FASHION + BEAUTY
WHEN YOU GET SOMETHING BESP OKE , YOU BUILD A R E L AT I O N S H I P W I T H A TA I LO R . T H E L I F E T I M E O F T H E S U I T. What can people expect to spend on a bespoke suit? Keep in mind that a bespoke garment is an investment: Our first tier is $895 for a custom suit, and ordering a vest adds an additional $298 to the total. Sometimes clients also don’t realize that getting a custom suit can make the imperfections in their offthe-rack dress shirts more obvious—for instance, when a jacket fits impeccably, it will make a collar look even looser than usual, or shirt sleeves look even longer than before. Typically, a custom shirt adds at least $155 to the total. That said, we don’t charge for alterations. Wedding dresses are notorious for having expensive alteration processes, so most folks expect to navigate the same thing with custom suits.
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How can those with a smaller budget minimize the cost of going custom? A contemporary look for weddings is to wear
a beautiful jacket with more neutral pants. If to-be-weds operating on a budget happen to own a pair of black or navy dress pants they love, they can then have a jacket custom made (starting at $596). Another contemporary look, especially now that so many people are having weddings set in the country, is to skip the jacket altogether and just wear a beautiful custom vest (ours start at $298). For folks who find that they have fairly good luck with offthe-rack suits, alterations are the key to making the garments look really polished. For example, you can get a suit on ASOS for about $200, and they have plus-size fits too. When you may not live near a store you feel comfortable browsing in, consider ordering suits in several sizes and trying them on in the privacy of your own home. If you don’t have a tailor, ask a friend—it’s likely they know someone they trust. What’s the best way to navigate physical changes (top surgery, weight loss or hormone replacement therapy) when choosing wedding attire? I can speak from personal experience here—
I was measured for my first suit before I had top surgery. What I learned from being measured with a binder before top surgery is that I actually got the same measurement pre-op wearing a binder as I did post-op. Therefore, compressing the chest can be helpful for taking measurements when someone is pre-op. Even though I felt like the measurements would change dramatically after top surgery, they didn’t.
1 M O N T H O U T Second fitting. Try on your suit or tux and discuss any additional alterations with your tailor.
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When folks go on hormone replacement therapy, or gain or lose a significant amount of weight, it’s hard to anticipate exactly how their bodies will change, and exactly how their experiences in their bodies will change. We remind clients that we can only measure the body they have. That said, we understand that bodies shift—it’s part of being human— and we’ve learned how to anticipate shifts. We’ve learned a lot about how to construct our garments to make them as adaptable as possible, and our seamstress is extraordinarily talented when it comes to doing alterations. In terms of weight gain or loss, we can usually only work within a 15-pound margin. We suggest that to-be-weds get their wedding attire as close to their wedding as possible, that way their garments will be aligned with their bodies. What are the pros of going bespoke versus buying off the rack? Are there any pros specifically for trans or nonbinary folks?
Some people do have good luck with off-the-rack suiting, but many find themselves feeling limited—or worse, unseen by the options they come across in the retail landscape. Generally speaking, off-the-rack men’s suiting is hypermasculine and off-the-rack women’s suiting is hyper-feminine. Even if folks shopping in that landscape do feel like these suiting options make sense for their genders, it’s rare that they actually fit. We have no control over how narrow or wide the shoulders of off-the-rack suits are. If the shoulders are too narrow, the wearer feels trapped; if the shoulders are too broad, the wearer’s shoulders end up looking sloped because there’s nothing to hold up the edges of the jacket. When you get something bespoke, you build a relationship with your tailor. Whenever your body or your tastes shift, you can reach out to us to let us know. We alter our suits for the lifetime of the suit. Therefore, a bespoke suit often has a longer lifetime than an off-the-rack suit. What are some ways to personalize a suit or tux? Our clients design their whole suit, from macro-decisions, like the fabric it’s made from, to micro-decisions, like the color of the piping that separates the lining from the fabric of the jacket. We also offer monograms on custom shirts, and something sweet that people do is get their wedding date embroidered on their cuffs. Some folks will opt for a traditional tux, but will mix it up with bright colors (rather than classic black or blue) or will add a velvet jacket. A lot of clients bring in fabric from a family member’s wedding dress or a loved one’s handkerchief and ask that we sew it into their jacket as a tribute—that’s my favorite way to add a personal touch.
1 W E E K O U T Your new look is complete!
Take it home and make sure you have all your accessories ready for your day.
SCISSORS: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES; PINS AND SUIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
W E A LT E R O U R S U I T S F O R
6/4/20 10:32 AM