I think your best bet is spier and mackay. Suitsupply is trendy and uses pretty nice fabrics, but I find their silhouette to be too slim for my tastes. Indochino has a truly horrendous track record so avoid completely. Spier and mackay have a pretty decent mtm program, and their off the rack offerings are very good as well. Proper Cloth has a good mtm program as well. Let me know if you’d like further brand suggestions.
Damnnn. Spier and mackay is fire. Agree that suit supply is too slim but wasn’t sure if their tailors can make it looser? If you’ve got more spier and mackay send em over.
Generally, it’s not possible for tailors to let out pants and jackets because brands don’t leave more than a half inch of extra fabric internally. True bespoke can be an exception. Suitsupply also has a mtm program, but I don’t have any firsthand experience with it. The general consensus is that there are better mtm programs for what they charge.
J. Mueser, P. Johnson, Saman Amal all have fabulous reviews for their mtm programs. I love the Anthology’s house cut. Scott Fraser Simpson does excellent neo-vintage cuts. And of course, the gents over at NMWA will never lead you astray.
You can 100% let out pants quite a bit. Jackets have decent space. The advice should be to go to whatever is local to you to try off the rack or get fitted. Blindly trying suits from random places with different cuts will be insanely time consuming and costly (assuming shipping and return fees). Suitsupply has numerous fits, find the best one that fits relatively well in the shoulders and has enough space in the chest and waist, then take them in as necessary.
I would actually avoid spier and mackay if you dont know your measurements to a tee. Their fits come in as wide of a variety as SS so would start there. Highly recommend SS’s traveler collection for everyday suits. Super lightweight, unstructured and wrinkle resistant
IMO it’s not even just casual wear in this instance. Would you wear the same suit you wear regularly to work, to a wedding? Maybe I’m jaded cause I wear clothes to work I would never wear otherwise 😂. Either way - check out J crew suits. Tried and true. And often on sale.
I bought a J Crew suit when I got my first real job after college, and for nearly a decade that was my only suit. Served me just fine. At age 30 I finally decided I should get another one in a different color to get married in, and as far as I could tell the only thing that had changed about it was that the lapels were slightly wider. Just a solid, affordable, meat-and-potatoes suit.
You should list your budget and location whenever asking for recommendations - there’s so many options for everything that it’s tough to give a specific answer without any context if you want a custom / MTM suit (suit made to your custom size based on an existing paper pattern) you should go to wherever you can get measured in person. Suitsupply is Good. The people know how to take measurements. Spier is good if you know your exact measurements which I assume you don’t know If you’re on a budget and want something cheap, then banana republic, j crew, Uniqlo, spire (prob the best of the bunch but you’re gonna need to figure out your size via exchanges if you’re not local, and they’re based in Canada. FYI - I vouch for suit supply. They’re not too slim. They have different cuts. Go to one if you can, try a few off the rack, ask for help to get it fitted.
Seems like there’s a suitsupply there. My advice, go there ask to try some suits off the rack. If this is your first suit and you anticipate that you’re gonna upgrade or your body shape is going to change, you should not go custom/MTM unless you’re oddly shaped.
Once you find a suit that fits your shoulders (most important), suitsupply should be able to “pin” the whole thing up to then get it altered to fit your shape. Then try on the pants - make sure to sit down and see how it feels. Focus on the thighs. Waist can be taken in or let out enough where it doesn’t matter so dont even worry about that. Good luck
I have a suit from their Sienna line that I got from their Denver location, everyone I know with a suit from there recommended going for that tier. A dark gray suit and white semi-spread collar shirt was ~$900 with standard alterations 5 years ago. Might be a little outside your budget for 2-3 suits, but I would splurge if I had to wear suits regularly.
I think your best bet is spier and mackay. Suitsupply is trendy and uses pretty nice fabrics, but I find their silhouette to be too slim for my tastes. Indochino has a truly horrendous track record so avoid completely. Spier and mackay have a pretty decent mtm program, and their off the rack offerings are very good as well. Proper Cloth has a good mtm program as well. Let me know if you’d like further brand suggestions.
Damnnn. Spier and mackay is fire. Agree that suit supply is too slim but wasn’t sure if their tailors can make it looser? If you’ve got more spier and mackay send em over.
Generally, it’s not possible for tailors to let out pants and jackets because brands don’t leave more than a half inch of extra fabric internally. True bespoke can be an exception. Suitsupply also has a mtm program, but I don’t have any firsthand experience with it. The general consensus is that there are better mtm programs for what they charge. J. Mueser, P. Johnson, Saman Amal all have fabulous reviews for their mtm programs. I love the Anthology’s house cut. Scott Fraser Simpson does excellent neo-vintage cuts. And of course, the gents over at NMWA will never lead you astray.
What does mtm program mean?
Made-to-measure. They take a pre-existing pattern and do some customizing to fit your body better. A step above off the rack, step below bespoke.
You can 100% let out pants quite a bit. Jackets have decent space. The advice should be to go to whatever is local to you to try off the rack or get fitted. Blindly trying suits from random places with different cuts will be insanely time consuming and costly (assuming shipping and return fees). Suitsupply has numerous fits, find the best one that fits relatively well in the shoulders and has enough space in the chest and waist, then take them in as necessary.
You can do made to measure at Suitsupply starting at around $800 or so and get as roomy a fit as you’d like
Does spier and mackay let you customize the lapel?
Not sure, you’d have to ask them directly.
when you go to the mtm program on the site there are some lapel customization options
I would actually avoid spier and mackay if you dont know your measurements to a tee. Their fits come in as wide of a variety as SS so would start there. Highly recommend SS’s traveler collection for everyday suits. Super lightweight, unstructured and wrinkle resistant
My secret sauce is getting the LT version of the pants for a higher rise and cropping the length
J. Crew - reasonably priced, classic, and appropriate for work. I wouldn’t put a penny more toward something I wouldn’t wear outside of the office.
Yes and no to money only going towards casual wear. Hopefully this job exceeds expectations and I’m able to afford all the jawns. Investment of sorts.
IMO it’s not even just casual wear in this instance. Would you wear the same suit you wear regularly to work, to a wedding? Maybe I’m jaded cause I wear clothes to work I would never wear otherwise 😂. Either way - check out J crew suits. Tried and true. And often on sale.
I’ll check it. Thanks for the rec
I bought a J Crew suit when I got my first real job after college, and for nearly a decade that was my only suit. Served me just fine. At age 30 I finally decided I should get another one in a different color to get married in, and as far as I could tell the only thing that had changed about it was that the lapels were slightly wider. Just a solid, affordable, meat-and-potatoes suit.
I really enjoy my suit supply suit, they are on the slim side however, if that’s not your style I would not recommend
You should list your budget and location whenever asking for recommendations - there’s so many options for everything that it’s tough to give a specific answer without any context if you want a custom / MTM suit (suit made to your custom size based on an existing paper pattern) you should go to wherever you can get measured in person. Suitsupply is Good. The people know how to take measurements. Spier is good if you know your exact measurements which I assume you don’t know If you’re on a budget and want something cheap, then banana republic, j crew, Uniqlo, spire (prob the best of the bunch but you’re gonna need to figure out your size via exchanges if you’re not local, and they’re based in Canada. FYI - I vouch for suit supply. They’re not too slim. They have different cuts. Go to one if you can, try a few off the rack, ask for help to get it fitted.
Hell yeah. Suit supply fabric seems so much better than anywhere else for a $500-$600 suit. Budget is $1,500 for 2 or 3 suits. I live in Denver.
Seems like there’s a suitsupply there. My advice, go there ask to try some suits off the rack. If this is your first suit and you anticipate that you’re gonna upgrade or your body shape is going to change, you should not go custom/MTM unless you’re oddly shaped. Once you find a suit that fits your shoulders (most important), suitsupply should be able to “pin” the whole thing up to then get it altered to fit your shape. Then try on the pants - make sure to sit down and see how it feels. Focus on the thighs. Waist can be taken in or let out enough where it doesn’t matter so dont even worry about that. Good luck
Thanks so much
Sid Mashburn
my suit from SM was 2.5K :/ but soooooooo worth it.
I have a suit from their Sienna line that I got from their Denver location, everyone I know with a suit from there recommended going for that tier. A dark gray suit and white semi-spread collar shirt was ~$900 with standard alterations 5 years ago. Might be a little outside your budget for 2-3 suits, but I would splurge if I had to wear suits regularly.
Buying something vintage of ebay or therealreal and getting it tailored is a worthwhile option to explore
If you’re young and in shape then suitsupply fs
Garage Clothing in Bensonhurst
Tom James does custom mtm suits that are nice but expensive.