The London Lounge

If I bought a standard worsted bespoke suit from a good saville row tailor how long should I expect the suit to last in years on the basis it was worn on average once a week for work.

Many thanks

How long is a piece of string?

Seriously though, you should get a decade or so out of it, I would think.

A lot depends on the type of cloth, of course. Also, your brand of work. Do you spend the day at a computer, generating shiny elbows?

Two rules of thumb: I figure that if I like a suit enough to wear 100 times and it holds out at least that long, then I've received fair value. 200 times would be excellent value. So, at 50 wearings/year, that is 4 years. Not at all unreasonable in many circumstances.

The other is to remember that dry cleanings, while often quite necessary, eventually take their toll. So-- how many wearings do you get per cleaning, and how many times can your cleaners be trusted not to destroy the suit?

My old cutter at Davies & Son used to say, with a gradual smile which seemed to begin in his feet: "Our suits may not fit, sir - but they last forever!"
NJS

I have several suits dating back to 1984 (tweed 3 PC JG Hardy 16+ oz. , a navy blazer --cloth ref. unknown -- ) and 1985 (dinner suit). I have others going back to between 1988 and 1993. Tweeds in general are nigh indestructible; they also (the tweed suits, not the tweed jackets) get very little wear as do morning suits and DJs .

My blazer (1984), my "basic" worsted suits (1988-1993) do (or did at one time) get worn regularly. They are all 16 oz. and up, as far as I know. The cloth makes, for those I know about, are H.Lesser, Porter & Harding (in a range which may no longer exist).

After each wearing, I shake them vigorously, hang them for at least 24 hours in a bathroom, and brush them thoroughly. They "live" in a closet, inside a tailor's (plastic) garment bag, and only get dry-cleaned if I spill something on them or before they must be altered (Alteration tailors seem to demand it before they will work on them. Hygiene, I believe, is the reason).

I would conclude that a well-maintained suit, made from a good quality worsted of a certain weight, never worn two days in a row, can easily last twenty years (more for tweeds). This, I would submit, is what makes bespoke economically sensible, nay, indispensable . RTW garment, in as much as I know, use lighter cloths; neither do they provide the overlay that makes alterations feasible (Faugh!).

Frog in Suit

storeynicholas wrote:My old cutter at Davies & Son used to say, with a gradual smile which seemed to begin in his feet: "Our suits may not fit, sir - but they last forever!"
NJS

The food was terrible, and oy, such small portions!

Frog! The thought of wearing 16oz worsted cloth seems heroic to me!!
NJS

storeynicholas wrote:Frog! The thought of wearing 16oz worsted cloth seems heroic to me!!
NJS

The secret is to not carry anything, walk slowly on the shady side of the street, avoid public transportation....Liquid refreshment may also help.

I have never set foot in South America but can readily believe that my theory would not have universal application. In Europe at least, our forefathers wore heavy clothes, even in summer, at least those amongst them who did not have to work physically for a living.

One must learn to suffer a bit, in the greater interest of a good drape .

Frog in Suit

Based on previous experience, probably not less than 15 years for the lighter weight stuff or flannels and maybe 30 for the heavier worsteds. I have some 15+year old woollen flannels that look fine, so who really knows?

dopey wrote:

storeynicholas wrote:My old cutter at Davies & Son used to say, with a gradual smile which seemed to begin in his feet: "Our suits may not fit, sir - but they last forever!"
NJS

The food was terrible, and oy, such small portions!

Life is full of difficulty, but it passes quickly...

As the philosopher said of the bran muffin.

storeynicholas wrote:. . . . "Our suits may not fit, sir - but they last forever!" . . . .

Because ill-fitting clothes are seldom worn?

Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping that my new bespoke pieces will last for 15 plus years. That is one of the reasons I managed to get it past the wife having justified the expense over the amount of years it would last I will have some explaining to do if I have to replace one after 4 years

Fingers crossed. Although I'm slightly annoyed at going down this bespoke route.

THERE IS NOW NO GOING BACK

madz wrote: THERE IS NOW NO GOING BACK

How true! But you will not regret it.

Frog in Suit

madz wrote: I will have some explaining to do if I have to replace one after 4 years

Well, we are speaking of modestly aggressive, but realistic attainments. The equivalent of hitting par, perhaps. A heavier weight treated gently and maintained well should hold up well.

Another way to look at it: having a suit survive for 5 years means buying one per year to maintain a rotation. If you can cut it to one every other year, you will be doing well. But if your tailor is that good and you have the sort of relationship that produces such miracles, you won't want to wait that long!