tell me about suits?

it seems like i need to buy one, but not from Asda/Aldi

i only know of paul smith, armani, boss, gucci

tell me some names of classic suit type clothing, or some uber niche brands?

Budget? Location? Build?

IMO, Roderick Charles are ace, as an off the peg then tailored/tweaked to fit.
Hackett on Sloane St, in that London's Famous London, are very good indeed.

For budget, M&S can be very good indeed. Well worth a look.

OK, will look for hackett, Roderick Charles also maybe aquascutum

46 chest, 34 waist since you ask, dress to the left – anything else?

Business or pleasure suit?

With those measurements, if you are on the short side have a look at Paul Smith,I've got a few and love them, especially for less formal suits. If you are on the tall side,look at Ozwald Boateng, though cos I'm quite short, they always make me look like a ferret in a sack.

This is like saying "I want to buy a bike. Tell me"..! 😀

I've got a Chester Barrie recently. It's an old name, revived. Cheap (£300) and fitted me off the peg. Nice cut (classic, single breasted, 2 button – I'm short – and double vented).

But I've also worn anything from M&S to Gieves & Hawkes (great build, jacket wonderful, trousers too old school).

You get what you pay for…

With those measurements…. have a look at Paul Smith

Off the peg PS suits come in a 6 inch drop from chest to waist so good luck!

There was a bespoke/made-to-measure thread a week or so ago.

Beautiful suits but substantially priced…

http://sumisura.zegna.com/?lang=en

For a decent range of off the peg, have a look at somewhere like Slaters

http://www.slaters.co.uk/en/store/productlist/?cid=MENS_SUITS_OVER200&language=en-GB

wide range of budgets and free of charge alterations

Try a few on and buy the one you like that fits best. From the high Street M&S and Debenhams are as good as anywhere and you should be able to pick something half decent up for under £200.

Not sure what your planned use is but in true STW style, I will make a wholly uneducated suggestions and suggest you go for a dark grey/charcoal number.

Big aquascutum fan myself – especially their cut with the sloping jacket pockets – I think it's called the Ascot cut, but not 100%. Fit me a treat – well, I think so!

Nick

"Off the peg PS suits come in a 6 inch drop from chest to waist so good luck!"

Having never bought one of the peg, I'll have to take your word for it.But I have a 46 chest and a 32 waist and they work pretty well for me.:)

Best suit I ever had was from an old skool department store. The guy looked at my build, guessed my size spot on, told me what style would work and picked one out straight away.

The guy in Moss Bros just pointed me at a rack of about 500 suits and let me get on with it.

I'd say go to a shop with staff that know what they are selling and can advise you, rather than look for a particular brand.

If you dont know your size go to a house of fraser and try on a few suits and find out what your size is. Then go to TK Max and buy one for much less. If you are thin dont be afraid of alterations ie 42 chest 32 waist dont be afraid of alterations but find a good tailor. Go into your local posh shop and ask who does your alts. You buy a suit of the peg on chest size then change the waist size. 38"/32" 40"/342 42"/36". Continental suits minus 10 eg size 50 = size 40" chest suit. I bought a beautiful Duffer of St George suit worth £350 for £125. just dont expect it to happen overnight at TK's.

Cheers for the suggestions, its for a corporate existence, I'm 6'1", will go and try a few somewhere. i think i'll struggle with the whole concept of wearing a suit, but never mind eh…

Christian Dior Pour Monsieur. best suits in the world.

Jahwomble in bespoke suit that fits well shocker!!!

Apparently it was never "suits", but "suit".

off the peg means try a few different designers, they all cut to a different shape. For me, Hugo Boss is too boxy for my build but Paul Smith and (guiltily) Vivienne Westwood are perfect.

Jasper Conran does some nice slightly stretchy suits, I have one as my 'every day' suit*

*i've not worn a suit once in the last 3 years

TK Maxx should be your first port of call. I got a really smart Duffer of St George suit (that people tell me looks good on me) for £99. I have had Aquascutum and Calvin Klein at ridiculously low prices from House of Fraser.

I have been known to take a 44 and a 42 into the changing room, and come out with a jacket and trousers that fitted. Goodness knows what they did with the left over 42 jacket and 38 pants.

Big names are utterly pointless – they still come from the same workshops and factories as the rest – you are only paying for a name – thats on the inside anyway! They probably won't suit you either – so many 'names' are cut for skinny waifs.

Just try a few places with staff to help. Make sure you wear the same sort of shirt and shoes you'd wear with the suit – so many people forget that. Also – too many people buy suits too tight – probably the most common fault – and you need room across the shoulders so it doesn't crease between the shoulder blades.

If you want a cheap(ish) bespoke suit check out A suit that fits
It'll take a few weeks for the suit to be made but is well worth the wait, especially if (like me) your a funny shape. 😆

so many 'names' are cut for skinny waifs

piffle, how many big fat business men do you see in designer suits, different designers have different cuts and the fabrics used and quality of the stitching tend to be higher on most 'designer' labels

I no longer tend to buy designer clothes but I miss the quality of construction

this doesn't apply to all designer goods though

My favourite suit got ruined,

Dry cleaners adament that its a material fault

Debernhams adament the Dry cleaners put it in the wrong machine

No one budgeing so currently got a search setup on ebay to find a new jacket.

Never manahed to get anythign worthwhile at TKMax apart form t-shirts, jeans and hoodies, the suits all seem to be seconds and in bizzare sizes.

that's because Big John mixes all the sizes up

JEngledow – Member

If you want a cheap(ish) bespoke suit check out A suit that fits

Custom tailored – not bespoke there fella. Not quite the same but better than OTP.

I would dare to say that anyone who says that there isn't a difference between a £100 M&S suit and a >£300 deisgned suit hasn't owned both.

Personally, I've had some pretty good M&S suits for every day wear and when I'm travelling and I rather like the fit of Dax suits for more formal occaisions.

Big name suits are toss imo.
it can be the "nicest" suit in the world, but if it doenst fit it will look like a sack.

if your "the national average" in shape, then fine, but imo you are much better off going to, say M&S, or other similar, buying a suit as close to your body shape as you can, but sized up rather than sized down, and then getting them to adjust it for you.
there SHOULD be someone on the staff who knows what they are talking about.

ive had a few suits for one reason or another, but my favorite came from M&S and was ~150 quid including adjustments.
pretty basic suit, but because im tall and lanky, it looks the mutts (imo) purely because it fits!

Am "budget" buyer (according to some) and have liked Zara, My Jaeger is my pride and joy tho!

TooTall – Member

Custom tailored – not bespoke there fella. Not quite the same but better than OTP.

My understanding of the term bespoke is that it is made to order, which the suits I've bought have been, while a customed tailored suit would be pre made and altered to fit, if this is wrong please explain the real difference between custom tailored and bespoke.

I only wear suits for work now and tend to stick with the upper end of the M&S range for those.

I've had Boss ones in the past and would buy those again if I wanted a suit for non-work use.

"My understanding of the term bespoke is that it is made to order, which the suits I've bought have been, while a customed tailored suit would be pre made and altered to fit, if this is wrong please explain the real difference between custom tailored and bespoke."

Pretty much spot on. Bespoke suits will be made using their own block whereas Made to Measure will use and existing block and be altered to fit from there.

Oh and Gieves and Hawkes gets my vote every time.