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TheWraith

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Get yourself measured elsewhere if you're unsure of it yourself. If you're on a budget and still want an excellent suit, then Steven Aver is a fine place to go. There are others, of course, and if you're not difficult to fit, then you can find some decent RTW for a good price I'm sure. Up to you in the end, super/insidertrader.
 

neyus

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Originally Posted by super
InsiderTrader, I am in the same position as you. What line of business are you in, finance i presume by your screen name??

With regards to Steve aver, I'm not sure about it because 1) I am not confident in measuring myself, and 2) I'd definiately like to see it in person first, especially since I don't have any experience in suiting.
I decided to get a Herringbone suits which are also around that 1k mark, bit over. I'll be adding another one very soon! When i start full time work I plan to add to that eventually, maybe one every 6 months.

With shirts, a big consideration for me are ones that don't wrinkle too easily - as I discovered recently, hard to iron shirts are such a hassle. If you have about $700 left, maybe just get 5 shirts, which still should be plenty, until you can afford to add more. I'd go for whites, pale blues, lavender, pink, mild patterns with some form of blue.

Shoes are also so important. Unfortunately, there are only few good sellers in Sydney, and the good shoes are really expensive. After reading more on this board, it seems that buying from the net is very popular for good prices, such as www.pediwear.co.uk and www.plal.com. Within your budget I think it's probably necessary to buy online for decent quality. Classic options are always good, such as a black captoe oxford.

As regards to ties, don't skimp too much on ties because the cheap ones will look cheap. But at this stage ties under $100 are more than enough! Maybe even find some on ebay if be. Eventually you can add more in.


Some great advice.

Suits: Definitely Herringbone
Shirts: Go for Boston Brothers/Rhodes & Beckett/Edward Stripe on Sale. I would only buy from Australia if its under $100.00. I don't recommend any other brands rtw. If you can get some new Herringbone shirts for $100.00 and under get them.
Shoes: Most important. Don't skimp on these. Get an idea of the styles and fit from David Jones and then buy online.
Ties: Tie rack are okay. They don't look too cheap. But they are a mixed bag. I have enjoyed some of their plain grenadines and some of their printed silk pin dots.
 

Oleg

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Originally Posted by neyus
Some great advice.

Suits: Definitely Herringbone
Shirts: Go for Boston Brothers/Rhodes & Beckett/Edward Stripe on Sale. I would only buy from Australia if its under $100.00. I don't recommend any other brands rtw. If you can get some new Herringbone shirts for $100.00 and under get them.
Shoes: Most important. Don't skimp on these. Get an idea of the styles and fit from David Jones and then buy online.
Ties: Tie rack are okay. They don't look too cheap. But they are a mixed bag. I have enjoyed some of their plain grenadines and some of their printed silk pin dots.


For 'bulk buying' of ties, perhaps best to go online: T.M Lewin, Thomas Pink, Charles Tyrwhitt, etc. I'd say do that with shirts as well but clearly not if you're not sure about your size.
 

neyus

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Originally Posted by Oleg
For 'bulk buying' of ties, perhaps best to go online: T.M Lewin, Thomas Pink, Charles Tyrwhitt, etc. I'd say do that with shirts as well but clearly not if you're not sure about your size.

Definitely. I just listing locally purchased goods.
 

insidertrader

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Neyus: thanks for your reply here and email. The info was great particularly about shoes. Are Edward stripe shirts available through Myer/David jones? Went to the website and it didn't mention anything so I'm assuming not (will check again properly tonigh rather than just a quick glance). I bought a few country road 2ply cotton shirts last yr for about $75 each on sale (from roughly $100 full price)..are they considered good quality - basically i9s it safe to assume that all 2ply 100% cotton shirts are good quality?

super: Yes you are correct in guessing that I will be in finance - i'll be at an investment bank. What about yourself?

Oleg: You mention buying shirts online. Are you taking about a service like Jantzen or otherwise?


Cheers for the replies everyone. Keep them coming!
 

Oleg

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Originally Posted by insidertrader
Neyus: thanks for your reply here and email. The info was great particularly about shoes. Are Edward stripe shirts available through Myer/David jones? Went to the website and it didn't mention anything so I'm assuming not (will check again properly tonigh rather than just a quick glance). I bought a few country road 2ply cotton shirts last yr for about $75 each on sale (from roughly $100 full price)..are they considered good quality - basically i9s it safe to assume that all 2ply 100% cotton shirts are good quality?

super: Yes you are correct in guessing that I will be in finance - i'll be at an investment bank. What about yourself?

Oleg: You mention buying shirts online. Are you taking about a service like Jantzen or otherwise?

Cheers for the replies everyone. Keep them coming!


Not really: I tend to buy the T.M. Lewin semi-fitted shirts online when they've a sale on (which seems to be most of the time! Haven't paid more than 50 bucks for one since I moved four years ago). But I used to buy them from the Jermyn Street store when I was still living in London so I know they fit me off the peg. Even if you know your measurements, they may not fit you so well (the Tyrwhitt ones were terrible on me: nicely made but material billowing everywhere!). They're cheap so you may want to take a speculative punt but, if not, I'd certainly recommend you check them and the other places I mentioned for ties which they also do good deals on. Value-wise, knocks anything I've found in Australia for six.
 

neyus

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Originally Posted by insidertrader
Neyus: thanks for your reply here and email. The info was great particularly about shoes. Are Edward stripe shirts available through Myer/David jones? Went to the website and it didn't mention anything so I'm assuming not (will check again properly tonigh rather than just a quick glance). I bought a few country road 2ply cotton shirts last yr for about $75 each on sale (from roughly $100 full price)..are they considered good quality - basically i9s it safe to assume that all 2ply 100% cotton shirts are good quality?

super: Yes you are correct in guessing that I will be in finance - i'll be at an investment bank. What about yourself?

Oleg: You mention buying shirts online. Are you taking about a service like Jantzen or otherwise?


Cheers for the replies everyone. Keep them coming!


Country Road aren't too bad shirts as far as Australian/Dept Store Stuff. But I prefer the other brands like the ones mentioned above. Alot of shirt makers advertise their shirts as being 2 ply. Doesn't mean too much. The first things I look for in a shirt is a well shaped collar and good fit. Fabric and construction quality a secondary considerations to me. So long as the fabric is cotton.

Following on from what Oleg recommended. I have added a few more English shirt makers who usually go several times a year. One thing you probably should be aware of is most of these shirt makers offer shirts that are cut more generously. You will need to experiment with fit until you get these right as fits vary between different makers.

http://www.ctshirts.co.uk
http://www.tmlewin.co.uk
http://www.harvieandhudson.com/
www.colesshirts.com/

Edward Stripe is not available in Department Stores. I think they have only one shop based at Noosa, QLD and have their website. At the moment they appear to have almost nothing on sale.

Another shirt brand I discovered is Austen brothers. These guys make shirts similar to The English makers and I believe they were started by the original owners of Edward Stripe sometime before they sold the company. I only own one of their shirts and unfortunately it is not their slim cut shirt. Still as I have a non slim cut body the shirt fits me quite well. The quality is probably below the Boston Brothers but probably a little nicer than your current Country Road shirts.

I forgot to mention but Charles Thywritt and Lewin also sell shoes.

The options are limitless as far as clothing goes. My advise is check out some of the threads and get an idea of what you like.
 

Journeyman

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Neyus, I think that you've provided some good advice there.

Quite simply, it is difficult to buy good clothing in Australia at reasonable prices. A lot of stuff in department stores and "name brand" stores is overpriced and the quality is not terribly good.

As Neyus has recommended, Herringbone suits are great for their pricepoint. I have seven, six of which are of the older, made-in-Japan stock and one of which is from their new, made-in-China range. The Chinese-made suits are, to my mind, still very nice and prices typically start at $1000 and go up to $1600 or so for suits.

Australian shirts are, in general, horrendously overpriced.
I think that Herringbone's newer shirts (now made by Van Laack in Vietnam) are nice but are still too expensive at full-price. Pretty much all of the shirts that you get in DJs and Myer are awful - poorly cut, with heavily fused, stiff collars and yet they charge premium prices for them.

I have a few Rhodes and Beckett shirts that I got at 50% off during sales and I like them at that price point - nice fabrics, slim shoulders and quite slim-cut generally. Their collars are nicely shaped and have quite a nice roll to them.

I also have some shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt and from Harvie and Hudson, that I ordered over the internet. Of the two, Harvie and Hudson are a little bit more expensive but are far superior to Tyrwhitt. H&H shirts are really lovely - nice, soft, unfused collars, made from good cloth, with mother of pearl buttons. However, their regular sizes run quite large (even the collars are cut generously). Unless there is a good sale on in Australia, there is no reason to purchase Australian shirts - just find out your neck size and sleeve length and order from Tyrwhitt, TM Lewin, Harvie and Hudson, Thin Red Line or a plethora of other shirt shops via the internet.

Shoes are another vexed issue for us here in Australia. Again, as Neyus said, buying over the internet is preferable to buying overpriced rubbish here. DJs carry Loakes, so you could try on there and then order from Loakes, Pediwear, P.Lal, Herring Shoes or other places via the internet.

Ties - Tie Rack have a few classic designs and are often cheap. However, there are often great deals to be had on eBay. Brooks Brothers, Charvet, Borrelli and others are all quite affordable on eBay if you search around. The Buying and Selling forum here often has some great deals on ties, too.

Best of luck!
 

Star

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Originally Posted by insidertrader
Hi All,

I'm brand new to this forum and have only recently started appreciating fashion.

Hoping you guys will be able to provide some advice - I'm posting here rather than in another thread as I'm hoping to get some australian focused responses.

So here's my situation:

I will be starting my first professional job just after christmas after graduating from uni. Will be needing to wear a suit (with tie) every day. To get started I am budgeting around 3 - 3.5K...once I start the job and earning I will be able to continue to add to my wardrobe.

Is that budget realistic/achievable if I don't want to skimp on quality too much (I acknowledge that most of the top quality stuff is well out of range). If so where would you guys go looking for suits and at what price? I was thinking of getting a 2 suits from someone like Steven Aver or maybe something OTR (if OTR which brands would you recommend?). 2 suits I would estimate would cost in total 2K give or take $100 with alterations (BTW how much are alterations roughly in Sydney?).

The next question is shirts...I honestly don't know what is good and what isn't. I would like at a minimum 7 shirts - is budget of about 700 ok?

For ties I was budgeting around $70-100...is that reasonable in Sydney? Are the ties from Tie Rack ok?

I particularly stumped with shoes. I don't like the pointy ones but neither do I like the chunky plain high school type shoes. I've seen a few good ones at Florsheim but don't really know any other place to look other than maybe Aquila.

Sorry for the long post and for any 'dumb' questions. Any help/advice would be great!


Go out to Parramatta and visit Charlse Nakhle Shirtmaker. Sure his main business is MTM shirts which may not be in your budget at the moment, however he sells a range of Italian ties called 'Pinoti' for approx $70. These are very good value and tie very nicely. I find them superior to Tie Rack and most of the ties at DJs which sell at the same price point.
 

psyc1030

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E. Zegna i would say?MTM starts from 4K last time i asked
 

California Dreamer

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Declic has a pretty good range of pocket squares around $45.

I haven't bought from them myself, but I've heard good things about shirts and suits from Cubec.

McClouds is a good place to find quality shoes, although their prices are no match for online. Probably a wider range of English brands than DJs, so try on there and buy from P. Lal, Herring or Pediwear.

Italian Imports in Murrumbeena is good for Valentino, Pal Zileri, Ungaro, Basile, Cerutti 1881 and similar Italian brands. Their sales can be particularly good value. Right next to them is Luisa's which is also good for shoes. If you're a 10.5E, you didn't hear me tell you that.
wink.gif
 

meister

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The Luisa sale in Sydney last weekend was better this year.

Most looked like drug dealer/spiv shoes but some nice Testonis including a good looking monk for AUD300. Pity I bought soem on SF...
lol8[1].gif
 

jaygee

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Neyus: Just a quick question on quality of Edward Stripe shirts. The website looks like a copy of ctshirts, tmlewin etc. Are the shirts a $135 copy of them as well? They use the term "Superfine 2-ply cotton" which can be fairly generic. There's no mention of thread count or type which would be helpful. Anyone have any firsthand experience?
 

meister

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Originally Posted by Oleg
Not really: I tend to buy the T.M. Lewin semi-fitted shirts online when they've a sale on (which seems to be most of the time! Haven't paid more than 50 bucks for one since I moved four years ago). But I used to buy them from the Jermyn Street store when I was still living in London so I know they fit me off the peg. Even if you know your measurements, they may not fit you so well (the Tyrwhitt ones were terrible on me: nicely made but material billowing everywhere!). They're cheap so you may want to take a speculative punt but, if not, I'd certainly recommend you check them and the other places I mentioned for ties which they also do good deals on. Value-wise, knocks anything I've found in Australia for six.

I was looking at one of the parents at school I know who is in the finance market and he had one of those Lewin shirts on in white - they looked great at that price. Also paulfrederick.com as they have fractional fittings in many sleeve lengths and postage is fast and cheap. Don't laugh but I thrift mine (Lewin and UK shirts) as lotsa guys buy them - hardly used them - and send them to op-shops. I have a friend with 5 kids who gets all the compliments at work on his AUD5-10 UK shirts I thrift him! Ditto ties - I have picked up a couple of Paul Smith's recently AUD2 each!

I notice that the shirt store near Wynyard has quite good shirts and do deals for multiples.

Go into DJs and get yourself fitted for Loakes. This will help with Pediwear purchases unless you know your size and brand from London.

You know about the Herringbone warehouse in Commonwealth ST Surry Hills Foveaux St end (number 150 from memory).

Vince Melouney also has good stuff on sale including Rossetti shoes.

Another store with interesting stuff is on Elizabeth St down towards Liverpool...Skin Deep
 

Journeyman

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Originally Posted by jaygee
Neyus: Just a quick question on quality of Edward Stripe shirts. The website looks like a copy of ctshirts, tmlewin etc. Are the shirts a $135 copy of them as well? They use the term "Superfine 2-ply cotton" which can be fairly generic. There's no mention of thread count or type which would be helpful. Anyone have any firsthand experience?

Both Neyus and I have Edward Stripe shirts (I have one, and I think that Neyus has one or two).

Mine is not slim-cut, and it is a bit blousy.
The collar and cuffs are quite nice - whilst the collars and cuffs are fused, they are fairly flexible and light, unlike (for example) Tyrwhitt and TM Lewin collars which tend to be a bit thicker and harder. The fabric is also nice and light and whilst soft, has a pleasing crispness when ironed. I bought mine a couple of years back via the Edward Stripe website (so things may have changed over the intervening period, of course) and the shirts were available in fractional sleeve lengths at that time.
 
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