Gentlemen, Antonio here.
Let�s talk today about the difference between a $200 and a $2,000 suit.
Now, we�re talking ten
times multiple.
Many of you guys are thinking, �Antonio, is that really worth the difference?�
I, myself over a decade ago when I was shopping for my wedding suit was in the same position,
I�m trying to make a decision between a $200 suit and a $2,000 designer suit and,
I didn�t know
what to decide.
The real answer here is that there isn�t one price point, that is you finding the
best suit for you and you want to pay attention to these details.
You want to understand
oftentimes if you do pay more, you should get more and you don�t always get more and
I want
you to be aware of this stuff so you can go out there and make a smart purchasing decision
for
you.
So, difference number one.
Fit.
Now, what you�re going to find on a $200 suit that is made to fit
as many body types as possible.
And, I know that�s pretty general, there are probably some
great companies out there doing something at the lower end price point, but in general
these
manufacturers are looking to save money.
So, they look at guy, he�s 5�9� and they make a suit for him.
It doesn�t matter if he�s 5�9� 250,
5�9� 150.
The problem is for the bigger guy, they think, oh, just open it up.
For the smaller guy,
just bring it in.
The problem is it isn�t built truly for either body type.
Everything is built is
square, everything is built boxy, everything is built with lower quality materials and
what we
end up with are suits that oftentimes do not fit people properly.
Now, again, there are exceptions to the rule, but what we find is we move up definitely
at that
$2,000 price point, you expect that it�s going to fit better off rack because it is
made for your
body type.
So, instead of going after a wider range of different body types, they have specific
body types and they go after certain models and there is much less range and they know
when
somebody puts the jacket on it should fit them very closely.
The key to that is it doesn�t have to be a perfect fit, they can make minor adjustments
and
they�re going to get a great or super fit.
The problem with the other one is if it doesn�t fit great,
you can make major adjustments, they can try to rebuild the suit.
You can take it to a tailor and
he can spend $200, $300 on alterations basically builds the whole suit and you could still
have
issues.
So, that is the thing and, again, I don�t � I want to point out that, you know, in
this price range
you can look at custom, so if you are a hard to fit guy and I know many of your guys are,
you�re
2
incredibly tall, you�re incredibly big, you are incredibly small.
In that case, you want to look
custom.
I think it�s one of the best options to few people are checking it out.
Guys, I�m going to
link you over to my ten favorite custom clothiers.
I link to it over at Real Men Real Style.
I go
into more detail there, but in any case, keep � understand that fit oftentimes if you
go lower
price you�re going to compromise and you�re definitely going to need to make it up by
taking
your clothing to a tailor.
So, difference number two is going to be built.
So, I talked about it over in fit a bit, but usually
the materials, everything that goes into the build of a lower cost suit is going to be
of lower
quality.
Make sense?
They�ve got to make a profit, these companies are not charities.
So, if
they�re going to sell it for $200 that means that the person selling it to you probably
bought it
for at least $100 maybe down to $80 and then the person that manufactured it they had to,
you know, make their money as well, so cut that in half.
So, we�re talking they maybe spent $40
maybe $50 and that�s probably high on the actual build of the suit and that includes
the
shipping and everything, so the actual build of the suit maybe $25.
Now, how much if you think about that the cost of goods $25 on a suit that you bought
for
$200.
And that�s � you�re going to see that across the board in clothing, but what you
want to
think about there is, okay, that means plastic buttons, that means actually in the shoulders
that
there�s going to be foam here, that means they�re going to use fused canvas.
All of those details
they�re going to try to save.
Now, as you move your way up, you�re going to find that the cost to manufacture starts
to go
much higher.
All of a sudden you�re using [hand-pad] shoulders that are individually built out.
All of a sudden you start to see hand work and anytime you have hand work, you�re going
to
see the price starts to shoot up.
That�s why things like bespoke clothing are so expensive, not
that they are necessarily better than made to measure which there is a difference, but
bespoke
is an art and you�re going to pay a premium price for artisan work.
So, all, you know, the buttons you start to see horn, all the threading literally the
individual the
thread used to sew on the buttons and bring the suit together is all going to cost more.
The
inside the canvas is not fused, it should have a floating canvas or, you know, basically
you start
to see these things in the higher end suits and that�s what you�re paying for.
And, if you can�t
notice the difference here, if, you know, I would advise you to go to go to the best
menswear
store in your area.
Try on an expensive suit and all of a sudden when you go and you try on a
cheap suit, you will feel and see the difference.
[0:04:52]
Difference number three is going to be fabric.
So, on the $200 suit, we�re going to oftentimes
see blends, we�re going to see cheap polyesters, we�re going to see fabrics that are made
at a
very low price point.
Higher end all of a sudden we start to see mills that have heritage.
A lot of
these Italian, English mills, they have been around for hundreds of years and when their
brand
when you see Lessona, when you see DVC, when you see Holland and Sherry on the inside of
3
the jacket and they�re telling you what mill it comes from, understand you�re paying
a bit more
for the prestige that comes with that, but also the trust and the fact that these mills
pay very
close attention in everything that goes in there.
On the lower end suit you�re often going to see they use recycled wool.
The problem with that
is recycled wool when you get down the individual fibers, very small.
Virgin wool on the other
hand can be three times as long.
Why that matters is it will stand up to the test of time.
Before I leave fabrics, I want to hit on the super system.
So, I�m talking about when you see
super 120s, super 180s, super 240s, or whatever those numbers may be, understand they are
not regulated.
One company�s super 120 is another company�s super 180.
Understand that
those numbers are often there. It�s kind of like megapixels in digital cameras, they
keep
thinking that if you put a higher numbers there, people are going to think, oh, that�s
a better digital camera when really the sensor has a huge affect on this. The same thing is you
want to pay attention to the mill, you want to pay attention to where it�s made, and actually
feel it yourself. Just understand when you pay more you should get a better fabric.
So, difference number four is going to be the service. So, on the lower end price point,
expect that you�re going to have to take it to get it adjusted. And you can find sometimes
a great deal there, take it to your tailor who you should know by name and get it adjusted. However,
when you�re at the higher end price point, they should have in-house tailors that actually
take care of this for you. It should be part of the service part of the package. If a button pops off
a month later, at a higher end store you should be able to go in and actually get that fixed
get that repaired. At a lower end store, they may not remember who you were and you may have to
fight them and you may, you know, it could turn into an issue. So, guys, understand that
service is important as well.
Difference number five. The brand reputation. And, guys, this place into everything, oftentimes
at the lower price points and this is where you can sometimes get a great deal. You can
sometimes find things at a lower price point that a brand is trying to build a reputation.
Let's say they�ve only been around for a few years, so they�re going to come in a lower price point
thinking that they�re going to acquire customers and that this is going to be how they grow.
When you find something like that, that is awesome, that�s a great deal. And I would
love to hear from you guys in the comments down below on an up and coming
brand that you think other people need to know about.
Now, understand if a brand has been around fifty years, a hundred years, and if they
have spent millions of dollars trying to build up their brand and their reputation all of a sudden
when Zegna throws their name on something, understand that the price goes up. When, you know,
you see these higher end companies going in there, basically they can command that because
of the name that is associated with it. If I tell you it�s a Tom Ford suit, you can
bet that the price
is going to shoot up because it�s associated with that designer.
All right, guys, that�s it. Let me know what you think in the comments down below
and if you want more, go check out the support article. I have a cool infographic over there and I
go into more detail. I link you over to a number of great resources.
And, that�s it, guys, I�ll see you in the next video.