Anyone got a tailored suit in the UK recently? I kow it is dependent on material and cut but ball park for a wool suit would help. Cheers
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How much is a tailored suit these days?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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There is a Indian based guy who turns up in Glasgow/Edinburgh every three months or so.He makes really good,hardwearing suits for about the £250-300 mark.I got a couple of light wool ones for work and they are the best I have ever owned.Silk lined,hand stitched buttons etc.And a cracking cut.
Disclaimer* I am a peasant from Montrose and would not know a Saville row suit if Boab the ram raider offered me one on the cheap.The best suit I had previously owned was a Boss one bought for interviews.
edit!Raja fashions,in Glasgow in April!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Details?
Posted 2 years ago # -
i think burton do a tailoring service thats quite well regarded
watch out for people coming along telling you that the only suit to get costs £4000 and they feed you swan fois gras and red squirrel testes while you wait
Posted 2 years ago # -
Anyone got a tailored suit in the UK recently? I kow it is dependent on material and cut but ball park for a wool suit would help. Cheers
Gieves & Hawkes do an off the peg range of heavyweight wool suits, which you could have tailored. House of Fraser have G&H concessoins. My last one cost around £600, though that was a few years back.
If you want fully bespoke (rather than just tailored) have a good look round for local tailors. You'd be surprised what you can find out there - though it has been a dying trade, there are still a few who are good but don't charge anywhere near Saville Row prices.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Well, it rather depends on what you mean by "tailored".
Fully bespoke? Expect to pay £1,000 and up. Find a good tailor who is recommended by someone you know/trust.
Or, you go down the tailored to fit option - My choices in town are either Hackett (Sloane St branch only, as the chaps upstairs really know their onions!) or Roderick Charles (Jermyn Street, natch) RC's are usually around £400 or so, then a few bob to sort out final fit and to add the oh so raffish turnups that I am currently sporting!
Just had a look at their website, and they have a pretty good sale on at the moment, so worth a look!
Hackett are about £500 and upwards for an off the peg suit, they will then tweak it to fit.Posted 2 years ago # -
I have had a couple from Dale Rhodes, which have been about £600-£700 fully bespoke. While I very much like the process of getting one made from scratch the difference in terms of fit and quality between one of Dale's suits and a good quality off the peg effort (Ede & Ravenscroft happen to fit me) with some modifications is not necessarily all that noticeable.
And I'm sorry, but whether or not something from burtons will cut it at all depends enormously on context.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Excuse my ignorance but I take it fully bespoke means cloth cut and the pinned/fitted/fitted again if necessary etc
and tailored to fit is 44L suit with bits and pieces take in or let out etc?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tailoed is tailored and bespoke is bespoke.
Tailored means that the suit is made using an existing pattern and canvass but the cloth is hand cut according to your measurements. That allows for a certain amount of 'tailoring' to accomodate your specific measurements but the range of adjustment is limited.
Bespoke means that they create an entirely new pattern and canvass specifically for you. Which is a heck of a lot of work but it means the suit is made to fit you and only you.
You simply can't buy bespoke suits for less than £2k at least, more like £4k for a good one. There are plenty of people around claiming to offer bespoke for c.£700 but it's BS, they aren't really bespoke. Yes, they handcut the cloth (maybe here in the UK) and yes it's all tailored but there's no way they can be creating a whole new pattern for you for that money.
Tailored can be had for around £600 depending on the cloth and quality of the canvass, but expect to pay around £1000 for something good.
The canvass is the cloth shell that they lay the outer material over. It's the canvass that helps the suit to keep its shape and makes a big difference in terms of quality. Cheaper suits have a 'half canvass', which is the canvass is in the top half of the jacket only, while a full canvass extends all the way to the bottom and adds a lot in terms of quality.
Aquascutum have a good tailoring service if you're looking for a name you can trust.
Posted 2 years ago # -
they aren't really bespoke
I have learnt something today, thanks. My suits are tailored, evidently.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cheaper to fly to the Far East if you need a 'wardrobe'
I paid less than £300 for 3 suits (2 wool and 1 silk) and 8 shirts (cotton and full English work spec) in Bangkok a couple of years ago. They would have also made me boxers, polo shirts and anything else I wanted. Best fitting suits I've ever had, and well made.
TBH I don't care whether they're tailored or bespoke, so they fit, last and look good.
As said also try local back-street tailors, I've had them from these before and never a problem.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've only got one truly bespoke piece - a tweed hacking jacket, and it really feels much nicer than any of my "tailored" stuff - but, and it's a big but (he he, I said big butt!) you could have a bought a usable second hand car for the price.
Alternatively, buy a good quality second hand bespoke suit from Hornet's in Kensington, for £100 or so, then get it altered to fit properly (Coleman & Son's in Leicester are very good) - then you can have a really, really nice piece for a couple of hundred quid or so...
Assuming of course that you don't mind wearing dead men's clothes (I don't).
Posted 2 years ago # -
But then, I dress like a farmer - so what do I know
Posted 2 years ago # -
£50, and I only pay if I like it
Posted 2 years ago # -
Always been tempted by raja fashions but never got round to it. Might reconsider now that I have a recommendation - even if it is from a Montrose bumpkin!
Posted 2 years ago # -
If you go 'off the Row' it's quite possible to get a bespoke suit made for £1300 plus. I'm getting one made at the moment and whilst I'm paying a little more than that as it's 3 piece and a different cloth, but still considerably less than the £3k+ I was quoted by a Saville Row tailor.
I can't comment on the quality as I've only had one fitting but it's shaping up nicely...
Posted 2 years ago # -
geetee1972 - Member
You simply can't buy bespoke suits for less than £2k at least, more like £4k for a good one. There are plenty of people around claiming to offer bespoke for c.£700 but it's BS, they aren't really bespoke. Yes, they handcut the cloth (maybe here in the UK) and yes it's all tailored but there's no way they can be creating a whole new pattern for you for that money.
Wrong. You can get a superlative bespoke suit for a LOT less than £2k in a mid weight wool. You just have to go to provincial tailors and not the London big boys. I can wholeheartedly recommend Coleman and Sons in Leicester for their bespoke tailoring and ability to make me look smarter than a well-turned-out smart thing.
Posted 2 years ago # -
http://www.englishcut.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6
former Savile Row chap who moved up to the lakes for a quieter life.Posted 2 years ago # -
It'll take more than a 'tailored suit' Roddy -)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thanks Iain...appreciate the encouraging comments
Posted 2 years ago # -
Wrong. You can get a superlative bespoke suit for a LOT less than £2k in a mid weight wool. You just have to go to provincial tailors and not the London big boys. I can wholeheartedly recommend Coleman and Sons in Leicester for their bespoke tailoring and ability to make me look smarter than a well-turned-out smart thing.
At the risk of labouring a point that isn't really that big a deal...
The problem with this subject is that, unlike in France, the term 'bespoke' is not protected and so there are many tailors claiming to offer bespoke suits based on the idea that they are made to measure from existing patterns. Traditionally, the term bespoke meant that you had hand cut cloth and a hand cut and made from scratch pattern. It's this second bit that you don't get with tailored or made to measure suits and it's this bit that is the highly laborious and therefore very costly part.
Anyone, even outside of London, claiming to offer you a 'traditional bespoke' suit for well under £2k is probably (although not certainly) offering what the Saville Row Tailor's Guild would call made to measure or tailored.
With both this and true bespoke, you still get fittings, you still get high quality service and you still get all the options to customise your suit. But with bespoke, they are building that suit from scratch, not from existing patterns.
Lots of small tailors also offer bespoke based on having created their own patterns, on a bespoke basis, over many years and then simply working with the customer to find the one that's right for them. Technically they can call this bespoke (the ASA ruled on this in 2008 I think) because it involves using the customer's own measurements to adjust the suit.
But here's the really important point - it really doesn't matter whether it's bespoke (in the true sense of the word) or tailored. What matters more is the quality of the construction and the material. For 99% of people a tailored from existing patterns is going to be awesome. Those of us who are really odd shaps may benefit from a true bespoke service and those of us with silly money might also appreciate the difference in quality, but the reailty is, that a really good tailored suit with full canvas construction and decent quality wool will look as good as it gets.
Posted 2 years ago # -
tootall
I'm with you.. But there is an art to it, and living in Yorkshire makes it easier. I buy the cloth seperately from a local supplier called Bateman and Ogdens (who have previousley supplied Brioni for the Bond Films) the last lot I bought was a Super 130, wool/cashmere, enough for 2 trousers and 1 jacket (always get the second trouser) £195, and then i have it made up by Micheal Hopkins menswear in Lindley, nr Huddersfield. It's bespoke, so everything from scratch and they charge 375 exc. cloth. I have trield Zegna, Richard james and Gieves and there is very little difference (other than the posh showroom), they are using the same or inferior cloth and the tailoring is a little better but not 1500 quids worth.
As an aside i have my shirts made in Manchester at Frank Rostrans and they are fantastic value (140 each) and you can have them e collared, re cuffed and they are totally bespoke........the lad who bought it from Frank Rostrun himself has actaully improved the quality.......Good luck, and enjoy the whole process it feels great and can last 5 times an off the peg.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I thought the middle ground between Bespoke and Off the Peg was called 'Made to Measure'?
Anyway, this is the guy I'm getting mine from
Chris KerrIt's considerably less than £2k and makes rather a big deal about being properly bespoke...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cad and the Dandy in Savile Row offer bespoke tailored suits from £449. You can customize and order men's suits online. The owners receive the 2010 MacWorld's Entrepreneurs of the year award.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I bought four suits from Raja over a period of 3 years, was quite pleased with them at the time (still wearing one that I bought back in 2003, the heavier weight suits definitely last better.
Recently, I bought two made to measure suits from Clifton Suits in Bristol, they were doing a deal at £800 for a pair. I think that the fit is better than the Raja suits, but a made to measure suit will always be better than off the peg in any case.
Good luck with your search!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Have just spotted that this thread was originally started a year ago, hope that the OP managed to find a suit! My recommendation may well be a little tardy.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I got a good suit when I got married in 1980, wool, tailored. It looked lovely too. I think it was about £200 back then but guess what? The only bit that hasn't shrunk is the leg length! It's been in the wardrobe for years & has never got wet so I can't understand why It's a lot smaller.
Save your money, go to Matalan.Posted 1 month ago #
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