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Zerase

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Every time the prices go up, people say that other brands are starting to look more attractive but no one ever mentions any real alternatives.
Cavour is an excellent alternative imo.
 

St1X

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Cavour is an excellent alternative imo.
Cavour isn't really an alternative - suitsupply has physical presence in many countries and cities. In that regard they have no alternative in their price range.
However Cavour offers a much better quality and craftsmanship at just slightly higher price range
 

StartingStyle

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Yeah prices went up but the new s/s23 collection is way more interesting than stuff in the recent years. I grabbed some really great short for summer, the new Roma jacket looks good and the sortino trousers‘ fit is awesome ( I returned them because I’m not a white trousers guy)
 

SartoriaModerna

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Every time the prices go up, people say that other brands are starting to look more attractive but no one ever mentions any real alternatives.

There are some possible alternatives in this thread, and for sure plenty on this forum as a whole.. but of course, depends what you define as "alternative".

Some examples that offer international shipping:

-Lanieri: Great MTO offering for similar prices and physical presence, but fabric choiced limited
-Pini Parma: great RTW suits and do offer MTO, but not as extensive and easy as SS
-Cavour: great RTW suits, almost no MTO unless you live near it, not that more pricey, but you get more variety with fabrics. (Suitsupply offer many fabrics, but ever the same mills)
- Spier & Mackay: great MTO, great RTW, lucky for US/CAD guys but comes with import tax for EU guys, but honestly, even with tax, it's sometimes even cheaper than local Suitsupply. Caveat is the online-only presence for MTO.
-Lopez Aragon: Very affordable MTO, but fully online and limited fabric choices.

and there's more..

It's not hard to find decent alternatives actually, but of course, as you can see, many are small ateliers/brands and do not have the global presence as Suitsupply. So credit should be given where is due, and if you want a "big" brand just like Suitsupply, with presence, with MTO and many fabric choices, without the price, then it's tough to name alternatives, but you have to be more open-minded.

Also, the fact that they are a semi-monopoly in this field makes it a succesful company, but does not mean that their price hikes are justified. What makes a vest costing double in 1 year time?

Another last point:
IMO, alternatives is not just 'the same or similar but cheaper', but it's also about opportunity costs. The pricier it gets, the more interesting it gets to step up to a more high-end tailoring brand. It costs 2-3 or even 5x more, but the gap of value narrows.
 

tilesomoole

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Every time the prices go up, people say that other brands are starting to look more attractive but no one ever mentions any real alternatives.

Spier is the only one I can think of that clearly beats SS at the new price level. The caveat there is that if you have done a push-up in your life and are size 46 like me, you've got to go MTM as they make very few in that size and they sell out quickly (sometimes the day the item is stocked).

On the same level price and quality wise (more or less) are these two, among some others. Both are MTM, guaranteed to fit. Here are a couple that I'm considering purchasing, thus are "real alternatives" It bears mentioning that these MTM services are the same price as SS's RTW suiting.....

https://www.oliverwicks.com/product/navy-fine-check-tweed-blazer




Prices there are identical to SS, and the quality similar at PC and better than SS from OW.

For myself, I can't consider RTW products (other than SS) equivalent to SS because only their Havana and Lazio fits are alterable to a perfect fit for me off the rack. I've never had a perfect fit from any other brand, even after altering, so I only compare SS to other brands' MTM service.
 
Last edited:

jko

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Thanks for the thorough replies guys. My post was half-sarcastic – people will say they'll shop elsewhere but there seem to be no real alternatives, so I see the price increases continuing until that changes.

Suitsupply's advantages are:
  1. Price
  2. Styling
  3. Physical stores and/or a good online store with easy logistics
Most of the alternatives are:
  1. More expensive
  2. Stuffy-looking
  3. Not worth the hassle (EU taxes, returns, weird websites, etc.)

Also, the fact that they are a semi-monopoly in this field makes it a succesful company, but does not mean that their price hikes are justified. What makes a vest costing double in 1 year time?
Supply and demand?

The pricier it gets, the more interesting it gets to step up to a more high-end tailoring brand.
This is true, but at least I am not there yet.
 

up1911fan

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Which cut would be the closest to Spier and Mackay's Slim? Their 42 Slim jackets fit me really well.
 

nzahir

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Hey guys,

I want to buy a Havana suit, but they are a bit tight in the armpit area. I think the armpit cut is a bit high or just made too slim for me. I have a somewhat muscular build

I have a Napoli suit and the Siennas fit me as well.

Is there a way to alter the armpit (or maybe is it the back?) for a suit? Has anyone done this before?
 

gimpwiz

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Yes, the sleevehead-to-shoulder area can be altered. However, it is rarely worth it. Sometimes it's fairly easy, other times it's almost impossible, and it's hard to tell until a good tailor takes the sleeve off the shoulder and starts actually poking around. Maybe because it's such a well-known brand and cut others have specific advice for this model, but in general, one needs to engage in surgery just to find out if it's feasible and reasonable, and more surgery to do it. Taking sleeves off a fully finished garment (by someone other than the maker) is generally considered risky enough.

I would make a very-poorly-educated guess that in this case, it is doable to make the arm hole larger in both the vertical direction (bottom extending down for a lower armhole) and in the horizontal direction (to avoid the geometric issue of pushing a larger circle through a smaller circle, ie, your upper arm through the armhole.) And there should be enough fabric to have the sleevehead match the changes. However, I wouldn't begin to guess by how much it is feasible. If you need a quarter inch, that's a big difference from you needing three inches, right?

I'd estimate that the cost of doing this would be a significant percentage of the cost of the jacket, not to mention the risk involved.

I'd estimate that you would have better luck doing suitsupply MTM, or getting an off-the-rack jacket from a different brand that has the aesthetics you want. It may well even be cheaper to go either route than to buy OTR and modify.
 

St1X

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Hey guys,

I want to buy a Havana suit, but they are a bit tight in the armpit area. I think the armpit cut is a bit high or just made too slim for me. I have a somewhat muscular build

I have a Napoli suit and the Siennas fit me as well.

Is there a way to alter the armpit (or maybe is it the back?) for a suit? Has anyone done this before?
If you can get to Suitsupply's store than they can do it for you there
 

Marc S

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Hey guys, which tie width do you think is best for me? First tie is 3”, second is 3.5”.

Suit is S&M, 36R Slim.
Thanks!

B7F054E0-BF78-4E0C-AF93-8150DF4D113B.jpeg



1EBE1FD2-A58A-4531-9D9B-39387DE1139A.jpeg
 

A-Lawson

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Cavour is an excellent alternative imo.
Cavour isn't really an alternative - suitsupply has physical presence in many countries and cities. In that regard they have no alternative in their price range.
However Cavour offers a much better quality and craftsmanship at just slightly higher price range
Cavour is a great alternative only if RTW fits you well. Cavour doesn't really focus on MTM even in their physical store, and it tends to be marketed as a service they "can do, if you really want to". The MTM service is not made by the same people who make their RTW-line.

They do MTM through Atelier Munro and Orazio Luciano, however, both are much more expensive than SS, and SS is better quality than AM. OL is more than 5 times as expensive as SuitSupply and obviously involve a lot more handwork. MTM through SS is definitely superior to Atelier Munro, and you get much better value than MTM through Orazio Luciano per dollar/euro spent.

I'm curious to know exactly how Cavour's own RTW-line has better craftsmanship and quality, and remember that they are both made in China and use many of the same Biella fabrics. I think Cavour has better looking cuts on RTW, although very limited; i.e. notch lapels, spalla camicia and patch pockets on nearly all suits and jackets with a few exceptions with flap pockets.

There are some possible alternatives in this thread, and for sure plenty on this forum as a whole.. but of course, depends what you define as "alternative".

Some examples that offer international shipping:

-Lanieri: Great MTO offering for similar prices and physical presence, but fabric choiced limited
-Pini Parma: great RTW suits and do offer MTO, but not as extensive and easy as SS
-Cavour: great RTW suits, almost no MTO unless you live near it, not that more pricey, but you get more variety with fabrics. (Suitsupply offer many fabrics, but ever the same mills)
- Spier & Mackay: great MTO, great RTW, lucky for US/CAD guys but comes with import tax for EU guys, but honestly, even with tax, it's sometimes even cheaper than local Suitsupply. Caveat is the online-only presence for MTO.
-Lopez Aragon: Very affordable MTO, but fully online and limited fabric choices.

and there's more..

It's not hard to find decent alternatives actually, but of course, as you can see, many are small ateliers/brands and do not have the global presence as Suitsupply. So credit should be given where is due, and if you want a "big" brand just like Suitsupply, with presence, with MTO and many fabric choices, without the price, then it's tough to name alternatives, but you have to be more open-minded.

Also, the fact that they are a semi-monopoly in this field makes it a succesful company, but does not mean that their price hikes are justified. What makes a vest costing double in 1 year time?

Another last point:
IMO, alternatives is not just 'the same or similar but cheaper', but it's also about opportunity costs. The pricier it gets, the more interesting it gets to step up to a more high-end tailoring brand. It costs 2-3 or even 5x more, but the gap of value narrows.
- Lanieri is more expensive with less styling options and fabrics.
- Pini Parma makes such short jackets and skinny mid-waist trousers, and their MTO/MTM is not interactive or very much available online. Both friends and people on SF have complained about their product quality as well.
- Cavour, see above.
- Spier & Mackay is a great option, but with tax it is much more expensive than SuitSupply for many Europeans. In total, some countries will add an additional 36% of VAT+import tax and an additional flat handling fee of about 15-30 euros.
- Honestly looks quite good, but that website gave me a headache after a minute.
 

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