The London Lounge

Hi, i am not new to bespoke but definitely not as experienced as most of you on this forum. I would like to get some advice on what i should get for my next bespoke project.

Firtst, to explain my wardrobe, i have 2 rtw suits and 3 bespoke suits which are made for summer and 3 seasons. Apart from the business suits i have a tweed jacket in LL prince tweed and linen suit in LL raf blue linen (which i also use as a jacket).

I think i have enough business suits for now and enough jackets too. So i was thinking about getting either an overcoat or dinner suit. Overcoat will be more used than dinner suit but i was not too sure if its worth getting a bespoke one or not. Also, i will be attending a black tie event in june so i thought perhaps its better if i get a dinner suit before the event.

Your advice will be highly appreciated:)

Yasu

yasu10s wrote:i was not too sure if its worth getting a bespoke one or not

Dear Yasu,
it's worth it, but I'd be torn as well between DJ and OC
M.

The fit dividend for the bespoke dinner suit is greater than for the overcoat. You can find RTW overcoats that fit fairly well off the peg, and vintage versions of these in much heavier fabrics than available today are available very cheaply.

Simon has a point - I agree about the fit dividend being greater with a bespoke dinner suit.

However, given our great cloth club output, I decided to make up 6 overcoats before moving to black tie...
The point for me was that I was not out for second hand or vintage overcoats and that I would wear the overcoats much more often. The dinner suit had 2 outings in 4 months since reception while the overcoats were almost daily business in the 5 past months.

Cheers, David

The overcoat will get far more use than a DJ - go for that first

Thank you all for the kind advices.

The problem is that i would not get to use dinner suit very often as i live in a country where there are not many balls and other black tie events. The only times i get to wear a DJ are weddings. Im assuming i will attend about 15 weddings in the next 10 yrs and 5 black events, meaning 20 outings max in the next 10yrs. However i was told that renting a DJ will cost you about 200USD or something. That is also ridiculous. I thought i might as well get a bespoke dinner suit

Thing about an overcoat is that there are alternatives to bespoke overcoat. I am pretty sure a bespoke overcoat gets used more often but not too sure whether bespoke is the only good option.

I will need to think... I am also rooting for a spring/summer jacket, in faux tweed worsted like the riviera by john g hardy. Im currently looking for a nice gun club but havent found the right fabric yet.

yasu10s wrote:Thank you all for the kind advices.

The problem is that i would not get to use dinner suit very often as i live in a country where there are not many balls and other black tie events. The only times i get to wear a DJ are weddings. Im assuming i will attend about 15 weddings in the next 10 yrs and 5 black events, meaning 20 outings max in the next 10yrs. However i was told that renting a DJ will cost you about 200USD or something. That is also ridiculous. I thought i might as well get a bespoke dinner suit

Thing about an overcoat is that there are alternatives to bespoke overcoat. I am pretty sure a bespoke overcoat gets used more often but not too sure whether bespoke is the only good option.

I will need to think... I am also rooting for a spring/summer jacket, in faux tweed worsted like the riviera by john g hardy. Im currently looking for a nice gun club but havent found the right fabric yet.

A dinner jacket (or suit) will last a lifetime. You will get more than enough wear from it over the years - it's worth bearing that timeframe in mind when commissioning it, fussy detail now will look odd in 30-40 years' time - your son / grandson will thank you when they inherit it too. Also, the plainer the design, the more obvious the quality of the cut. As for waiting for a dress code, when 'Lounge Suit' or Black Tie isn't specified I will generally wear my DJ when I think it will be appropriate, even if some others are wearing lounge suits. Im happier over-dressed.

If your overcoat option is likely to be on the lighter side, perhaps go for something special in the manner of the Agnelli check that Karl has shown us in a recent thread. You will want to wear something of that order much more often than a merely functional plain dark overcoat and thus get much more wear from it.

You'll need both the coat and the DJ in due course - so I suspect it's just a matter of tossing a coin to decide!

It entirely depends how often you will wear the dinner jacket. Why not wear a dark blue lounge suit with a black tie this time around and go for the bespoke overcoat?

arch wrote:It entirely depends how often you will wear the dinner jacket. Why not wear a dark blue lounge suit with a black tie this time around and go for the bespoke overcoat?

An appalling suggestion - that will look immediately obvious to even the most heathen clothes wearer. Evening dress is evening dress and cannot be substituted by anything else and look decent.

I would probably get the overcoat at this stage with only one wearing of the evening dress in sight, move onto to that in due course.

Appalling is perhaps a little strong, simply a practical suggestion, but each to their own.

All good advice for a tough choice. For me I would go with the dinner suit. Simon is right in saying that the "fit dividend" is higher. Also consider MTM, especially for the overcoat, since the fit is not as critical. Save a ton of money and likely never miss the subtle difference.

Dear Yasu,

You simply need to ask yourself this: what's better than one cookie? Your answer will lead the way .

Regards.

Thanks for the advices everyone. I still havent made up my mind but will get there one day lol... I think the suggestion of having an overcoat made MTM is a good idea. Should i find an ideal MTM service provider, ill take that option perhaps.

Could you also recommend the styles of the dinner suit and overcoat?

Dinner suit, im thinking about a SB shawl, peak lapel or DB. But i feel like recently shawl is becoming a "trend" so i might wanna stay away. And DB might wear too hot inside or outside in summer even if i chose cape breeze from dugdale...

Overcoat, i want it to be versatile. I dont want it to be overcoat long but slightly above the knees as im quite short (5ft6). Think plain navy would do but i have not figured out SB or DB yet. I wanna be able to wear this with jeans, khaki etc as well

DB won't require a vest or cummerbund, and will make the actual condition of your (linen) shirt invisible to all even in the hottest weather. Not that peak-lapel SB isn't also valuable and elegant, but there are reasons to go either way.

I would say one button SB, peak lapel, midnight blue, black facings.