Paying my 'school fees'

[SuitsYouSir89]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

 

[bicycleradical]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

I'm sorry to hear you had a jacket ruined.

I think your lesson to keep things simple is wise. Once you start entering into complex alterations like shoulders and jacket lengths, you're taking risks that the end result will be worse than you had hoped.

I buy OTR clothing, have some minor alterations done, and begin to wear the garments. They may not be 'perfect' however I'm 85%-90% of the way there and that is good enough for me.

 

[breakaway01]

Appreciate your thoughts and your candid first post. Welcome! You are certainly not alone. Unfortunately all of us have made mistakes along the way. We have different bodies so what works well for one won't work well for another. Furthermore we have different styling preferences, and these are apt to change over time. Certainly mine have.

Here is a thread not too long ago on this very subject

The School Fees We Pay - Mistakes We Make Finding Our Taste

Recently Derek Guy posted a series of articles on how to go about developing good taste featuring a few guys I have on my short list that I follow and think are exceptionally well dressed but also very knowledgeable. In Mark Cho’s essay one of the things mentioned was the concept of paying...

www.styleforum.net

Yes I agree with your thought to start with RTW. Since you're in London you have a lot of options. Try a lot of different things on and don't pay too much attention to brand name or "quality". Focus on fit and styling. The fewer alterations needed, the better.

 

[SuitsYouSir89]

Appreciate your thoughts and your candid first post. Welcome! You are certainly not alone. Unfortunately all of us have made mistakes along the way. We have different bodies so what works well for one won't work well for another. Furthermore we have different styling preferences, and these are apt to change over time. Certainly mine have.

Here is a thread not too long ago on this very subject

The School Fees We Pay - Mistakes We Make Finding Our Taste

Recently Derek Guy posted a series of articles on how to go about developing good taste featuring a few guys I have on my short list that I follow and think are exceptionally well dressed but also very knowledgeable. In Mark Cho’s essay one of the things mentioned was the concept of paying...

www.styleforum.net

Yes I agree with your thought to start with RTW. Since you're in London you have a lot of options. Try a lot of different things on and don't pay too much attention to brand name or "quality". Focus on fit and styling. The fewer alterations needed, the better.

Hi Breakaway, completely agree with you on the final para. I think part of my issue with my old suit that I got tailored is that it was from a few years ago, and I've lost some weight since then.

And I would have probably been better off just buying a new OTR suit, with, as you say, less alterations needed given I could buy a suit that fits my body shape perfectly today.

I've already invested a fair bit in my wedding suit plus, shirts, ties, pocket squares, shoes..I had to build a wardrobe that wasn't there before. Anyway with that said I feel spending even more on a new OTR suit just before my friends wedding would be too indulgent but it does cross my mind.

 

[SuitsYouSir89]

I'm sorry to hear you had a jacket ruined.

I think your lesson to keep things simple is wise. Once you start entering into complex alterations like shoulders and jacket lengths, you're taking risks that the end result will be worse than you had hoped.

I buy OTR clothing, have some minor alterations done, and begin to wear the garments. They may not be 'perfect' however I'm 85%-90% of the way there and that is good enough for me.

Hi BR, yes agreed. I think this 'good enough' philosophy is probably the best route forward all things considered. These lessons are worth a lot and at least going forward I will be wise enough not to let a tailor start messing around with more complex alterations unless I'm absolutely convinced that they can make the changes successfully.

 

[comrade]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

Two comments:
1. Finding a skilled tailor in London can be challenging? I, who am in the San
Fransico area, where tailored clothing is an endangered species, it is probably worse.
In my case, asking a very high-end mens OTR store whom they use for alterations for="special work" or when the in-house tailor has a major backlog can result in a good recommendation.
2. OTR models change. I've run into this and I am usually an easy fit in jackets
that conform to my rather traditional taste. If you like a model that works for you
and are not one who chases fashion, you might purchase a few suits/jackets at
a time.

 

[Hadleigh]

Unfortunately, significant alterations to off-the-peg clothing rarely go well. A shortened sleeve, or trouser leg is fine, but re-setting the sleeve is probably an alteration too far.
To add to another posting; good made-to-measure tailoring is difficult to find anywhere in UK, true bespoke even more so. Sad to say the word 'bespoke' is one of the most widely interpreted in the English language! Most 'bespoke' is just made-to-measure at a higher price! One could start a whole new debate about what constitutes 'bespoke', but one feature seems to fit all the definitions of true bespoke: At the very least in bespoke tailoring, the customer should be measured by the cutter (the man or woman who creates the customers block or pattern, and personally cuts the cloth). Please gentlemen don't write to say there is much more to bespoke, there is of course. But if you are not measured by the cutter it is made-to-measure not bespoke.

 

[youandih]

Completely agree. I work as an MtM specialist, and I know how much time, experience and conscious effort it took me to get to the level where I feel I make good suits happen for my customers.

And then I look around and I see my colleagues. Their literal motto is “Ask the customer what they want changed about the suit, and change only that. The less alterations, the less can go wrong.”

Many many of the professionals in this industry are focused on commerce, turnover, money. With as little effort as possible. The best way to find an actually good MtM specialist imo is asking questions about what they do and why they do it. If you detect someone has a passion for what they do, you have the right person. But they’re needles in haystacks.

Congratulations on your wedding man, have an amazing day together.

 

[jhcam8]

How many tailors?

 

[C MattssonJH]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

I have been selling mens MTM suits for 12 years. The company will go unnamed… My experience during this time is that some men can buy a MTM suit from me and it will be an extraordinary fit. Others can come really close to perfect but need a slight tailoring — sleeves adjusted, collar roll, taken in at the waist/hip or let out. Sometimes even wIth precise measuring you don’t get right on the first pass. Things I never do - mess with the chest, reset the sleeves, and rarely, but have once or twice, shortened the length. I work with about 150 clients per year or more. Not all of them are new many are returning clients - but their weight changes and they need to be refitted periodically. Once we make changes we update the profile so that the next time the jacket fits well. I will not try to fit someone for whom I know we will not be able to do a good job. Those are opportunities on which I pass. My clients range fron 6’7” to 5’5” and many different shapes. The key to all this is my tailor here in the Bay Area. He and I make a great team. Typically I can scope out what needs to be done and deliver the suit to him with notes on what to do. He makes the changes and I pick up and deliver back to the client. Clients sometimes go to him themselves and I pay their bill for these alterations.

Sometimes in this scenario clients do have expectations for a fully custom experience. This is not our business and costs more time and money to execute than what we charge. Once I took a client to a tailor in SF and had the kind of experience described above the alterations cost me 3x what they would have if I had taken them to my tailor who was too far from this client. That tailor knew he had me and took full advantage.

If you can get close to a good fit OTR and can find a reputable tailor or sometimes a seamstress who is well trained in garment construction I think you can be very happy with the end result! Fingers crossed that you find the right person for the job.

 

[johnphilipking]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

I had a similar experience with a vintage blazer with surgeon's cuffs, I needed the sleeves shortened about and inch and a quarter. When I tried it on at the shop after the alterations the armholes were weirdly pulled back into my shoulder blades and the entire upper section shape was distorted beyond belief. I learned my lesson: if you need to mess with the area where sleeves meet shoulders you'd better have access to a damn good tailor with expert knowledge of how and why garments are cut and function like they do.

 

[SuitsYouSir89]

I had a similar experience with a vintage blazer with surgeon's cuffs, I needed the sleeves shortened about and inch and a quarter. When I tried it on at the shop after the alterations the armholes were weirdly pulled back into my shoulder blades and the entire upper section shape was distorted beyond belief. I learned my lesson: if you need to mess with the area where sleeves meet shoulders you'd better have access to a damn good tailor with expert knowledge of how and why garments are cut and function like they do.

Amen sir!

My lesson learned was very similar. Best to leave the shoulders as they are, if not the whole blazer minus potentially minor sleeve height adjustment. Your issue re the pulled back arms sounds very similar to mine. We're wiser for it.

 

[SuitsYouSir89]

I have been selling mens MTM suits for 12 years. The company will go unnamed… My experience during this time is that some men can buy a MTM suit from me and it will be an extraordinary fit. Others can come really close to perfect but need a slight tailoring — sleeves adjusted, collar roll, taken in at the waist/hip or let out. Sometimes even wIth precise measuring you don’t get right on the first pass. Things I never do - mess with the chest, reset the sleeves, and rarely, but have once or twice, shortened the length. I work with about 150 clients per year or more. Not all of them are new many are returning clients - but their weight changes and they need to be refitted periodically. Once we make changes we update the profile so that the next time the jacket fits well. I will not try to fit someone for whom I know we will not be able to do a good job. Those are opportunities on which I pass. My clients range fron 6’7” to 5’5” and many different shapes. The key to all this is my tailor here in the Bay Area. He and I make a great team. Typically I can scope out what needs to be done and deliver the suit to him with notes on what to do. He makes the changes and I pick up and deliver back to the client. Clients sometimes go to him themselves and I pay their bill for these alterations.

Sometimes in this scenario clients do have expectations for a fully custom experience. This is not our business and costs more time and money to execute than what we charge. Once I took a client to a tailor in SF and had the kind of experience described above the alterations cost me 3x what they would have if I had taken them to my tailor who was too far from this client. That tailor knew he had me and took full advantage.

If you can get close to a good fit OTR and can find a reputable tailor or sometimes a seamstress who is well trained in garment construction I think you can be very happy with the end result! Fingers crossed that you find the right person for the job.

Yes I think 'one' issue with MTM is perhaps a lack of communication between client and tailor / front of shop sales guy with what MTM can actually do / acheive.

I paid good money for this MTM. The upside is that you can pick the material versus the more limited OTR options, but in reality I think I will go for OTRs for now and perhaps make some minor alterations after...

If I really had the money for full bespoke going forward then that could be an option but that isn't the immediate future! In my money, MTM (or at least, less than ideal MTM) is overpriced. You are better off going OTR for the value or full bespoke for the fit. I feel MTM can be in danger of acheiving neither value or great fit.

 

[AMH]

Hello all, first timer on here. Been lurking on here for a while reading advice though.

I wanted to post just to collect my thoughts somewhat about my relatively recent adventures (or misdaventures) into the world of sartorialism. For context, I'm a groom, getting married in a few weeks.

I never thought / realised how much of an undertaking getting a good fitting suit was.

Based in London, originally went for a MTM option. I've gone back a couple of times and I suppose the reality is, as a beginner, you don't really know what you want until you have made a few mistakes and learnt by trial and error. I just wish this was a few years ago and not just before my wedding when the stakes are high and I want a good suit that fits. The suit is currently being altered a final time and I just hope it looks great as if not, I don't have much time before my wedding to change it.

One thing I have learnt is that a good result of an MTM suit is it looks 'good enough'. I don't think striving for perfection is a realistic aim with this. So part of what I have learnt is that suits can have a ceiling in how great they can be. A lot of it is probably luck as well. You could find an off the shelf suit that fits perfectly, whilst you could have a frustrating MTM experience, as I somewhat have.

Whilst I have been getting my MTM suit ready, I have also got another old work suit altered for a wedding of my friend, just before my own. This time I found a local tailor - and they sold themselves quite highly. I thought 'This is the answer, I cracked the matrix! Going forward I'll just buy OTR and bring the suit to the local tailor!', yet on the first fitting I realised to my horror that they had actually made the blazer worse than before.

All the while charging top money for the alteration after telling me it needed complex changes around the shoulder and upper sleeves. I feel like I've been robbed to be honest. It was hard to fathom how the tailor could have shown a straight face in the second fitting. At least I complained and mentioned the issues, so the tailor will have another go but to be honest I'm cynical now. It almost seems like it may be beyond rescue. I would probably have had more luck at the dry cleaners paying a quarter of the money.

So, that kind of leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once bitten, twice shy type thing. The MTM shop experience perhaps has been more edifying, and to be fair I realise that in both cases, it takes one (me) to really know what I want and to advise accordingly. But I do feel that suit shops and tailors can take advantage if you don't know enough. I guess I've not been too fortunate so far with the experiences I have had. There is clearly a lot of luck involved in finding the right professionals who 1) are honest and won't take advantage of your relative ignorance, and 2) will do a great job.

I never knew this game would be so complicated. Perhaps I've been unlucky. I've learnt a lot but still don't feel like I know enough. I wonder how much more I will have to pay in 'school fees' to get a good suit made, be it MTM, or through finding a good tailor that doesn't make my suit worse than it looked before...

I wonder if anyone can relate?

My only thoughts are that I will go for OTR going forward and try to find another tailor highly recomended on here, and to be honest, I think less is more when it comes to alterations. Take the trousers in, perhaps alter the trouser length and blazer sleeve length. But once they start messing with the shoulders and sleeves, it seems highly risky unless you know they are great. Now I know. And finally, I realise, it's better to be realistic with all of this. The quest for perfection risks being the enemy of 'good enough'.

Anyway. Just needed to vent.

I don't feel so bad about my experience after reading yours. I had a nice hand-me-down double-breasted jacket that fit well except for the shoulders. A tailor who is a family friend offered to narrow the shoulders for only $150. Having no experience with this, I figured it was a good deal for a tailored jacket. Unfortunately the results were disappointing. The jacket is now so tight that I can scarcely move my arms, and the shoulders have some unsightly puckering. I couldn't complain too harshly, given the work was done by a friend of my parents. I'm just grateful that I learned my lesson fairly inexpensively!

 

[SouthernGothic]

I have a Japanese seamstress I rely on exclusively for alterations.
She specializes in weddings but takes care of other issues outside that.
No beating around the bush, she will speak her mind openly and forcefully.
I have learned to listen. She is always right.
I inherited my Father's Harris Tweed sport coat and thought I should have some alterations done. After putting it on and modeling it for her she told me to leave it alone, and don't mess with something that already fits acceptably well that would waste money to do little.
The sport coat I was wearing when I went it she went over and kept for some minor changes. I wasn't expecting that.
The story is, get someone you can trust and is competent.
She will tug at my pants waist when I go in and say "you lost weight" or "do not fasten that belt so tight", Things like that. "Get different belt" was my favorite quote from her. It was seconds after I opened her door.
Get someone you can trust and is looking out for you.
For most of us, OTR works fine if you, or someone you trust, has a good eye for the fit.