Custom-Made Wedding Suits!

Robin with buttonsAs promised, dapperQ wedding candidate #D-4689 (just kidding, it was Robin and she is guinea pig number uno) and I had her custom fit at MySuitNY.com last Friday. We went through the full selection process but, after Robin’s (apparently terrific) pop saw her sartorial quandary as portrayed in the Washington Post, he is also going to have her meet with his tailor in Connecticut. I find out manana, and will soon thereafter share, which custom option she will make in a world that already has more than when she reached out to dapperQ.

Robin lapelsAs these photos show, our experience was pretty great. For a base price of $495 (which includes 70% of the fabric choices), dapperQ’s can get a custom made suit for which you select the fabric, lining, buttons, cut of pockets, monograph, suspender buttons, thread details, etc. I’ve seen a couple of other custom suit companies but none near this price point. (I know we’ve got to make headway on options that don’t require a trip to NYC. Please make note if there are others we can be getting in to the dapperQ mix?)

Robin measure 2We worked with Chike who can be seen measu The head designer and president of the company also made an appearance. Both seemed concerned that their framework wouldn’t work for women, an audience for which they felt they would need to develop a whole new fitting and selection system.

Before you take offense, remember that women’s suits have silly things like buttons on the other side (god knows which) and darts, etc. They also have different general body frames (MySuitNY builds its suits starting from a base of four common male body types.) I think what they didn’t expect was that dapperQ’s want a suit to really fit, but we don’t want it to look like it’s a woman’s suit.  Chike assured me that many men also have hips and big butts and while the majority don’t have breasts, they do have pot bellies. We could easily see how room needed to accommodate a man’s belly could also accommodate a woman’s belly or breasts.

Robin in mirrorWhat was amazing was to learn of the choices that men who care about how they look can make in this process. (Given how relatively limited their choices are in terms of suits, ties, shirts and colors, these details make sense but are especially delightful for those of us who want ALL OF IT!) For instance, there are four buttons and corresponding button holes on the sleeve of the jacket. Chike always uses a highlight thread (I think it was blue?) on the third button hole because he is the third son. One of his clients always outlines the first button hole in gray because he has gray in his hair.

More on Robin’s process as it develops. (I’ll not be giving details on the suit lest her lovely bride wants to peak.)

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10 Comments

  • thanks for the post – it’s great to hear that MySuitNY was helpful. another suitmaker that i’ve read good things about is Indochino – http://www.indochino.com/. (helpful reviews on http://madetomeasureny.com/ and http://manshion.net/) you measure yourself, send them in, and they make a suit for those numbers. the starting price is $299, which is less than many off-the-rack suits, and it includes many customizations that look just dandy. i emailed them to see what they’d think about making suits for women, and their response was that they didn’t feel confident it would work, but they were open to trying (no guarantees on their part). i’m tempted to give a sportcoat a try to see how it turns out, but money’s a bit tight…any brave souls want to give it a shot? this could end up being a good option for those who don’t live in NY.

  • This is BRILLIANT! If you decide to do an experiment, let’s document the results to share, okay? And I’ll let you know when I hear of others who are interested (could be me at that price point!)

  • Great post, Susan, I learned a few things! That price is really extraordinary, good for them for figuring out how to do it.

    re. buttoning right-over-left- No one knows for sure, but the foremost theory is that when mass production was really developed (c. 1880-1930) that was one of the many small standardizations that manufacturers adopted. Other theories are based on maids dressing women and silly things like that that I don’t buy.

    I haven’t done a real survey, but I would venture as estimation that women’s clothing from the 19th c. closes right-over-left only about 2/3 of the time.

  • Pickashirt.com’s objective is to offer you a quality custom hand tailored shirt to your measurements and your designs that is affordable and painless to order.

  • Thanks for posting this. Having the right custom suit is essential for your wedding day. I have some excellent work done by Giliberto Designs in NYC. I have provided the link to them above if you want to check them out. I’ve bookmarked this blog, I’m happy I found it on google.

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