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bdavro23

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There is some advantage other than satisfying my boredom while locked in my home. But the primary driver is boredom. I typically buy 3-6 tailoring items a year and rotate items out after a few year. This might let me add a few garments per year.

I currently work with a local tailor that has access to Holland and Sherry and Loro Piana and he will make a machine made full canvas suit for $1400-$2000 and up and handmade bespoke for $3400 and up. I've typically gone to him and I will continue to go to him, as we have developed a personal relationship and he knows exactly what I like now. I value that relationship even though I have had to handhold him through some style elements. I wont tell him about this little secret though.

However, this asian factory can CMT a full handmade suit for $500 plus fabric, or semi hand made for $350. Machine made full canvas is $240. Their in house fabric is about $300 for machine made full canvas. It will allow me to increase my purchasing once I get fit so I can add more items per year and experiment even more.

I know the mantra is buy few of high quality... but well... I might not always follow that. I have a tendency to buy many of high quality, and it gets very expensive very quickly. I can afford that, but I like to find cost cutting where i can.

Its all well and good to find a factory who can produce at that price, and they might even turn out a really nice product. Then again, they might not. The bigger issue is who is going to fit you for the garments? We have seen disasters on this forum from big time tailors, and masterpieces from small or MTM groups. We've also seen the reverse. You simply cant divorce the fitting from the construction as they go hand in hand and need to work together.

You might be able to start working with this Asian factory and turn out some good garments, but there will definitely be a learning curve and you will almost assuredly make some mistakes. There is a cost associated with all of that, and you might not ever figure out what you need to get a good fit if you are doing it yourself.
 

Mr. Six

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some more runs??? I would be very interested. Is Minnis bringing it back?
He's gotten them to do a few special runs of Rangoon. Other than that, I don't think they have any plans to bring it back.
 

dieworkwear

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I think when you're choosing a factory or tailor, the most important thing about the suit is going to be the silhouette. Fit is just the baseline -- things have to fit well. Handwork is the icing on the cake, but hardly what makes the cake. Canvassing and construction techniques should lend themselves to creating the silhouette.

Regardless of who you use, I would start with figuring out who creates 1) a proper fitting garment and just as important 2) a good silhouette. Some suits fit well, but the silhouette has no verve, and so the suit feels rather meh.
 

JHWilliams

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He's gotten them to do a few special runs of Rangoon. Other than that, I don't think they have any plans to bring it back.
No kidding!!! That would be fantastic. I can’t understand why they would discontinue it. It was the best summer cloth going!!!
 

rjkabk

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I think when you're choosing a factory or tailor, the most important thing about the suit is going to be the silhouette. Fit is just the baseline -- things have to fit well. Handwork is the icing on the cake, but hardly what makes the cake. Canvassing and construction techniques should lend themselves to creating the silhouette.

Regardless of who you use, I would start with figuring out who creates 1) a proper fitting garment and just as important 2) a good silhouette. Some suits fit well, but the silhouette has no verve, and so the suit feels rather meh.

I agree 100 percent. That was my first mistake with my first bench made suit. They fit me to their “house style” which was a modern slim fitting suit that wasn’t to my taste. It wasn’t too slim, and looked pretty good when I was standing still (except arms too tight) but when I moved it was restrictive. I’ve since had it expanded where it could be and it is now comfortable, but I probably won’t use them again, except for maybe a pair of odd trousers as I was impressed with the construction quality of my waistband and the trousers fit pretty good after alterations.
 

dukeaw

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Its all well and good to find a factory who can produce at that price, and they might even turn out a really nice product. Then again, they might not. The bigger issue is who is going to fit you for the garments? We have seen disasters on this forum from big time tailors, and masterpieces from small or MTM groups. We've also seen the reverse. You simply cant divorce the fitting from the construction as they go hand in hand and need to work together.

You might be able to start working with this Asian factory and turn out some good garments, but there will definitely be a learning curve and you will almost assuredly make some mistakes. There is a cost associated with all of that, and you might not ever figure out what you need to get a good fit if you are doing it yourself.

I'm prepared to attempt 2 or so fused or half canvas suits to try and get something better than serviceable. My girlfriend is going to take my body measurements as per their extremely detailed instruction guide. They will then send me the garment measurements for approval. I'll compare them against my existing suits. Then when it arrives I can work with them by sending photographs and they will tweak fit as necessary. My hope is they can do their magic that way.

yes, there is a lot of room for error. But at $250 plus shipping per trial suit and hopefully around $500-$700 depending on final fabric I can possibly be all in for around $1000-$1200 for my first decent semi-handmade full canvas suit. Thats less than the local middlemen cost in NYC, most of whom suck at fitting. And I get the added value of the gratification of figuring this out. And from then on out its gravy. And if trial suits fail I'm basically out 1-2 nights on the town with my girlfriend and I'm willing to eat that cost as a life lesson for my entertainment.
 

dieworkwear

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I'm prepared to attempt 2 or so fused or half canvas suits to try and get something better than serviceable. My girlfriend is going to take my body measurements as per their extremely detailed instruction guide. They will then send me the garment measurements for approval. I'll compare them against my existing suits. Then when it arrives I can work with them by sending photographs and they will tweak fit as necessary. My hope is they can do their magic that way.

yes, there is a lot of room for error. But at $250 plus shipping per trial suit and hopefully around $500-$700 depending on final fabric I can possibly be all in for around $1000-$1200 for my first decent suit. And from then on out its gravy. And if trial suits fail I'm basically out 1-2 nights on the town with my girlfriend and I'm willing to eat that cost as a life lesson for my entertainment.

If it's done for entertainment, then I suppose there's no arguing with that. But for $1,200, you can get a really nice ready-made suit and be able to put it back on the rack if you don't like it. Depending on where you live, bespoke also starts around there (even if you live in the US). This requires less time, effort, and risk than this DIY route.

I suppose that's what I don't understand. For all the money being poured into these alternative routes, the person would actually save money and develop a better wardrobe if they went the traditional route. The earlier comment about how "I can't afford the good stuff" doesn't resonate with me because 1) there are good, cheap options that aren't this, and 2) people who buy the affordable stuff often buy so much of it, they could have gotten a better wardrobe for the same money.
 

dukeaw

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If it's done for entertainment, then I suppose there's no arguing with that. But for $1,200, you can get a really nice ready-made suit and be able to put it back on the rack if you don't like it. Depending on where you live, bespoke also starts around there (even if you live in the US). This requires less time, effort, and risk than this DIY route.

I suppose that's what I don't understand. For all the money being poured into these alternative routes, the person would actually save money and develop a better wardrobe if they went the traditional route. The earlier comment about how "I can't afford the good stuff" doesn't resonate with me because 1) there are good, cheap options that aren't this, and 2) people who buy the affordable stuff often buy so much of it, they could have gotten a better wardrobe for the same money.

Consider this the project of someone with disposable income who is both willing to spend a lot but also frugal in some paradox. I cant spend $200 on a date night out to a comedy club so I'll spend my money on this to entertain myself. And then I'll just make up for it by cooking my gf a wonderful meal... and maybe get her a new coat if this place works out
 

lordsuperb

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I think that this is both an overly broad, and in my opinion, incorrect statement. I honestly havent been super impressed with the Fox cloth I've seen/ used. Its fine, but it wouldnt be my first choice for any application.

I dont know who makes the best cloth in the world, but its likely a lot of different makers depending on the intended use.

I went through a pair of flannel trousers in less than 3 years.
 

CorozoButton

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There's a meme on Twitter that goes: "Men will really learn about Roman history/ hide in a Trojan horse/ [insert some ridiculously difficult thing] than go to therapy"

Sometimes it feels like StyleForum guys will literally do anything except go into a good store, pick out a cool suit, and just buy it. Or find a good tailor.

They will hunt down an overseas factory, set up an industry account, learn about fabrics, then go into a tailoring shop and take photos of fabric books, go back to their factory, ask for a toile garment, try on that garment, take photos and post it on the internet, ask Despos for feedback, go back to their factory, make 1cm changes, get another trial garment, go back to Despos and ask fo-
I feel personally, albeit justifiably attacked.
 

Despos

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No kidding!!! That would be fantastic. I can’t understand why they would discontinue it. It was the best summer cloth going!!!
Best summer cloth from that era, IMO, was the Bahama cloth from Wain Shiel. It had body, tailored well, wrinkles hung out, excellent selection of colors and patterns. Cloth was supple and draped really well for a light weight Panama weave. Rangoon was stiff by comparison and uncomfortable to wear. I know everyone loved /loves it, I didn't care for it.
 

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