Mens Suits

Mc Love

I am looking to buy a suit, would it be better to buy a bespoke one or just buy one thats already made?

Noticed a site called Suit Co, they have two shops in Dublin, anyone shopped there yet?

Sugar Free

Go bespoke if you have the money obviously but it will set you back quite a bit.

A better option for most (myself included) is to purchase a good off the rack suit and take it to a tailor you trust or one which has been recommended to you and have it altered to give as good a fit as possible.

tan11ie

Just love the suits out of Bertoni and i think they are reasonably priced for the quality.

Mc Love

Yeah I got a great off the peg (rack) Calvin Klein suit a few years ago in Mens Warehouse in Boston, still going strong too, so if I can find something like that over here I will be laughing, tis probably not going to happen though.

big_show

I was in the Suit Co. on O'Connell street in Dublin yesterday.

i was lucky enough to walk in when it was the first day of their sale.

Got a suit reduced from €300 to €129.
2 Shirts at half price (€60 down to €30)
and 2 ties (€30 to €15)

So it's worth a look.

dingbat

There's not much true bespoke in Ireland. There's a growing market in made-to-measure, yes, but of varying quality.

If you don't often have cause to wear a suit then a decent quality off the peg suit plus a decent tailor to make all necessary adjustments would do you just fine.

Deflector

Abrahams tailors of South Anne Street off Grafton Street got a big write-up in The Irish Times men's magazine last week. The bespoke suit the journalist had made for him (nice job if you can get it) cost an extremely reasonable €850. That's down €300 since this time last year on foot of the economic downturn. Indeed, €1000 was always the minimum price for decent bespoke in any established tailors, so this is a remarkable turnaround. A total of three appointments is generally needed during the tailoring process to ensure the best fit, which takes about a month.

Magee of Arnotts also do bespoke, to my surprise, starting at €500 per suit, but one suspects they have rather more conservative tastes.

If there is one factor to counter the current downward trend in suit prices, it is the uphill trajectory of world wool prices, which have rocketed in the past year and is now affecting the price of suits globally. Get in while the going's good!

I think I'll give Abrahams a whirl soon, depending on what fabrics they have. It's just impossible to buy a high quality suit for slim chaps like me. It's Topman or nothing, alas.

Coriolanus

Deflector wrote: »

Abrahams tailors of South Anne Street off Grafton Street got a big write-up in The Irish Times men's magazine last week. The bespoke suit the journalist had made for him (nice job if you can get it) cost an extremely reasonable €850. That's down €300 since this time last year on foot of the economic downturn. Indeed, €1000 was always the minimum price for decent bespoke in any established tailors, so this is a remarkable turnaround. A total of three appointments is generally needed during the tailoring process to ensure the best fit, which takes about a month.

Magee of Arnotts also do bespoke, to my surprise, starting at €500 per suit, but one suspects they have rather more conservative tastes.

If there is one factor to counter the current downward trend in suit prices, it is the uphill trajectory of world wool prices, which have rocketed in the past year and is now affecting the price of suits globally. Get in while the going's good!

I think I'll give Abrahams a whirl soon, depending on what fabrics they have. It's just impossible to buy a high quality suit for slim chaps like me. It's Topman or nothing, alas.

Try Gibson for off the rack.

Didn't realise Abrahams still did bespoke, I thought they'd done what most places like Copelands etc did, stock bases and alter them to fit. I'm surprised they can do it for that kind of money tbh, when much larger companys than them can't do it economically. That's why they do "made to measure" rather than true bespoke... Very skeptical that Magees are doing actual bespoke tbh too.

dingbat

Deflector wrote: »

Magee of Arnotts also do bespoke, to my surprise, starting at €500 per suit, but one suspects they have rather more conservative tastes.

There is simply no way that this is true bespoke for €500.

Made to measure, certainly. But bespoke? Not a chance.

Apologies if that seems rather abrupt but it's just not feasible.

TechnoFreek

tan11ie wrote: »

Just love the suits out of Bertoni and i think they are reasonably priced for the quality.

Seconded, Lee in St Stephens Green store (Neon) will look after you and they will get tailoring organised.
I bought my Bertoni wedding suits there, highly recommended.

Deflector

Yes I doubt Magee do true bespoke either - I suspect it's made to measure at that sort of price.

Abrahams do seem to engage in true bespoke (the journalist did ignorantly interchange 'bespoke' with 'made to measure') from what I can gather of their website - I'd be interested to get a confirmation on that.

Also can't find a supplier of Gibson suits here.

Coriolanus

Deflector wrote: »

Yes I doubt Magee do true bespoke either - I suspect it's made to measure at that sort of price.

Abrahams do seem to engage in true bespoke (the journalist did ignorantly interchange 'bespoke' with 'made to measure') from what I can gather of their website - I'd be interested to get a confirmation on that.

Also can't find a supplier of Gibson suits here.

Penthouse in the Jervis Centre, upstairs beside Forever 21 stock Gibson.

sharpish

big_show wrote: »

I was in the Suit Co. on O'Connell street in Dublin yesterday.

i was lucky enough to walk in when it was the first day of their sale.

Got a suit reduced from €300 to €129.
2 Shirts at half price (€60 down to €30)
and 2 ties (€30 to €15)

So it's worth a look.

They were marking them down again today

Mc Love

Managed to get a great off the peg Remus Uomo suit in Tony Connollys in Limerick, they had a sale on (possibly still on) with 20% off suits

ladhrann

There are 5 or 6 bespoke tailors in Dublin still working. Most of them will do a two-piece around the same price as Abrahams, which is incredibly reasonable compared to the same elsewhere in the UK or EU for instance.

Part of buying a suit though is knowing what you're asking for. Its up to you to do a little research on cloth, cut, fit and styling as well as the construction techniques used in making your suit.

You can get a made-to-measure fully canvassed suit and a bespoke half-canvass/fused suit but its up to you to know what you're asking for and paying for.

A few pointers,

go for the heaviest worsted wool (100% wool) they have, 14oz or 16oz per metre. A lighter fabric (8/9oz per metre) will cost more and last half as long, it will also crease like the blazes and not hang right on your frame.

be prepared to talk about what you'd like, and bring a photo of what you're looking for, but not to the point of pissing off a professional. If you've a 60" waist there's no one on earth who can make you look thin.

ask if the tailor will do cut make and trim and buy some cloth from the mills directly (tailors pay a huge mark-up to the extablished cloth merchants), this will work very well with Donegal tweed for example. You'll need 3m for a two-piece, more if it has a check.

do get an extra pair of trousers and wear them alternately so that they fade at the same rate as the jacket. An extra pair of trousers will drastically increase the life of the suit.

and finally well wear!

Twee.

Old thread, please don't drag up old, resovled threads, thanks.

Locked.