Brooks Brothers seems overpriced to me

So I discovered a new tailor recently and I was asking some questions about their offerings, etc.

I asked about MTM suits and their approximate pricing. He was telling me that a MTM, fully-canvassed suit (I asked specifically about canvassing) would be $800 and up. This tailor carries Ermenegildo Zegna and Holland & Sherry fabrics, among others.

Which begged the question in my mind: Why would anybody ever pay $1000 for an OTR, boxy-ass, half-canvassed suit from BB when for a comparable price you could get MTM, fully-canvassed? That doesn't count discounts during sale periods, of course, but for any other time of the year...

It seems to me BB is just easy. It's an easy place to shop. It's right there, they sell suits, no fuss involved. The path of least resistance. But the prices they charge are disproportionate to their value.

It's like buying a J.Crew suit because scouring the internet for a good deal on a higher quality Cucinelli, Zegna, or other high-end suit takes time, patience, and effort. And that J.Crew suit is available, fast, and the model just looks so damn good.

You're right, it is easy. And funny thing is, people like convenience.

Imagine that.

First off any brands clothing quality is disproportionate to their prices. Businesses charge what people are willing to pay for the product. I personally purchase certain labels off the rack because its easy. Its easily available to me, I already know what to expect of the quality and I am not going to lie... it makes me feel good to wear something designer rather than a no name whatever. (yes I would rather wear an OTR Kiton suit rather than have a spectacularly tailored bespoke suit made by an independent tailor just so I could have the words Kiton on the inside of my jacket)

BB goes on sale quite a bit, just but it then

Originally Posted by mossrockss

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So I discovered a new tailor recently and I was asking some questions about their offerings, etc.

I asked about MTM suits and their approximate pricing. He was telling me that a MTM, fully-canvassed suit (I asked specifically about canvassing) would be $800 and up. This tailor carries Ermenegildo Zegna and Holland & Sherry fabrics, among others.

Which begged the question in my mind: Why would anybody ever pay $1000 for an OTR, boxy-ass, half-canvassed suit from BB when for a comparable price you could get MTM, fully-canvassed? That doesn't count discounts during sale periods, of course, but for any other time of the year...

It seems to me BB is just easy. It's an easy place to shop. It's right there, they sell suits, no fuss involved. The path of least resistance. But the prices they charge are disproportionate to their value.

It's like buying a J.Crew suit because scouring the internet for a good deal on a higher quality Cucinelli, Zegna, or other high-end suit takes time, patience, and effort. And that J.Crew suit is available, fast, and the model just looks so damn good.


And most $800 MTM like Coppley, Samuelsohn, and English-American will get you just the basic two-piece in a fairly limited choice of clothes. You'll certainly have some decent choices, but if you venture into the better cloths, you can quickly push the price past $1500.

I think you might want to hold off on value judgements until you've received that MTM suit.

Not everyone needs MTM. For a lot of guys RTW is just fine, and Brooks Brothers is widely available, generally unobjectionable, and easy to buy on discount.

Originally Posted by chorse123

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I think you might want to hold off on value judgements until you've received that MTM suit.

Not everyone needs MTM. For a lot of guys RTW is just fine, and Brooks Brothers is widely available, generally unobjectionable, and easy to buy on discount.

Oh, I haven't bought anything there. I'm too broke to spend $800 on anything right now (except my wedding!).

But I just wanted to share my observation and get some reactions from the opinion leaders.

Originally Posted by gomestar

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BB goes on sale quite a bit
Speaking of that, BB's running a 2-for-$1500 sale right now on a whole LOT of suits that are normally in the $1K range. Is that just about as good as it gets with them, or is an even better sale likely to come along in the near future?

Originally Posted by mossrockss

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It seems to me BB is just easy. It's an easy place to shop. It's right there, they sell suits, no fuss involved. The path of least resistance. But the prices they charge are disproportionate to their value.

You are entirely forgetting that these things add value. The convenient location, the pretty displays, the customer service, the ability to try on multiple styles and fabrics at once, the ability to buy a suit in 2 minutes, the comfort of knowing exactly what you are going to get, the ability to add a shirt, tie, and shoes at the same time. The list goes on. These all add value above what you can get at a MTM operation and are certainly worth the money to people. I know many people who would gladly pay a little extra to shop in a nice store and have a salesman tell them what looks good, as opposed to going into a small tailor's shop and have to make a decision themselves.

BB is boring and generic but a MTM suit may turn out to be terrible, which is even worse of course.

the caliber of this thread makes it qualify to go into the "Dumb Threads" section.

Originally Posted by lee_44106

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the caliber of this thread makes it qualify to go into the "Dumb Threads" section.

+1

Originally Posted by chorse123

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I think you might want to hold off on value judgements until you've received that MTM suit.

Not everyone needs MTM. For a lot of guys RTW is just fine, and Brooks Brothers is widely available, generally unobjectionable, and easy to buy on discount.
Good point.

I haven't worn my MTM suits in over a year. I find that I prefer my RTW suits that fit and look significantly better, and they're from BB.

Indeed.

I have much to learn. Thanks to everybody for their input!

Originally Posted by Threadbearer

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Speaking of that, BB's running a 2-for-$1500 sale right now on a whole LOT of suits that are normally in the $1K range. Is that just about as good as it gets with them, or is an even better sale likely to come along in the near future?


They get cheaper,,, semi annual sale they go for 598, the 1818 line that is...