Utilikilts!

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Mike OTDP
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Mike OTDP »

CByrneIV wrote:By the by, I have similar kit. I think I've got about $30k in suits, and about $10k in shoes; never mind the watches, shirts, and ties.

Some situations require dressing well. Not only that, but dressing well and APPROPRIATELY, is both a duty, and a privilege, accorded gentlemen.

A guy my size, if you want a GOOD suit, it generally has to be custom made, and that starts around $1200 and goes up over $5,000. Same thing for good shirts ($100 to $500). At least I can buy normal size shoes (I'm a 12-1/2, so I usually have to buy 13), so good shoes only run from $300 to $2000 usually. Ties are all over the place, but a typical mid range silk piece will run from $100 to $700. I generally prefer not to wear them if I don't have to; but I've got a dozen decent ties, probably 20 decent shirts, maybe 10 good suits, and five good pairs of dress shoes or dress low boots.

That's really what I consider the minimum wardrobe of business attire, when you work in a setting where good business attire is required; not only by dress code, but simply to be taken seriously.

It may be incongruous to think of me that way; but you have to remember I AM a senior exec at a bank, and I didn't get there by accident. Yes, I wear jeans and a golf shirt 90% of the time, but not always.

Only pic I have of me in a suit is... 5 years old I think? Almost six? Should have been around Christmas 2003...
ChrisSuitSmall.jpg
That's a Fioravanti suit (custom made), a Brioni silk shirt; and you can't see it but I'm wearing a Breitling Navitimer, and John Lobb low dress boots.

In that pic I'm probably wearing $15,000, a third of which was the suit (I commissioned two Fioravantis, for $10,000; and at the time that was a steal. They can run up to $25,000 a piece).

If I remember correctly, I was on my way out to Ruths Chris in midtown Manhattan.

At the time I was living at 86th and 3rd, but a few weeks later I moved down to 39th and 2nd because it was closer to where I was working (42nd and 3rd, across from the Chrysler building). My girlfriend at the time (a ridiculously skinny German ex model who worked for American Airlines) and I were dining with the CTO of Pfizer, and some senior VPs from Cisco and McAffee.

I've still got the suits actually, and the shoes. A good suit like that, never goes out of style. Of course the gut has expanded somewhat since then (like 100lbs... no joke), and good shoes can last a lifetime.
Which raises the question...do you have any advice on shopping for a bespoke suit? I don't normally need one, but a gentleman really MUST have a properly fitting suit and blue blazer in his wardrobe. And I'm built like a beer barrel, so bespoke is the only realistic option for me.

(The high-end watch I have. IWC Fliegerchronograph)
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Denis
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Denis »

Mike OTDP wrote:Which raises the question...do you have any advice on shopping for a bespoke suit? I don't normally need one, but a gentleman really MUST have a properly fitting suit and blue blazer in his wardrobe. And I'm built like a beer barrel, so bespoke is the only realistic option for me.
I get my suits made in Singapore. I can only echo what CC said above - for the price of one or two "bespoke" suits bought locally - which would still be sewn in India or Singapore, or Hong Kong from measurements taken and e-mailed off by the local tailor - I can buy half a dozen or more there, and have a nice holiday as well.

I find it's important to know exactly what you want before you go to the shop - the Singaporean tailors are good, but they show absolutely no flair for design and not much initiative. The easiest thing is to bring a photograph from a magazine of a suit style that you like, and they will reproduce it in your choice of fabric to your measurements. They'll also do a bunch of matching shirts - be sure to insist on pure cotton cloth for those (they'll try to fob you off with polyester). If you are not "petit" for a westerner, forget about buying ties made in the Far East, they'll barely go around your neck. They still might throw in a few ties free with suits and shirts, which I suppose you can give away to skinny people at home.

One thing which works ncely - in Singapore, there are loads of tailors, all competing. They have shills on the street offering low prices. Nail them down on price before you order anything, and don't let them try to worm out of the offer price by telling you the quoted on the street for a suit is only valid if you bring your own fabric, or somesuch.
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Denis
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Denis »

CByrneIV wrote:Interesting... an askmen article about outsourcing your custom tailoring to Hong Kong remotely:

http://www.askmen.com/fashion/fashionti ... dvice.html
There's a Hong Kong tailor here in Brussels. You call him, he comes to the office with mhis easuring tape and fabric swatches, and he has the stuff made up over there. They send a try-on suit for a fitting, then finish the real suit(s) based on that.
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Mike OTDP
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Mike OTDP »

Chris;

I live in the Washington DC area...at least, that is the least distant city (70 miles up the North road)

A suit to fit me is pretty well a fantasy. I'm barrel-shaped, around size 64, with a 98th percentile seated eye height - and a 50th percentile standing height (which means that I have very short legs). Nothing fits. That's why I'm looking at bespoke.

I might give that Web site a try.
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Kommander
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Kommander »

I would just like to add here that if you wore a kilt you wouldn't have to worry about bespoke suits.
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blackeagle603
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by blackeagle603 »

Being a son of a Scot immigrant the oriiginal discussion of kilts is a bittersweet thing. On the one hand getting back to a kilt is a bonnie idea. On the other hand, the cost of a proper kilt with quality materials is enough to make a thrifty Scotsman weep.
Clan_Maclean.png
So I guess the question is, "What kind of deal could you make with one of these tailors for a bespoke kilt?" Maybe have enough left over for a Prince Charlie jacket and a tam...

Might just have to get a pattern and dig out the Missus sewing machine...
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blackeagle603
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by blackeagle603 »

I'm thinking Hong Kong or Singapore pricing. You talking Stateside pricing?
"The Guncounter: More fun than a barrel of tattooed knife-fighting chain-smoking monkey butlers with drinking problems and excessive gambling debts!"

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
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Denis
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Denis »

CByrneIV wrote:
blackeagle603 wrote:I'm thinking Hong Kong or Singapore pricing. You talking Stateside pricing?

If you want a bespoke kilt done properly in Asia, you're going to need to buy 5-9 yards of high quality tartan wool here, or in Europe; and bring it with you.
I'd have my doubts about finding a tailor with enough kilt know-how.
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Mike OTDP
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by Mike OTDP »

Kommander wrote:I would just like to add here that if you wore a kilt you wouldn't have to worry about bespoke suits.
No, but you have to worry about bespoke kilts. As Chris noted, they run about $500.
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blackeagle603
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Re: Utilikilts!

Post by blackeagle603 »

big savings on underwear though. :lol:
"The Guncounter: More fun than a barrel of tattooed knife-fighting chain-smoking monkey butlers with drinking problems and excessive gambling debts!"

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
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