Baroni (Wizard of Ahhs) - Suit Review

Originally Posted by polar-lemon

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How do you think it would compare to Steven Aver?

I'll do a comparison once I receive my Steven Aver suit. Should be arriving any day now.

Hello Everyone!

I haven't been around for awhile but I can see some things haven't changed. The people that have never seen my suits are skeptical and slam them and the members that own one of my suits can't stop talking about it.

Trust me, after more than a decade of doing this with well over 80,000+ transactions under my belt without a single complaint, I do not think I need to shill. In fact I have 5+ full references pages filled with hundreds of letters with most people saying the same thing about their tailor being beyond impressed. You've heard it before and I hear it almost daily because it's true.

I have nothing to do with the Baroni name and just because it's an Italian name that starts with a "B" and ends with an "I" does not mean they are trying to ride on Brioni's coat tails. Believe me, they don't need to. In fact for all of you skeptics Baroni is made and owned by Corneliani. It is an EXACT duplicate of their basic model, right down to the tags and labels!

For those of you that own a Baroni take it down to a shop that sells Corneliani and I promise you'll freak! The reason everyone's tailors are so impressed is because you are walking in with a $1500+ Corenilani that you purchased for under $300! IMHO the only thing that is different is a $0.10 "Made in Italy" tag.

In regards to the name change to "Daniele" I was given an ultimatum to raise my prices to a minimum of $598-$1195, change the name or get cut off. I figured doubling my prices overnight would not go over too well with my long term loyal clients so I changed the name.

Below are links for all of you skeptics. Not only has this suit been critiqued by Andy but also by a few other experts including "Robert Grant", the fashion writer for Australia's largest newspaper 'The Herald Sun". Rob was so impressed he wrote a front, fashion page article about his experience. Thank you all for your support!

Jeff

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...-ABOUT-US.html

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...NG-PAGE-2.html

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...NG-PAGE-3.html

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...NG-PAGE-4.html

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...NG-PAGE-5.html

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Wizard-of...NG-PAGE-6.html

Bought from Jeff twice...great service. And c'mon, it's $260 bucks - for a suit - and you guys are talking about arm-holes and lapel key-holes?? I have even been able to get different size (drop 4), flat front, pants upon asking. I wandered into a Moore's to get a laugh, and they wanted $299 for a Lauren SC (just for sake of comparison) for crying out loud...

I too was skeptical a couple of months ago about The Wizard of Ahh's. Canvassed suit for $300? Made by a leading suit maker but changing the name to create a lower priced model? Good construction? All sounded too good to be true.

Well, I bought a Marco Valentino suit (The slimmer Baroni) from Jeff. I'll buy more. He's a pleasure to deal with and the suit is a great fit. Fantastic fit. And the price is amazing. Next I'm trying the Baroni.

One question:

Is the Marco Valentino part of the same ownership as Baroni or is it a separate entity?

A general comment about many of the posts:

I have no problem with the sound alike names in this case. I am Italian and know full well Baroni is a reasonably common surname and even more so is Valentino. There are other Ebay and internet examples of soundalikes that are bogus crap, but I will give benefit of the doubt here.

Taking full advantage of the similarities? Maybe, not sure if I really care to be honest.

If the suit is better than average for $300 that is all that matters. If it sucks people will say so. But all of all the criticisms I have read from people who have these suits is that it does not compare to their $2000 MTM - really?? No ******* kidding, you moron - you really needed to buy one to come to that conclusion?

JeffT:

Why don't you send a suit to one of our more experienced SF members for examination? I personally appreciate JeffreyD's dissections of suits from top ateliers.

Without owning one for myself, I don't doubt that the suit is better than anything at MW/Macy's/Moores that retail for $300. However, I'd like to shed some light on the claims that it's just as well as a $700-1200 retail suit along the lines of Corneliani, Brooks Brothers, etc.

Originally Posted by intent

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JeffT:

Why don't you send a suit to one of our more experienced SF members for examination? I personally appreciate JeffreyD's dissections of suits from top ateliers.

Without owning one for myself, I don't doubt that the suit is better than anything at MW/Macy's/Moores that retail for $300. However, I'd like to shed some light on the claims that it's just as well as a $700-1200 retail suit along the lines of Corneliani, Brooks Brothers, etc.

Great idea. If someone I trust weighs in on this, I might even get myself a navy pinstripe.

Originally Posted by polar-lemon

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How do you think it would compare to Steven Aver?

What happened to those Steven Aver customers who got ripped off anyways?

Frankly, I cannot comment on the quality/price of Jeff's suits as I do not own one, nor know anyone who does. But I am very intrigued and would like a few facts to be determined, as I am considering one.

But I can say this:

1. Just because its made in the same factory as Corneliani has some but little bearing on the debate. On the balance of probabilities, the same factory makes a variety of quality suits for a number of different labels, Corneliani being but one of many.

2. Just because it comes from the same factory, doesn't necessarily mean its of Corneliani quality. In fact, logic makes me doubt that as Corneliani would have a thing or three to say about that (including same cut used etc etc which would be subject to copyright at the very least and a swift loss of contract given the number of suits W of A sells).

Jeff said "The reason everyone's tailors are so impressed is because you are walking in with a $1500+ Corenilani that you purchased for under $300! IMHO the only thing that is different is a $0.10 "Made in Italy" tag." Well, I am not trying to disrecredit Jeff and believe that he gives A+ customer service and I would buy his suits over that of his competitors any day BUT it cannot be a Corneilani suit as Cornelani would NOT allow it. Would Tiffany's allow their factory to produce the same item to be sold under a different label of the same quality and same design as a Tiffinay original, I think not. Therefore, one can only conclude that W of A's suits must be different enough from Cornelani for Corneliani not to care, or be unable to act legally.

3. On the balance of probabilities based on the hundreds of threads on this subject, I have little doubt it is significantly better than OTR Macy's and better etc etc that it is often compared to. Value for money, most probably BUT how much is what is being debated here most recently.

4. Without any disrespect intended, and full respect given to every category of suit purchaser (remembering ultimate ability to purchase is a function of available $$ and job etc), the ones who can really wade into the debate now are those that own Corneliani or $1k+ suits RRP OTR - re intent comment above (it doesn't matter what you paid, we are comparing claimed RRP equivalents here. What do you think???????????? Step up now.......

Q: Is the suit equivalent to what it claims? Or is it just fabulous value for money compared to a $500-600 or so OTR suit ie still great value but really not directly comparable to a Corenilani?

Q: What are they directly equivalent to?

Please don't assume I have a vested interest just because Im a newbie. Im not a competitor but find this intriguing and would really really like to know and would like a review of comparables by those in a position to do so.

BTW, the debate on W of A's brand names being similar is a red herring, imo. I don't care what my suit is branded. After all, Oxxford is a crazy name as any if you think about it.

Hi Everyone,

I'm a brand new member, virgin poster, and I found this site while searching for information on quality dress shirts. I am an investment banker in Saskatchewan, Canada and have a really nice selection of quality suits. About 2 months ago a friend in Calgary who is a real estate Lawyer was wearing a very nice jet black suit that I complimented on. Ends up it was from the Wizard. Given my friends appetite for expensive suits and his satisfaction for the Wizards suit I bought 2....one charcoal and one liquid brown.

I can't find the link for the charcoal, but here's the one for liquid brown.
http://cgi.ebay.com/M-VALENTINO-DESI...item1c0633bbb6

The pricepoint of these suits is awesome! I have two Hugo Boss suits that I paid ~$995 for and in my opinion these suits are just as nice and I actually get more compliments on the Wizard suits than any other. I'm a big Wizard fan!

For the price you can't go wrong...oh, and I'm a 42T trim and teh suit was almost perfect out of the box. Just had to get the pants hemmed and a bit in the waist, but otherwise was great!

If you want some pictures I can post, but the pics the Wizard puts up are just as good.

On a side note, does anyone know of a good place for super high quality dress shirts, french cuff, but at reasonable prices??? Basically is there a Wizard of Aahs for the shirt world?

I bought this suit also. http://cgi.ebay.com/M-VALENTINO-DESI...item1c0633bbb6 for the price it's amazing. Btw, Jeff has SF prices. I paid $280 shipped. Also comes on a descent plastic suit hanger.

Originally Posted by buzzy2010

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Frankly, I cannot comment on the quality/price of Jeff's suits as I do not own one, nor know anyone who does. But I am very intrigued and would like a few facts to be determined, as I am considering one.

But I can say this:

1. Just because its made in the same factory as Corneliani has some but little bearing on the debate. On the balance of probabilities, the same factory makes a variety of quality suits for a number of different labels, Corneliani being but one of many.

2. Just because it comes from the same factory, doesn't necessarily mean its of Corneliani quality. In fact, logic makes me doubt that as Corneliani would have a thing or three to say about that (including same cut used etc etc which would be subject to copyright at the very least and a swift loss of contract given the number of suits W of A sells).

Jeff said "The reason everyone's tailors are so impressed is because you are walking in with a $1500+ Corenilani that you purchased for under $300! IMHO the only thing that is different is a $0.10 "Made in Italy" tag." Well, I am not trying to disrecredit Jeff and believe that he gives A+ customer service and I would buy his suits over that of his competitors any day BUT it cannot be a Corneilani suit as Cornelani would NOT allow it. Would Tiffany's allow their factory to produce the same item to be sold under a different label of the same quality and same design as a Tiffinay original, I think not. Therefore, one can only conclude that W of A's suits must be different enough from Cornelani for Corneliani not to care, or be unable to act legally.

3. On the balance of probabilities based on the hundreds of threads on this subject, I have little doubt it is significantly better than OTR Macy's and better etc etc that it is often compared to. Value for money, most probably BUT how much is what is being debated here most recently.

4. Without any disrespect intended, and full respect given to every category of suit purchaser (remembering ultimate ability to purchase is a function of available $$ and job etc), the ones who can really wade into the debate now are those that own Corneliani or $1k+ suits RRP OTR - re intent comment above (it doesn't matter what you paid, we are comparing claimed RRP equivalents here. What do you think???????????? Step up now.......

Q: Is the suit equivalent to what it claims? Or is it just fabulous value for money compared to a $500-600 or so OTR suit ie still great value but really not directly comparable to a Corenilani?

Q: What are they directly equivalent to?

Please don't assume I have a vested interest just because Im a newbie. Im not a competitor but find this intriguing and would really really like to know and would like a review of comparables by those in a position to do so.

BTW, the debate on W of A's brand names being similar is a red herring, imo. I don't care what my suit is branded. After all, Oxxford is a crazy name as any if you think about it.

I was considering purchasing one of these until I asked my tailor about them. He is familiar with them and said they are good suits for $300 with better tailoring than what you'd find at Men's Wearhouse. However, he emphasized that it is a nice $300 suit, not a $1200 suit selling for $300. He showed me a Baroni sportcoat he had, and it looked decent but not as nice as most of the sportcoats I've seen at BrooksBrothers. Without owning one, I am obviously not qualified to definitively settle this debate. That being said, my personal conclusion was that the Baroni's would be a great option if you only have $300 to spend on a suit, but that you should not expect them to compete with Brooks Brothers or Hickey Freeman, much less Corneliani and other higher end suitmakers.

Well, you're on SF where people want $2000 suits for $400. What are you going to expect?

Originally Posted by reidrothchild

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I was considering purchasing one of these until I asked my tailor about them. He is familiar with them and said they are good suits for $300 with better tailoring than what you'd find at Men's Wearhouse. However, he emphasized that it is a nice $300 suit, not a $1200 suit selling for $300. He showed me a Baroni sportcoat he had, and it looked decent but not as nice as most of the sportcoats I've seen at BrooksBrothers. Without owning one, I am obviously not qualified to definitively settle this debate. That being said, my personal conclusion was that the Baroni's would be a great option if you only have $300 to spend on a suit, but that you should not expect them to compete with Brooks Brothers or Hickey Freeman, much less Corneliani and other higher end suitmakers.

Exactly.... it is a $300.00 suit no more no less... it is not a Corneliani, not even close. I would compare it to Jos Banks Platinum suit... same deal, marked $1,200 sells for $300.00, hell probably made in the same plant. I wonder how many would sell if marked $295.00 without a false and misleading starting price?

On another note about false advertising: has anyone seen the Men's Wearhouse ads that say they have a "Master-Tailor" in every store?... Now THAT is false advertising.