How Much Should a Suit Cost?
Chris Panicker / Photo courtesy of Huntsman & Sons
A great suit is unlike anything else in your closet—timeless and elegant, certainly, but also difficult to get right. The process of choosing, buying and caring for fine tailoring is often fraught with tough decisions, confusing jargon and conflicting opinions. That’s why we’ve assembled an all-star roster of the world’s most knowledgeable menswear experts to definitively answer all of your sartorial questions. Welcome to GQ’s Ask a Tailor.
Got a tailoring question of your own? Hit us up at gqaskatailor@gmail.com.
Unless you have a penchant for ultra-rare Jordans, Brunello Cucinelli cashmere sweaters, or anything from The Row, a new suit is likely to be one of the biggest investments you make in your wardrobe. Fortunately, whether you’re spending $500 for something off-the-rack or five-figures on a bespoke ensemble from one of the world’s top tailors, there’s quality and value to be found at every level of the suit hierarchy—if you know what to look for. It’s also worth remembering that, whatever you spend on your suit, nothing is worth more than the right fit, and a perfectly tailored $1,000 suit will always look better than an ill-fitting $5,000 one. We reached out to a few of our most trusted menswear advisors for advice on getting your money’s worth, whatever your budget.
Entry-Level ($1,000 and under)
The sub-$1,000 echelon is perhaps the most diverse—and most fraught—level of the suit hierarchy. Trendy looks from big fast fashion brands are at the bottom (in both price and quality) with respectable go-tos from J.Crew at the mid-range and classic fits from Todd Snyder at the higher end. You may find a few made-to-measure options in this range, but unless you’re a particularly hard-to-fit size you’ll probably get better value from something off-the-rack.
A sub-$1,000 suit may not come with the prestige of a luxury label or the personalization of a high-end tailoring shop, but you can still find something great here if you do your homework. First, look for a suit with a high-quality (usually Italian-made) fabric that’s 100% wool (or 100% cotton or linen if it’s summertime) and a fully-canvassed or half-canvassed jacket. Second, make sure as much of your money as possible is going to materials and workmanship, rather than advertising and supply chains.
“Many of the legacy high-end suit brands still largely work on the wholesale model which requires higher markups in order to allow resellers to make money,” explains Fokke de Jong, the founder of SuitSupply. “They also often need to cover the costs of fashion shows, marketing events, big campaigns, and celebrity partnerships,” he adds. This means that when you buy a suit from a big-name label, you’re going to be paying for their marketing costs and wholesale markups as well as the materials and labor that go into the suit.
Mid-Range ($1,000 to $4,000)
If you’ve got a bit more money to spend, your options will widen significantly to include a robust selection of off-the-rack suits from the likes of J. Press, Sid Mashburn and Drake’s as well as made-to-measure options from respected tailoring shops. At The Armoury, a Hong Kong-based tailor with locations in NYC, Japanese-made ready-to-wear suits range from about $1,600 to $2,500, with made-to-measure options starting at $3,150. “The difference between a $500 suit and a $1,500 or $2,000 suit is a higher level of fabric,” offers Max Papier, The Armoury’s director of ecommerce. “Each level that you go up, you're also going to have more handwork involved in the jacket, which means just more hand sewing compared to machine sewing.” These upgrades translate to performance benefits like durability and breathability (a key consideration if you live somewhere hot) as well as a subtly elevated look and feel.
High-End ($4,000+)
This is where things get truly fancy, from OTR bangers from the likes of Tom Ford and Armani to the full bespoke experience from a high-end tailor. At this level, you should expect to get the very best of everything, including elite fabrics, handmade floating canvas and the sartorial clout of a top-shelf tailoring house. There are a bunch of important differences between a great $2,500 suit and a great $5000 suit, but most of the improvements tend to be incremental, like the provenance of a fabric or a particularly dialed-in fit.
At Huntsman & Sons, a famed Savile Row tailoring house founded in 1849, a two-piece bespoke suit starts just shy of $6,000, which is more than some other bespoke services, but still on par with many high-end off-the-rack options. “Whilst our starting price point is not dissimilar from that of some luxury designer counterparts, what is unique about a Huntsman bespoke suit is the hallmark of quality guaranteed by the fact that our entire production and make process takes place in-house at 11 Savile Row,” explains Campbell Carey, Huntsman’s Head Cutter and Creative Director. “You're also guaranteed a suit that fits you perfectly and is made for you alone,” he adds. “It is a rare and wonderful thing that in this age, you can meet the people who are responsible for the creation of your garment every step of the way, from the person who cuts your pattern to the hands that finish your buttons.”
Vintage
If you’ve never considered buying a vintage suit, you should. Not only is a good-quality pre-owned suit priced well within the range of an entry-level off-the-rack option, it’s also more unique, more sustainable and often better quality than anything you’ll find at a conventional retailer. “Now that tailored clothing is something that a lot of guys actually want to wear, I think there’s an increased awareness of what these things cost, and guys are catching on to the value of vintage,” explains Sean Crowley, the owner of Crowley Vintage in NYC, whose suits are priced from about $500 to $1,500. “There’s always been a price range, but a cheap suit circa 1950 is so much better made than a lot of higher-end readymade stuff today,” he explains. “Less corners were cut, more things were done by hand, and the people making these things understood quality and fit and drape so much better.”
Originally Appeared on GQ
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