Telling suit quality from the display window

[josepidal]

A partner I work for recommended a tailor with two branches right in the commercial district, and I'm thinking whether its higher rate is purely a result of its location. It is, however, the only tailor I've seen in the city that carries fabrics like Scabal and Dormeuil, and has an unconstructed canvas on display on a dummy inside the premises. On the other hand, when I asked, their salesperson had no idea what mother of pearl buttons for shirts were.

How do I gauge their quality based on the samples they have in the display windows? I'm not too trusting of my own eye, especially since any perceived improvement in quality might be due to the use of higher end fabrics and not improvement in construction.

Incidentally, the same founding partner told me he used to buy Zegna suits but found them too expensive. For RTW, he pointed me to the new Zara branch near our office, which he said was cheaper than the Zara sold abroad. I took a look while passing through the mall one time... looked like overpriced, flimsy crap to me.

 

[DocHolliday]

The fabric is a good sign, but I wouldn't put too much stock in the display. Can you find a finished product to examine? Checking canvassing, stitching, lapel roll, etc. should give you a decent idea of the construction quality.