Help planing a trip to Bicester Village - suit brand quality/prices

Hi,

I know certain lines by certain brands are better than others, and also that certain brands are better then others. I'm planning a trip to Bicester Village and would like to know what to look out and what is a reasonable price.

I realise I am asking for a large amount of help, but the knowledge on this forum stretches way beyond mine, and it would be silly of me not to ask before going there and spending money.

Here are, I think, all the men's suit shops at Bicester. If you would please scribble next to the name what lines to look out for, what lines or shops in general should be avoided and roughly what I should expect to pay in particular for suits that would brilliant and very much appreciated. I see this plan of action as "man shopping"!

Many thanks in advance



Aquascutum
Armani
Brooks Brothers
Burberry
Cerruti 1881 Menswear
Dior
Dunhill
Ermenegildo Zegna
Gieves & Hawkes
Gucci
Hackett
Hugo Boss
Jaeger
Loro Piana
Pal Zileri
Polo Ralph Lauren
Prada
Roberto Cavalli
Savoy Taylors Guild
Salvatore Ferragamo
Ted Baker
Thomas Pink
Valentino
Versace
Yves Saint Laurent

Originally Posted by rossyl

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Hi,

Aquascutum
Armani
Brooks Brothers
Burberry
Cerruti 1881 Menswear
Dior
Dunhill - yes (suits made by E.Zegna)
Ermenegildo Zegna - yes
Gieves & Hawkes
Gucci
Hackett - yes (well made)
Hugo Boss - avoid
Jaeger
Loro Piana - YES!
Pal Zileri - yes
Polo Ralph Lauren- yes (made in Italy ones)
Prada
Roberto Cavalli
Savoy Taylors Guild
Salvatore Ferragamo - yes
Ted Baker
Thomas Pink
Valentino
Versace
Yves Saint Laurent

this is my limited knowledge

Well I started doing a fairly longwinded post going through the various shops then accidentally lost it so I'll just summarize. I went there suit shopping the summer before last and my experience was that outside the specialist shops (G&H, Brooks Brothers, Hackett, Zegna, Pal Zileri, Aquascutum), there's a pretty limited selection of suits except maybe at Armani or Hugo Boss, especially in my size (44L) but times might have changed and you might have more luck in your size.

Price-wise, I bought a Brooks Brothers for £175 and a G&H for £250 plus alterations. Pal Zileri started from about £400-500 and the likes of Dior, Prada, Versace and Valentino vary alot.

Aquascutum Trench coats only - suits are average
Armani
Brooks Brothers no shoes there when I went, wouldn't bother with anything else
Burberry
Cerruti 1881 Menswear
Dior
Dunhill suits
Ermenegildo Zegna suits, ties (couture available here as well - look for XXX)
Gieves & Hawkes Cheaney shoes, suits, cashmere all good
Gucci
Hackett avoid
Hugo Boss avoid
Jaeger avoid
Loro Piana anything cashmere is good
Pal Zileri
Polo Ralph Lauren like Woodstock in there, no shoes when I went: these and purple label are main reason to go
Prada
Roberto Cavalli
Savoy Taylors Guild very cheap zegna suits (fused though, I believe)
Salvatore Ferragamo loafers
Ted Baker avoid
Thomas Pink
Valentino
Versace
Yves Saint Laurent


You should also go to Church's for shoes and boots (always go for custom grade -same price but much better leather). Shoe trees are also an absolute steal.

Thanks guys.

I know that there are other threads that specify certain tailors behind the brand "who makes what for whom" but it seemed quite out of date.

Any of that info in relation to these brands would be hugley helpful.

Thank you for your help/comments so far.

best suit I have seen in several trips were from Dunhill.

some of the brands like missoni and ysl have very little choices for men not even speaking about suits.

there is no prada shops as far as I remember.

YSL Rive Gauche suits are pretty good quality. Made by Zegna too...

Originally Posted by mrbig

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YSL Rive Gauche suits are pretty good quality. Made by Zegna too...

Thyanks that's exactly the sought of info I require.

Can anyone recommend the price point I should be looking at for some of them as well?

Thanks all

I think you're starting backwards.

Figure out which brands/lines fit you and your needs.

It's not a good value if it doesn't work for you.

Originally Posted by Nicola

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I think you're starting backwards.

Figure out which brands/lines fit you and your needs.

It's not a good value if it doesn't work for you.

I'd just like to know what shops are worth going into:

Such as (and this is made-up) if someone said "Gucci has suits on sale under a line called "collection" that are actually made by Zegna - you can sometimes find them for £600, but if they are £800+ you are better going to Zegna itself" etc.

Or, alternatively: "don't buy any Prada suits in Line X as they are all made in China, fused and horrid".

That's all I'm after, but I agree, and I will not just buy a suit for its potential quality, it has to look nice and be in a style I like.

Bicester Village is a favourite of mine. I agree with Nicola's advice, though, that you should figure out what brands suit your build rather than vice versa, but given that Bicester Village is pretty sprawling, here's a short-list of the shops I often try stuff on in:

Valentino (main-line), Ralph Lauren (any of Polo, Black Label, Purple Label, avoid anything from lower lines) Zegna (preferably their main line or Couture (or whatever it's called these days) lines, though for trousers Gritti is fine), Brooks Brothers (Black Fleece only), Loro Piana (awesome stuff, esp. the cashmere).

Pal Zileri and Dunhill are also good, but I know they don't fit me well. For outerwear: Aquascutum (Burberry never seems to have the good stuff in). For knitwear: Pringle. For shoes: Bally (Scribe line), Ferragamo main-line or Tramezzas, Zegna main-line or couture (or Limited Edition: they have some awesome crocodile shoes in at the moment), RLPL if in stock (rare). There's also a Church's, but I've never really found anything I liked there.

More if I can think of it, but that's a quick summary that should stand you in good stead.