Lawstudents.ca

If your going to do an MTM suit avoid Holt's. Go to Rosen or an independent in your city.

Anyone have any recommendations for a good MTM guy in Toronto? I'm ready to step up from my decent send-away MTM guy to something more grown-up.

Your blog is actually really interesting, I'm now following you through RSS and I hope you'll keep up with the postings. I really enjoyed the post on the silk ties and tie knots. I find these types of posts on unwritten rules and tips really informative since its hard to learn on your own. So yeah I would like to see more of the types of postings that help noobs to formal dressing learn the unwritten rules and whatnot... I'd rather learn this way than by making mistakes later. Keep it up!

Rosen's Bloor St, 5th floor Bespoke shop...enough said.

The bespoke guys do the MTM work? Killer. I would have thought that was journeyman work.

A suit is a must and keep it updated. A new suit every year, two years at the most. Dark grey, navy, or black only. Solid colour works best, with a little shoulder padding for a strong shape.

theres probably going to be varying opinions on any MTM tailors. myself and a few picky lawyers i know, are impressed with MAxwell. Personally the shirts ive gotten have been great for myself. the lawyers' regulary get their suits from there and have been repeat customers.

anyways, its nice to have a MTM when you dont fit the general euro cuts for shirts and suits.

I'm glad that Maxwell's has worked out well for you. That said, I'm not incorrect when I say that they're the bottom of the barrel in terms of MTM. Second, having worked on Bay St. for a couple of years now, I can definitively tell you that many, many lawyers dress terribly and could really care less about that fact. So, hearing that lots of lawyers frequently shop at a particular store isn't a positive for me. Maybe not a negative, but best case it's a neutral.


Re: Harry's MTM, the work is not done by the bespoke guys. Measurements are done on-site and then sent to the manufacturer, who assembles the suit. It is then fine-tuned by the tailors at Harry's. The bespoke stuff is done by a cutter named Nello Sansone and prices begin at $3500 and go up quite quickly from there. I've been told that they see $25,000 suits walk out of there on a monthly basis. If you want to go the Harry's route, I'd wait for a Samuelsohn Trunk Sale (the Samuelsohn rep is a great guy and usually shows up at the Bloor location to help measure) and take advantage of the deals they have on then. I deal with Robert Kennedy, the MTM manager at the Harry's on Bloor St. Great guy and definitely the most stylish man I know. PM if you're interested and I'll give you further info.

Sorry I should have clarified I didn't mean that Nelo does MTM orders. But Robson Haller is spot on all these points and Robert is a leader in the trade. Samuelsohn is the best bang for buck suit in Canada IMO.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Roberto brand from Korry's Clothiers? I don't have a huge budget, but I need something that will pass muster at a firm. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The info has all been pretty helpful everyone.

Robson Haller or any other people here in the know. I figure I'll probably get myself a suit at home before heading off to school. I'm a talle slim type, about 6'1 and 180 lbs, with somewhat broad shoulders. If I'm looking to get a decent suit for law school, but not break the bank, what kind of suit/cut would your recommend?

Cheers

You sound like you have a similar body type to me (although slightly taller and slightly bigger). I would say that, with your body type, you can go either two button or three button. You want your suit to fit in a modern way (i.e. close to the body, with high armholes, narrow lapels and a high notch on the lapel), however suits cut in a modern way may not fit you in the shoulders, except for likely Hugo Boss. Instead, it may be necessary for you to go to a smaller size in a slightly more leisurely cut (which, because you're wearing a size "too small" will look just as modern and well-cut as a more slimmly cut suit).

My recommendation would be to check out Brooks Brothers. They're having a sale starting next week which will be 45% off all their suits in Canada, and 50% off in the U.S., online included, making them in the $500 - $650 range. They're more than happy to ship you a few suits and have you return the ones you don't want if you don't live in Toronto or Vancouver. My favourite Brooks Brothers suits are in the Fitzgerald cut, but they don't fit me. I'm typically a 40R, however 40Rs are too tight in the shoulders for me. Going up a size makes the suit fit in the shoulders but not through the body. So, me and likely you, should move to the more leisurely cut "Regent" suits. I move down to a 39R which fits me absolutely perfectly, and just as slim as a Fitzgerald while fitting me in the shoulders. I'm not actually a 39R, but in a more leisurely cut that is sometimes the best way to get a great fit. So, I'd check out Brooks Brothers (esp. the Regent fit in a smaller size than you normally wear) and Hugo Boss (but only if you can get it at a steep discount - Boss is nowhere near worth full retail price). Etro and Armani would also likely fit you well off-the-rack, but they're well beyond your budget, unless you could find one in a second-hand store like Off the Cuff in Toronto near Yonge and Eglington.

Hope that helps.

Robson, the Regent line actually has slimmer trousers than the Fitzgerald line, and you can always get the waist tailored slimmer. Do you know if the regent line has solid color suits? The city I live in has no BB store, but there is one in a closeby citiy, and I plan to go there sometime in the next week to check it out.

I second BB, they are the oldest suiting companies in North America, and they create good workhorse business suits. I would not wear anything better than BB Golden Fleece to work since it is just a waste of money. I mean sure there are plenty of better suits (belvest, kiton, brioni, corneliani, isaia, etc.), but they are designed for more social functions than business functions. The italian cut is probably too fancy for work anyway.

I would disagree with this. Corneliani, Kiton and Brioni are definitely business oriented suits while Isaia could be argued more as a "party suit." While BB is the oldest suiting company in N. America it can often be seen in their styles and fits. In addition, the Golden Fleece line is nice and I think a lot of it is designed by Thom Browne but it is over priced for what it is.

My 0.02.

Have any of you heard of Strellson?

I don't own a suit and am not a suit person. I end up wearing a shirt and tie to work some days, but realistically can get by with an ironed polo. Still, with 1L coming up I've been contemplating it as a purchase despite getting mixed responses on the necessity of it for 1L. So, this current contemplation, coupled with the fact that I frequently drive by a local "menswear" store lead me into said store, and thus into a world of fit and finish of which I am not accustomed. Anyways, they sold basically only Hugo Boss and this Strellson brand, which I haven't heard of (not that I've heard of belvest, kiton, brioni or the other mentioned above). The prices for Boss were starting at almost 1k, aka outta my league, and so I focussed on the Strellsons. Even these were around 845, but with an upcoming (started today...guess it isnt upcoming anymore) sale, all in (including our lovely new HST...not that it makes a difference on a suit), somewhere around 720. By the looks of things, this is pretty standard, maybe a bit more than the BB sale suits, and a litle less than some of the others. I am basically wondering about the reputations of the brand, if it has any. What makes me want to buy the suit is:(1) I looked pretty damn good. I'm nothing special body-wise (bahaha, oh jeez) but really, not slim, not fat, not tall, not short, not long-armed nor stubby. But this definitely created the illusion that i was taller and more slender than I am. (2) The store was cool. Old dude working in the place, introduced himself as Frank Grasby (the store was Grasby's menswear), apparently it is a Dad and Son shop with the kid doing the purchasing and the dad running the place. Pretty cool guy, all in all. (3) He sold the brand well, seemed to know the history, apparently its privately owned by people who previously had their hands in Boss, or something. Either way, made it sounds good, and sounded like he knew what he was talking about (stated something like "if i didnt, then Ive wasted 63 years of my life" or something like that). (4) with names like the "rick james" cut and the "joe strummer", I couldnt help but feel kinda cool, haha. Cons: (1) Im poor (2) I dont know anything about the brand (3) I'm not sure if ill need it, and I'm known to make irresponsible purchases, a habit im trying to curb.

Corneliani and Isaia, I can understand, since they are very conservative and moderately priced.

Brioni and Kiton are business suits? You're kidding right? In North America, it is very unlikely someone would wear those as everyday business suits. The whole point of a business suit is relatively low thread count (140max), and durability. Brioni and kiton make suits in the upper 180 range and are super delicate. Sure they look fantastic, but they won't last as everyday suits. How many Aston Martin DBS do you see everyday? That is how many brioni suits you'll see everyday as well.

Lastly, BB frequently have sales up to 50%, I think $600-700 for a GF is very reasonable.

Well a basic navy Brioni or Kiton or a Prince of Wales check is not really a party suit, in addition one who can afford a $4000+ suit isn't necessarily looking for durability and longevity. The same can be said for Tom Ford, many sub 40 CEOs and executives are wearing these and they are made of much of the same fabrics.

Precisely my point. How many sub 40 CEOs are there, and how many of them wear 4k+ suits everyday? Are they a majority? Is the 2L or recent law grad going to fork over 4k for a suit that easily gets wrecked? I was talking about making sensible choices of style, not needlessly flaunting one's wealth.

Well there's enough of them to support four flagship TF stores across Canada. Nonetheless I wasn't talking about stuff for law students, just the companies in general. But you seem to know what your talking about so cool.

I guess the profit margin is pretty substantial. I actually do own some Tom Ford stuff, but not suits. I watched a documentary on him on the CNN. He started out with Gucci and eventually started his own company, which started with female high end stuff. He eventually started men's clothing lines and accessories. His stuff are pretty fashion-forward.

IWantUWO,

If you got into UWO then there is a dinner during orientation week in which you should have a suit for. You could probably get by without a jacket, but as others noted, you might need the suit for other things such as interviews or if you are working at a clinic.

Late to the party here, but anyways a good friend of mine with a similar build has a fitzgerald and it's his favourite suit. I tried it on once and really liked the cut and look of the suit, but didn't think anything of it because it was way outta my price range. After reading this thread and hearing about the summer clearance I got excited, but it looks like I'm way too late because when hit up the website there are only limited (extremely obscure) sizes left and they look to be cleaned out. I can only assume their downtown TO location has been cleaned out in similar fashion (although I plan on hitting it up soon regardless).

So anyways, I was wondering if anybody could suggest to me any other brand/lines that are a similar cut to the fitzgerald? Thanks a ton regardless, since I've already soaked in a lot of great info from this thread and the blog in the quote above.

I dunno if anyone is reading this thread still but Moore's has a solid deal right now its buy a designer suit and get another for 100, moral of the story is I got two Calvin Klein suits for 425.00, not that I give a shit whether its Calvin Klein or no name brand but I have to admit they are damn nice suits.

Calvin Klein is not a designer suit.

In my opinion you are better off buying a single suit that has some quality rather than a glued together suit that (a) isn't that good looking (I am sorry, you went to Moore's the fabric quality and styling is terrible) and (b) won't last that long.

lol like I said i really don't care what's designer or not i'm not aiming to look like some sort of fashion model in court but thank's for the input. As for glued together I haven't had an issue with any of my suits from Moores (black one is going on 4 years) while its not some fancy ass 500 bull shit, I appreciate being less in debt. As for good looking everyone I've seen with em seem to like it so I will ensure to consult with you next time fashion guru lol

The glue wears when you dry clean it, so if you haven't washed it often it won't wear. The problem is that personally, I plan on having a few (3ish) workhorse suits that I constantly wear to the office.

$500 is a cheap suit. A good suit that will last a long time will be in the $800+ range, for a quality designer you are more likely looking at $1500+.

hmmm odd the two new ones i have were dry cleaned once with no beef, and the black one has been over 9 times still no issue? I dunno your probably right for some of them, these ones no problem meh I guess its luck. The other thing could very well be that it just hasn't happened "yet" but I guess we'll see what happens

What Mal is referring to is the fusing will come apart after dry cleaning. If the Moore's fits your budget and works for you, have at it.