Need Help - Paul Stuart Formalwear Horror Story

[Nicholas]

I find myself in the unfortunate position of desperately requiring help on a matter thoroughly disagreeable to me.

SHORT STORY: I need to find a bolt of black 100s wool that by sheer luck matches a dinner jacket that requires a new sleeve. The Samuelsohn factory whence this garment originally came no longer has the original dye lot for this jacket.

LONG STORY: On a medical student's impecunious budget I purchased by mail a satin-faced peak-lapel tuxedo from Paul Stuart in New York. I had this garment altered locally in NC and in the process a hole was either discovered or newly made as the sleeve buttons were being moved to match the new sleeve length. The local tailor claimed the hole was already there, beneath one of the buttons, and Paul Stuart, unable to verify the matter, was unwilling to exchange the tuxedo or otherwise accommodate me. I then contacted Samuelsohn in Canada (the maker of Paul Stuart's suits) and learned that although the tuxedo had been purchased in Fall 2006, it was made in 2005 and the dye lot was no longer available. Samuelsohn sent me some fabric swatches, all of which were very poor matches. I then looked into reweaving, but learned that the result would necessarily be conspicuous. Having made up my mind to have the sleeve removed and then reattached such that the hole would be moved a half inch up the sleeve into position for a working button hole, I sent the garment to Samuelsohn for the unrelated task of switching all the satin trim to grosgrain. While working on the trim, Samuelsohn stated that they happened to have a black 100s wool that seemed to be a nearly perfect match, and offered to replace the sleeve. This they did, subsequently returning the suit to me. Although their work on the satin to grosgrain transformation was beautifully executed, their eye for a color match was quite poor and the new sleeve looks appalling. The original sleeve was scrapped, so I am left with a sleeve that matches so poorly that it might as well be made of white linen.

THE MISSION: I am looking for any tailor that has access to a wide range of fabrics that might have a shot at, by sheer coincidence and luck, finding a black 100s wool that matches my tuxedo jacket extremely closely. The sleeve would then be replaced. Dying a fabric to make a closer match may be an option as well, but I am skeptical of the wisdom in doing this.

PLEA: if any of you has any thoughts on how I might salvage this otherwise very elegant tuxedo, I would be very grateful to you. I need to find someone who will undertake the task with a meticulous eye, someone with keen powers of discernment and exquisite taste. Please help me restore due dignity and pride to this defiled garment.

[RWS]

To quote a famously poor dresser, I feel your pain.

Manton and others would know better, perhaps, whom to entrust this to, but I might choose Leonard Logsdail, a fellow Lounger and an excellent tailor. I think the variety of his books remarkable.

Did Samuelsohn's tell you the origin of the cloth (mill, dye lot, etc.)? That would help set you on the proper path.

RWS

[DFR]

Whilst this may not be what you want to hear or think about I do wonder if you would ever be satisfied with e garment however close the match was perceived to be.

Experience and start again - or maybe buy a white evening coat to go with the trousers?

[Nicholas]

Whilst this may not be what you want to hear or think about I do wonder if you would ever be satisfied with e garment however close the match was perceived to be... Experience and start again.

You may be absolutely correct; perhaps it is best to begin again and regard this long ordeal as an expensive lesson.

Thank you for offering your thoughts on this matter, and thank you to RWS as well for his suggestions.

Kind regards to you both.

[Costi]

perhaps it is best to begin again and regard this long ordeal as an expensive lesson.

This may be little consolation, but you can always wear the trousers with a white dinner jacket that you might commission...

[Mark Seitelman]

I think that matching the sleeve is a lost cause. Sorry.

I suggest that your future purchases be made in a reputable, local store rather than mail order. There should be such stores in your area catering to your area's higher income individuals.

A reputable store which sells and tailors its clothes will have to take responsibility for a mistake or damage. Often, a store serving the local gentry will "eat" a mistake and start all over again on its own dime.

Good luck.

[oldog/oldtrix]

I am most interested in how and where the original hole in the sleeve was “discovered.” I have too often seen the results of hasty “tailoring” in damage to garments that were not damaged when delivered to the tailor. It seems less likely to me that an existing hole was hidden by the sleeve buttons than that in the removal of one of the buttons the sleeve material was cut, perhaps even unknowingly. My theory, of course, potentially impugns a tailor of whom I have no knowledge, and if you tell me he is trustworthy then my theory is wrong. But even in that case, and even with a merchant who honestly stands behind its goods, I can understand the merchant balking at making an exchange or refund in this case unless the merchant also knows the good repute of the tailor.

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm a little late to the party on this one.

What a horrific story. Surely since Samuelsohn was incapable of judging how close a match the fabric was, they should now replace the whole shebang?

Incidentally, i've never known a reweave by a reputable company to be conspicuous. The whole point is that it is not conspicuous. These are the people i use, and they are very very good:

http://www.invisible-mending.co.uk/index.asp

So if you should come up against the same problem again, reweaving is the best option, though certainly not cheap.


bk