Unfunded Liabilities: a/k/a The Cloth Thread

[Joefitz]

Dear @Joefitz,

Welcome to the forum. You have received pretty good advice from our fellow members until now.

Could you please ask your tailor to elaborate on 12K suits? Not only am I interested (let alone curious) to read what he/she claims, but it will give us "fuel" to discuss for some pages down the road!

Thank you in advance,

Dimitris

Will do. He was not trying to sell me this, and understood that I can’t go above 2k. But I will ask him and post down the road. He did tell me that Brioni and Kiton were nice, but completely overpriced.

 

[dieworkwear]

Will do. He was not trying to sell me this, and understood that I can’t go above 2k. But I will ask him and post down the road. He did tell me that Brioni and Kiton were nice, but completely overpriced.

Careful with bespoke suits that are less than $2k. With rare exceptions, they are usually not good.

 

[Bespoke DJP]

Anyone have recommendations for a tobacco brown linen suiting fabric? The only ones I can find that look alright are the light brown and shergar from the Dugdale Brothers natural elements collection.

Dear @lazym,

You may find a Carnet linen suit's length currently in the B&S thread, the seller is our fellow SFer @kolecho; it is stated as "umber brown" (perhaps it's the brand's own naming), it reads as tobacco brown, so it might be worthwhile just to check it!

Best,

Dimitris

 

[Joefitz]

Careful with bespoke suits that are less than $2k. With rare exceptions, they are usually not good.

Thanks. I’m trying to stay at 2k. If that is too low for a great suit, I’ll hold off for six months. Would appreciate advise on what a fair price is. I’m in Southern California

 

[imatlas]

Go see My Tailor in Glendale. $2K is plenty, and puts you in their mid-tier fabrics.

 

[lordsuperb]

Thanks. I’m trying to stay at 2k. If that is too low for a great suit, I’ll hold off for six months. Would appreciate advise on what a fair price is. I’m in Southern California

WW Chan should be able to meet this price point as well.

 

[dieworkwear]

Thanks. I’m trying to stay at 2k. If that is too low for a great suit, I’ll hold off for six months. Would appreciate advise on what a fair price is. I’m in Southern California

Go see My Tailor in Glendale. $2K is plenty, and puts you in their mid-tier fabrics.

My Tailor seems to do good work. I don't know their prices, but if they're within your budget, it would be hard to do better at that price point, I think.

The only other ~$2k bespoke tailoring I've seen that I thought was impressive was the stuff @UrbanComposition got in Sicily. You can read about it here

East Sicily Tailors

Of course I knew there must be tailors in Sicily, but once I saw Sleevehead's book I knew I had to make it a part of my next trip. We landed in Palermo and spent a couple nights with an old lady that knew hardly anything about her city but cooked amazing food: caponata, swordfish, etc. I guess...

www.styleforum.net

One of those Sicilian tailors is now visiting San Francisco. Prices are done in the usual Italian way -- there's the charge for labor, and then the cost of the fabric (whereas with British tailors, cost of fabric is included). For a cotton suit, I recently paid ~$2k, although I haven't received it yet. If you can make it to San Francisco, that could be another option, although prices are going up in 2021, I hear.

 

[classicalthunde]

Thanks. I’m trying to stay at 2k. If that is too low for a great suit, I’ll hold off for six months. Would appreciate advise on what a fair price is. I’m in Southern California

I recently used Hemrajani Bros/My Tailor for my suit. @Andy57 has a lot of suits jackets made from them if you check out his instagram, and I agree that they fall in a great semi-bespoke category, where its not the full 3 fittings and Savile Row standards. But it is handmade, from an individual paper pattern and you can opt for a basted fitting to help correct initial fit issues.

Their suits are typically $1.5-2.2K if you include the basted fitting (an extra charge), and they are based out of Costa Mesa, CA. They are certainly able to offer good advice on fabrics and style details for a first timer

I cant recommend them enough, Joe and Divij are a pleasure to work with

 

[Andy57]

I recently used Hemrajani Bros/My Tailor for my suit. @Andy57 has a lot of suits jackets made from them if you check out his instagram, and I agree that they fall in a great semi-bespoke category, where its not the full 3 fittings and Savile Row standards. But it is handmade, from an individual paper pattern and you can opt for a basted fitting to help correct initial fit issues.

I've never had three fittings for any suit, whether it was made by a Savile Row tailor or elsewhere. Bespoke, as far as I'm concerned, has little to do with the number of fittings and everything to do with "is this pattern made specifically and individually for me?" If yes, then it's bespoke, period. In terms of standards, the only tailor that I've had fewer fit issues with once a garment was delivered is Edward Sexton.

 

[classicalthunde]

I've never had three fittings for any suit, whether it was made by a Savile Row tailor or elsewhere. Bespoke, as far as I'm concerned, has little to do with the number of fittings and everything to do with "is this pattern made specifically and individually for me?" If yes, then it's bespoke, period. In terms of standards, the only tailor that I've had fewer fit issues with once a garment was delivered is Edward Sexton.

Interesting and good to know! maybe I should have said 'multiple fittings' instead of a specific number... I've have only ever used Kent Wang MTM and Hemrajani/MyTailor Handmade but was under the impression that multiple fittings were an essential hallmark of traditional bespoke tailoring.

I would agree that Hemranji Bros/MyTailor offer a bespoke product, they draft and cut an individual pattern and can, as Joe put it ,"do anything you want" with regards to design options which i think strikes at the core of bespoke tailoring. Some of the other my prior MTM experiences only allowed you to select from a predetermined set of options (e.g. 9cm or 10cm lapels, but couldn't to do 9.5cm width lapels). I'm really happy with the initial suit from Joe and Divij and, short of winning the lottery and having money to burn, don't see myself straying to another tailor anytime soon!

 

[winghus]

Just wanted to say I learn more in this thread than most of the others I read here. Where do you guys actually buy cut fabric? The wife wants some of the things I've shown her in this thread for her sewing projects. I don't think she knows how much per yard/meter most of this costs but I'm willing if she wants it.

 

[smittycl]

Here's the Cloth section of B&S:

Cloth

Lengths of cloth-- shirting, tweed, suiting.

www.styleforum.net

 

[Andy57]

Just wanted to say I learn more in this thread than most of the others I read here. Where do you guys actually buy cut fabric? The wife wants some of the things I've shown her in this thread for her sewing projects. I don't think she knows how much per yard/meter most of this costs but I'm willing if she wants it.

You can also buy direct from cloth manufacturers like Fox Brothers. I think the Harrison's group of companies, also. Huddersfield Textiles will sell cut lengths. Probably others.

 

[Bespoke DJP]

Dear Gentlemen,

"The Negroni Tweed" by Fox Brothers: the FW 2019-20 fad?

No thank you, I'll pass.

Opinions?

Best,

Dimitris

 

[yanagi]

That's too "red" for my taste. I'm OK with burgundy, like the first two here, but not "redder" than that.