I’m beginning the search for a suit for H for a wedding. His one suit is 17 years old. His sport coat even older. He would like something more stylish.
The problem is he needs an extra short and you just can’t find them in any stores. We have tried several brands in a short but they are to large. In my online research several blogs for short men recommend made to measure suits. Has anyone had experience with this?
Men’s Wearhouse stores offer custom suits. My older son is “vertically challenged” and had 2 custom suits made for him. Depending upon the material picked, he got 2 suits for $900. Very good quality and a perfect fit.
If you can afford it, a bespoke suit is the best. I had one made when I was in Hong Kong a decade ago and it still wears like new. If you do get one, get an extra pair of slacks while you’re at it, because pants wear out much faster than the jackets.
Men’s Wearhouse has started doing custom suits in our area. Looks promising but no direct experience with it.
They do have trained people in fitting (at least in our store). You can’t walk in the front door without the tape measure being drawn–they don’t even ask for your size (I love that!) The sales people really know their stock (and what alterations are possible) in my experience.
Haven’t been disappointed yet in final fit and style chosen.
Our S has had at least one custom suit made for him in LA. It looks great and he’s pleased with it. I did suggest next time he get it with 2 pairs of slacks and he said the regular, “yeah, yeah, yeah.”
S has smaller chest and 27" waist and is shorter so custom / bespoke made the most sense.
Our S sounds like @HImom son. We ran across an amazing sale at Armani and now he’s set for college and maybe longer. We don’t see much change in size in his future, but minor adjustments can be made in the future. If you can go custom - it’s worth it. Especially if you are in a smaller, hard to fit size.
S has remained about his same size for about a decade or more now, ages 18-29, so he’s invested in clothing he likes and fit him nicely. He’s not fond of the blazer and slacks he wore to graduate from HS because it was way too big and the tailor took it in but it never looked quite right.
There is a store in New York City that sells clothing made for men 5’-8" and under called PeterManningNYC. They also sell online.
There’s a big difference between made to order and made to measure or bespoke. With made to order, you might select the fabric, select a few details(number of buttons, surgeon’s cuffs, vents), get separates(ex. 36 jacket and 32 waist), or get some unusual size not typically stocked in stores. Beyond that the suit is still built from a stock pattern. With MTM/bespoke(out of my budget), someone should be taking a lot of measurements and to a greater or lesser extent building a pattern to match your husband’s unique body type.
^^ True that. We took the middle road for S. After finding that Armani could fit the suite very nicely we chose custom shirts from Tom James. Chose the fabric, collar style, cuff, and fit. Worked well.
Also, depending on the brand and the marketing, custom might mean anything from MTO to MTM to true bespoke.
@NYmommabear - he buys shirts from Peter Manning online. They are a great resource for dress shirts. They don’t have a large inventory and for a suit they sell one jacket in two colors and the same for the pants. The total would be $1000 and it’s not that slim of a cut.
He is over 50 and has been the same size since his 20’s so I’m not worried about him outgrowing it.
Considering Indochino or Black Lapel though both get mixed reviews. There is a store Jimmy Au in Los Angeles that is for short men. Online the suits are expensive but they might have more invention the store. He would like something with a slim modern cut.
Probably not the advice you’re looking for, but if your husband’s shorter than 5’4 and has a slim/athletic build, then boys clothing is one option.
Boy’s clothing often fits differently than men’s, according to S who is 5’6" and goes back and forth between boy’s and men’s clothing, depending on price and fit.
^Boy’s clothing tends to be designed for people under about 140lbs and 5’7. Most men’s suits tend to be designed for a more portly figure, although some brands(ex. J Crew) are known for a very slim cut.
My S is about 120 pounds and 5’6", so he’s quite selective about slimmer styles and cuts so they don’t hang on or off him. Express has a slim cut dress shirt that works decently for him.
He is far from portly. The suit he owns and his sport coat are Men’s 36 XS. Years ago Nordstrom was able to bring in XShorts from the San Francisco store. Sadly Nordstrom no longer carries XS at any of their stores. He is under 5"7 and under 140 lbs.