Info on good suits from all you business types

If you're only wearing a suit 5 times a year. Harry Rosen would be a place to find an Armani suit.

I'm guessing you're probably only need a mid-range suit. What separates a good suit and a cheap suit is a) Fabric b) cut c) fit.

For an good suit, try Harry Rosen or a tailor. There' Rego at First Canadian Place. For a mid range suit, I suggest the Bay, they carry Tommy Hilfiger.

Buy the latest issue of GQ and Harry's magazine. Harry will be more conservative. One reason to go to Harry's store is that they give good advice. You tell them what business you are in and what you need the suit for and they will make good suggestions. You pay top prices, of course...but hey, the price of a suit is only three or four sessions with a top ranking SP and may boost your earnings instead of drain them.)

If you ever make your way to Europe, I recommend you to buy it there. For some reason, most places that carry suits here in Toronto, including brand names, make one look way older that your age, look too geeky or too formal. My cousins purchased their suits in Germany for a wedding, and hell I loved the suits they got. Looked sexy, fit perfectly, had slits and details in the right places, just like the ones you see on fashion television.

If you are going to have only one suit...

...and my guess is that if you only are going to wear it 4 to 5 times a year then that will be sufficent...

Have it made for you. Spend the money. Ignore "designer labels" - designers will stick their name on anything if someone gives them enough money to do so...and for the price you pay for a GOOD off the rack "designer suit", you can have one made.

Harry Rosen is a good place to go (that is where I have been), but there are others. Google is as good a place to start as any to do the research I guess, but the yellow pages works too (then you will know they are local). There is a place downtown that advertises on Jazz FM 91.1...never been but the ads sound classy.

A good suit of good quality material made for you will cost between $1000 and $1500 before taxes. You can spend more, but then you are just showing off....

If you have the body for it (slim to average- with an average build propotion wise...nothing like long arms or a big butt) and money is an issue, you can buy a quality off the rack suit at Harry Rosen for $500 - $750. Again, avoid "designer", you are just paying for a name at that price point. Buy what fits and what suits your eye.

Avoid AT ALL COST Moore's. I went there when I first got to Toronto 4 years ago, when I was broke (in the relative sense) and needed a suit to restart my life (virtually all my personal belongings were lost in my apartment back in NYC on 9/11). I didn't have time to wait for a "real" suit to be made, and I also wasn't trying to spend $1200 when I didn't have a job and didn't know when I would.

I asked for the best suit in the place, because when you are my size, a cheap suit looks REALLY cheap. They asked me what I was prepared to spend. When I told them, they looked at me funny. Clearly I was in the wrong place, but I didn't know where else to go. The best suit they could give me (admittedly in my size) was this $300 thing that might impress construction workers but looks like a cheap suit to anyone who knows suits. Plus by time they finished nicking me on alterations and tax it was a $400 suit, and so for another couple hundred I could have had a REAL suit. I still have it, but don't wear it. The thing pisses me off every time I see it. All that to say - avoid Moore's.

Yup...

frankcastle said:

DD,

Top sessions = $300?..... So $900 to $1200 is the range?

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..that is the range. Bingo.

Me, I'm a BIG guy, and most places will not carry a suit that will fit me properly. I've been going to the Big and Tall shop in London Ontario and get "Made to Order" suits. They're made in Montreal to the style and fabric I like in a few weeks. This ensures that the pants and jacket fit me and are not off the rack.

Suits

You could try Tom's Place in Kensington Market downtown. He also often has spring and fall selloffs at the airport or hotel convention centres. You can also haggle with him. His place was in Toronto Life mag on where to get good stuff cheap.

It is an alternative to Rosen, with many decent brands available and is definitely above the Moore's cheapy lines. There is also Korry's which I think is Danforth/Broadview.

Sure...

frankcastle said:

Thanks for the info MLAM!

BTW other than fit are there other ways of spotting a cheap suit?

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1) A real suit is lined....not just the jacket, but the sleeves as well, along with the slacks. A nice suit has perspiration shields in the sleeves. On a REAL suit, the slacks are fully lined, but if they are lined to the knee that is good.

2) On a real suit the pattern "matches" between the sleeves and the body of the jacket. This is because it is cut from one piece of fabric versus scrapes, and because someone took time to line it up by eye versus it coming off a machine. What do I mean by "matches"? The lines in the pattern line up reasonably well from panel to panel. Speaking of which...

3) A real suit has fewer panels, again because it is made from a single piece of fabric with extensive human labor, versus by a machine where a single pattern is simply copied to several panels of fabric. On the BEST suits the jacket is one panel...no back seam or side seams, just sleeves seams, but that is more money than we are talking about here. That is TOTAL handmade. The point is, fewer is better.

4) Not necessarily 100% accurate, but on a real nice suit all the buttons, including the sleeve buttons, work. Meaning there is an actual button hole, versus a button just sewn on. This again shows attention to detail and that a PERSON took time to make that suit, versus it coming off a machine.

5) A real suit uses real material...wool for the shoulder pads and canvas, for example (a cheap suit will not have canvas at all).

Harry Rosen's website used to have other tips, but I couldn't find it. I did find these things though...

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/30/pf/goodlife_fortune/index.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_108131_buy-mans-suit.html

This is a level above what we are talking about here...Harry Rosen does this too, but this is for REAL ballers...lol. We are talking $4,000 and up...

http://www.englishcut.com/archives/000005.html

MLAM listed out pretty much all the important ingredients of nice suits. One more thing I want to add is that the shoulders of all nice suits/overcoats are nicely tailored. They are all nice and smooth without any wrinkles in the seams that you will always see in those cheap suits/overcoats because of the quality of the tailors. Also, I found that a nice piece of suits will automaticlly release all the wrinkles by just hanging them overnight.

I'm a big fan of Hugo Boss and their suits are nicely tailored. However, I will also buy cheaper suits (in the $400-$500 price range) for everyday use. Make sure that the fabric is "high twist" and as long as the shoulders are nicely tailored, it's even hard for an experienced sales associate at Harry Rosen to visually tell the difference. You can check out suits in this price range at some indie Italian owned men's stores in most major shopping malls. There is one at Bayview Village at Sheppard/Bayview but I forgot the name.

I recently found that Zara carries quite a lot of decent quality suits with a price tag of about $350 plus taxes. It's perfect for everyday use and I will consider buying suits from there in the future.

Remember, never go for any cheap suits!

Don't forget that other assessories are important too. You shoes must be nice and shine. If you want to look classy, buy shirts with spread collars (point collars look really cheap on suits). Ties must be 100% silk or the knots will look very ugly. The colour od your belt must match with the colour of your shoes. Lastly, never wear your white socks!!!

I found a couple nice suits at Value Village... the only thing is they may have been from the 60's

playw/respect said:

I recently found that Zara carries quite a lot of decent quality suits with a price tag of about $350 plus taxes. It's perfect for everyday use and I will consider buying suits from there in the future.

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Right. A man needs about 5 -7 suits. Go crazy if you want for one...but the others..you know You ride on the Subway/airplane/ in the car...They take a beating. Korrys and Tom's place have served me well. $700-$900.
Never ware a suit, that's worth more then two times yor customer...They think your margins are too high.
Oh and please ...Never loafers...really sad.
Lean to tie at least 3 different knots.
Good luck

Harry is good for someone new to suits, though the price is higher than some other places. I tried on an Armani there with a fantastic and distinctive cut but has a price tag of $2000. Looked great but not worth it. Best option is a tailor that someone you trust reccomends.

funkygroove said:

If you ever make your way to Europe, I recommend you to buy it there. For some reason, most places that carry suits here in Toronto, including brand names, make one look way older that your age, look too geeky or too formal. My cousins purchased their suits in Germany for a wedding, and hell I loved the suits they got. Looked sexy, fit perfectly, had slits and details in the right places, just like the ones you see on fashion television.

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I'm no suit guru but do a lot of browing. Only wear it for formals. IMO, it really depends what store & trend at the time.

I wasn't shopping for suits while in EU, but lots of window shopping. Frankfort & small towns - way too conservative. Rome - sharp but fine pin stripes not for everyone. Paris tasteful as Parisian would. While London varies between Marks & Spencer vs. Knighbridge or bond vs. Oxford st. Milan can be a joke if you're big guy doing the tight fit trend. As you suggests, damn good looking on the Leo DiCap types thou.