Online suit review: Suitopia.com

Suitopia is another online budget made to measure suit shop. It is slightly dearer than the previous website I reviewed. The layout of the site itself is quite nice and neat. They offer Suits, Tuxedos, Morning coats, Frock coats and Evening tails. I decided to go for a two-piece in a fabric from their second cheapest selection (a waistcoat is an extra €90!).

The fabric selection they have is quite good considering the budget nature of the website. They even offer denim and corduroy. I decided on a fabric called "Grey beige". It is not a deceptive name and it is essentially the same as pictured on the website. I must confess to being a little surprised by my choice of fabric when it arrived. It isn't a colour I'd usually choose but nonetheless it is of acceptable quality.

The sleeves of the jacket are pleasantly narrow for a made to measure suit, especially since I didn't have the option to insert my bicep or wrist measurements. The buttons, which were one of the great failings of the Tailor4Less suit, are nice enough. They're not of any great quality obviously but they are perfectly acceptable.

Just like Tailor4Less the suit was very quick and it was 8 days from order to door. The whole process was really quite easy and satisfactory, especially if you already have a recent set of measurements so there is no measuring required. I will say, however, that some of the additions seem to cost disproportionatley more than other websites (I mentioned the waistcoat above). All in all though, I think that I will be ordering from these people more often despite the small price increase.

The Hat

The hat. Not a cap or a wollen beanie. Just a simple brimmed hat. A trilby or a fedora maybe. Why these items have fallen out of grace is beyond me. They keep the rain (or in these times, snow) off your head better than the others I mentioned above. They may not cover your whole head in a protective layer of wool but they won't make your head look like you're hiding toilet roll in it either. They undeniably look better but nonetheless seem to draw startled gasps when worn by someone under the age of about fifty.

I'm hesitant to blame the old scapegoat of Mr. Kennedy so I think I'll just blame a personal favourite of mine, laziness. Now, when I say laziness what I really mean is the casual nature of the modern times. Appearance is only commended in it's apparent lack of effort. The hat rails against this because it is more than a comment on the weather. It's saying more than "it's raining" or "the tips of my ears are cold". It's also saying "I want to dress well, I like wearing these clothes".

I think it might be that it brings up images of the old black and white spy or detective films. People have often asked if I "think I'm James Bond" when I'm in a suit (ridiculous, I know, but I've commented previously on the attitude of the people of my locality towards clothes). I think that there may be a similar vein of thought except that no one has asked if I "think I'm Humphrey Bogart". This, I feel, is probably due to another level of ignorance however.

The sight of a lid cutting through a crowded street is a sight to behold, if only for the novelty of it. So forget about JFK and cap your head with some felt!

Online suit review part 2: Tailor4Less.com

I wasn't on planning on writing this today as I didn't think I'd have anything to write about yet. My suit, however, arrived a mere nine days after I placed the order. Nine days seems like a very short amount of time considering Shanghai was the first point on it's online tracking system.

The suit itself is acceptable for the price it was. There are a few disappointing points that I have to bring to attention. Firstly, the fabric. I know I chose the lowest quality but this was even rougher than I expected. I will take some solice in the fact that, judging by the feel, it should stand up to some tough treatment. The colour of the blue is pretty basic and is slightly darker than the online picture would suggest but not so far off that I would be annoyed.

As I said in the first part of this review I ordered a three piece so I'd have a a waistcoat and trousers if the jacket was off. You will understand how annoyed I was then to find that the waistcoat was little more than two pieces of fabric sewn together. There seems to be absolutely no construction to it whatever. This is especially annoying as it is a double breasted style so it's quite apparent (to me anyway).

The jacket fits quite well but the sleeves are not as narrow as I thought they'd be. They gave me the option to put in my bicept and wrist measurements, an option which I availed of and yet there isn't all that much evidence of it in the jacket. The shoulders are far too built up for me but this may be a personal problem as I have quite broad and square shoulders. Other than these points the fit is really quite nice and I will be emailing them to see if they can address these issues if I were to order from them again. I will also make a quick point about the buttons. They are truly awful. I'm not sure I could find such low quality pieces of plastic if I tried. I might buy some replacements and fix the matter myself.

I mentioned that I succumbed to temptation and ordered a shirt along with the suit simply because it was there. The shirt was far more successful and I can't complain about it at all. It cost €36 and fits very well all over. The fabric is of acceptable quality and the colour and style are true to the online presentation. The collar is maybe a little large but it is by such a small margin that no one would notice (it is truly a matter of a millimeter or two).

In summary I think I will be ordering at least another couple of shirts from them and if they tell me they can address the issues I have with the fit then I may be tempted by another suit. It will definitely be a two piece though, I will not be buying another three piece from them. I might also see what their higher quality fabrics are like.

Online suit review: Tailor4Less.com

I have been trying to work up the courage to buy a made to measure suit online for some time now and I finally got around to it. I decided to start with Tailor4Less simply, and I know this isn't a very good reason, because they are the cheapest I could find. I wanted to try the cheapest first because I am dubious about how successful an online suit purchase will be. Online MTM shirts are one thing but suits are another. Custom shirts have become quite the successful online venture in the last few years and you can get some very good ones without all the hassle of high street or the time and money of full bespoke. Suits require far more skill however. If the shoulders are a tiny bit small on a shirt it isn't pleasant but the item is still a viable option. If a suit jacket is wrong across the shoulders however it will ruin the look of the whole jacket as it hangs and gets it's structure from them.

The website itself is very clean, nice and easy to navigate and all in all it's a fairly pleasant experience. They don't give you as much choice in the way of fabric or customisation as many of the other websites but they are also far cheaper than all of them. I decided that I'd go for a three-piece suit with the very resonable price tag of €215. This may seem like a bad idea for a test run but I decided that if anything is going to be wrong it will be the jacket in which case I'll have a pair of trousers and a waistcoat so the whole thing won't be a complete waste of time.

I chose a two button single breasted slim fit jacket with peak lapels and side vents. You are asked if you want the lapels cut short, medium or long and I decided to go with the last named. There is no option for slanted pockets so I had to settle with basic straight flapped ones (with a ticket pocket). Strangely there is no extra cost for working sleeve buttons so I chose those too.

The website has three main catagories of fabric to choose from. They say they are "100s", "130s" and "180s". I'm not sure how true to life these claims are so I got a basic dark blue called "Submerged" from their 100s range. The 130s and 180s ranges come with added costs of €20 and €40 respectively. As I said the fabric range isn't as extensive as most other websites but it is adequate enough as long as you don't want anything too unique.

Just a small point here in relation to the measuring. They are very helpful and give demonstratory images on how to measure all the various bits when you come to them and give you estimates for each which is a nice touch. They measure outer leg and inseam but not inside leg. This technically makes sense but it seems a bit odd nonetheless. Waiting to see if the measurements are right is the most nerve racking thing about this whole process.

I must confess now that I had a moment of weakness and ordered a purple and white striped shirt as well. I suppose it was partly to test two products in one go and partly to get a nice new shirt. I will add a brief point about that in my full review of the product.

They payment is simple enough and I quickly received emails confirming my order and payment. They claim that making the suit will take a week and it will be at my door a week after that. Postage is free on orders over €100 as well, which is nice. The order was placed five days ago so hopefully I can review the finished product in two weeks time.

In the beginning

I am going to start with somthing that many writers of men's style blogs have already covered. I'm doing this because it is important enough to deserve repitition. It is the question of "style". Style is not fashion, it is not even being fashionable. It is classic, I hesitate to use the word "timeless" but I think it's appropriate enough. Style is the use of the tried and tested methods and items of clothing that have endured for decades or longer. These have been designed with proportion in mind, refined to flatter the body and most of all to express oneself.

Style, I believe, is also more than merely clothes. It is a lifestyle, an attitude and the manner in which you do things. I included the picture above because I feel it is a great example of this constant expression of style. It is essentially just a picture three friends joking and laughing but they manage to appear stylish (even Sammy Davis Jr. whose rather large laugh would in other cases make him look clownish). You can then pay closer attention to the picture and the clothes that they are wearing. Dean Martin's extended three button shirt cuffs, Frank Sinatra's puff of pocket square and Sammy Davis Jr.'s double breasted dinner jacket and shirt studs so close together that I suspect that they might be buttoned in pairs. These are all the signs you need to know that tese people know style. Putting on a suit or a dinner jacket isn't, in itself, stylish but add a hastily stuffed pocket square and it elevates the whole look to something more.

I live in Ireland which is not, shall we say, the most sartorially inclined or open minded country on this planet. We have no history of style or master tailors. Suits, when worn, are almost never adorned with anything. The short sleeved checked shirt, ususally with a chest pocket (which has it's place), is over abundant. I too often get asked why I "dress so fancy" or if I'm "going to a wedding" when I'm merely wearing a suit. I don't even need a tie for these questions to arise. I occasionally feel like I'm on the wrong side of a war but one must persevere.

So, in summary, style is not merely clothes or suits or attitude. Style is most definitely not fashion.