cost of bespoke wardrobe, soup-to-nuts

[Guest]

How much would you budget per outfit? In other words, the total cost of your new wardrobe would cost this sum, times the number of outfits you needed, presumably some number between 13 and 26.

[Guest]

What items are you including in your outfit? Given the price of bespoke shoes, the first four to five options don't seem very realistic.

[Guest]

The usual: that means, RTW shoes, bespoke shirts, jackets and trousers.

[Guest]

I can't say that bespoke is very cost effective; bespoke is more of an expensive hobby than the practical matter of just getting yourself presentably dressed.

I would estimate that a Summer outfit, comprising a mix of bespoke and top-end RTW, would cost you, at retail prices, over $5000.

Suit - $4000 (bespoke)
Shirt - $400 (bespoke)
Tie - $80 (RTW)
Shoes - $700 (RTW)
Misc. - $200 (RTW)

These are ball park figures, but I would budget at least $5000 for an outfit.

Yes, you can find a bit cheaper and a bit dearer but $5000 is pretty much what you're looking at, IMO.



uppercase

[Guest]

Suit-$2000(bespoke)
Tie-$80(rtw)
Shirt-$175(stock service)
Shoes-$350(rtw)

I've estimated the prices from
pounds sterling as I live in England.
Assuming I pound is 1.75 dollars.

Outrigger

[Guest]

I do not mean to quibble with the numbers, but no one has the same number of shirts as they do suits. Usually you have twice as many shirts (at least) as you do suits. Shoes are roughly 1:1 with suits/jackets, or less. I was looking for the consensus on a budget that would be easy to apply to any size wardrobe, be it a seven-suit wardrobe or a twenty-suit one. Remember Alden's minimum wardrobe? That had thirteen outfits, 36 shirts and 8 pairs of shoes, not to mention all the other accessories. Everything has to be counted, including overcoats, socks, underwear, etc.

[Guest]

I think that you can do the math at this point as you've now got some working numbers.

uppercase

[Guest]

Outrigger indicates that a bespoke suit is $2,000. Uppercase says $4,000. That's quite a discrepency. Which is more realistic?

[Guest]

That'll depend upon your tailor, and where he works. In New York, I've been quoted prices for a two-piece suit ranging from two thousand dollars to six (the latter, with a second pair of trousers).

RWS

[Guest]

When the AAAC guide is up and running, and CMT prices for a 2 piece suit for each tailor are displayed, this will really be an easy question to answer.

[Guest]

Soup to nuts? Remember, Bespoke is a life time's activity with changes in taste and size accounting for wardrobe development once the first base of items are in hand.

I'd look at it this way; figure about spending $6K per year to cover 1 suit of good cloth ($3,500), a pair of MTO Greens ($1K), a couple three or four shirts and a tie or two. Do this over six or seven years and you have a good wardrobe foundation. At that point you may not need as many shoes, but having punched the formal list you will find that the casual and country shoe list becomes much longer, calling for many more variants, themes, and improvisations. If you don't go shoes, be calmed knowing that odd jackets and bespoke trousers will take up the slack.

What does it take to afford this? The easy answer is "cash in hand" the more nuanced answer is about a cool quarter million in USD (Sterling even better). If we're talking truely bespoke shoes, be careful. I once heard a story about Lord Lisburn who reputably went broke for a love affair with Lobb shoes. Better figure another $100K to cover it.

Put $250K into some decent investment fromwhich you can draw about 3% cash, pay 20% tax on the dividends and you can spend $6K a year for the rest of your life. At a 3% redemption rate, the principal should never be invaded and appreciation should allow you to keep up with inflation going forward and have the $$ available to bequeath to your sons to do much the same. Adjust the above for your tax situation and view on truly bespoke shoes.

Don't have a quarter mil to put on the shelf to cover good clothing? Then like the rest of us you will never attempt to add up what this costs and seriously and serially misrepresent the costs to your spouse. If ever questioned, the only two viable responses are "this clothing is made to last' and "I know the man who can adjust it".

My personal strategy is always to make deposits and one or two payments so the optics make it look like the $3k suit costs $1k (it also helps with cash flow as I can decide when to send the check and I get great service from my tailor for not being a laggard). For shoes, I always proudly say "about $500" (swallowing the "a shoe").

DDM

[Guest]

Dressing to the standard of the Lounge requires either a seven figure income or compromises in the rest of one's life.

M. Alden's medium wardrobe requires at least four tailored garments a year, plus accessories.

[Guest]

M. Alden's medium wardrobe requires at least four tailored garments a year, plus accessories.

To paraphrase the boyz in bling, front it by a cool million and you r dope.

[Guest]

One can be more prudent than that, but it requires effort and a European address.

[Guest]

Your comments are very well put, DDM. I have mumbled something to my wife about the goods getting passed on to my son, but this doesn't seem to fool her.

tteplitzmd