I need a suit...and some advice.

[de Bergerac]

Gentlemen,

My first post here and I thought I would use it to ask for a little advice. Only partly vintage-related perhaps, but I hope that is a slight and forgiveable transgression.

To put it simply - I want or need a suit, as I haven't owned one now for quite a number of years. My work does not require one, I don't know anyone who wears one except to funerals, weddings and such and in fact I believe the last time I saw a suit in the wild was at a post-wedding party (very post-wedding, as the wedding itself had taken place months before, in secret. This was also the reason I could attend sans-suit) two or three years ago now.

However, chances are that sooner or later someone will once more either get hitched or shuffle off this mortal coil, so there really ought be a nice suit hanging in my closet.

So far, so good. Now, my first thought and instinct was to order a tweed suit from Bookster. I absolutely adore tweed and for instance a dark grey herringbone specimen would suit my needs to a tee. The trouble is, if I were to order a tweed suit I would really prefer it not to be a utilitarian one. I would much prefer a suit in a tweed like Nevis, Galloway, Lochy or others in that vein. Neither, however, would be all that suitable as an all-round suit.

The alternative would be to get an "ordinary" suit first and then spring for a tweed beauty later, in which case I would really like to get a vintage or vintage-style number. Finding a true vintage suit through a shop or on ebay unfortunately appears to be a pipe dream, seeing as I am a generous size 46 both in terms of chest and (this being the most unfortunate part) stomach size. The very few vintage examples I have seen in such a voluminous size have, for some reason, always had other problems. Either they sport abnormally short arms or legs, the colour is unacceptable for my use, or some other annoyance. Hence I would need to have this choice made also. However, the only place I know of for such a project is Magnoli Clothiers, whom I think are also members here. While I am sure they do excellent work, it would nonetheless be nice to have one or more alternatives to consider.

Which is where you gentlemen come in. Are there any other MTM tailors I should consider for a vintage job, considering my budget will bear a maximum of £700/$1000? Any other advice you might have for me will be very welcome too, as this will be the first time I make use of an MTM tailoring service. The actual order will likely not be placed until late spring, so there is no hurry involved here.

 

[Tomasso]

the last time I saw a suit in the wild was at a post-wedding party two or three years ago now.

I have to ask: Where exactly do you live that one can go years without seeing someone in a suit?

 

[de Bergerac]

I thought you'd (well, that someone would) ask.

I live in Norway, where we're...rather informal, shall we say. It's not that there aren't suit wearers here at all; I could certainly go find one to look at if I really wanted to, but I think perhaps my bank manager or the mayor would think I was a bit odd if that was my only reason for booking an appointment.

 

[avedwards]

If you can make it down to England I can recommend a good tailor in Nottingham with a good selection of cloths who could make a good quality three piece for less than £700. With the waistcoat you have the advantage of being able to dress the suit up for a wedding and dress it down for other occasions.

If it's your first suit I'd avoid tweed for now and go with a navy or grey wool, although a subtle herringbone (or other pattern) like the grey tweed you posted would probably be OK. I'd also recommend going for a 12-14oz fabric as that can probably be worn all year round where you are.

Whilst I'm sure Magnoli makes fantastic suits I'd avoid ordering online for a first suit and order somewhere where you can look at samples of the tailor's work so you can see if you like it.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Yes. Navy and dark grey would be the most versatile. But investing big money in something you won't like and wear sounds wrong to me. Buy something you like and wear it without being forced to.

Are there no second hand/thrift shops in norway? A generic dark suit is easy to find. Tell your people not to die so soon and just look around for a while before you buy something.

 

[de Bergerac]

If you can make it down to England I can recommend a good tailor

I appreciate the tip Mr. Alan, thank you very much! Whether or not I'll be able to take a trip to Nottingham within the mentioned time frame is uncertain, but come to think of it I actually have no fixed time frame, so I'll certainly give Smalleys some serious consideration. To be honest I didn't think it would be possible to obtain bespoke service from any competent British tailor within my stipulated budget, but now that I have learned otherwise I'm certainly quite tempted.

As for my suit history, this is not my first, although I've certainly not had many. My last one was in fact a tailor made job, made by a Lebanese former tailor to the House of Saud. Very nice, but strangely enough it seemed to shrink over the years as it hang unused in my closet (either that, or something else happened, although I can't think what that might be), so I gave it away years ago. Since then I've had no use for one and given that I don't expect that to change significantly in the future, I thought I'd opt for something a bit more modest this time around.

12-14 ounces is noted. I was kind of thinking 14-16 myself, so it's nice to know I was near, or at, the mark.

 

[de Bergerac]

Yes. Navy and dark grey would be the most versatile. But investing big money in something you won't like and wear sounds wrong to me. Buy something you like and wear it without being forced to.

That's entirely my thinking too, but it'd be silly to buy a suit which can't be used at those times when I really, really need a suit. And a jolly windowpane tweed, which is what I'd really like, might probably raise an eyebrow or three at a funeral even here. So dark grey it must be, I believe. Which is fine, as I like a nice dark grey herringbone too.

Are there no second hand/thrift shops in norway? A generic dark suit is easy to find. Tell your people not to die so soon and just look around for a while before you buy something.

We have thrift shops, but none that I have seen so far has had suits I would contemplate buying. That's not because I'm a snob, but because the suits have all been cheap and nasty. Nor have I seen many at all, which is likely linked to the fact that I never see people wearing them.

 

[avedwards]

I appreciate the tip Mr. Alan, thank you very much! Whether or not I'll be able to take a trip to Nottingham within the mentioned time frame is uncertain, but come to think of it I actually have no fixed time frame, so I'll certainly give Smalleys some serious consideration. To be honest I didn't think it would be possible to obtain bespoke service from any competent British tailor within my stipulated budget, but now that I have learned otherwise I'm certainly quite tempted.

As for my suit history, this is not my first, although I've certainly not had many. My last one was in fact a tailor made job, made by a Lebanese former tailor to the House of Saud. Very nice, but strangely enough it seemed to shrink over the years as it hang unused in my closet (either that, or something else happened, although I can't think what that might be), so I gave it away years ago. Since then I've had no use for one and given that I don't expect that to change significantly in the future, I thought I'd opt for something a bit more modest this time around.

12-14 ounces is noted. I was kind of thinking 14-16 myself, so it's nice to know I was near, or at, the mark.

It won't be bespoke at Smalleys but MTM, but the tailor and the cloth will be British. The advantage of MTM for you would be that it's considerably cheaper than full bespoke and you wouldn't have to return for a second and third fitting. Full bespoke starts at around £1200 outside London and £3500 on Savile Row.

It doesn't have to be 12-14oz - that's just my advice. I'm sure 16oz would work too but it might get a bit uncomfortable in summer.

I'm surprised there's nothing decent in the thrift shops as Sproily seems to find all sorts of fantastic vintage pieces in the Finnish thrift shops.

 

[de Bergerac]

Sorry, slip of the tongue. Still MTM rather than bespoke of course, just a tad more personalised. I likely won't have the time for bespoke anyway, nor indeed the will to pay for it.

As for the weight: if I do go, I'll get to feel the cloth of course and decide what I feel is the best there and then, but if not I'll go with your recommendation. I'm sure you have a firmer grasp of the suitability of cloth weights than me; it would be strange if you didn't.

As regards thrift shops it may simply be that I live in the wrong place. It's a big place (by our standards) so you'd think there would be at least some nice ones, but maybe those all go to places where people actually wear them.

 

[avedwards]

At Smalley's the MTM is quite personalised as long as you are meticulous about specifying all the details you want. For example, I gave the exact trouser rise, trouser width, lapel width, lapel shape, button spacing that I wanted.

As well as cloth weight, take the breathability into account. For example, a thin flannel may end up being just as warm as a thick worsted due to the flannel retaining more heat. My recomendations may not be perfect for you either so feeling the cloth would probably be the best option.

 

[de Bergerac]

Good advice there, thanks again. Last time I simply pointed at the style I liked, chose the cloth and that was pretty much that as far as my specific input went. Luckily I did also manage make it clear that I wanted something classic, which wouldn't look dated the year after, so that's what I got. This time though, having done a little homework, I'm much better prepared. Now if only I wasn't pathologically indecisive and had more sharply defined likes and dislikes in regards to style...

In terms of the choice of cloth, a flannel is probably my first choice if I opt out of tweed this time. It is, as you say, likely to be warmer than a worsted, so I may have aimed a bit high (or warm) with 16oz.

 

[avedwards]

Indecisiveness can be a problem. The only solution is to have several suits so you can account for every possibility. There's nothing wrong with letting the tailor decide what your suit looks like, but if you want a particular style it's best to specify what you want. Plus it personalises the suit a bit more.

If you go with flannel I'd recommend a 13 or 14oz as 16 might be a touch warm. I don't know how warm it can get in summer in your part of Norway though, so base your choice on that (in winter it won't make any difference anyway as you'll probably need a very warm overcoat).

Smalleys has quite a good selection of British made flannels so you won't be disappointed if you go there.

 

[de Bergerac]

Monumental indecisiveness is probably my greatest character flaw (that I will own up to). Thankfully I have time to waste, so as long as I get there in the end it's OK. Personally I'd love to have a slew of suits filling the wardrobe, but considering that's where they'd inevitably spend the vast majority of the time it would be an almost criminal waste to buy more than two. So one in dark grey/charcoal and one a bit jollier is where it's at I think.

I'll certainly keep the weight recommendation in mind. Generally we get a week or three of consistent 30+C in the summer where I live, while the temperature for the remainder of the period mid-June to sometime in September lies between 20C and 30C. But then with the seriously wonky weather over the last few years, who knows what we're in for. This winter I could have worn a light suit with nothing over it almost daily until three-four days ago, which makes it the latest onset ever for me. The last one, on the other hand, was the longest and coldest in living memory. Basically six months long, with a plethora of cold records set all over the place.

Anyway, mustn't ramble too much. Thanks again for your helpful advice, it's very much appreciated.

 

[kyboots]

I agree with much of what is said. You need good all purpose mainly dark suits. Gray, herringbone, navy all good depending on how the colors look on you. I am Dutch ancestry and fair skin so gray is not the best color for me. I love Suit Supply where you can get 2-3 suits easily with your budget. All you have to do is get to the north coast of Germany or the Netherlands, there are 20-25 stores in each country.--John

 

[de Bergerac]

Thanks for the tip kyboots! Getting to Germany or Holland is very easy indeed, but I'm really after an MTM suit rather than an OTR. I'd like it to fit properly right away, since competent alterations are pretty expensive here and there'd be little or no savings in an OTR which needs altering. Which they all do, given my somewhat non-ideal shape. Added to that I'm something of an Anglophile, so I'd prefer a quick visit to the UK.

 

[avedwards]

Thanks for the tip kyboots! Getting to Germany or Holland is very easy indeed, but I'm really after an MTM suit rather than an OTR. I'd like it to fit properly right away, since competent alterations are pretty expensive here and there'd be little or no savings in an OTR which needs altering. Which they all do, given my somewhat non-ideal shape. Added to that I'm something of an Anglophile, so I'd prefer a quick visit to the UK.

You'll find more tailors in Britain than Germany or Holland as we have more people who still wear a suit to work every day. You could see if there are any tailors in Newcastle as that would probably be the easiest location to reach from Norway.

 

[de Bergerac]

Newcastle is easy to reach, but London would be even easier for most, including me, and of course just a short distance from Northampton. The added benefit of going there is that I could drop by the factory shops of various shoe manufacturers at the same time, which would be quite nice. Still, I'll see if I can't dig up some tailors within my price range in Newcastle too, as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh and their surrounding areas (also very easy to reach and I know Edinburgh in particular very well).

Of course, if anyone already know of good tailors in either city I'd be very grateful for further tips and recommendations.

 

[avedwards]

These people are in Newcastle: http://www.higginsandbrown.co.uk/ Never tried them but the website looks like they're a reputable tailoring firm.

I'd be wary buying a suit in London as even a basic MTM will be considerably more expensive than anywhere else.

 

[Rudie]

No personal experience, but I read on the permanentstyle blog that Graham Browne in London charges about £800 for a two-piece full bespoke.

 

[avedwards]

No personal experience, but I read on the permanentstyle blog that Graham Browne in London charges about £800 for a two-piece full bespoke.

That seems ridiculously low for a full bespoke suit in London. Even outside London bespoke suits are usually more than that.