A Distinctive Taste

A collection and interpretation of media and influences. Designed for the mindset that appreciates style, substance, and creativity.

Posted 1 year ago
Holocaust survivor Martin Greenfield starts off as the floor boy, 45 years later he owns the place. What I took away from this is that bespoke clothing can create jobs.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to share an email to me regarding bespoke and MTM from Derek of DieWorkWear.

Hey Kendrick,
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of Indochino. However, the upside is that they’re risk free, except for the shipping cost back and forth.
What size are you? Unless you’re unusually small or big, I wouldn’t recommend Indochino.
I also don’t generally recommend MTM. The problem with MTM is that you have to go through a few iterations for things to really look right, and it can end up being an expensive project. To me, unless you’ve already built up that knowledge, it’s better to go bespoke since you get three fittings in a bespoke. Future iterations on bespoke also helps hone down the fit, but at least you get three fittings on the first try. Also, some bespoke tailors, such as NSM, seem to be better at getting the fit first time around. Good bespoke will cost around $1,500 at the starting point and can go up to $5,000 or so, but I’m not sure what your budget is like.
Other MTMs I’ve seen done well is Ralph Lauren Purple and Black Label; Patrick Johnson; and Armani (believe it or not). Still, at their prices, I still think bespoke would be better.
For lower end MTM, such as Indochino and My Suit for Less, I just haven’t seen anything good come out of their operations. I’ve only seen a few from My Suit for Less, but I’ve seen at least 20 from Indochino at this point, and I think only one in there was good.
If you’re on a crazy small budget, and you’re an unusual size, I would say Indochino is fine. If you can take up a weekend job, however, I say you just save up for something better. I work a weekend gig that pays a paltry $100 a day. But over a month, that’s $400. And over 3 months, that’s about enough to get something bespoke.
Good luck, and hope what you were cooking worked out!

Derek
- 3