Here at the Gentleman’s Gazette, we have a high level of appreciation for things that reignite men’s interest in classic style. While the suit has lost a bit of popularity in recent years as dress codes continue to become more casual, there’s a whole subgroup of men who still love to wear suits! With that in mind: here’s our in-depth review of one of the hottest names in menswear at the moment: Suitsupply.
Today, we’ll talk a bit about the brand’s history, the ordering process, and more.
As a side note, this review is 100% not sponsored. We used our own money to pay the full retail price, and we have no affiliations with Suitsupply.
History of Suitsupply
The company was started in the year 2000 by the then-college student Fokke De Jong who is still the CEO today. The company is also still privately held, and interestingly, they didn’t open their first brick and mortar store until 2007.
They’ve gained fame for their highly provocative marketing campaigns, which are basically “sex sells.” On the flip side, they’ve also gotten a lot of negative feedback about their sexist portrayal of women in their campaigns. Apart from that, they also had a Start Smoking campaign, which was all about the smoking jacket.
In recent years, Suitsupply has also become a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, which it touts as their responsible and ethical way of doing business. Basically, the FWF works with brands like Suit Supply to basically work on eight labor standards.
According to Wikipedia, getting the Fair Wear Foundation stamp of approval doesn’t guarantee that those standards are actually maintained. It more or less communicates a willingness to implement those into your supply chain. At the same time, in many countries where clothes are manufactured, even those low standards are not always met, and trying to improve them is a good thing.
That aside, you might be interested in the far more exciting history of the suit.
What Does Suitsupply Offer? Pretty Much Anything
Apart from suits, they have separates such as blazers or sports jackets, trousers, vests, knitwear, accessories, overcoats, and a few other things. Though as the name implies, suiting is at the core of their brand. Now, that being said, Suitsupply’s mantra is: “Don’t fit in, find your own perfect fit.”
The suit range they offer is built on a foundation of a classic suit, but they approached a more modern cut with a shorter jacket, some more Italian or Southern European details, and often bold fabrics. Some also called suits to play garments Euro Slim because they’re in fact cut very slim, they’re short, they have a higher buttoning point and also a higher gorge and mostly no padding or very little in the shoulders.
The target market seems to be younger men who want a really slim fitting suit with a modern silhouette, and while you can get your typical navy and gray suits, they really have a broad range of textured and interestingly colored fabrics. CEO Fokke de Jong sometimes says that Suitsupply is for men who want to rescue the uniform culture of suits but still like the look and the feel of a suit.
Suitsupply OTR: Their Original Off-The-Rack Suit
Suitsupply’s off-the-rack suits are starting at $400, but there are only a few options; you’ll find a lot more with $500 and up, and you can go all the way up to a thousand dollars for an off-the-rack suit with a floating canvas in the jacket and more premium fabrics.
Suitsupply Custom: The Name Is Misleading
They also offer a euphemistic custom program, which is not custom at all but more like a limited made to order program. It allows for certain selections such as the lining or the buttons and the silhouette and measurements such as the chest, the waist, or the length. The Suitsupply custom program starts at $600, but most suits range between $650 and $700. You can get those suits online, but you have a few more options if you go to the store.
Suitsupply MTM: True Made-To-Measure Only Available In Select Locations
In 2019, Suitsupply offered a made-to-measure program in the US that allows you to select from over a thousand fabrics, and I hope you can get more adjustments, including maybe, having a lower shoulder on the one side than on the other.
I would have loved to try out that program, but unfortunately, the closest store where it is available in Chicago, and flying there and incurring the cost of plane tickets and travel would have been quite expensive. Frankly, I would be much better off just getting a local made to measure suit from a brand here in Minneapolis.
Prices for the Suitsupply MTM suits start at $999, but I’m sure the majority of the fabrics cost a little more than that.
What Suitsupply Suits Are We Reviewing?
After looking at the website, we figured it was better to actually go to the store so we could actually try different things on and make sure we get the fit right so we can provide an honest, realistic review. So we went to their latest local store in Edina, Minnesota. When we were there in 2020, they offered five different styles or fits; the Washington, the Sienna, the Napoli, the Lazio, and the Havana.
- Washington is an extra slim fit cut with a more structured shoulder that comes only single-breasted either with a peak lapel or a slightly wider notch lapel as well as ticket pockets.
- The Lazio is also slim, comes with a lightly padded shoulder, and is again, only available as a single-breasted jacket.
- The Havana is also slim with a natural unstructured shoulder, and it’s their most popular style. Probably because of that, it’s available in a single-breasted as well as double-breasted. In fact, it is the only double-breasted style they offer.
- The Sienna is a more regular cut jacket, which means there’s a bit more room, it’s single-breasted, but it still has a natural spalla camicia, a type of shirt shoulder structure. To learn more about what this means for jackets, you can check out our Suit Jacket Anatomy guide.
- The Napoli jacket is very similar to the Sienna. But it’s more regular. It’s also single-breasted, but it has a bit more padding in the shoulder, which is a little more traditional or English and not relaxed casual like the Sienna.
Suitsupply Review: Construction and Suit Details
Construction and Workmanship: Decent
At the lower standard off the rack entry-level starting at $400, you get a half-canvas jacket. None of their jackets are fully glued. Full-floating canvas jackets, on the other hand, are available starting at $999 and up.
What’s the difference between half canvas and full canvas, and why one is better than the other? Our guide to suit construction has you covered!
When I browsed the Suitsupply website, they also had something called the “Jort” collection, and they touted it to have a completely unstructured suit without any type of canvas. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that at the store, but I’d love to see it in person because that’s highly unusual in an off-the-rack suit. You can sometimes find it in Italian bespoke garments, but this is a first for off the rack.
In the store, I really liked that they provided tags that said if something was half canvas or full canvas so you can compare things on the spot. Online, you can check under features such as half canvas or full canvas.
Overall, I found that the workmanship level on Suitsupply suits is very high for an off the rack garment. All the seams are straight, everything is thought through, and it’s a nicely sewn jacket. Unlike many traditional brands in this price range, Suitsupply suits don’t feel stiff, and the fabrics are nice brand names, and they also feel good.
Country of Origin: Manifold
Suitsupply suits seem to be made in many places. Just when I was at the store, I saw “Made in China” and “Made in Myanmar” labels. It also appeared to me that certain suit styles were made in certain countries or at certain factories, and they had a limited range of fabrics and options; it’s probably because one factory specializes in an unlined suit and the other factory on a lined suit and so forth.
The fabrics in the showroom came from VBC, Ceruti, E. Thomas, Ferla, Angelico, but they also have stuff from Huddersfield or Colombo.
Suitsupply Jacket & Suit Details: Above Average
In terms of the Suitsupply details, they have this Italian curved chest pocket, which is also called the Barchetta. All their buttonholes are machine sewn, but they’re of a high quality where the hole is cut first and then sewn, so they look neat. Many of their sleeve heads show some puckering, which is a hallmark of a Southern Italian tailoring tradition, and it’s a bit more relaxed and casual in line with the person they want to reach. It’s not a stuffy suit; it’s more of a casual suit.
The standard buttons they offer are plastic, but if you go with a custom program, they also have horn buttons or metal options, but they’re limited overall.
Fit of A Suitsupply Suit: Our Biggest Issue
In terms of fit, Suitsupply is across the board very slim even if you get their regular white jackets. So if you’re a slim person or if you like slim fit suits, it’s definitely worth a look. The jackets are all short across sizes, and they often don’t cover your rear. They also have a relatively high buttoning point, which means you typically get a visually longer leg line.
In general, the shoulders are all relatively soft, with a small amount of padding. While you can get unpadded shoulders, even the padded shoulders don’t have much in terms of padding, especially compared to many other suits you can get in the US.
Want to see what big shoulder pads look like? Check out our rundown of the best navy blazer under $500 here.
I noticed that all their sleeves are cut rather trim, which provides you with a nice looking silhouette when you stand but as soon as I moved, I always felt constricted in the back and in my upper arm, which was not comfortable, and it’s not something I enjoy in a jacket. I didn’t like that their armholes were smaller than many other brands that you can find in the US off-the-rack.
When we are at the store, until the second half of 2020, if you wanted suit pants, you could only get flat front options that did not offer a single pleated pant as a suit. Just recently, they apparently also started offering pleated pants suit options in their custom program.
Suitsupply suits are not just good for slim, shorter, or regular-height guys but also for taller guys. Even off the rack, they offer suits that fit you with very long sleeves and long torsos, of course, in a typical more modern silhouette. But, if you have difficulties finding a suit that fits you without breaking the bank and you’re tall, check out their offerings.
The Process of Getting A Suitsupply Custom Suit
Let’s get Preston to share his experience of getting a Custom suit from the brand: from taking measurements until the suit’s final alterations and fitting.
1. Get Fitted In Store, Not Online
If you decide to go with the custom program, you can buy a suit both online and in-store. While the options for fabrics, linings, and buttons will be the same, whether you order online or in-store, if you go to a store to order and get fitted, they can make alterations to garments factory level, which is nice.
This means that once you’ve tried on a base model in the store, they can start your order with things like alterations to the sleeve length, the pocket position, the buttoning point, and so on from the beginning.
2. Fabric & Style: Not All Fabrics Can Be Made In All Styles
I generally run quite hot and indeed have a condition called Hyperhidrosis marked by excessive perspiration. So when it came time for me to pick a fabric for my suit, we liked an unlined jacket option that we saw. However, as it turned out, that style was only available in what Suitsupply calls the Traveller range, which features fabrics from Cerruti in high twisted yarns that are very wrinkle resistant.
There are 13 fabrics available in the Traveller range, but of course, it would have been nice if I could even have picked one. However, if I wanted this material in an unlined construction, I would have to have gotten a jacket in the Havana model, which, of course, wouldn’t have worked for me. Going again with the Washington model, I just had to move on and find a different fabric with aligning.
As Raphael alluded to earlier, the custom program really isn’t quite so custom after all. Only certain fabrics can correspond to certain styles, and when looking at their website in-store, they offer an iPad, but this is somewhat cumbersome to use. It was difficult for us to figure out what was and wasn’t possible between styles and paired with slow load times. It made for an unenjoyable experience. Even so, once I had selected my fabric and my fit style.
3. Pick A Lining: Choices Are Limited
I had to pick a lining next. They’ve got a limited selection of solid linings as well as digitally printed ones featuring patterns like paisleys or micro-patterns reminiscent of what you might see on a tie.
Overall, we thought that the selection was somewhat limited, with fewer options than you would find at a high-quality custom tailoring shop. I ultimately went with a dark green micro-patterned lining as I liked how it looked against the navy of the suit.
4. Choose Trouser Details
As far as details on the trousers are concerned, I chose to go with side adjusters rather than belt loops. Side adjuster trousers come with buttons for suspenders in them. If I had gone with belt loops, they could have added buttons for suspenders, but typically, you want a pair of trousers to either accommodate a belt or suspenders and not both.
I could also select whether or not I wanted my pants to have a cuff or turn up and how big that cuff could be. The trousers also naturally come with enough of a fabric reserve that if I were to change my mind about how large or small I wanted a cuff to be, this would be an option as well. Ultimately, I decided to go with the more formal silhouette that the jacket was establishing with its large peaked lapels that I would go with a cleaner look featuring no cuffs.
5. Select Buttons
Other than the different styles, the website provided little to no information about the composition and materials of the buttons I could choose for a custom suit. The buttons on the more expensive off-the-rack offerings from Suitsupply are advertised as being made of horn, so we would assume that some of the similar ranges for this program would also be horn. However, many of the buttons we looked at and felt did feel like plastic as well.
6. Add A Waistcoat (Optional)
I also had the option of adding a waistcoat to the suit, but I did have to keep in mind that if I chose one of the single-breasted classic Cape Town or Ferrara models, that the same fabric I chose for my jacket lining would also be used as the back of the waistcoat. This seemed as though it might be a bit loud to me, so while I thought about going for a double-breasted waistcoat, it was cut in an odd way that didn’t really suit my build.
Ultimately then, I decided just to skip the waistcoat and make it a two-piece suit. Also, given that I do easily overheat, we thought skipping this extra layer would also be best for that reason.
7. Get A Second Pair of Trousers (Optional)
A further option was to order a second pair of trousers in case I was concerned about wearing the trousers out more quickly than the jacket. I don’t anticipate that I’ll be wearing the suit often enough for this to be an issue, though, so I skipped adding a second pair of pants to the order.
8. Get Measured for Alterations
At first, their list of options looked pretty impressive until we realized that alterations could only be done to certain line items around the suit with a different number associated with them, which makes them much more limited.
One such numbered item that was a point for tailoring on the jacket was referred to as a “collar pleat.” We were unfamiliar with what this might mean, so we asked our sales associate. He also didn’t know, so he thought to ask the in-store tailor. However, she didn’t happen to know either. So, in other words, two menswear historians, a sales associate, and a tailor were all stumped by this term, which was strange, to say the least.
As to what could be altered, the right and left sleeves can be adjusted individually, and this makes sense because most people do have discrepancies in arm length and shoulder drop. The jacket’s waist can be altered, but the shoulder height can’t. We would imagine that this might be in the system for their full made-to-measure program, but we haven’t had that experience thus far. Apart from that, the length, legs, and waist of the trousers can all be adjusted as well.
Overall though, nothing could really be done about that extreme collar gapping when I moved.
Our Suitsupply Suit Review Experience and Verdict on Their Suits
Raphael’s Review
As you know, Preston and I have a very different physique, and we wanted to see what the suit looked like on each of us. First of all, for me, it was great that we went to the store because if I would have ordered my usual size of 44 regular or maybe a 42 regular online, it would have all been way too tight in Suitsupply.
I weigh about 205 to 210 lbs, which is about 92 to 95 kilograms, and I’m about 184 centimeters tall or six foot one. The size that Suitsupply that fit me the best was a 46 regular, and I’ve never had a 46 regular jacket in my life. Sadly, they only had the Lazio and the Napoli style in my size available in the store, so no Havana and no double-breasted options even though I would have liked to try that on because I like the silhouette.
Both the Lazio and Napoli have slightly padded shoulders, but the Lazio was a bit slimmer. Napoli was regular, had larger armholes, and was wider in the waist. It looked like the Lazio in the 46 regular fits me better than the Napoli and for an off-the-rack jacket, the fit was okay. It wasn’t great, and it wasn’t terrible.
Of course, you cannot compare the fit of a ready-to-wear garment to that of a bespoke suit because humans are all asymmetrical and off the rack garments are symmetrical. Sometimes, I meet people who say, “Oh, I bought this suit off the rack, and it fits perfectly.” If you think like that, chances are that your standards for fit are just too low.
As I mentioned before, because of the slim sleeves, I could always feel some restrictions when I moved. As soon as I moved my arm up or shook someone’s hand, my collar would gap. The sleeve pitch was off of my arms, which resulted in wrinkles on my sleeve, and of course, my right shoulder is quite a bit lower than my left one, so you see corresponding wrinkles in the back of the suit and the side of the jacket.
Overall, I can see why Havana is their most popular jacket. It’s a lot softer than the Lazio and the Napoli, I would have liked to try both the single-breasted and the double-breasted versions, but again, they didn’t have it. Maybe I would have hoped that they would have offered that they could send some garments in for trial, but I don’t know how their whole stocking process works, and it was not offered to me.
I really like the curved belly on their double-breasted jackets, and one hallmark they have for those is that they move the buttonhole rather close to the outside. In my mind, it doesn’t look that great, and it mimics the Italian brand Sciamat, for some reason. I wonder if they got inspired by them.
Obviously, the jacket is just one part of the suit, so now, let’s look at the trousers or pants. If you’re a regular of the Gentleman’s Gazette, you know I have a big bum and big thighs, and while my waist is about 36 or 37 inches, my thighs are still pretty big. When I tried on the Suitsupply pants, even a 42-inch waist was super tight in my thighs, and of course, they were all flat front.
Initially, I thought, Well, they’re offering two pleated pant styles–the Brentwood and the Braddon–and I could just choose those. But unfortunately, for suits, that wasn’t possible. So I thought that if they don’t have any off-the-rack suits with pleated pants, let’s try the custom program. But again, I wasn’t able to choose a pair of pleated pants in the custom program, which is a very basic request.
So, even if you’re paying up charge to customize your suit, you can only change a few things here or there within their realm of options, which in my case, didn’t even include a well-fitting pair of pants or at least the potential of a well-fitting pair of pants.
I thought, If that’s not an option, can I just buy a pair of pants that’s pleated and a jacket? But again, that seemed impossible. Why? The separate pants are only available in very limited fabric options, which would not have been available for the jackets. So, no, Suitsupply could not provide me with a suit that I could have actually worn, which just blew my mind. If you need roomier pants, Suitsupply is definitely not the brand for you.
Initially, the sales associate tried to talk me into flat-front pants and touted their fit guarantee, but once we tried things on, we both agreed they couldn’t make me even a pair of pants.
Preston’s Review
For a bit of context, I’m a little over 5 feet 10 inches tall and weigh about 125 pounds. Converted into metric, those are about 177 centimeters and 56 kilograms. I’ve got a very different build than Raphael does, and we thought it was important for our readers to know how Suitsupply could or couldn’t fit different physiques.
I’m obviously a skinny guy, so unsurprisingly, Suitsupply’s thinnest fit option, the Washington, was the one that fit me the best. All of their other models had far too much excess fabric to even be considered. I have roughly a 28-inch waist and typically wear a size 38 regular jacket. This means that I have a 10-inch drop, which is far more dramatic than average for most men.
While the Suitsupply jacket size that would fit me the best was indeed a 38 regular, I couldn’t have gone with the accompanying suit pants as Suitsupply, like most other retailers, offers only a 6-inch drop. Therefore, I had to go with the custom program as well.
The base model, Brescia trousers in a 28 regular fit, were pretty good on me. They had to be taken in slightly, but they did fit better than the next step down, which would have been a 26 regular. In particular, the 26s would have looked super slim on my legs even for how thin they are, which wouldn’t have been proportional to how the jacket was fitting.
The jacket’s sleeve pitch was also not perfect, but I’ve accepted this in every jacket that I wear because my arms have a bit of a permanent bend at the elbow due to a physical disability I’ve had since birth. More significant, though, was the fact that there was a sizable amount of collar gap when I moved my arms even slightly.
All told, the suit cost $669, excluding tax. It was delivered to us about a month after we first ordered. At which point, I tried it on again to see if any further alterations would be necessary at this point. As it was delivered to us, the suit definitely fit better at this stage than it had initially, which we certainly hoped would be the case. The trousers were more or less perfect at this point, but this again was expected as they were already pretty good and just needed minor alterations in the waist and leg length.
While they’re certainly a bit shorter, skinnier and overall more modern than I’m used to in my trousers, we decided that they couldn’t be any longer. If they were, the narrowness of the leg opening would probably cause unsightly bunching around my ankles where the leg meets my shoe, which wouldn’t be a good look.
So, this shorter length is where they needed to be. And while the center crease falls a bit differently between my two legs, this is more because my knees aren’t quite symmetrical also due to that same physical disability. I decided this was something I wasn’t passionate about changing further.
While the trousers fit well at this stage, the jacket still needed significant work. First and foremost, it was still much too large in the midsection with a good deal of excess fabric.
The collar gapping was also still quite significant, and the sleeve pitch was still off, though, on this second point, this isn’t a big deal to me, as I’ve already stated. And now, rather than being much too short as they originally were in-store, the sleeves were actually slightly too long for my liking. So, the jacket needed another round of alterations.
While we had to wait several months before returning to the store to do this due to the COVID-19 pandemic, once we actually got the process underway, the sales associate who took over my order from this point forward was very pleasant and easy to work with. Not that the others weren’t, of course.
We took in the midsection of the jacket even further, zeroed in on the fit of the different sleeve lengths, and made a couple of minor alterations that the sales associate said would help alleviate the collar gap more. However, as Raphael mentioned, this probably wouldn’t be totally possible.
The turnaround time for this second round of alterations was faster by about a week. I wouldn’t call the result perfect, but it is better. There is still some excess fabric in the midsection, but because my build is so strongly triangular, this probably wouldn’t be alleviated entirely with anything other than a fully bespoke garment.
This is also likely the case for the sleeve pitch, which is why I decided not to make it an issue. I’m satisfied with the sleeve length now, and while the collar gapping has been minimized more, it’s not gone entirely as you probably expected.
Is A Suit from Suitsupply Worth It?
Preston: Speaking personally, I would have to say “not at this time.” As Raphael mentioned, neither of us would have been even remotely satisfied with a true off-the-rack suit ordered sight unseen online as neither of us has body types that fit into Suitsupply’s idealized mold.
While I was able to get a finished suit that I would call good or perhaps even very good overall, I don’t think that the almost $700 price tag and the multiple rounds of in-store tailoring are worth it for something that I don’t like that much more than my existing off-the-rack suit options that were already in my wardrobe.
As mentioned, the sales associates that we worked with were all pleasant and as helpful as they could be. Still, overall, this custom OTR program is somewhat frustrating in its experience because of the limited amount of options and combinations that you truly have available. Also, the vagueness of what’s available at different times and around terms like “collar pleat” added to the confusion and frustration in the overall experience.
So, would I shop with Suitsupply again? Well, I might stop in every once in a while just to see how their offerings change over time, and given that the suit trousers did fit me pretty well, I might consider getting a few pairs to wear on their own as odd trousers.
Because of the type of customer and body type that they cater to, and because of the way I shop for and purchase menswear, I don’t think that I’m really their ideal customer. Suitsupply isn’t going to become a regular destination for me anytime soon.
Will I wear the suit that I got? Yes, I think so because it does fit me relatively well. It is lightweight and comfortable, and it provides me with a versatile navy option. But as I stated, it isn’t now automatically my favorite suit just because I went through this more customized process. So, those are my thoughts on whether Suitsupply is worth it, but let’s briefly throw it back to Raphael to get his thoughts as well.
Raphael’s Suitsupply Review Verdict
Raphael: So, in conclusion, what did I think? Well, they have their fit guarantee for their custom program, and even when something comes from the factory already adjusted, and it still doesn’t fit you, they’ll alter it in store for free or included.
Obviously, I wasn’t even able to buy a suit. For Preston, we could have just returned it and said, “Hey, we’re not entirely happy with the fit,” and they would have gotten us our money back, but we thought it would have been unethical because we wanted to review the suit and if we had returned it, they could not have sold it to anyone else.
We wanted to film a video to get the full experience, and we did get that, so it was okay in my mind paying for that.
If you as a customer just want to end up with a well-fitting suit, probably you would have returned it, just like how I thought about Preston’s.
Considering that a company is called Suitsupply, they focus on suits, and their slogan is, “Don’t just fit in, find your own perfect fit,” it’s a huge disappointment that they couldn’t supply me with a suit. Frankly, if I were them, I’d be embarrassed.
In general, I think it’s nice to have a large network of stores so you can actually see the things in person. Competitive brands in that price range are probably something like Spier & Mackay. Personally, I’d be interested in their made-to-measure program because I’d like to see if they can accommodate all the asymmetries in my body, what the fabric options are and if I can truly choose all the details.
Hello, GG!
Yes, I’d personally like you to review S&M suits. If I’m not mistaken, they offer MTO through their website and some sort of MTM in their offline stores.
I feel the same way you guys do. I’m not oddly shaped. 38S to 40S depending. But any of their interesting suits, jackets don’t fit me worth a damn. Their custom program is fine if I want navy or gray, no I don’t. So their tag line, like most companies tag lines, Is stated precisely backwards. if you want one of our kewl suits, or one that actually fits, You’d better be close to fitting in..
A lot of this information in this article is outdated. They have revamped their custom made program within the last year and a half and theybhave more options than competitors I’ve seen. Interesting article and review to say the least…
As usual a nice review but the information given about fit and features especially in the custom made program urgently need an update. Many of them are from 2019. Hence they do not reflect the evolution of the program.
Agree with this comment here. The evolution of their custom made program has made them more accessible to find what you need. Not sure when this visit was actually done for this article, but a lot of it is inaccurate.
I had a made-to-measure suit from one of their London stores – simultaneously the most expensive, and the worst suit I have purchased in 20 years. The “tailor” was utterly indifferent, seemingly unable to offer any opinions even when asked; when I returned for the second fitting to a suit that had been constructed without regard to my instructions (with rear trouser pockets when I had specified none) he accused me of giving him incorrect instructions. Even if that were true – which it absolutely was not – for this price quite frankly they should have just sorted it out without a fuss. The cloth is also the lowest quality I have ever seen outside of chain-store off-the-peg, bobbling within a handful of wearings. You will be paying for the advertising image, avoid.
Sorry to hear about your experience with them, Stuart. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I’m a thin guy (but not as thin as Preston) and in general I have little difficulty finding suit jackets off the rack that fit me in the most basic respects (e.g., no collar gap). At Suit Supply, the only suit jackets that I found that met this standard for me were in the Jort line, which is priced around $1000. It seems as though they have designed their suits and jackets to fit a very narrowly defined range of sihouettes. If your body happens to be within that range, and you like skinny cuts, you can probably find something there that you like. Otherwise, shopping there is probably not a good use of your time. Both of the sales assistants that I worked with were very courteous and helpful, even though on neither visit did I buy anything.
I’m a big fan of Spier and Mackay and would be interested in seeing the Gentleman’s Gazette’s assessment of them.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Miles! Sadly, the Jort line was unavailable during their visit.
I think both of you have unique bodies that you should only have bespoke garments. I have my own size problems- I take a 42 short that has to have the sleeves adjusted b/c I have short arms (shirt size 30 in sleeves) and I am 170 lbs & 5โ4โ tall with a 37โ waist. Let me know when you get a bespoke suit- I am going to try their store in Philadelphia for a made to measure or bespoke suit. As a aside, you might try LS Menโs Clothings in NYC, NY @ 49 W 45th St, phone 212-575-0933 for their bespoke suits from $695-1195. Search their website for hours- closed Saturday but open Sunday. Love your videos. Also watch the guy from France with the American wife – Sartorial something.
Your review is about what I expected for your body types and style preferences. I agree that SuitSupply is not for everyone.
I had my groomsmen get the tux deal for my wedding and they fit them well (early 30’s, generally athletic builds, between 5’10” and 6’1″) but my dad had to go two jacket sizes up just to get it on his shoulders and clearly wasn’t buttoning the jacket anytime soon. These are not great suits for round frontsides.
I noted your comment about “standards of fit” being too low, as I often mention how I can wear the Havana 40R OTR without (many) alterations as a 5’10.5″, 165 pound man. I’m certain my standards for fit are lower than yours and perhaps they are, in fact, too low in general; in my opinion, only having to take in half an inch from one sleeve to get what I consider an excellent fit for an OTR jacket is great. No collar roll (which is my issue even with high-end custom jackets), excellent shape and structure throughout the chest, and finally not having to cut out inches around the midsection (or looking like I don’t fit through the shoulders on a slim-cut jacket) are massive improvements from other OTR jackets in semi-comparable price ranges. My shoulder drop is almost immeasurable so perhaps I’m fairly symmetric through the body. I do have issues with my butt and thighs fitting into the 32 pants that best fit my waist, but the 6 inch drop means I’m getting 34s with the suit jacket and bringing in the waist rather than trying to do something like let out the thigh.
The Havana cut offers by far the best cut for your preferred, more traditional style/fit (and the most options) and I’m lucky that it is a great fit for my body type. I can’t wear the Lazlo or Washington cuts, so a little disappointed there wasn’t someone else present with a body type between Sven Raphael and Preston.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your assessment that this blog is not likely the target audience, but I also think these are accessible suits for people that may be averse to ‘dressing up’ and offer a product miles ahead of the competition at a comparable price. A fair deal for an above-average product that is a lot more fun than buying $500-$800 suits at a department store.
PS: I would not recommend the Traveller-fabric suits to anyone – the hand feels cheap and the fabric is only “wrinkle resistant,” – in other words, it will wrinkle in the suitcase while traveling, just not quite as much as their other fabrics. Just go for the better, traditional fabrics.
Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts, Tom! :)
I think Suit Supply is good (or moderate) if you are not too high demanding and do not have to or wish to spend (too) much money, Suit Supply is decent, no more no less, of course there is (always) better, but that’s life!
I love you guys ! Interesting and very “entertaining” post…..
Preston – the finished jacket silhouette with peak lapels looked terrific on you, the trousers, not so much. Personally, I am not a fan of pegged (read too narrow) pants. Single pleat / fuller leg ?
If I’m not mistaken, didn’t the Duke of Windsor have his jackets and trousers made by different houses ?
Preston – it would have been interesting if you had worn your “favorite suit” as a visual comparison in this post.
Raphael, both You and I need to shed a few lbs to be Suit Supply’s ideal customer. You do wear your vested houndstooth suit very well – is it your favorite ?
Regards/JL
p.s. Preston your choice of shirt and tie was spot on.
IMHO the 2 most important things in purchasing off the rack suits are to know your size (and read the manufacturer’s sizing guide), and , more importantly, to realize that most such items are designed for slim-fit physiques and that if you are overweight, you will struggle to find a good fit. Speaking from personal experience, I reduced my weight from an unhealthy 94.5 kg to a healthy 76.5 kg (BMI of 22, in my case) and find that gaining more than, say, 2 Kg makes one aware of a tight fit, and reinforces the need to stay slim to look good in slim fit suit.
David, I commissioned a bespoke three-piece suit from Whitcomb and Shaftesbury in London with the idea that if I spent a ridiculous amount of money for a custom tailored suit I’d damn well make sure I wouldn’t get too fat for it. Turned out to be a good strategy!
Aha, you have uncovered my strategy! Staying health = maintaining healthy weight = looking good = reward for good behaviour. It’s a great equation.
Collar pleat is a horizontal pleat just under the collar on the back of the jacket
Thank you for sharing, David! Good job on losing the extra weight. :)
I have not read the entire article, however I appreciate you telling us about anything related to dressing. I will finish the whole article, but basically when you started mentioning the price I can think of other well established stores that sell great suits and have been doing so for many many years. Plus it seemed getting a good fit was a nightmare.
Keep writing and keep us informed.
Thanks
Thank you for your continued support, James!
Please review Spier and Mackay. I have several sports coats and lots of trousers from them and all needed nothing more than hemming and minor alterations. I do have a most regular and symmetrical build, so most, not all, OTR garments fit me well — and, thanks to the Gentleman’s Gazette videos, lots of reading, and a few visits to Savile Row, I am knowledgeable about how men’s clothes should fit. For their price point, Spier and Mackay offers smart but classic silhouettes, fine fabrics and the best value in men’s clothes I have yet found. Would appreciate your opinions.
Thank you for sharing, Jon! We’re looking into it, so stay tuned! :)
+1 for Spier & Mackay
Suits did not appear to be worth even their modest price tags.
I di however get a nice linen and silk sweater.
Interesting article, but I find it somewhat inaccurate and may need to be revisited. Some things that stuck out to me: suits actually start at $359 which are mostly you essential suit colors, custom made suits start at $459 (I got a Super 130 Navy checked suit), and their custom program has a lot of different aesthetics to choose from (pleated pants, reverse pleats, wide lapels vs narrow lapels, etc..). I do agree, however, that Suitsupply doesn’t work for everyone when looking at the OTR. Moreover, I think it’s more about the knowledge the sales rep has or not. I’ve been to 4 different stores in the US and I had different experiences and information from each one.
I bought a lightweight half lined bamboo sport coat from their JORT line at the beginning of summer. Iโm very tall and skinny but the 38R (my usual size) fit me perfectly with no alterations needed. I would actually say itโs one of my best fitting OTR jackets, with no collar gap or creasing anywhere. The bamboo fabric is particularly nice, it feels similar to linen and breathes well but doesnโt crease as much. The unpadded โpleatedโ shoulders work well on a casual summer sport coat but would look odd on a more conservative suit to me.
The jacket was GBP 400 and advertised as (and appears to be) fully canvassed. For what I got I feel it was good value, although it seems I got lucky on the fit.
Iโm not interested in their suits because the trousers are all too slim and low rise for my tastes but I would happily get sport coats from them again.
I still use SuitSupply for the occasional MTO shirt, knitwear (turtlenecks), and maybe a casual Havana summer jacket (sized up). AFAIK, they don’t have any 3-roll-2 button configurations, just standard 2 button jackets though (unlike Spier & Mackay), and I find the quarters to be a bit too closed. Two things that weren’t mentioned about Susu: 1) Their RTW trousers, even the pleated ones, are fairly low rise, and with pleated trousers, you really want a higher rise and 2) Their sleeves are too short RTW, both on shirts and on jackets.
Collar pleat is a horizontal pleat just under the collar on the back of the jacket
Short comment,
1- Front buttons is 1 1/4 needs to be lower at least, also the front pocket same thing.
2- Without seeing the back, the back doesn’t fit you good.
Hello. Since one of my brothers intimsted me about Suit Supply, about four years ago, I have been won over! Literally. Suit Supply’s suits and sport coats and way better than any other products that are roughly of the same pricing (like Charles Tyrwhritt, Hawes and Curtis, and TM Lewin) I will even take Suit Supply suits/jackets anyday over some more expensive ones such as Hugo Boss. Suit Supply’s suits and sport coats are good quality very well cut to suit the contemporary gent. Moreover, they offer like three sets of suits, depending on whether you’re looking for something more casual or something more formal. Then, off course, there’s the tuxedo, of which they have some creative and innovative styles. Suit supply even offer linen and wool pocket squares! How many other clotheirs or designers are that imaginative? I’m currently having a custom made suit from Suit Supply. That’s going to be the main piece of my ensemble for the next Kentucky Derby