Suit shopping in LA and NYC advice for a foreigner

All,

hopefully this is the right part of the forum for this, apologies if I'm out of line, if I am feel free to slap me about!

I have a trip to the USA coming up and having lost a bunch of weight I figured I might as well buy up on business suits, shirts etc, particularly given our currency has appreciated against the US$.

Any recommended areas and stores would be appreciated, I'm looking for Zegna in particular and always find there's a few specialist gems outside of their regular high street network who provide better service in terms of helping me get the best fit etc.

Anyway, any advice appreciated

thanks

Rob

It's a little hard to understand what you're looking for. Maybe a price budget per suit would be the best way to figure out appropriate stores in NYC.

Also from what country are you coming from?

Fair questions all round.

Coming from a place currently renamed Oprahland, usually called Australia (is there ANY way of escaping that woman when she travels??)

Budget is pretty reasonable, total about US$15-20K or so, if the pricing is as good as everyone over here says it is I can put some more on the credit cards. Bear in mind this is essentially an entire wardrobe replacement given I've dropped 20kg in the last little bit so it's not an annual budget/maintenance type of thing. Of all my current business suits only 1 is worth resizing, that's my most recent Zegna which knocked me back Aus$2900 (back when Aus$1 = US$0.65 or so, current exchange rate is pretty close to 1:1 as a result of the recent shakeup and our mining exports). Given that current exchange rate I'm hoping to build the core of the wardrobe (3 maybe 4 suits, a dozen or so really good shirts, two possibly three pairs of shoes, matching selection of ties, if budget stretches a couple of good belts) for the next 5 years or so with this trip.

In general I'd be called reasonably conservative in business attire, 44 year old guy who works in Engineering/Construction from a strategy and client facing perspective. Preferred suit colours include charcoal, navy, some of the current greys - definitely NOT black. Pin stripes are ok, will probably go at least one Prince of Wales fabric. Fitted shirts are needed, 47cm neck gives me enough room there and on the chest but usually leaves fabric flapping everywhere around the midsection these days so I need to do something about the horrible bunching of trouser and shirt material around the waist.

thanks

Rob

Ok well I suppose this makes it easier then.

To start of, people here are honestly clothes snobs (for lack of a better word). BUT, we hate to pay anything but rock bottom prices. This ends up meaning we search for months until we hit a great deal.

Since you are willing to put up some money to get what you want, when you want it, I URGE you to go to Century 21 near World Trade Center. It can be hit or miss in term of the price people on SF want to pay. However, there are always good suits there.

They have a rack full of Brioni's for about $2k. Don't remember the colors since it's out of my price range. I recall last spring they had several staple two button, charcoal Ermenegildo Zegna mainline suits for $900 (fully canvassed). They also have a steady stream of Canali and Corneliani (again, fully canvassed) in staple colors with a faint stripe for around $700-800. Of course, this is in my size 40R. Don't know your size. It's worth a look first before anywhere else. Then of course you can hit Barney's, Bergdorf, Saks, etc.

Good luck.

Let's cut to the chase - search for Hong Kong tailors on here and make a couple of trips there. You'll get 5 suits for half your budget and you can put the rest on the Poms to win the Ashes

If that's your budget, when you come to L.A. you absolutely must contact Ian, the proprietor of Shop The Finest in Santa Monica. It's about a 15 minute drive from LAX. His website barely touches the surface on his inventory. Contact him before you come and make an appointment. He'll bring out a nice selection based on your criteria. Trust me.

Originally Posted by alliswell

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Let's cut to the chase - search for Hong Kong tailors on here and make a couple of trips there. You'll get 5 suits for half your budget and you can put the rest on the Poms to win the Ashes

Used to have a very good HK tailor but I've found the last couple I used were a bit hit and miss. And I must admit to the aforementioned clothes snobbery to some degree, Dad's family were big in mills "up north" and he always loved Zegna suits so it's rubbed off a bit.

An for the Ashes - the biggest win is the Barmy Army, they're absolutely brilliant!!

Shame the old man isn't around to see a decent series over here.

Rob

Originally Posted by saiyar1

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Ok well I suppose this makes it easier then.

To start of, people here are honestly clothes snobs (for lack of a better word). BUT, we hate to pay anything but rock bottom prices.

I guess I fit into that category for reasons mentioned in previous post.

Originally Posted by saiyar1

Click to expand...

I URGE you to go to Century 21 near World Trade Center. It can be hit or miss in term of the price people on SF want to pay. However, there are always good suits there.

They have a rack full of Brioni's for about $2k. Don't remember the colors since it's out of my price range. I recall last spring they had several staple two button, charcoal Ermenegildo Zegna mainline suits for $900 (fully canvassed). They also have a steady stream of Canali and Corneliani (again, fully canvassed) in staple colors with a faint stripe for around $700-800. Of course, this is in my size 40R. Don't know your size. It's worth a look first before anywhere else. Then of course you can hit Barney's, Bergdorf, Saks, etc.

Good luck.

Thanks mate, that's now a definite!

Rob

Originally Posted by Mute

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If that's your budget, when you come to L.A. you absolutely must contact Ian, the proprietor of Shop The Finest in Santa Monica. It's about a 15 minute drive from LAX. His website barely touches the surface on his inventory. Contact him before you come and make an appointment. He'll bring out a nice selection based on your criteria. Trust me.

That site is brilliant.

Kiton at those prices? Awesome.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I was tossing up getting the tux as part of the deal, at that rate it's a no brainer!

thanks

Rob

Rob-

If you decide to check out Century 21, get there early, like as soon as they open. Now that its holiday season, that place is CRAZY, even worse than it typically is, and that's BAD.

I feel like I can't plug my tailor enough. If you have enough time in NY, you may want to consider taking a trip into Brooklyn to visit Ercoles for handmade bespoke for ~$2000. Call first and he may be able to get a fitting done, maybe even finish a suit for you, and then do the others based on that. Its a great place, all work done there, and REAL bespoke for the price of many RTWs....plus he has lots of Zegna fabric if thats your deal.

Feel free to pm me...

Originally Posted by Mute

Click to expand...

If that's your budget, when you come to L.A. you absolutely must contact Ian, the proprietor of Shop The Finest in Santa Monica. It's about a 15 minute drive from LAX. His website barely touches the surface on his inventory. Contact him before you come and make an appointment. He'll bring out a nice selection based on your criteria. Trust me.

+1 on Ian. He's great.

Originally Posted by acecow

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+1 on Ian. He's great.

+100

If you're not inclined to try bespoke as suggested by NYR, Ian has arugably the best collection of high-end RTW. Email him in advance and not only can he arrange a pick-up from LAX, but he can set aside your sizing. You can easily spend several hours and $$$ at his place.