Please forgive me for creating yet another post, asking for your thoughts and advice. I really value and take in what you have to say, so here goes. I'm interested in purchasing my first 100% wool two-piece men's style suit, but I'm left with few options given my size (petite woman, 5' 1," 103 lbs.) and I'm not ready to go the custom tailor route. Typically, a boy's size 16 fits me with a few alterations (e.g., chest, sleeves, trouser length). Two brands that I know of carry 100% wool in my size and in the color that I'm looking for (charcoal), as well as the price range (I don't want to go too crazy unless I want an unhappy husband. lol): Brooks Brothers (which I know lots of AAAC members are not fond of due to diminishing quality perhaps) and Ralph Lauren (another "bad" brand??).
The Brooks Brothers suit is advertised as a wrinkle resistant stretch wool. I found my size on Poshmark, new without tags, at a much lower price than retail. The material is apparently a "thin" wool as stated in the product title. One reviewer on the BB website was disappointed in how thin the material is, others raved about the quality of the suit overall.
The Ralph Lauren suit is more expensive than the BB at retail and advertised as wool twill. I haven't seen any reviews on this suit.
Many AAAC members score quality items for a steal at thrift stores, but I always come up empty handed given the size I'm looking for AND in 100% wool. And the vast majority of what is online and in brick and mortar stores is a poly/rayon blend with a few brands offering a poly/wood blend. And I can only assume no one in this forum will recommend a poly/rayon blend suit.
Your thoughts on any of the two suits mentioned above? I would save a significant amount of money on the BB suit new without tags, but am I sacrificing quality? And does it matter much? I'm no longer working and will likely wear the suit just a small handful of times at most a year. So either suit will not get much wear. Also, I'm not in desperate need of a suit at this time, so I can certainly wait for perhaps something else to come along but again it's slim pickens unless you know of a store that is right up my alley!
Lastly, can a skilled tailor safely reduce suit jacket chest size by up to 1 to 1 1/2 inches? I know shoulders must be good from the get go as well as length to some degree.
As always, I very much appreciate what you have to say, good or bad! I'm learning so much from AAAC members in such a short amount of time!
The Brooks Brothers suit is advertised as a wrinkle resistant stretch wool. I found my size on Poshmark, new without tags, at a much lower price than retail. The material is apparently a "thin" wool as stated in the product title. One reviewer on the BB website was disappointed in how thin the material is, others raved about the quality of the suit overall.
The Ralph Lauren suit is more expensive than the BB at retail and advertised as wool twill. I haven't seen any reviews on this suit.
Many AAAC members score quality items for a steal at thrift stores, but I always come up empty handed given the size I'm looking for AND in 100% wool. And the vast majority of what is online and in brick and mortar stores is a poly/rayon blend with a few brands offering a poly/wood blend. And I can only assume no one in this forum will recommend a poly/rayon blend suit.
Your thoughts on any of the two suits mentioned above? I would save a significant amount of money on the BB suit new without tags, but am I sacrificing quality? And does it matter much? I'm no longer working and will likely wear the suit just a small handful of times at most a year. So either suit will not get much wear. Also, I'm not in desperate need of a suit at this time, so I can certainly wait for perhaps something else to come along but again it's slim pickens unless you know of a store that is right up my alley!
Lastly, can a skilled tailor safely reduce suit jacket chest size by up to 1 to 1 1/2 inches? I know shoulders must be good from the get go as well as length to some degree.
As always, I very much appreciate what you have to say, good or bad! I'm learning so much from AAAC members in such a short amount of time!
Then I'll sit back and let the constructive criticism roll in as I'm a newbie. lol
