Modern Tailor Custom Suits

Anyone have more photos / impressions / comments on their suits? I'd be interested in getting a double breasted blazer for playing around in.

Well, just pulled the trigger on a suit. From Martin Syb's experience, it looks like I'll be expecting it in a couple weeks. I'll be putting up fit pics once I receive it.

FYI: It's Chinese New Yrs holiday right now until Feb 19. Factories in China close for a week because in many parts of the country it still takes workers several days to get home for the holidays. Their customer service still responds by email but they probably won't begin production on your order until next week.

Originally Posted by a-rock

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FYI: It's Chinese New Yrs holiday right now until Feb 19. Factories in China close for a week because in many parts of the country it still takes workers several days to get home for the holidays. Their customer service still responds by email but they probably won't begin production on your order until next week.

Yeah, got an email from them that their factory's closed till Feb. 19. Somebody once said that patience is a virtue. I suspect they didn't recently get paid and wanted a custom suit RIGHT NOW!!

anyone get their suit yet?

Originally Posted by edmorel

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Short answer is no. Tom Ford suits (made by Zegna) have distinctive shoulders that mr Ned won't really be able to replicate. You can have them do a slim suit with big lapels, oversized flaps on the pockets and get a similar look, but not exact. Chan might be able to get you close to that look.

Edmorel: While I am not sure why you would want shoulders like Tom's, my Mr Ned's suit has quite a bit of roping. My guess is that he should at least be able to get close to that shoulder look.

nycwallst: Mr Ned should be able to cater to your other wishes without much difficulty. In terms of cloth, he has a good number of house fabrics - including VBC - but also has some of the well known houses such as HS, Scabal, etc.

Originally Posted by Lonneker

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Edmorel: While I am not sure why you would want shoulders like Tom's, my Mr Ned's suit has quite a bit of roping. My guess is that he should at least be able to get close to that shoulder look. nycwallst: Mr Ned should be able to cater to your other wishes without much difficulty. In terms of cloth, he has a good number of house fabrics - including VBC - but also has some of the well known houses such as HS, Scabal, etc.
@Lonneker: So, I happened by chance to meet the original tailor for Tom Ford, who just recently broke away to make bespoke suits. When I told him about the price I got from Mr. Ned's he said that there is no way that it could be a "true" bespoke suit for that cost, and is probably a made-to-measure. Now, I know that it is bespoke, since I just went in for my first fitting with a sleeveless, canvassed suit a few days ago. But, what is the main difference between this guy's $2,500 (before fabric) suits, and a Mr. Ned's suit ($1,000 after options, with fabric)? Where are there corners being cut (slight pun intended), if any? Thanks!

Originally Posted by nycwallst

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@Lonneker: So, I happened by chance to meet the original tailor for Tom Ford, who just recently broke away to make bespoke suits. When I told him about the price I got from Mr. Ned's he said that there is no way that it could be a "true" bespoke suit for that cost, and is probably a made-to-measure. Now, I know that it is bespoke, since I just went in for my first fitting with a sleeveless, canvassed suit a few days ago. But, what is the main difference between this guy's $2,500 (before fabric) suits, and a Mr. Ned's suit ($1,000 after options, with fabric)? Where are there corners being cut (slight pun intended), if any? Thanks!
Any chance you care to share the name of TF's original tailor? I am certainly no expert on Mr Ned’s, but I am assuming that part of it could be that the tailor you are referring to does the entire process himself from start to finish. At Mr. Ned’s, Vahram takes your measurements and (I am assuming) his workers subsequently put the suit together. Not sure what he pays them on an hourly basis, but am assuming it won’t be close to TF’s original tailor’s rate. I am also assuming that Mr. Ned does not keep your pattern on file, but am not sure (I have only commissioned one suit so far). That said, I have been wearing my Mr. Ned’s suit now for a little more than a month and am still pretty pleased. I can also add that I just received my basted Chan suits last week – for a fitting in March – and must admit that my first fitting at Mr. Ned’s felt significantly better than Chan’s basted suits (but have to admit that these are my first Chan commissions, so will just wait and see).

Originally Posted by nycwallst

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Really? I do live in NYC and I can't find somewhere that will make a 140 thread count suit for $500. My last bespoke suit cost me $3200. Where would you recommend I go in NYC for a good price?
i travel to NY and sell my entry level suit @ 500$ and i carry everything from 120's to 180's. i do fittings etc i am not alone, many do it , not as pleasingly as i would but they do a decent enough job that it is a multimillion $ business on which many rely on ''full canvass'' doesn't mean s***, it's just a ''thing'' your suit must have to be in the game, no one checks for canvass besides on this forum, few care, and a good suit needs more than a ''full canvass'' to be worth anything more than it's raw materials cost. a ''good'' suit based on proper bespoke work is hard to come by and your 3200$ suit might be just that; if you got what you paid for. it won't be matched by these guys, i do this for a living, i am in my early 20's and have close to no overheads, i am obsessed about giving the absolut best bargains to my customers and there is no way you get anything decent for less than ~500$ in 2010 it is simply not feasible.... at worst those guys are lying through their teeths at best they buy basic woolens in bulk from a chinese supplier and do a basic suit sewn all machine with ''bricolage'' finishing, it might be enough for MANY PEOPLE but anyone with an eye for things can spot the differences from a mile away.....and will never swallow it after wearing 3200$ suits..... one day the chinese will do a bespoke for close to nothing but i estimate we have another half decade until it becomes somewhat common...even then it will still retail at 500$ and UP at a bare minimum.

Originally Posted by nycwallst

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@Lonneker: So, I happened by chance to meet the original tailor for Tom Ford, who just recently broke away to make bespoke suits. When I told him about the price I got from Mr. Ned's he said that there is no way that it could be a "true" bespoke suit for that cost, and is probably a made-to-measure.

Now, I know that it is bespoke, since I just went in for my first fitting with a sleeveless, canvassed suit a few days ago. But, what is the main difference between this guy's $2,500 (before fabric) suits, and a Mr. Ned's suit ($1,000 after options, with fabric)? Where are there corners being cut (slight pun intended), if any?

Thanks!

Mr. ned is less hungry and ready to work for less, he might base the first cutting on an altered stock size pattern, he might not have a fancy shop, specializes in selling the VBC in higher volumes instead of the scabal suits in smaller amounts.
might do some work by machine and close your suit faster with less work hours put into it.
the tom ford tailor might not consider the above ''true bespoke'' , but you can, it's a question of perspective and standards, be the judge ur paying....

BTW now that i know they're closed for chinese new year, here is the reality:

as i thought chinese fabrics, and chinese making.

cost: around 60$ for CMT, another 3$ for the lining (1$ per meter) another .5$ for buttons and another 5$ for trimmings.

fabric: if your lucky some chinese 100% wool, around 8$ to 12$ a meter depending on their order quantity and who supplies them, at 3 meters per suit let's count ~30$

shipping : basic shipping i will assume a quick and reliable service so again ~30$ for EMS 7 days delivery

total: roughly 130$ i will grossly round it at 150$ (my prices are from 2006, and inflation didn't wait for me to catch up)

now if they're lucky some foreigner is running the customer service or owns the website.

about quality: it is not a full canvass in any way, simply they have a floating piece put inside to give a bit of body after the fusing. it is loosely attached with threads in various strategic place all over the font piece. it is made of cotton/synthetic, it is not anathema but simply what u pay for....
the fusing used is standard issue chinese c*** used in factories all over china, they just play around with shaping it better than a factory would care for....

the lining is made in china and worth nothing, buttons are cheap plastic and finishing and all the sewing for that matter is done with a standard issue sewing machine u can buy anywhere.
they don't have any other machinery besides the home iron...

labor cost nothing here so asking for ''this'' details and ''that'' shtick doesn't make your suit more expensive, high end tailors don't wanna be bothered so they asked to get paid for the bother, it's fair..

the good news for the chinese (and bad for me) is that good lining and horn buttons are not a ''big deal'' simply i cared about it and only overseas companies order those higher end trimmings, one day those chinese will smarten up and realize it adds value and that will end it....the diff' at the end is minimal really....
good fabric is another story but still they can do it...

the bigger problem is their suits are made on the fly, chinese often don't take the time to do things right, they want more orders and more customers, the small details they don't care for.
so the suit will pretty quickly have seams open up etc. some might be lucky and never experience it, but overall a hong kong suit is not built to the same standard as a chinese suit let alone an english or italian one

so there u have it : they make a 50% margin (which is fair in this biz and quite common) and are ready to offer to work for free at the beginning so ur happy and come back, i do that, all desperate tailors starting up would do that to attract the bees to the honey and create a customer base.....

if ur not picky ur in luck otherwise move along or try it for fun....

nothing new under the sun, u still get what u pay for at the end of the day.

Originally Posted by dibenetto

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BTW now that i know they're closed for chinese new year, here is the reality:

as i thought chinese fabrics, and chinese making.

cost: around 60$ for CMT, another 3$ for the lining (1$ per meter) another .5$ for buttons and another 5$ for trimmings.

fabric: if your lucky some chinese 100% wool, around 8$ to 12$ a meter depending on their order quantity and who supplies them, at 3 meters per suit let's count ~30$

shipping : basic shipping i will assume a quick and reliable service so again ~30$ for EMS 7 days delivery

total: roughly 130$ i will grossly round it at 150$ (my prices are from 2006, and inflation didn't wait for me to catch up)

now if they're lucky some foreigner is running the customer service or owns the website.

about quality: it is not a full canvass in any way, simply they have a floating piece put inside to give a bit of body after the fusing. it is loosely attached with threads in various strategic place all over the font piece. it is made of cotton/synthetic, it is not anathema but simply what u pay for....
the fusing used is standard issue chinese c*** used in factories all over china, they just play around with shaping it better than a factory would care for....

the lining is made in china and worth nothing, buttons are cheap plastic and finishing and all the sewing for that matter is done with a standard issue sewing machine u can buy anywhere.
they don't have any other machinery besides the home iron...

labor cost nothing here so asking for ''this'' details and ''that'' shtick doesn't make your suit more expensive, high end tailors don't wanna be bothered so they asked to get paid for the bother, it's fair..

the good news for the chinese (and bad for me) is that good lining and horn buttons are not a ''big deal'' simply i cared about it and only overseas companies order those higher end trimmings, one day those chinese will smarten up and realize it adds value and that will end it....the diff' at the end is minimal really....
good fabric is another story but still they can do it...

the bigger problem is their suits are made on the fly, chinese often don't take the time to do things right, they want more orders and more customers, the small details they don't care for.
so the suit will pretty quickly have seams open up etc. some might be lucky and never experience it, but overall a hong kong suit is not built to the same standard as a chinese suit let alone an english or italian one

so there u have it : they make a 50% margin (which is fair in this biz and quite common) and are ready to offer to work for free at the beginning so ur happy and come back, i do that, all desperate tailors starting up would do that to attract the bees to the honey and create a customer base.....

if ur not picky ur in luck otherwise move along or try it for fun....

nothing new under the sun, u still get what u pay for at the end of the day.

Are we still talking about Modern Tailor suits now, or...?

^^My thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by dibenetto

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Mr. ned is less hungry and ready to work for less, he might base the first cutting on an altered stock size pattern, he might not have a fancy shop, specializes in selling the VBC in higher volumes instead of the scabal suits in smaller amounts.
might do some work by machine and close your suit faster with less work hours put into it.
the tom ford tailor might not consider the above ''true bespoke'' , but you can, it's a question of perspective and standards, be the judge ur paying....

nycwallst: i think dibenetto has good points here.

yes we're talking about modern tailor.
they didn't invent anything under the sun. they simply use resources available.
they're based in a first tier chinese city (shanghai,beijing,guangzhou,shenzhen) most probably.