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A visit to Astor & Black

oaw01

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Anyone with AB experience? How's the quality? Hell, they must spend alot of cash to advertise on GQ.

****, their $2200 deal is for 2 suits 120s, 6 shirts and two ties. Hell, if they can make a good slim suit I'm all in.
 

oaw01

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Nevermind, just saw some reviews from AAC - this seems like junk. Hell, their propaganda works if they're dropping $$$ for GQ advertisement.
 

Traditional_wear

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I ordered a single suit from Astor and black a while ago, just to see how their tailoring matched up. Their service was a strange mix, at times beyond excellent, other times beyond dismal. What do I mean? It took three times to get the suit to fit correctly, and they never got it completely right. The last suit took four months from the original order date to get here. Three tries at six weeks each...well, you do the math. However, they were so apologetic, they gave me a free suit. Once again, this suit did not fit me very well either. So I guess they made up for it, however, the quality of the suit....it was a bit off. I couldn't explain it, the pick stitching was there, it was a canvassed suit, the fabric was decent but....it didnt seem to have any structure. The shoulders were kind of rounded, and the whole suit have this sort of roundish look to it. I found a new tailor while I was dealing with the Astor and black gentlemen, and he knew exactly what he was doing. He also showed me how they can charge so little for the suit. They skimp on labor, badly. He opened up the astor and black suit, whereas a zegna or canali suit generally has about 400-600 stitches in its lapel and chestpiece to give it that structured, armored look, astor and black had a total of.....20. The reason they can charge so little for a suit is because while the suit is handmade, the labor intensity is WEAK. Also, they do use a small amount of fusion in the chestpiece (but every suit does, even brioni, a small strip right below the breast is fused on) But that is why whenever you get an astor and black suit it somehow seems.....off. Hope everyone found this post useful
 

edmorel

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Originally Posted by w.o.e.is.me.
Hate to ressurrect this post, but my wife was kind enough to order me an Astor & Black fitting as a gift. I will be getting some shirts, but was considering getting fitted for a suit as well, while I was at it.

So. any new news?


I would start with the shirts, see how the experience and quality goes, and then you can decide on a suit.
 

teddieriley

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Originally Posted by edmorel
I would start with the shirts, see how the experience and quality goes, and then you can decide on a suit.

How nice of you Ed. I was going to suggest a divorce. Of course, I'm kidding.

Don't drop coin on a suit until you are comfortable about the Company's ability to deliver what you expect.
 

alliswell

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And bring a shirt that fits you well now, so they can't screw up the measurements too badly. This stuff is not rocket science, but the guys doing aren't rocket scientists either. And say hello to George at Flormont Tailors - I think he's the guy who does the final finish on their products.
 

TheWraith

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coltboy75

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^ I was thinking of doing a comparison once I get teh Indochino altered or remade. That being said, Indochino gave me a lot for my money, but they did not pay someone a commission either.
 

TheWraith

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Originally Posted by coltboy75
^ I was thinking of doing a comparison once I get teh Indochino altered or remade. That being said, Indochino gave me a lot for my money, but they did not pay someone a commission either.

Looking forward to the comparison.
 

tittle

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After some research to order one of the packages of suits and shirts from Astor & Black. I should have just flushed the money down the toilet - the suits sit in my closet never to be worn.

As previous posters have mentioned there is something about the fit that is off - even after going to tailor it could not be made to look right. The tailor even mentioned that I looked like lurch in the suit and there was no amount of fixing that could fix a poor fitting suit fit. I just couldn't deal with it anymore and took the suits.

What about the suits fit poorly? - The pants - it looks like I am wearing skinny jeans (I am 6'3 and 220), low cut suits pants - not the right look and not what the suit they based on the measurements they took.

Just don' bother with them.
 

coltboy75

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I am still waiting to build a comparison between my Astor & Black and Indochino suits. I had the Indochino suit remade in a different fabric after my tailor told me it was a poly blend and I have yet to receive the remake. You can search under my posts for that story.

That being said, I have been very happy with my Astor & Black shirts and suit. Having said that, I asked alot of questions, told the rep what I wanted and what I expected. I am assuming it could be a bad combination if the rep is new and the buyer does not know what they want or what looks good on them. I do wish they had a direct purchase program once you had the measurements down and the fit the way you wanted it. After having great success with companies like Modern Tailor, its hard to call a sales rep to buy a few shirts.
 

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