Back to the actual topic of ranking the tailors please everyone. Appreciate it.

There is a chicken and egg problem with ranking the tailors, at least in NYC. It seems that my city has a disease where anyone who has spent considerable money bangs the table claiming something is the "Best". That can range from tailors to lawyers. Everyone is the "best". In fact, Ive come across so many people, in so many meetings telling me such and such is the best it seems like NYC might be the only place in the world where it's lonely at the bottom.


Of course, six weeks later that same designation is removed and the "best" is now considered something unmentionable.

Men who know nothing about clothes, or look, or comfort go to tailors their friends recommend. If their friend hasnt much taste, theyre in trouble.


I believe I had a considerable head start in the taste arena, and still I was never satisfied, always looking to learn, always trying to question why something was good. I have spent a considerable amount of time dwelling on the subject of quality, comfort and demeanor, much of it unfortunately in my head. I continue to reaffirm that what i wear, if not the best, is overall excellent. I have made mistakes and what I hope I contribute here is some time and money savings.

I cant help people who have a certain "look" they aspire to, although considering my background, it probably isnt an accident i was attracted to the suit style of a man who ran Brooks' custom operation for 20 years but who has a bit more international spin to it all. I can only guide people to a milieu where they will have beautiful clothes which will be admired by others everywhere and receive value for their money.

Last edited by Marc Grayson (2006-11-16 21:55:27)

Theres a problem with ranking. First just getting a suit from each tailor wont be adequate to compare which is the basis (or one of them) of ranking. You would have to ge the same fabric made up by each tailor. And still, what if some tailors work better with some cloths than others?

Everyone's body is different, and customers many times have images in their minds that cant be fulfilled. Take the parabel of the man who brings in a shirt he bought in a store off of an ad. The shirt may look like garbage and make him look bad but the advertising has already transmuted his mind to think he's got the girl on his arm and no amount of explaining will divert him from that collar. Same thing with suits, some guys just want to look a certain way.

My favorite story involved an elderly man getting fitted for a suit at a tailors shop (Not Corvato). He had a serious hip deformity and his wife apparently made it clear she wanted him to look normal. Well, when the pants were made for him they made him look great but when they were removed this guy's wife had a fit that the pants were cut crookedly. She wanted them cut straight just like everyone else's. When it was explained to her that if they were cut straight her husband would look lopsided, she said she didnt care they were to accomodate her. Clearly a tailor is no match for the power of vanity gone off the deep end.

I was just reading a thread on a tailor and one poster mentioned that the patron had 30 fittings for a suit.  I think I read that correctly.  My question is why?  That seems like an awful lot.  Was it a new design or innovation or what?  Would warrant that many fittings?   Most I've had are 3 for bespoke (and the last was superficial -- just a double check I think of the sleeves before button holes are sewn) or 1 or 2 for MTM (if two then the last is "superficial).

The other thing is that 30 fittings would seem to take up a hell of a lot of time.  For both client and tailor.