Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, I discuss the differences between a $100 dollar suit and a $1000 dollar
suit and I share some secrets about how you get the best suit for your money.
In my wardrobe, I have suits that cost over $5000 new and then some that just cost $5.
Over time, I've really seen the entire broadband of suit manufacturing and so I want to share
with you what really goes into it and what you need to know.
When I became interested in suits, I really didn't have much money and a $100 was a lot
and so I had to really make things go far.
The suit I'm wearing today actually cost me only $80 but in fact, it's from A Caraceni
in Milan, one of the most renowned tailors in Italy and the world.
New, the suit cost over $5000 dollars but I just got it for $80 and if you keep watching
the video, I'll share with you how I scored that deal.
So now, it's time for you to understand the key differences between a $100 dollar suit
and a $1000 dollar suit.
First, let's focus on the $00 dollar suit.
This is a suit such as from Jos.
A. Bank, H&M, men's Wearhouse, you name it, they're all pretty similar.
Basically.
it is a completely machine-made suit that is sewn together in 2-3 hours max and there
is no handwork whatsoever.
When it comes to suits, hand sewing is better because it is more flexible and it adapts
to your body more easily and so especially for a jacket, you always want more handwork.
A $100 dollar suit is made of very cheap fabric and cheap lining, that means, it's usually
stretched polyester with nylon or other artificial fibers.
Also, the raw materials may be cotton or wool that go into that fabric are of the lowest
quality possible.
The $100 suit may not look that different when you see pictures online but as soon as
you touch it, you can immediately tell the difference between a $100 suit and a $1000
suit.
It simply is stiffer, less comfortable, and you're more prone to sweating in it.
A $100 suit has a glued interlining.
So, what exactly is interlining and why do you use it?
When you start out with fabric, you have a two-dimensional surface, in order to keep
it in a three-dimensional shape, you need a second layer and the layer needs to be attached
in a certain shape so it stays like this, think about this of your chest and this being
the fabric and this the interlining, Once they're detached, they stay in shape.
For the $100 suit, this interlining is of very low quality and is glued to the fabric,
that works in the beginning but it also acts as an insulator so you're much more likely
to overheat and sweat.
Over time and maybe if you walk through the rain, this interlining will come lose and
you will see bubbles forming on your lapels all over your jacket, that looks really cheap
and sloppy and it's the hallmark of a $100 suit.
Another aspect of a $100 suit is the lack of attention to details.
For example, the buttonholes are first sewn and then cut not the other way around that
means you see some fraying.
Also, the trimmings are usually low-quality, the buttons are plastic, the lining is polyester,
and everything is made to remain low on the cost side but it also means low on the quality.
Usually, you also don't see any refined cuts, you don't see fine pick stitching by hand,
it's all either non-existent or machine-made.
The cut of a $100 suit can in theory, be as good as the on of a $1000 suit or a more expensive
suit but in practice, that's really rarely the case.
More often than not, $100 suits are either very fashion-forward, with very skinny lapels
and you can only wear them a year max, before they go out of fashion or they're simply old-fashioned
and the cut is boxy and bulky and simply not favorable.
In order to create a suit from a piece of fabric, you need a pattern.
For a $100 suit, this pattern is the same for everyone, there's no custom element and
so it will never fit you perfectly.
That aside, the $100 suit patterns are often not very refined.
Let's say they go for a slim suit or a slim silhouette, they make everything slim, even
your sleeves and then you can't really move when you want to do something, you can't wave
for a cab, simply because it wasn't thought through and it's too tight.
Another pet peeve of mine is the deep-cut armhole that restricts your movement and $100
suits usually have this 90% of all cases.
In recent years, it has changed a little bit, sometimes they have adopted more modern cuts
and they try to go with details such as working buttonholes, but in reality, they still use
cheap buttonholes and it still looks cheap.
So, at the end of the day, a $100 suit looks cheap and it feels cheap when you wear it.
If you think about it more, it makes perfect sense, the retailer has to make some money,
the sewer has to make some money, and the factory owner who employs a sewer wants to
make money.
At the end of the day, there's not much room left to add anything of quality in to the
suit.
The consequence of a $100 suit is that the person who actually sews the garment earns
very little and sometimes has to do it under dangerous conditions, so my verdict for a
new $100 suit is, it's never worth its money because it's below average on day one and
just goes downhill afterwards.
Now, if that's the maximum budget that you have and I used to have that budget, what
I suggest you do is you go vintage.
Buy used suits simply because you can buy a much higher retail price suit for a lower
price, so you get a better quality and you can look great and feel great without breaking
the bank.
You can find complete suits for 10 or 20 dollars that have hardly ever been worn or sometimes
completely unworn but have a really high-quality and you can score a huge bargain there.
However, not all suits at second-hand stores or vintage stores have good quality, you can
also find cheap suits so how do you distinguish between a cheap used suit and a quality vintage
suit?
If you want to learn more about that, please sign up to our email list here and you will
learn more about this specific stuff over time.
We also discuss how to build a wardobe, how to determine quality from crap and everything
you wanted to know about suits, garments, and wardrobes.
No matter what suit you buy, you always need to understand the quality and the quality
hallmarks.
You need to be able to identify a $1000 suit in a thrift store.
Alright, let's focus on a $1000 suit.
First of all, you have to keep in mind that the quality can be hugely different for suits
that cost a thousand dollars.
On the one hand, you can have an Armani fashion brand for a thousand dollars which has more
machine workmanship and fashion-forward styling than a suit that is made by a custom tailor
in HongKong.
The time that goes into a thousand dollar suit can range from 8 hours to 30 hours so
that's obviously a huge difference and you will also be able to feel that.
Generally, a thousand dollar suit show some amount of handwork.
Sometimes, they have decorative elements like hand-sewn buttonholes that look really nice,
they use a silk thread that is shiny or a cotton thread, they may have machine-made
buttonholes but it looks nice.
They may have an interlining that is sewn in hand or a collar which makes it softer
and fit better and make you look better.
Generally, big brands like Canali, or Armani, or Dolce & Gabanna, have less handwork but
a refined style and pattern that you can use.
On the other hands, suits from Asia may have more handwork because the labor is less expensive
but the styling can sometimes be a little old-fashioned and not really classic and boxy.
One big advantage of a thousand dollar suit is the fabric quality.
In that price level, you can actually get a decent quality cloth that lasts, is soft
and comfortable in your skin and drapes well on your body.
The biggest advantage of a thousand dollar suit over a hundred dollar suit is the interlining
and the construction.
Where the $100 suit has a glued interlining, the $1000 suit has a half canvas or full canvas
interlining.
So, what does that mean?
A half canvas is actually sewn to the fabric and it's usually made of materials such as
horsehair or cotton or wool and that way, it's more breathable so you don't overheat,
you're less likely to sweat and it moves with you on your body so it's more comfortable.
To save on cost, this form of interlining is only used on the upper part of your body
such as your chest and it's glued at the bottom part of your jacket.
Full canvas means that the interlining is sewn throughout your jacket and it's the best
version you can get.
At a thousand dollar price point, usually, these canvases are made by machine and not
by hand.
Even though hand sewing will be better but it's very time-intensive and for a thousand
dollars, you have to make some trade-offs.
Overall, a thousand dollar retail suit will not give you the best of everything, you either
can get something with more handwork that is a little more comfortable and lasts longer
or maybe something that is more machine made with a more refined cut but you have to kind
of compromise on the fabric.
If you're now interested to learn more about suits and other garments, shoes, and how to
put them together, I urge you to sign up here.
This is different from our regular email list, and specifically for people interested in
wardrobe building.
No matter if you spend a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars, this little secret has
helped me save a lot of money and to get quality suits.
When I walk into a store and look at suits, the first thing I do is I flap up the collar
and look at the stitching.
If it is machine-sewn, I move on especially at a vintage store.
If it's hand-sewn, I take the jacket off and take a closer look.
I do this because a hand-sewn collar indicate a very high quality.
If I go into a vintage store with 300 suits, there are probably only gonna be 3-5 suits
that are hand-sewn.
With this method, I can quickly go through the entire store and look at the ones in my
size and determine if it's worth staying there or not.
If the collar is hand-sewn, chances are, it's a high-quality garment and it deserves a second
look and you can use the hallmarks I described in this video to identify if you should buy
it or not.
High-quality suits are often just a little more expensive than well-known, used brands
or even cheaper suits that are more modern simply because the price range is very limited
in those stores.
So even if you buy a new suit, you can utilize that same method to look at the existing quality
when somebody wants to sell them something.
Now that you know the key differences between a $100 and a $1000 suit, stay tuned for a
more detailed video about $500 versus $5000 suits.