Indochino made me a great-fitting custom suit
Several readers of this blog have recommended Indochino, an online suit-maker that offer made-to-measure suits at reasonable prices. I was curious, but had never tried them out. This summer, they offered to make me a suit gratis for the purposes of a review.
I chose their Navy Blue Pick-Stitch Suit with Peak Lapels (regular retail price $379). The peak lapels because I’d always heard that they accentuate your height (and they just seem cool). After picking the style and entering my measurements, just a few weeks passed and my suit arrived in the mail. Now that I’ve worn it at a few weddings this summer I can say this:
I am extremely satisfied with my Indochino suit — and would recommend them highly (with a few minor caveats). Details below the slideshow.
THE FIT:
As a shorter guy, fit is paramount. And basically, the fit is perfect. Sleeve length, shoulders, jacket hem length, crotch, waist, inseam — all are spot on. I couldn’t be more impressed! Much better than anything I’ve ever tried OTR.
This is now my best-fitting suit.
That said, I’d already done an online shirt measurement with ATailoredSuit and jacket with DressMonkey, so I was checking and rechecking my numbers against those as I went through Indochino’s self-measuring process — just to see if the numbers were in the right ballpark.
I found that Indochino’s online measurement guides were helpful and accurate, but my first caveat is this: There’s probably always potential for a customer to screw up a measurement. Maybe it’s your first time going MTM, maybe you can’t handle a tape-measure, or maybe you *think* you know your measurements, but they’re wrong — or you’ve gained or lost weight. In any case, there’s definitely the potential for error (I experienced this my first time doing MTM with DressMonkey).
On the other hand, Indochino has a 100% Perfect Fit Guarantee. And this policy is a huge selling point for me. It boils down to these three options:
- they credit you $75 for alterations at your local tailor
- you send it back and they fix it
- they make you a brand-new one for free
Amazing. I don’t see any risk here, which is incredibly smart from a marketing perspective. Indochino has removed the single biggest reservation that people ordering MTM clothing online have: fear that you’ll be stuck with something that doesn’t fit (and out hundreds of dollars).
And here’s another neat thing. Let’s say, the sleeves do end up being too long. You decide to bring it to your local tailor. Indochino has a printable Alterations Form to take with you. It provides detailed info on each aspect of the garment: exactly how many inches each element can be shortened or lengthened.
And once your tailor is done, they note the changes on the form, you enter the info into “My Measurements” on Indochino.com, and next time you order a suit from them, it should be perfect.
When it comes to fit, they’ve thought of everything.
MATERIAL & CONSTRUCTION:
Here’s the one potential downside: I didn’t think the quality of fabric and workmanship of my suit was super high. It’s perfectly fine, but certainly not luxurious or finely wrought. And they don’t seem to offer actual fabric swatches on their site, which is a bummer.
To be fair, I’m not an expert on fabric or garment construction. But I’m not a knuckle-dragger whose girlfriend can’t get him out of his baseball hats and into a suit, either. I’m interested in menswear and enjoy dressing well when it’s appropriate. And I just don’t feel like the quality is quite there.
But it may not matter to most people. To be honest, at this low price point, it doesn’t matter to me.
The thing is, I don’t think these details would be noticeable to anyone other than a true clotheshorse or someone in the menswear industry. The other 99% of people you’d encounter — at weddings, your office, the Oscars, or wherever you’d wear a suit — won’t be able to tell the difference. What they will notice is that you look sharp in your perfect-fitting suit.
COST:
Their suits run from $300 to $500, but the vast majority are under $400. And they offer free worldwide shipping. Gotta love those prices!
So, OK. If you want a high-quality MTM suit, you are just going to have to pay well over $1000, and should probably do it at a local brick-and-mortar suitmaker anyway. But ultimately, for less than $400, a great-fitting suit based on your exact measurements is completely worth it.
It’s way better than spending the same amount of cash — or more — for something ill-fitting you’d get off the rack at Men’s Wearhouse et al. I can’t put it more strongly than this: Although this suit was free, I would absolutely buy another suit from them with my own money. I’m already ogling this baby…
BOTTOM LINE:
With their perfect fit, decent quality, and low cost, Indochino is a fantastic option for short men — or guys of any size.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
It’s great that you posted this. I have been browsing their site for weeks now with the intention to purchase, I just haven’t pulled the trigger. The main problem is making sure I get the right measurements. 1/4 inch here, 1/4 inch there and it could make a huge difference on the order. I know my custom tailored shirt measurements but that doesn’t necessarily translate exactly into a suit coat. I’m primarily concerned with the shoulder and sleeve measurement b/c those are going to make all the difference in the world. Any thoughts you can give?
October 25th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
You lucky dog! A free suit. That is great. It seems this suit really fills a niche for most men who rarely wear a suit and have a hard to fit size. These days I only wear a suit for funerals and job interviews.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:53 am
about time you posted this one, josh. great review too.
good point about the fabric quality and workmanship, although from looking at the pics, they don’t seem to be major issues. i really think that cut/fit is what makes or breaks a suit, at first glance at least anyway.
not sure when i’d be looking to buy a suit again, but this one is definitely a solid option. thanks again for the review.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Bought 2 overcoats from them because of your previous winter coat post. They just came in and I dropped them off at the tailor today to be taken in. The were made way too wide for me, even with a suit on underneath. I don’t know if that was my fault with the measurements or their fault.
I don’t think I screwed up the measurements. I did my measurements very carefully, watched all videos and read all instructions numerous times. It took me almost an hour.
I’m guessing they intentionally made them wider to make sure I had enough room for a suit underneath. The shoulders, sleeve length and coat length were fine. That $75 alteration reimbursement is a great selling point, but it is a little bit of a pain to get alterations done on something that should fit perfectly. I also hope getting reimbursed isn’t complicated. Not complaining though. It was only $250 for the trench coat and $300 for the black overcoat – two items I’ve always wanted in my wardrobe.
I’m no fabric expert either, but I thought the fabric was decent quality. Not luxurious by any means, but definitely not crappy H&M fabric.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Nice!
I got the exact same suit from Indochino, also for the peak lapels, and I love it! Some thoughts…
I think it’s important to put this suit in the right context. At this price point, it’s unfair to compare it with high-end suits, especially in regards to materials and workmanship. It’s more comparable to what you might find at Macy’s or Men’s Wearhouse. In that respect, it blows what those stores offer out of the water. If your budget is under, say, $700, you would be hard-pressed to find a better suit.
The detailing is great. I love the pick stitching and the ticket pocket. I’ve noticed the prices have gone up since I bought my suit, but the detailing is better. For example, they now offer working buttonholes on the sleeves.
Shipping is FAST. They promise 2 weeks, but my suit came much sooner than that.
Probably since it was my first time taking measurements, my first suit didn’t fit quite right, and this was even after having my measurements taken by a tailor.
The problems were mostly my fault — I think the jacket length was too short, and the pants were too tight. So I sent the suit back, and this was my first caveat.
Shipping back the return was expensive. Remember, I’d spent several hundred dollars on this suit, so I was uncomfortable with standard options. I asked for tracking and (I think) insurance, and shipping came out to something like $50. Of course, this is still negligible compared to the paying $1000+ for a MTM suit.
The new jacket fits more or less perfectly (I think I went a little too short on the sleeves and a little too long on the jacket, but I can live with it…). But the pants were STILL too tight around the thighs, and didn’t have enough material for the tailor to loosen them. I sent them back, this time not opting for tracking or insurance, and deliberately overstating my measurements to give my tailor more material. After receiving the third pair of paints, my tailor was able to fix them. Yay!
I should note that through my whole experience, their customer service was unfailingly polite, expedient, and helpful. Pants aside, I highly recommend Indochino.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Brad – Indochino’s DIY measurement process and videos seemed pretty good. But you still have to be careful. Correct measurements are vital! As you say, when it comes to short guys, a 1/4 inch can make a huge difference.
The advice I’d give is this:
(1) Do NOT get working buttonholes. I did this on my DressMonkey jacket and there was nothing my tailor could do when the sleeves were the wrong length.
(2) Don’t assume you know your “Indochino” measurements — and don’t have your local tailor measure you; do it through their site with their method.
(3) Get somebody else to measure you.
(4) Measure yourself twice — on different days. Might be good to check your measurements with a fresh set of eyes.
(5) Some measurements are more make-or-break than others — look at their Alterations form for what can/can’t be altered.
(6) If you’re feeling nervous about sleeve/pants length, have them left unfinished. It’ll cost you, but your local tailor can finish the job to your satisfaction.
(7) Call Indochino directly with your fit areas of concern.
Good luck.
Alan – Thanks. I walked by Fountain Pen Hospital in downtown NYC yesterday and thought of you.
Sonny – Cheers, man. Yeah, fit is the main thing — especially for someone who can NEVER find a good fit.
Randy – Sounds good overall (though a bit of a hassle at the end). Just curious: did they offer any body “cut” choices? For instance, ATailoredSuit has Regular, Form Fit and Loose Fit options for their overcoats: http://atailoredsuit.com/mens-overcoat-detail.html
Aliotsy – Heh. Love your suit choice, man — you’ve got impeccable taste…
And you’re right: context is everything. At this price point, you can’t expect any higher quality — and like I said, the quality is perfectly fine. It’s a great value for what it is. I just didn’t want anyone to expect Armani quality or anything.
Good to hear your experience. Sounds like quite a process — but worth it in the end. I think with these online companies, customer stories are the best way people can figure out if they want to take the plunge or not.
October 28th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Josh – I don’t recall them offering body cut choices. I just checked my coat measurements from my Indochino account, and it says nothing about this.
Good post again. Thanks for reviewing Indochino.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
thanks for the heads up on this and a great website as well. I do see what you are saying about the fabric quality. it looks a little on the cheap side. something you would notice up close but not a first glance. I have been ordering custom clothing for 5 years now (I’m 5′4 120) and the drape of the fabric will vary depending on quality. at this price though, just start off with one piece (as you should with any tailor) and see if you like it.