OT: Tailoring (or: My Whole30 Success Story)

[ANAO]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

You should open a suit shop for cyclists. Figure out the right way to handle the big quads, and you'd be in demand from the cyclists.

I already considered it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[ANAO]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

You should open a suit shop for cyclists. Figure out the right way to handle the big quads, and you'd be in demand from the cyclists.

Did you know there's a denim company for people like us? I can't recall the name. Why not an atelier?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Louis]

Originally Posted by ANAO

I already considered it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Business model: hang around the velodrome handing out your business card and watch the bucks roll in:

[pdmtong]

chapeau on the weight loss. well done.

at some point, the pants taken in too much mean the pockets are too close together. that's the signal buy new and pass on the tailoring.

[happycampyer]

As batman noted, the garments would probably need to be re-cut, and even that might not work with the amount of fabric that needs to be removed. For example, you can't just take the pants in in back because you'll end up with one big pocket, the seams and creases will all be in the wrong places, etc. Even if the pants are opened up along the sides and the back, there's only so much fabric that cam be removed, since you can't take it out of the front (unless the side pockets get recut, too). At some point it becomes more work to alter than to make a new suit.

Congrats on losing that much weight.

(Ha! I was typing the same thing as pdmtong, just took me longer)

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

As batman noted, the garments would probably need to be re-cut, and even that might not work with the amount of fabric that needs to be removed. For example, you can't just take the pants in in back because you'll end up with one big pocket, the seams and creases will all be in the wrong places, etc. Even if the pants are opened up along the sides and the back, there's only so much fabric that cam be removed, since you can't take it out of the front (unless the side pockets get recut, too). At some point it becomes more work to alter than to make a new suit.

Congrats on losing that much weight.

(Ha! I was typing the same thing as pdmtong, just took me longer)

OTOH...I should add, what's a suit? I only wear those to funerals now. Not part of the silicon valley wardrobe. sportcoat yes, suit no.

[ojingoh]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

chapeau on the weight loss. well done.

at some point, the pants taken in too much mean the pockets are too close together. that's the signal buy new and pass on the tailoring.

^^ Count on your waist contracting about an inch per 5 pounds of weight loss. In your case (chapeau) that's 12 inches, a staggering amount. Rule of thumb is when you take in pants more than 4 inches, your pants will look too weird to make it work. "Front" pockets will be in the wrong place - basically behind your hip - and the rear pockets will almost touch.

Then there's the jacket. The deal with jackets is you can adjust pretty much everything except the way the shoulders fit. If it fit you 60 pounds ago, it will cost more to tailor it and get it looking good than to just buy a new one.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

OTOH...I should add, what's a suit? I only wear those to funerals now. Not part of the silicon valley wardrobe. sportcoat yes, suit no.

Suits seem to be making a comeback. I have worn dress shirts to work most days and once in a while sport coats. Lately I have been dressing up more and I purchased five suits. Also, I have been wearing more lace up shoes instead of loafers. I have always had a strong interest in clothes and am enjoying dressing up more. As my wife always says it is better to be over dressed than under dressed for an event.

Jeff

[Nooch]

Originally Posted by ANAO

Did you know there's a denim company for people like us? I can't recall the name. Why not an atelier?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

There are a couple, like Fran Denim, catered more to the powerlifting crowd.

Thanks for all the compliments! I wish I'd been riding more throughout it, but time restrictions allowed for this to be a mostly dietary change. I've lost a few inches from my quads and calves, unfortunately.

This last whole30 ended today (today is day 31) and in the last 30 I've lost 15lbs and 2" off my waist..

[MattTuck]

Suitsupply is a decent value for suits, and if you order online they have a thing where you can order two sizes and then return the one that doesn't fit.

[PQJ]

I needed to get a new suit for my bros wedding. Looked high and low and eventually settled on made to measure from Suitsupply. Initially I was impressed by the company. Stuff looked nice, reasonably priced, and the guy taking my measurements seemed to know what he was doing. Boy was I wrong. When pickup day arrived, I discovered the suit was an abomination. The measuring guy couldn't have done a worse job if he tried; or the factory couldn't have done a worse job if they tried. Either way, for something supposedly made to measure, it could not have looked and fit worse. Suitsupply made almost no effort at keeping my business. They basically offered a refund and nothing more, which I gladly accepted. Ultimately, I believe that in life if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. For the price, Suitsupply may be workable, but I think the quality is crap. Just my humble opinion.

[Nooch]

Originally Posted by PQJ

I needed to get a new suit for my bros wedding. Looked high and low and eventually settled on made to measure from Suitsupply. Initially I was impressed by the company. Stuff looked nice, reasonably priced, and the guy taking my measurements seemed to know what he was doing. Boy was I wrong. When pickup day arrived, I discovered the suit was an abomination. The measuring guy couldn't have done a worse job if he tried; or the factory couldn't have done a worse job if they tried. Either way, for something supposedly made to measure, it could not have looked and fit worse. Suitsupply made almost no effort at keeping my business. They basically offered a refund and nothing more, which I gladly accepted. Ultimately, I believe that in life if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. For the price, Suitsupply may be workable, but I think the quality is crap. Just my humble opinion.

Indochino excels here -- the first suit I got, measurements done at home as best as my wife could, suit came out huge. Took pictures, gave them some advice as to what didn't seem to work, how much needed to be taken off where, and they had a new suit out to me in about 2-3 weeks. From there, they cover $75 (IIRC) in alterations to EACH PIECE, that they refund you within like two days of submitting a claim. All really easy and then the second suit I bought, matching the updated first suit measurements, was perfect.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by PQJ

I needed to get a new suit for my bros wedding. Looked high and low and eventually settled on made to measure from Suitsupply. Initially I was impressed by the company. Stuff looked nice, reasonably priced, and the guy taking my measurements seemed to know what he was doing. Boy was I wrong. When pickup day arrived, I discovered the suit was an abomination. The measuring guy couldn't have done a worse job if he tried; or the factory couldn't have done a worse job if they tried. Either way, for something supposedly made to measure, it could not have looked and fit worse. Suitsupply made almost no effort at keeping my business. They basically offered a refund and nothing more, which I gladly accepted. Ultimately, I believe that in life if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. For the price, Suitsupply may be workable, but I think the quality is crap. Just my humble opinion.

I don't have a horse in the race, but I've heard similar stories from many people about made to measure products across many brands. Suits and dress shirts, especially. Seems that doing made to measure on the cheap (or even not so cheap) does not have a great likelihood of success. If you want to go to a high end custom tailor to make a suit, you're talking big money -- but that is probably the way to do it to get a well fitting custom suit. I think the expectation is that you go in once or twice after the initial measurements to make sure everything is still on track. You're just never going to get that level of precision from made to measure.

For suit supply, off the rack, I do think they have a good value suit for the money. If an off the rack suit doesn't fit and can't be altered to fit, then you've got some tough decisions to make, unfortunately.

Styleforum has pages and pages of people getting made to measure suits and being unsatisfied with the results.

[fuzzalow]

Those old suits are goners - don't even think about altering them for the amount of weight you lost (congrats on that). Even if a tailor could do it, you'd know that suit from the before & after and you will always see the alterations on yourself when wearing the suit no matter how it well done 'cos it'll never be perfect. You did the hard part in losing the weight, why mess with your psyche and how you feel in wearing an old suit? Don't wear old suits with the new you. Wearing clothes is all about the ease and confidence in doing it - go forwards anew. Very important: if you care about how you wear a suit, don't blow it by wearing cheap shoes because that is the dead giveaway.

I bought a SuitSupply off the rack as a knock around suit. It's OK but for the price I'd guess it was fused so it won't survive much dry cleaning. Fused suits to my eye always drape funny and can be seen by how it moves when you see somebody wearing one. Which for most these days of mass market suits is a lotta people. Suits are another one of those things that if you care about to know, you'll know.

If you don't need suits as part of your career requirement then SuitSupply might be good enough but anything else you really should pay up and buy something decent. What "decent" is is a whole 'nother discussion.

[PQJ]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

I don't have a horse in the race, but I've heard similar stories from many people about made to measure products across many brands. Suits and dress shirts, especially. Seems that doing made to measure on the cheap (or even not so cheap) does not have a great likelihood of success. If you want to go to a high end custom tailor to make a suit, you're talking big money -- but that is probably the way to do it to get a well fitting custom suit. I think the expectation is that you go in once or twice after the initial measurements to make sure everything is still on track. You're just never going to get that level of precision from made to measure.

For suit supply, off the rack, I do think they have a good value suit for the money. If an off the rack suit doesn't fit and can't be altered to fit, then you've got some tough decisions to make, unfortunately.

Styleforum has pages and pages of people getting made to measure suits and being unsatisfied with the results.

Yep, that's what I concluded. For MTM to work, the maker needs to know what they are doing, and that is going to cost $$.
FWIW, I ended up getting an off the rack suit from Sid Mashburn and a MTM shirt from them as well. Couldn't be happier with both items and I highly recommend Mr. Mashburn.