not that my taste is the final word of course.)

As for Ralph Lauren buying St. Andrew's - I haven't heard anything about that but I haven't been subscribed to DNR for a while. I suppose it's within the realm of possibility.