What's In Your Wishlist?

[K9MT]

My wishlist now includes a Burberry suit:

[Kevin josh]

AWESOME! Whats the brand of these?

[julian]

Recently tried one on sale in the Joseph concession in Selfridges, London

Absolutely gorgeous, in a sort of khaki green, affordable but sadly slightly too small for me

Love Joseph menswear, but the often astronomical prices are offputting

Currently looking for a decent, simple, well fitting double breasted mac/trenchcoat myself

[julian]

My wishlist now includes a Burberry suit:

I dont think this pic is a good example

Here it looks as though the suit is wearing the man, rather than the other way round

The guy resembles a thunderbird puppet and I think its a combination of the stiff pose and rather stiff looking buttoned up 3-piece

[julian]

A coat for winter that resembles this:

Mateo Harris's Style | Street Style Photos at FashionBeans.com.....or this


Sergio Penaloza's Style | Street Style Photos at FashionBeans.com

[julian]

Also one or two of those Joseph Menswear jumpers with elbow patches I saw in Selfridges the last time I was there

Absolutely gorgeous and a beautiful fit

Why is 'Joseph' so damn expensive though !!???

Have to take my chance in the next sale

[William Colman]

A coat for winter that resembles this:

Mateo Harris's Style | Street Style Photos at FashionBeans.com.....or this


Sergio Penaloza's Style | Street Style Photos at FashionBeans.com

keep your eye on Reiss, they've got a really nice double breasted overcoat coming out this season. Isn't going to be the standard grey, black or navy though.

[Matt]

Related to this, I've been eyeing a grey double breasted three piece suit for a while, probably in wool though I haven't decided yet. I doubt I'll ever buy a suit off the rack, though; I'm a bit too tall and thin. One thing I've learned from FashionBeans is that fit is everything, and I've seen enough tailor shops with prices advertised that are only a little more than off-the-rack that it seems silly to do anything otherwise. What is the difference between tailor-made and a Burberry? Is the cut more unique, is the material better? I'm wondering what the extra cost is for and if it's worth it.

My wishlist now includes a Burberry suit:

[julian]

keep your eye on Reiss, they've got a really nice double breasted overcoat coming out this season. Isn't going to be the standard grey, black or navy though.

Will keep an eye out (although charcoal grey is my favourite colour when it comes to winter coats...will have to see)

[electroRoss]

Related to this, I've been eyeing a grey double breasted three piece suit for a while, probably in wool though I haven't decided yet. I doubt I'll ever buy a suit off the rack, though; I'm a bit too tall and thin. One thing I've learned from FashionBeans is that fit is everything, and I've seen enough tailor shops with prices advertised that are only a little more than off-the-rack that it seems silly to do anything otherwise. What is the difference between tailor-made and a Burberry? Is the cut more unique, is the material better? I'm wondering what the extra cost is for and if it's worth it.

This is a good question. I'm going to rephrase it more generally as 'what do you get from a designer suit that you won't get in a locally tailored suit?'

There are lots of answers to this question and many of them are questionable and should be taken with a pinch of salt. The designer will tell you that their suit has had a team of the world's best designers working on the shape and style to ensure that it is cut to perfection for the fabric, season, fashion, etc. With a local tailor, they will design the suit with you and theoretically, this will be more restrictive. If you are getting a straightfoward suit, then take in pictures of designs you like and work with them towards a design you are happy with.

The fabric could be better with a designer suit. They'll tell you that they work with the best fabric producers in the world, blahdy blah blah. It's actually amazing how expensive fabric is, I was shocked when I got a suit tailored and the cost becomes a bit of an obstacle to having the perfect suit made by a local tailor.

The workmanship. Again, the designer company will tell you that the workmanship in their suit is the highest standard in the land. Look at the label, it's probably made in China, so it might be that you get neater stitches because small children are more dexterous than your local tailor.

Here's what I think. For the same material, design and quality of finish as a Burberry, it will cost you considerably more to get a local tailor to make a suit, probably over a grand. Burberry will be cheaper because of economies of scale and low manufacturing costs abroad.

I'd be interested in the opinion of others here, particularly those who work for suit retailers.