First Belvest - Questions about the details

I finally took the plunge and purchased a Belvest suit from STP. While I like the cut and fit, I find myself questioning if I somehow got a "lesser" Belvest considering the things I've heard and seen about this label.

What I'm referring to are the details. The first thing I noticed was the lining. The only other Belvest I've tried on was at Wilkes in SF, and the lining was covered in the signature name (the same as other specimens I've seen online). While I'm not necessarily a fan of such "branding," my first thought was "why is mine different?". Looking further, I don't see any signs of the hand-finished (or at least hand-finished looking) stitching I was expecting. Has my untrained eye been miscalibrated by the growing presence of overly-pronounced stitching used by lesser labels in an attempt to portray quality?

The jacket is fully canvassed and appears to have all the proper labels I've seen online. And with STP's reputation, I don't think I've received a fake. Again, my concern is that I've somehow received a lower-end Belvest. I've seen that they make a "Blue Label" line, but this has the black "Belvest Tailoring Style" label. While I'm ultimately happy with the suit, I guess I'm just being paranoid and need somebody to say your $900 was well spent

I think your $900 was well spent. However having sourced Belvest at high 2000's retail as well as the Belvest from STP I would certainly agree that there is a difference. And the STP is the lesser.

The STP odd jackets can be seen in BHs at that store that begins with a B (think 5 stores in Caesars Forum Shops) and "retailing" at $4000+ but marked down 50% to $2000+. A bit of the middle eastern bazaar type pricing.

Not worth $2000+ but very certainly worth the $900+.

I have 3 from STP and they wear well.

Enjoy,
Perry

Originally Posted by pkincy

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I think your $900 was well spent. However having sourced Belvest at high 2000's retail as well as the Belvest from STP I would certainly agree that there is a difference. And the STP is the lesser.

The STP odd jackets can be seen in BHs at that store that begins with a B (think 5 stores in Caesars Forum Shops) and "retailing" at $4000+ but marked down 50% to $2000+. A bit of the middle eastern bazaar type pricing.

Not worth $2000+ but very certainly worth the $900+.

I have 3 from STP and they wear well.

Enjoy,
Perry

Perry,

Thanks for the reassurance (and confirmation of my fears)

Is it generally known that Belvests on STP are of lesser quality? If you know, can you describe some of the main differences? Also, are other labels sold on STP similarly affected?

Thanks,
Allan

How about Isaias on STP?Are they of lesser quality as well?

Originally Posted by forex

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How about Isaias on STP?Are they of lesser quality as well?

Can anyone out there comment on this?

I think in both cases, it depends on for whom they were made. My one Belvest from STP was made for Bernini, presumably to their specs. I don't know the ultimate source of the Isaias. But I would be surprised if an Isaia Sirio A, B or V was materially different from the same model made for some department store chain.

My most recent purchase of Isaia from STP was less than what I expected.
First it was clearly from at least 3 or 4 seasons ago , and the handwork was obviously less than other Isaias I have. The canvass was not as soft as the rest of other Isaias I have ( I own about 14 pieces), and buttons holes were obviously machine stiched. I had to return it needless to say.

However, this was the first bad less than stellar Isaia I've received from STP out of mine many Isaia purchases over the past 3 years. Every single Isaias I got from STP has been comparable to what I see @ Saks or Barney's.

Grim, can you comment about your recent Isaia purchase ( the nailshead navy one). Does it appear to be from the recent collection ( Red tag, the lining is emblemed with the Isaia symbol instead of the word Isaia).

I was looking at some Isaia suits at local stores and was very surprised to find out that regular size suits are very short.I take 40R in most suits and Isaias were 30" long at most,button stance very low,overall,very unattractive suits.Those were model S suits.
Sports jackets were relatively long and fit me better,but are on the short side as well,store didn't have any long suits so i couldn't try.
I was keeping an eye on a few Isaia suits on STP but am really puzzled now.

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

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Grim, can you comment about your recent Isaia purchase ( the nailshead navy one). Does it appear to be from the recent collection ( Red tag, the lining is emblemed with the Isaia symbol instead of the word Isaia).

It's a red label. The lining is unemblazoned, which is the first of my Isaias like that. It's a Base V with a very high gorge and higher buttoning stance than the (IIRC) Stewart two-button I already had.

Originally Posted by forex

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I was looking at some Isaia suits at local stores and was very surprised to find out that regular size suits are very short.I take 40R in most suits and Isaias were 30" long at most,button stance very low,overall,very unattractive suits.Those were model S suits.
Sports jackets were relatively long and fit me better,but are on the short side as well,store didn't have any long suits so i couldn't try.
I was keeping an eye on a few Isaia suits on STP but am really puzzled now.

That's strange to me. STP isn't very good about posting model names, unfortunately. But I've found, if anything, that Isaias run a little longer in the coat than others. I'll check and see whether I have any "S" models in my closet, as I can't recall right now.