Indochino Rant and Recommendations?

[threezero]

Looking for a commendation for a local tailor that is a step up from indochino.

So I've had a few suits tailor made before. I'm now at a position in my life where I need to wear a suit everyday for work. I had one suit from Indochino, I dont understand all the rave about this company. Brought one of their mid tier suit. It was $800+ with a couple of shirt.

I went in for measurement at the Metrotown location. They book me in with a really nice lady but its her first time tailoring a suit. she was literally reading instructions from her iPad while doing it while asking me if she is doing this right.

It was no surprise when the suit came it fit like shit. it was way too large and fit worse than off the rack. The inner material was so loose it would bunch up when sliding it up over a shirt (this is a material problem not a fitting problem). The other material was also shit. It feels like a the Bay $300 suit but only worse fitting.

I've since went in for multiple adjustment session, each time I would get a different associate that would do things a little different. They would fix one problem and another problem would appear. Granted they were very patient and allow me to keep going in for adjustment until I finally got an acceptable fitting. I got it to fit okay, and just decided to give up due to all the time wasted going back and forth to the store front.

My favourite tailor suit was done by an old chinese gentleman in HK that did my dad's suit 30+ years ago. I went in for measurement and when the suit came in, I went in for one adjustment and that was it. Everything fit like a glove. He didn't consulted the internet for instruction or ask 5 other clueless associates. Whole suit with 2 shirt cost me around $1000 Canadian and compare to the $800 indochino suit it feels like its worth million bucks.

I'm looking for recommendation for a local tailor that does similar work. I dont travel to Asia often anymore and its not feasible to go back to the same tailor.

Willing to pay more for quality and it feels good supporting someone took the time to appreciate the art and possibly past it down thru the generation. Indochino associate feel like they are just another retail worker.

Anybody got recommendation or a favourite tailor in town?

[roastpuff]

Kerrisdale Custom Tailors

They've been around since the late 80's, and do really good work. Photos of Gordon Campbell and other Liberal MPs on the wall so if you don't like them don't go here I guess?

[Jgresch]

This may be a bit of a long post, but I was in a similar situation a couple months ago. My budget was a bit lower than yours seems to be (~$600)
TLDR:
Suit from
https://www.spierandmackay.com/
Altered at
Busy Bee Gold | Vancouver Dry Cleaners

Long:
I have a suit from Indochino from a couple years ago, they actually got the fit pretty good the first time, however the materials aren't great. After a dry clean there was bubbling in the chest of the jacket due to the glue of the fusing. On the suit and website it says dry clean only so I didn't think there would be a problem, after talking to customer service they said to let the dry cleaner know the suit is fused prior to bringing it in. Well... too late. I think I paid $500ish originally, but there entire website regularly goes down to below $400, and you really do get what you pay for.

I was looking to get another suit from them with the intent of avoiding dry cleaning all together. At the same time I did a lot of research online to find something at a comparable price. A lot of people online recommend Suit Supply or Spier and Mackay (Both in Toronto) and both offering non-fused half canvased jackets. I kept an eye on sales and ended up purchasing a suit from S&M (two of the same suit in different sizes). The material and craftsmanship is a big step up from Indochino. I went into Indochino once more to check out some fabric options as a comparison, but they felt and looked two steps below S&M.

The suit was $340 including shipping I believe during their 20% off sale (usually the largest discount they offer site wide, aside from their clearance section) As I mentioned, I ordered two of the same suit in different sizes as they have free returns with free shipping. The jacket from one set fit well and the pants from the other set fit well. They were totally fine with me returning back a mismatched set and as their website stated it took about 5 business days for the return to be processed after they received it back.

So now I have a suit that fits reasonably well off the rack, but I want to make changes in a few areas to make it fit great.

Again, lots of research online to see where to take it for alterations, I don't trust the the place in the mall enough where I take my pants to get hemmed.

I ended up booking an appointment online with Busy Bee Gold in Vancouver. I had a very good experience with them and they were very accommodating, they know what they're doing.

I brought in both jackets to get their opinion on which fit better and which would need less work. The turn around time was about 2 weeks as they were quite busy, and the cost was a bit higher than other places I had looked at, but I was very happy with how it turned out.

I had the following done:
Lengthen 1 sleeve
Take out jacket waist slightly
Taper pants
Hem pants

The total was $120 plus tax. For comparison, the other jacket required:

Shorten 1 sleeve
Taper both sleeves
Take some material off back of shoulder area
Take in jacket waist

This would have been $200 plus tax including the pants alterations.

So all in all, I'm sitting at $460ish for the finished product. Which was only $50 or so more than what the Indochino suit would have cost. It took a bit more research to figure out what fit I would be in the suit, but the timeline was a bit quicker and the finished product was much better.

If you're looking for an all in one experience though, similar to Indochino but a higher quality, I looked at quite a few Made to Measure and Bespoke places in Vancouver. The lowest priced M2M I found with good reviews was Blair Shapera for $700 for their entry level material. Bespoke was around $1500-2000. This was with online only research and reaching out to the shops. I'm sure there are lots of little places out there that aren't mentioned as much online.

Hope this helps you and good luck!

[threezero]

Thank you for the recommendation. I will look into the suggestions.

I figure out why I hated my Indochino suit so much compare the one i had tailor made in HK.

Indochino basically picks an off the rack suit that is closest to your fit and then tailor it to fit your. Which will never feel the same as having a suit tailor for you from just fabric.

If anybody else has more recommendation please do share

[Jgresch]

You're welcome.

Keep in mind, Indochino is 'made to measure', so they use pre-made pieces that are close to your measurements, then make alterations.

It sounds like your HK suit was bespoke, which is a more labor intensive process, making it more costly. The result is a suit with a fit made just for you though.

Good luck!

[nns]

I'm sorry for bumping this thread, but I wanted to get some more recent feedback on Spier and Mackay. Jgresch, you had such a detailed and positive experience that I am very inclined to buy from them too. I just want to confirm with others that the quality is still as good as it sounds.

[lowside67]

I can't speak to that, but I have 5 suits from Blair Shapera - ranging from his cheapest fabric category to a few notches above; I think prices ranging from $700-$1000 and I love those suits. I always cringe when I pay for them and then every time I wear them, I forget about the money completely. I am a big fan and will go back there again when I need the next one.

-Mark

[Jgresch]

Originally Posted by nns

I'm sorry for bumping this thread, but I wanted to get some more recent feedback on Spier and Mackay. Jgresch, you had such a detailed and positive experience that I am very inclined to buy from them too. I just want to confirm with others that the quality is still as good as it sounds.

Quality is still there, yes. I have a few recent sport coats from them and a handful of shirts/slacks as well that haven't got any use yet due to WFH.

They are a bit slower to respond to emails on inquiries/exchanges right now due to less staff but shipping times seem to still be fairly quick.


@Mark - I've heard great things about Blair S. as well, I spoke with them once about MTM. Ultimately higher than I was looking to spend though.

[cafe22]

I have a few S&M sport coats and suit and I think they are great when it comes to the price you pay. With COVID, a lot of their items are on sale, so it's a good time to buy.

I would avoid their dress shirts though. They wrinkle and stay wrinkled like aluminum foil.

[jing]

I went to Blair a few years back and was very impressed with the quality of the suit and his level of expertise. It was definitely more expensive than the typical MTM but IIRC it was Canadian made. Would highly recommend paying him a visit once things open back up.

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by jing

I went to Blair a few years back and was very impressed with the quality of the suit and his level of expertise. It was definitely more expensive than the typical MTM but IIRC it was Canadian made. Would highly recommend paying him a visit once things open back up.

Yes - Blair's suits are made in Montreal.

-Mark

[Araaadi]

I had a Blair Shapera suit made in 2020 for my brothers wedding, with a vest it was a little more than $1000, but I am fairly certain it was made it China, and only adjusted in Canada. With that being said, I only had one adjustment after it came in and fit and quality seemed to be really good.

[Tapioca]

I picked up a Spier and Mackay sport coat in Drago fabric the other day. For the price I paid, the quality and drape are excellent, and it's true to size.

Harry Rosen is clearning out some Samuelsohn pieces. I have a couple of Samuelsohn jackets and their quality is excellent. If I wasn't set on MTM, I would buy a Samuelsohn off-the-rack and take it to my trusted tailor for adjustments.

https://www.harryrosen.com/en/shop/s...ame=Samuelsohn

[bcrdukes]

Samuelsohn has worked very well for me. I have a few sport jackets and shirts from them. Their MTM program is excellent and zero issues with them whatsotever.