Any luck with online MtM?

[mikewinddale]

I'm curious if anyone has had luck with any online MtM (made to measure) men's suits.

I have a relatively "normal" body - 5'8", 150 lbs, and a 38S off-the-rack suit usually fits me pretty well, once I get it tailored.*

But I wanted to have more selection than what is usually available off-the-rack. I prefer 3-piece and double-breasted, and I wanted a wider choice of fabrics.

But I live in a small town, and there aren't many brick-and-mortar store options. So about a year ago, I decided to try Oliver Wicks and Indochino, online.

Well, it was a massive disaster.

The Indochino suit fit me so atrociously that it's beyond belief. For example, I couldn't even get the pants above my thighs. And the chest and armholes of the jacket were cut so that I couldn't raise my arms higher than my own chest. If someone had put an apple on top of my head, I would have been unable to reach it. Literally.

I double-checked all the measurements I gave them, and everything looked correct. I measured the pants they gave me, and the waist was 25" - far less than the 32" I told them.

I contacted Indochino and they offered to do a remake if the tailor would give them measurements for what had to be changed. Well, I had trouble communicating to my tailor what exactly I needed her to do. Her English was pretty good, but not perfect, and it was hard for me to explain that what I needed her to do was to pretend she was remaking the suit - not merely tailoring it - and to give measurements for a remake, not for an alteration.

I was finally able to coax some numbers out of the tailor, mainly because the fit was so bad. I mean, when you ask for a 32" waist and they give you a 25" waist, it's not hard to tell them to add 7 inches.

But when Indochino sent the remake, it was just as bad as before. The jacket hadn't been changed at all. Meanwhile, the pants waist fit, but they extended the crotch halfway to my knees. I'm not even joking. The pants looked like hammer pants because the crotch literally extended halfway to my knees.

So then I decided to try to find another tailor who spoke English better, hoping that maybe I could get a better result. I told Indochino that I was going to look for another tailor and that they should please wait patiently. However, they replied that an unannounced, arbitrary 30 day deadline had passed, and that I was no longer eligible for any remakes. They told me that the suits they had given me - the one with the 25" waist and the other with the crotch extending halfway to my knees - were all they were going to let me have.

Luckily, I was able to dispute the charges with my credit card company, and I got my money back.

The Oliver Wicks suit, on the other hand, fit sort of okay, but it was a bit tight, and it rippled all over in subtle but disconcerting ways.

I went to the first tailor to see what she could do. (These two stories are happening at the same time.) But the tailor wasn't sure whether she could alter it to fit properly or not. The Oliver Wicks suit was rippling in so many small ways that it would have required iterative adjustments and refittings, over and over again, until it was right. And the problem was that if the tailor tried to alter it, I would lose the chance to get a remake. So if the tailor wasn't 100% sure she could make the suit work, then I needed to do a complete remake instead.

But the tailor also wasn't sure what measurements to give Oliver Wicks for the remake. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place, because the suit basically sort-of fit, but it fit badly enough that it wasn't clear it could be altered, but it fit well enough that any changes would be very subtle, in the fractions of an inch probably.

I told Oliver Wicks that I wasn't sure what to do, so I was going to try to find a second tailor to see if they could do any better. Oliver Wicks replied that it sounded like too much trouble, and that they would just give me my money back if I sent them a receipt showing I had donated the suit to charity.

Later, I discovered that Joseph A. Bank does MtM. I got a suit made by them, and it fit almost perfectly right away. I don't know why Indochino and Oliver Wicks had so much trouble. If they had both just made me an off-the-rack 38S, it would have fit better than what they actually gave me.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with online MtM.

Maybe someday I'll live in a larger city with a nice MtM store, but in the meantime, I'll stick to Joseph A. Bank. I know they're not the highest quality suits, but at least they fit!

* (There are some exceptions. For example, I discovered that at Joseph A. Bank, the slim and tailored fit suits don't fit my shoulders, but the regular fit do. So I just buy a regular fit and get the waist heavily suppressed.)

 

[EZB]

I’ve had 4 suits and one jacket from Oliver Wicks—no problems at all. The first order of jacket only was slightly off. I had the measurements adjusted and bought full 3-piece suits, and the pants needed no tailoring at all. The vest need a slight pattern adjustment. I get most shirts through proper cloth, and they are great. I’ve had chinos, jeans, and a shirt by luxire with no real issues.

 

[Mothetgoo]

I have had ok luck with online mtm. I have had a few indochino suits that fit ok, not perfectly though. Generally they fit better than off the rack though, and I feel like for the cost, they make a good suit if you’re in your early 20s and you need one suit but don’t want to spend more than a couple hundred bucks.

One thing that’s awesome about Oliver wicks is that they offer all their suiting fabrics as standalone trousers. The pricing is great and pants are much easier to nail down on size online. If you have a business casual office and you wear dress slacks every day, I think Oliver wicks offers a solid pants product.

 

[Emeka]

I'm about to order something from Oliver Wicks, I've seen a lot of YouTube reviews and there are a lot of good things being said about this company. Is there anyway I can add notes to an order about my physique so they can nail down the fit? Also, how is the general quality? Ive heard most popular online MTM have thin, flimsy fabrics even though they are from popular mills (VBC, etc).

It's either Oliver Wicks or Black Lapel (I'm looking at one of their overcoats that I think would look excellent on me.

 

[papa kot]

Have not ordered suits through online MTM as less expensive items were a disaster. My preference for now is to do MTM only through stores that have physical presence. The prices may be higher but my time is priceless.

OP, it may be the best option in your situation. Brooks Brothers and its ilk have presence even is smaller cities and you should be able to get MTM from them. When I was stuck in the middle of sartorial nowhere, I'd make a shopping trip to a city once or twice per year as a part of vacation.

 

[Rufian]

I feel like an idiot to be honest. I was thinking about MTM online, how it would fit better than any RTW suit and it was awful. Many of these companies want to do things right though, they have good customer service and may offer redos or full refunds, but I guess my expectations were too high and I got my measurements up to a T

I measured and remeasured multiple times and the suit still came out too baggy and weird fitting. Sleeves way too long, wide and baggy waist and chest.

The advantage of MTM in person is that they can measure you and make alterations based on that, this is probably what suit supply MTM is like. MTM in person is probably from a pattern just like online MTM, but the advantage is that they can see your build, look at you in person, make adjustments in person.

If you order MTM online and the suit fits bad, you will have to do the alterations to the measurements yourself based on what you think may fit better for a redo, is all guess work and chances are you won't get it right.

 

[Rufian]

I'm about to order something from Oliver Wicks, I've seen a lot of YouTube reviews and there are a lot of good things being said about this company. Is there anyway I can add notes to an order about my physique so they can nail down the fit? Also, how is the general quality? Ive heard most popular online MTM have thin, flimsy fabrics even though they are from popular mills (VBC, etc).

It's either Oliver Wicks or Black Lapel (I'm looking at one of their overcoats that I think would look excellent on me.

I bought from them and the suit didn't fit good despite me having my measurements to a T. This is because of the predetermined patterns all these MTM companies use. You're better off just getting a suit from suit supply and then having it altered there. That's the closest you will get to MTM in person at a fraction of the price

The Oliver Wicks suit I bought was thinner material than the suit supply one I bought even though both are 110 italian wool, maybe cause different mills.

 

[Emeka]

The problem with suit supply is my physique and height (6’5, muscular/athletic with 12” drop). All the suits I’ve tried tend to be slim/skinny fit and, with large quads, hamstrings, and calves, pants are a horror story.

Their MTM starts at $1k, and for that, I might as well go for a more reputable clothier like Alan David or Mr. Ned. While I would love to go that route, I want to try out options in the $500-600 range.

 

[Rufian]

The problem with suit supply is my physique and height (6’5, muscular/athletic with 12” drop). All the suits I’ve tried tend to be slim/skinny fit and, with large quads, hamstrings, and calves, pants are a horror story.

Their MTM starts at $1k, and for that, I might as well go for a more reputable clothier like Alan David or Mr. Ned. While I would love to go that route, I want to try out options in the $500-600 range.

with a physique like that you won't find a good fit RTW

with suit supply you would have to go with regular style and size up, then have everything else altered, may not look good

that's the problem with being muscular when it comes to suits, all these bodybuilders at least the ones with money get their suits MTM in person or bespoke, all those muscular wrestlers in suits, they all bespoke

MTM online sucks, I put all my measurements right and the jacket was huge for my body

 

[Emeka]

with a physique like that you won't find a good fit RTW

with suit supply you would have to go with regular style and size up, then have everything else altered, may not look good

that's the problem with being muscular when it comes to suits, all these bodybuilders at least the ones with money get their suits MTM in person or bespoke, all those muscular wrestlers in suits, they all bespoke

MTM online sucks, I put all my measurements right and the jacket was huge for my body

Yeah, most of the positive online MTM reviews I've seen are from those who can easily get an RTW suit. I've tried Indochino, and while they eventually get a decent fit after multiple remakes, I'm looking for something more high quality. Do you know of any good in-person MTM in NYC?

 

[Rufian]

Yeah, most of the positive online MTM reviews I've seen are from those who can easily get an RTW suit. I've tried Indochino, and while they eventually get a decent fit after multiple remakes, I'm looking for something more high quality. Do you know of any good in-person MTM in NYC?

Alan David only but $1200 for their cheapest suit I think lol

I, for one, don't need use a suit everyday, just special occasions, but I want to look good but not that good to spend $1200 so I got the suit supply, fits ok and is good enough. If you have to wear it often, I'd just get the Alan David and get it right and maybe with that suit, you could have cheaper companies copy it, though the copy may still end up looking bad

Indochino, Oliver Wicks and all these companies advertise heavily on youtube and I wouldn't be surprised if the suits the youtube sponsors wear from them are MTM in person and tailored, this would explain why the suit I got, despite having all my measurements right and remeasuring multiple times doesn't even come to look as good as the Oliver Wicks and Indochino suits I've seen youtube sponsors wearing

 

[papa kot]

FWIW, I have about 9-10" drop and RTW is barely working for sport coats. Suits? Forget about it. I have gone MTM and never looked back. The extra $ is worth it. Find a good tailor and make friends ;-)

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Yeah, most of the positive online MTM reviews I've seen are from those who can easily get an RTW suit. I've tried Indochino, and while they eventually get a decent fit after multiple remakes, I'm looking for something more high quality. Do you know of any good in-person MTM in NYC?

I've used Enzo Custom (one of the SF sponsors) on Madison Ave several times now and have been happy every time. I was initially put off by the silly name and bro-ish social media, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the guys who work there are giant #menswear nerds, and the in-person measurements that they do are pretty dialed in right off the bat. A lot more customizations than is typical for MTM. They have a pretty decent library of fabrics to choose from too (Zegna, VBC, H&S, etc.). Price is about par with in-person MTM outfits ($600-ish to start, and around $1000 and $1500 for a VBC or Zegna 2-piece, respectively).