Anyone else try shopping for a suit recently...? Disaster!

hmmm · 07-03-2012 09:46PM

I find the guys in Abrahams off Dawson street are helpful and offer good advice. Expensive suits though, but good value when the sale is on.

I'm not sure about the Italian versus German suit thing, in general Irish men seem to wear shapeless German suits that look like something that is designed to survive winter in the Stalingrad pocket. A good Italian suit that has curves looks great on a guy that isn't carrying much weight. I hate English cuts, you might as well be wearing a rectangular box.

Stheno · 10-03-2012 10:18PM

I'm female, but live in suits and have the following advice:

If the jacket fits well, and the trousers don't buy the suit

You can add false hems to short trousers, but need to check the lenght of the hem fits before you add a short hem

Always buy a second pair of trousers, they get far more wear and tear then jackets.

If you are a daily suit wearer try to have 4-5 that you can rotate, and dry clean them once a month.

Finally in terms of suits not fitting well, the OH bought a suit from Paul Costello last weekend (in his outlet in Banbridge before you all think we are loaded

) and discovered something we never knew. Most good quality mens suits have a huge seam in the crotch, from back to front, of up to 2 inches so they can be let out if you get that "have a look at my lunchbox" effect, while the trousers look great elsewhere.

So if you are buying a suit, check the back under the waistband and see if there is spare fabric there for letting it out

Helps with trying to match jackets with trousers !

McChubbin · 12-03-2012 09:50PM

I'm also female and I find myself going through a blazer phase but giving that I am a fat chick with rugby shoulders, finding a blazer/suit jacket to fit is a quest in futility. I've yet to venture into Marks and Spencers but knowing my luck, it'll most likely be a swift visit to the Menswear department followed by a self-hating pastry in the cafe.

ladhrann · 13-03-2012 11:49AM

McChubbin wrote: »

I'm also female and I find myself going through a blazer phase but giving that I am a fat chick with rugby shoulders, finding a blazer/suit jacket to fit is a quest in futility. I've yet to venture into Marks and Spencers but knowing my luck, it'll most likely be a swift visit to the Menswear department followed by a self-hating pastry in the cafe.

I did a bit of that myself as well (or the male equivalent i.e. a pint of pasties) until I found a decent tailor.

bottom line: I make clothes fit me not the other way around.

JimmyCrackCorn · 14-03-2012 05:50AM

I went Suit shopping in galway two weeks ago before shipping out.

I went to marks and sparks but wasnt impressed. Fine for shirts but I didnt like the suits.

I bought in a small shop near the markt in galway that had a sale. Got three suits I liked and saved a bit.

DB21 · 15-03-2012 11:19PM

Honest to God, Tesco suits aren't that bad if you can get a style you want there.

mongdesade · 17-03-2012 01:25PM

I got my suits custom tailored here...
http://www.tailor4less.com/en-ie/men/custom-suits/?gclid=CNGhrs6D7q4CFUNO4Qod2FP2IA
I have to say, I could not fault the quality or the service...my 2 cents !

YouTookMyName · 17-03-2012 09:04PM

I'm 52R Jacket 42-30 trouser, impossible to get a value for money suit.

source · 20-03-2012 01:28PM

Picked up a nice Italian cut suit the other day in Limerick, €300 fits almost perfect, shop is doing the alterations for me inhouse.

Can't beat that, if you buy in a proper suit shop instead of generic places like m&s or next then you get a better fit and a better quality of suit. You do however wind up paying a bit more, but well worth it in my opinion.

StupidLikeAFox · 23-03-2012 02:02AM

Havent been but I was told by someone that in M&S you can mix and match the jackets and the trousers.

BigDuffman · 28-03-2012 12:59PM

I went suit shopping recently. Best and Diffneys had some good offers on. Get sexalicious Grey slim fit, one button remus uno with fold up black pocket detail for €265

Bruce7 · 28-03-2012 01:41PM

ladhrann wrote: »

I would advise www.tom-murphy.ie in Cork they stock Magee which are the best of the Ready-to-Wear market in Ireland. See if you can get an extra pair of trousers, this will dramatically increase the life of the suit.

I would not agree with the poster who told you to go for a wool mix. The small increase in durability is not worth the loss of comfort, shape and breathability.

Polyester will wear hot, and would be unbearable all day everyday in a hotel. The only way to get good wear out of suits is to have a few, wear them in rotation and to not dry-clean them too often. Polyester mixes will also retain a lot of odour compared to wool including bar smells, smoke, body odour etc.

In the long-term if you're prepared to go for a very good suit, you can get a two-piece bespoke suit from Moynihans made in Cork city, from about E850.

+1 on Magee.

I was very put off by their image, but tried one on one day without realising I was in the Magee section of Arnott's and now I will only wear Magee suits. They do made to measure also; I was quoted 500-800 which is excellent value.

Worst suit I ever got was from Boss. Flimsy material and lost its shape completely after a few weeks. It was pricy too.

nialo · 30-03-2012 01:13PM

Another +1 on Magee. have two from them now and they are really well made.

Dr Galen · 30-03-2012 02:25PM

A distinct lack of waistcoats being mentioned in this thread!

Hot weather and still needing to look classy, can be an option for some. Maybe not for everyday wear, and a lot depends on the person too.

cade · 01-04-2012 11:04AM

Dr Galen wrote: »

A distinct lack of waistcoats being mentioned in this thread!

Just picked up a few Remus Uomo suits last week; two two piece suits and two three piece suits. I've always had a love for a good waistcoat, even back at my confirmation I picked out a material I liked and asked for a waistcoat to be tailored for me, which the parents were all to happy about given everyone else in my class was going for the jeans and leather jacket look.

and no the reason for that look was not that Grease :cool: had only just been released that year, I'm not that old

Anyhow, very happy with the suits so I just had to pick up a few new shirts and ties yesterday to polish off the look.

Gordon Gecko · 01-04-2012 10:47PM

Picked up a sweet enough deal in Henry Jermyn a few weeks ago. E239 for a tin of fruit, a shirt and a tie. It was a quality suit. The trousers were quite tight around the crotch area but the alterations were part of the deal. Expensive but in fairness was saving E150+ given that the whistle alone was 300+ usually.

Red Alert · 02-04-2012 09:26PM

I'd recommend Copeland's - I was in the one in Wicklow Street a while back getting a suit. The lads upstairs are very good and will go out of their way to get you the right suit for you. They're great craic as well, which made the whole experience very enjoyable. They had the alterations marked up in no time and I collected the suit a couple of days later. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.

Morlock · 03-04-2012 03:22PM

Hi all , I am having some trouble finding good priced Mens business suit, every shop is now only stocking " Slim " suits with narrow pencil tin legs. Where Are all the boot cut , jackets that are larger than size 40 ?
Can anyone recommend a place to buy a nice business suit that fits a man and not a business suit thats made to fit a child

Morlock · 04-04-2012 12:33PM

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I had the same problem when recently getting a suit. The choice seemed to be, take a jacket that fitted or a trousers that fitted but not both. Didn't really understand why as I was spending 400-500 euro and ended up leaving the shop with nothing. I reckon to get a decent suit (ie a suit that fits and with zero polyester) you would need to spend a fair bit of cash say €400 each. The other posters suggestion of getting one fitted is a good one if you can stretch to it.
There was a tailor I used in Bangkok a few years ago and I got in contact with him. Sent him updated measurements and within 2 weeks 2 suits arrived at my house. Fitted perfectly and made from a cashmere-wool mix. €200 each

Thanks for the tip , I Like the sound of the Bangkok connection, would the tailor in Bangkok except my measurements via email, rather than them having already measured me up ? Im guessing they might, but if it didn't fit when it arrived they wouldn't take the blame.

Pawwed Rig · 04-04-2012 01:32PM

Morlock wrote: »

Thanks for the tip , I Like the sound of the Bangkok connection, would the tailor in Bangkok except my measurements via email, rather than them having already measured me up ? Im guessing they might, but if it didn't fit when it arrived they wouldn't take the blame.

That is the risk you take. Also the cost of sending it back and forth would probably not be worthwhile. I was lucky enough to be over there a couple of times so got all the measurements done whilst there. They do accept measurements by e-mail. I got a suit for my brother by sending his measurements and it fitted fine. I'm sure it could be taken in by someone in Ireland

Morlock · 04-04-2012 02:29PM

Dr Galen wrote: »

A distinct lack of waistcoats being mentioned in this thread!

Hot weather and still needing to look classy, can be an option for some. Maybe not for everyday wear, and a lot depends on the person too.

Valid point , however my personal taught on the waste coat is that it only looks well on the slimmer man.

If your a heaver build as I am I am not so sure, I can not confirm this as I dont have a waist coat,

Dr Galen · 04-04-2012 02:32PM

You should try it, I've seen bigger lads wear a nice tailored waistcoat and look a) slimmer and b) very good, even though they were bigger lads.

Morlock · 04-04-2012 02:35PM

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

That is the risk you take. Also the cost of sending it back and forth would probably not be worthwhile. I was lucky enough to be over there a couple of times so got all the measurements done whilst there. They do accept measurements by e-mail. I got a suit for my brother by sending his measurements and it fitted fine. I'm sure it could be taken in by someone in Ireland

If you wouldnt mind, sending out any details or an email for the tailor you had yours and your brothers suits done with, either here or as a private message I would like to contact them.

I would rather use a company that someone has used than take a chance myself just surfing the web,

regedit · 26-04-2012 10:47AM

I am 6.4 tall and struggle with suits. I go through 2-3 suits a year. For me, the best fit are Strellson suits but again, their quality is not the best I find. I love Baumler but while their trousers will fit me (I wear 34 or 35 L) the jacket in a 42L will never fit and 44L does not add much to the length but it does become baggy!
I have tried Zegna in Savoy Taylers Guild. A caveat is that these suits are Zegna cloth but not made by Zegna. While the material is great, the fit is more for American people.

My preferred suit is Boss I must say and good deals can be found in Kildare Village.Especially if one can wait for their sales. They do not do a mix'n match there but a 42 L (with trousers in 102) fits me OK. I would not pay more than 400 Euro for a suit TBH. In terms of good value shirts, Olymp does it fine for me. They do the extra long sleeve and wash and wear well.
I was wondering if anyone has experience with Milan suits. I have 4 pairs of their trousers and I like them a lot. They are made of superfine wool (120 or 130). Link is here for their suits. Any comment welcome.

ladhrann · 27-04-2012 02:44PM

regedit wrote: »

They are made of superfine wool (120 or 130). Link is here for their suits. Any comment welcome.

If you are going through 3/4 suits a year I would recommend that you stay away from any superfine wool. Without getting into weaving processes and the definition of superfine anything that describes itself as such feels softer and is softer. Anything that is soft will wear poorly. It is luxurious in terms of feel etc. but will not last.

If you want to get durability from your suits you need to go for the heaviest cloth you can find. Also get extra trousers as this will drastically lengthen the life of the suit.

You also need to wear your suits in rotation i.e. wear the one suit no more than once every seven days.

In your price range you might be well advised to look at Magee suits as they will do an extra pair of trousers for you, and don't do much of this 'superfine' nonsense if I recall.

thenashlegend · 29-04-2012 04:06PM

I'm not by any means an expert in suits, I've only bought two! But the last one was hard to get, I eventually bought in Eddie Murphy's here in Mayo but as was mentioned before, there are a lot of skinny jean type suits which really p1ssed me off!

YouTookMyName · 29-04-2012 10:19PM

thenashlegend wrote: »

I'm not by any means an expert in suits, I've only bought two! But the last one was hard to get, I eventually bought in Eddie Murphy's here in Mayo but as was mentioned before, there are a lot of skinny jean type suits which really p1ssed me off!

Should have gone to Anthony Ryans or Hanleys in Galway.

Got a lovely Douglas Suit in Ryans a few years back for €300.

Anyone else try shopping for a suit recently...? Disaster!

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