Jon22: The Website of Jonathan Dobres

Today we have a lengthy guest post written by my good friend, Garrett. He recently went on a quest to procure a custom-made suit, and thought that the internet would benefit from what he learned in the process. He said, “Can I write a post for your site?” And I said, “Sure.” He said, “Is there room?” And I said, “On the internet? Probably.” He took the whole “infinite space” concept and really ran with it, so prepare to sit back and enjoy!

Classic American male toughness, once popularized by the cinematic hard bodies of the late twentieth century, has given way to a burgeoning fashion culture among young professionals today.  This is not to say that personal fitness routines, faddish diets, and profound body dysmorphia are not prevalent throughout all forms of contemporary media (e.g., The Biggest Loser to True Beauty on television, the availability of Botox ‘home edition’ kits, and Hip Hop Abs exercise videos).  That said, this post speaks to the young men who are redefining—or rather, reinvigorating—classical style that harks back to the days of Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra, when the clothes made the man.  Let us discard, at least for the time being, the fast-paced action sequences and fight scenes of the latest Bond movie to take a closer look at the style and class immortalized by James’ finely tailored Brioni suit.

First, allow me to put this fashion culture into perspective.  Those of you out there sporting Armani Exchange T-shirts and $100 pre-torn jeans from Abercrombie need not apply.  Indeed, the trendy ‘metrosexual’ charging up a storm for the latest thin, knit black tie and canvas sportcoat at the local mall fails to measure up.  Rather, I’m talking about well-proportioned french cuff shirts and ivory cufflinks, camel hair overcoats, and thank goodness, the reappearance of the pocket square.  This is the stuff of bespoke clothing, handcrafted shirts and suits, and fine leather shoes.  A culture of couture, if you will, that punches casual Friday in the face.

I, too, have long subscribed to the comfort, ease and routine of daily denim and cotton pairings.  After all, purchasing, cleaning, and ironing a wardrobe of slacks, dress shirts and suits are expensive and time-consuming chores.  In this regard, let’s start at the root of the problem.  You have too many dress clothes!  Over the past forty years, with the emergence of relatively inexpensive men’s clothing stores (such as the Men’s Wearhouse in 1973) it became popular to purchase two dozen mediocre suits off the rack to stock one’s closet with an effortless variety of dress clothes to wear to the office.  These stores took the challenge out of fashion.  If you have a suit for every day of the week, there’s no need to stress over recycling key pieces of clothing in new and inventive ways.  This leaves you with four blue suits, a few black and gray, several shades of brown and tan, and two hues of olive.  Don’t get me wrong, each has its place and deserves respect if accessorized and matched carefully—yes, even the olive—but it is likely these suits do not fit well and they are paired with baseball and cartoon print ties. What a shame.  Gentlemen, it’s time that you purchased fewer clothes, trading quantity for quality.

This leads me to the second major problem with an overabundance of off-the-rack clothing:  poor fit.  Some of you lucky bastards out there can walk into a Kohl’s, JoS. A. Bank, or Men’s Wearhouse, slip on a 40 regular, shorten the sleeves, hem the pants, and walk away looking fan-friggin-tastic.  Good for you.  In fact, I encourage you to buy off the rack as much as possible.  However, I dare say most of us have physical peculiarities that break the mold.  Introduce a sloping shoulder, uneven arms, or in my case, an entire body of anomalies to the standard cut of most storefront suits, and this makes for a truly terrible fit that not even suit separates can amend.  Not all hope is lost, my awkwardly-shaped friends.  You, too, can experience the comfort and style of a perfectly fitting suit.  Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of bespoke clothing as I venture to find the perfect custom suit.

As do all great and timeless stories, my adventure begins with love.  My beautiful fiancee, Anna, and I are getting married this May.  Like most Americans facing hard economic times, we are on a strict budget for this wedding, which has encouraged us to be thrifty whenever possible.  We have made our own save-the-dates and invitations and we are arranging our own flowers and centerpieces, for example.  When it came time to find our wedding attire, Anna, with her perfect figure, found a gorgeous gown within three visits to local shops, and for quite a deal!  I am very eager to see her and all her splendor on our special day.  However, what Anna accomplished in a few visits to stores and some online browsing has taken me weeks of research.

Physically, I’m what researchers call an outlier.  At 5’7” I certainly don’t stand a head above the crowd.  Rather, my suit issues are the result of extreme proportions.  I’m broad.  No, let me say that again, I am really friggin’ broad.  Since I was a kid I’ve had shoulders in places where I don’t even have places.  My legs are best described as tree trunks.  My breadth is partly due to genetics (thanks to my Andre-the-Giantesque father) and partly due to a life’s worth of martial arts and weightlifting.  I’m one of those guys who puts on muscle mass easily when I go to the gym.  The downside being that if I eat a cheeseburger, I grow a chin.  Compare this to the ‘hard earners’ out there who may struggle to put on size but whose midsections could earn a role alongside Brad in Fight Club.  Whether you’re extremely broad or very slender, you could benefit greatly from the lessons I’ve learned.  There are certainly more extreme cases than mine (Michael Clarke Duncan owns a few suits), but the long and short of it is, if I can find a suit then so can you.

Finding a custom tailor in Boston takes time.  The average consumer looking to make an informed purchase of custom clothing faces a mixed bag of online articles both applauding and condemning custom suits.  The best of these articles is a well-researched autoethnography by David Bezmogis, who juxtaposes a long family history with off-the-rack suits to his purchase of a contemporary bespoke suit.  Some of the worst articles are gleaned from online review sites where consumers contribute short posts that offer little perspective on the experience of purchasing a suit, and often confuse industry terms such as “made-to-measure,” “bespoke,” and “benchmade.”¹ There is some merit to these sites, including the well-known Ask Andy forums, which provide many varied perspectives on popular tailors—some accessible nationwide, such as Astor & Black—but as a new consumer of custom clothing I was left a little confused.  Furthermore, I was no better informed about the best of Boston’s tailors.  There are very few online venues that advertise Boston’s purveyors of bespoke clothing.  This post replicates Bezmogis’ insightful approach to custom clothing to inform readers that there are others who have found the perfect fit, and that this can be accomplished in Boston.

Hours of online research led me to the following custom clothiers in the Boston area (this list in certainly non-exhaustive):  The Custom Fit on Newbury Street, Mr. Sid’s in Newton, Astor & Black’s local representative, Aaron Greenberg, in Brookline, Raymond Personal Tailor in the financial district, Brooks Brothers and their seasonal made-to-measure program, and lastly, Alan Rouleau Couture.

Even when I managed to find websites for these clothiers, they advertised little of the process of buying a custom suit or their methods of production.  Some sites referenced the esteemed Martin Greenfield and his tailors in Brooklyn, New York as their preferred subcontracted tailor.  Others simply gave a contact name and number.  Much to my dismay, none of them indicated any type of price range.  As a longtime Bostonian, I know that fashion equals Newbury Street, so I first explored the shops there.  Several long phone conversations led me to Alan Rouleau Couture and his private showroom nestled between high-end boutiques on the second floor of beautiful building on Newbury.  Passersby wouldn’t even know the showroom was there unless they were invited—it’s not even visible from the street—and as Alan Rouleau explained to me, “Most of my advertising is done by word of mouth.”

I chose Alan Rouleau for three reasons.  First, I learned that the average price for a bespoke suit in the Boston area starts at about $1,800, and increases from there depending upon fabric quality, customized silk lining, the addition of a custom vest and shirts, monogramming, and other personal touches.  In this sense, Mr. Rouleau’s business was right on par with his competitors.  This price range isn’t bad considering high-end off-the-rack Italian suits from the likes of Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus start at $1,500 and run up to well over $3,000.  Those prices do not include the cost of requisite tailoring after purchase, and as I’ve explained, are unlikely to fit my body any better than a suit from Macy’s anyway.

Mr. Rouleau took the time to explain his methods of measurement and production to me over the phone.  Impressively, he was the only tailor with whom I spoke who explained that he takes both relaxed and flexed measurements of muscular body parts that may be difficult to fit.  As a weightlifter who has torn the arm and shoulder stitching on many jackets just by lifting my arm to chest level, I appreciated this extra attention.  After some more careful research and a visit to Mr. Rouleau’s showroom, I discovered him to be an exclusive Boston tailor who has provided services to many of the Boston elite.  Despite this acclaim, Mr. Rouleau was friendly, personable, and gave me his full attention even though I’m a graduate student who has not the means to build an entire wardrobe of custom clothes.

My first meeting with Mr. Rouleau was scheduled to view his wide selection of fabrics, and to be measured.  He carries the popular Italian brands previously mentioned, as well as fine fabrics imported from other Italian mills that offer the same quality as well-known name brands, but give consumers more bang for their buck (e.g., Biella fabrics).  With this in mind, I selected a medium gray fabric for my suit from one of these smaller Italian mills.  The fabric is a medium weight 100% wool, ‘super 120,’ with alternating rope and shadowed pinstripes.  Fabric must be chosen carefully, giving careful consideration to the color, touch, stretch, sheen, weight and sturdiness of the material.  These factors are influenced by the type of material (wool versus polyester versus silk) and the super number.  A suit that incorporates some silk will likely have sheen, whereas a suit with a lot of silk could actually appear shiny (think The Sopranos).  Depending on when you’re planning to wear the suit (summer, winter, all year) should influence the weight and color of the fabric you choose.  Heavier fabrics (wool) can be chosen for colder weather, lighter materials (cotton and linen) can be worn in warmer weather.  Traditionally, tans and light grays are reserved for spring and summer, while dark blues and blacks are fall and winter colors.  My medium gray, 100% wool fabric is light enough in color and weight to be worn in warmer weather but sturdy enough for cold Boston winters.  It’s well balanced as a suit that can be worn all year.  Ultimately, tell your tailor for what occasions (wedding, work, interviews) and times of year you’re going to wear the suit and s/he will point you in the right direction.  From there, I recommend you pick what looks and feels good to you.

Measurements took about an hour.  True to his word, Mr. Rouleau took measurements of my relaxed and flexed arms and shoulders, as well as two dozen other measurements of my posture and physical features.  Turns out I have good posture, but my right shoulder sits a little lower than the left, my arms are long for my height, and I have a very large “drop”.  A “drop” is the measurement calculated by subtracting your waist size in inches from your chest size in inches.  Most off-the-rack suits come with a five- to seven-inch drop, depending upon the brand.  I have a fourteen inch drop, and this is one of the main reasons why I can’t find off-the-rack suits that fit me.  If you have a big chest, you are expected to have a proportionally big waist.  This means that store-bought slacks that come with suit coats will have big waists and the midsection of large-chested coats will have plenty of room for a round stomach.  This is what I learned about the shape of my body:

For those of you who are weightlifters or who are generally familiar with your body measurements, I include this table to illustrate that I am not an easy fit. I also hope that you may identify with some of these awkward proportions, and realize that there is hope for you, too.

After sizing, I had the opportunity to discuss style and cut with Mr. Rouleau. I opted for a two-button, double-vented, notched lapel, European cut (also known as Italian or English cuts with very subtle differences), which is typified by its high arm holes, soft shoulders and a slim waistline that contours to the body to reveal a V-shape. Contrast this to boxier American cuts that traditionally have larger shoulder pads, a single vent in the back, and tend to hang from the shoulders. If you need a visual, compare Tony Blair to George Bush when they’re all dolled up. In either case you could acquire a clean, tailored look, but the features of a European cut favor my athletic build.

I chose a two-button jacket because it is a longstanding traditional option and allows for longer lapels, which provide a longer vertical meridian (this will make me look taller). To my surprise, Mr. Rouleau and his assistant tailors finish all of their suits with hand-cut button holes and working surgeon’s cuffs (the buttons and button holes actually function, and the cuffs can be rolled up the sleeves of the suit). This extra special touch is a mark of sartorial distinction, and while I do not plan on performing an appendectomy at my wedding, I appreciate these subtle yet fashionable details.

To match my medium gray suit, I chose a beautiful silver paisley pattern for the lining. Thanks to an annual sale at Mr. Rouleau’s I was also able to afford a vest to complete my suit. The lining inside the coat will be used for the back of the vest. Mr. Rouleau specializes in side straps that sit at the hips to tighten his bespoke vests. He explained that this option keeps the material from bunching up in the back and provides a cleaner look. Among a half-dozen options for vest styles and cuts, I chose a five-button vest with lapels to echo the style of the jacket. I’ve always thought that vests without lapels are best for casual pairings with jeans and a button down. If you’re buying a nice three-piece suit for a special occasion, go with the lapels on your vest. I completed my purchase with four french-cuff custom shirts in ivory, mint (more blue than green), light pink, and cobalt blue with subtle variations in texture. Mr. Rouleau was a tremendous help when selecting the spread of the collars on these shirts. When you’re short and broad, there is a delicate balance in the height and width of a shirt collar. On one hand a tall collar will choke a short neck, and on the other a wide collar will overemphasize shoulder width and overpower the face.

My order is placed, my bill is paid. Now I eagerly await mid-March, when I get to go back to Mr. Rouleau for my second fitting. At that time, I’ll get to try everything on and he’ll make final adjustments to ensure the perfect fit. I’ll be back in a few weeks to let you know how that goes.

1. Bespoke refers to custom clothes that are made according to unique specifications and measurements of the consumer. Made-to-measure is a method of bespoke tailoring that involves taking about twenty body measurements (chest size, arm length, inseam, over-arm, bicep and thigh circumference) that allow tailors to partially customize a canvas for your suit fabric. Contrasted to an off-the-rack purchase and post hoc tailoring, these adjustments are made before the suit is sewn by a team of tailors, who typically work separately from the tailor or salesman who takes the measurements. However, some adjustments are made during a second fitting after the purchase. Benchmade suits are another variety of bespoke clothing that is measured and created by a single tailor who is personally responsible for every aspect of the suit’s creation from start to finish. These suits are typically more expensive than made-to-measure as they merit extensive attention and hours of work by a single tailor, and they represent the pinnacle of custom clothing fit just for you. ∧