The Construction of the Best Hand Made Suits – Sewing Machines Los Angeles

What makes the best hand made suits so expensive?

If you walk through any mall in America you will eventually run into a suit store advertising suit packages that may go something like this: 2 suits, 2 shirts, 2 socks, 2ties for $199. Yet in the very same mall there are department stores that sell suits upwards of $2500 or more (as of this article the most expensive production ready made suit is made by Kiton and Brioni and can command around $15K!) What is the difference between the two? More importantly can people really tell the difference? While to the untrained eye the differences can be negligible, the difference between a bargain suit and a hand made one are vast, and understanding them will help you invest your clothing dollars in the right suit that will give you the proper return.

“Its hand made”

This is more than a line from a sales person. A hand made suit does make a difference as far as the way it looks, drapes, and in its overall quality. The biggest question is, is it worth the significantly higher price tag? If your career is very image driven, usually professional occupations such as Lawyers, CPA, middle and upper management executives etc., dressing for success is more than a cliche. A great looking suit will be worth the extra dollars as it does have a tendency to reflect on its wearer and can have a direct correlation to ones success. So how can you tell the difference? Here are things to look for to see if the suit is really hand made:

• The best hand made suits feature a full canvas. A fully canvased suit features a hand sewn canvas inside the jacket, this is what gives the jacket shape and as it brakes in, the canvas will allow the suit to move with you (kind of like a perfectly broken in baseball glove that bends according to your hand). Lesser suit use a fusing that is glued and usually it is at its best when its new. To tell if its fully canvased flip the lapel over and you will see a lot little pick stitching, that’s how the canvas is sewn in. Next feel the fabric in between the button holes, it should feel like there is a “floating” piece of fabric inside, again that’s the canvas.
• Look at the button holes. A true test of the best tailors is how cleanly they make the button holes. Whether they be off the rack or hand made custom suits, the best suits will feature button holes that are cleanly finished with out any strings or fabric in between the stitching.
• The breast pocket will be shaped like a canoe. A machine made suit will have a straight line welt pocket on the suits breast. A hand made suit will have a canoe shaped pocket that is very difficult to place using a machine.
• Hand made suits use a loop stitch made with a single needle. The best place to view this is in the arm pit of the suit. The best hand made suits will have stitches that look like “waves”, it will be made by one needle. Machine made suits will have a stitch that will look like a chain. This causes the fabric to pucker the more you clean it and really shows over time.
• There are about 27 points that differ between the best hand made suits and a lesser version. From the way the lapels are attached to the collar to the way the linings are sewn in there are way too many to include. The ones listed above are the most visible and usually are indicative of the best suits you can buy.