008: Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Your First Custom Suit

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Are you ready to be the best-dressed man in any room and turn heads in a good way? You are invited to join my beta group for my first-ever Master the Art of Dressing Well cohort. In this two-week live virtual training, I'm going to teach you how to always look stylish no matter the occasion and without breaking the bank. Registration is open. You can get more information by clicking the link in the show notes or by going to imnota gentleman.com.

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The cohort starts October 2nd, so reserve your spot now. Peace.

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Announcer: I'm not a gentleman is a production of chaceandryder.com.

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Vlad (host):  had a guy tell me he wanted the same suit that Nas had in the Street Dreams video. And I thought that was really, really cool back then. It's not even really that I'm against a pink suit really, but he was just more like, that shouldn't be your first suit, man. Yo, what up?

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Yo, what up? Welcome to I'm Not A Gentleman, the show designed to help you look stylish without following trends. I'm your host Vladimir Riché from chaceandryder.com and your favorite menswear YouTuber's favorite menswear YouTuber. I've helped dozens of clients and hundreds of students and viewers feel more confident by looking their best and always making a great first impression. Before I get into this episode, I want to say thank you for making the I'm Not A Gentleman podcast a top 25% podcast in the entire world. So I really appreciate the love.

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Let's try to get to the next step. Let's get it to the 10% podcast instead of 25, but I'm very thankful for the 25%. So keep sharing it, letting your friends know about it and keep listening. Now in this episode, I'm going to tell you about the five mistakes that guys make when getting their first custom suit. Intro.

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Intro music: Back in that bag, in that bag, again whoa!

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So yeah, as I was saying, man, we're going to be talking about mistakes that guys make when they're getting their first custom suit. I'm speaking from experience on two different aspects. So the first part is me speaking as a custom clothier. I used to work in the menswear industry and that was my job where I used to meet up with guys and a lot of them were first-timers, meaning that that was the first time getting a custom suit. So I'm going to be speaking from that lens.

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But when I got the job, one of the requirements was we have to get two custom suits made and two custom shirts free. That way when we're out meeting with clients, we can show the product by wearing it, which makes sense. So I'm also speaking from the point of view of a guy getting his first custom suit made because I've been there as well. Now, a custom suit, I spoke about that on the very first episode, episode one, when I was speaking on how a suit should fit.

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So you have your off-the-rack suit, also called the ready-to-wear suit. Then you have your custom suit, also called a made-to-measure suit. And then you have the next level, which is bespoke. So we're talking about custom suits because usually by the time that you get to bespoke, you already have some experience. Because bespoke is on another level, versus custom, a lot of companies make custom suits.

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but to get a bespoke maker, those are not as easy to come by. So typically once you get to that level, because it's a lot more expensive, then let's say a custom suit, probably like three times more expensive on average, then by the time you get to that level, you're already well versed in your style and what you want. But the custom part is the part that I want to talk about because that part is a lot more common. And the reason why I wanted to speak about it,

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is because number one, it's a very good topic because a lot of guys are getting custom suits made. But more importantly, I was just with a client at Suit Supply on Madison the other day and happened to be working with a clothier who was very knowledgeable. So shout out to my guy Lee. But he wasn't always like that. That hasn't always been my experience. So when you're working with a custom clothier, it's very important that you guys are on the same page.

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that way they aren't any surprises. Because you pretty much have the mercy of the custom clothier. He's the one that's taking your measurements. He's the one that's going to be walking you through the process. Nine out of 10 times, guys don't really know much. So they're relying on the knowledge of the custom clothier. I'm thinking I'm speaking from experience. And the crazy part was when I was a custom clothier, that was in between 2011 and 2013.

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I didn't really know how to dress until 2015. So yeah, go ahead, you do the math. So I was really out there giving guys menswear advice and I didn't know that much myself. The sad part was even though I didn't know much, I knew more than 90% of guys out there, you know what I mean? Because most guys don't really know anything at all. Like I was saying, a lot of guys go the custom route without really knowing much yet.

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So it's very important that you choose somebody that you trust. All right. Without further ado, man, let's get to the countdown. I think that was a good enough introduction. So just to piggyback on what I was just talking about. Mistake number one that a lot of guys make is they don't really know yet exactly what they're looking for. And what I mean by that is they don't really understand the different styles of suits that are out there. Like they might think they know, but they don't really know.

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You know what I mean? Because they have a certain thought in their head that they're trying to bring to life without doing much research first. Your custom suit is something that's supposed to be special because it's a one-of-one. Like me, for example, when I was getting my first custom suits made, I based them off a suit that I had, thinking, yeah, I love that suit and that's how I want my custom suits to be.

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Little did I know that the suit that I was basing it off of was a horrible fit, you know, but I didn't really understand fit. I didn't really understand style. And what I mean by style is the suit that I'm referring to was a J. Crews suit that I had. And the style is called the Ludlow. And I thought that was a killer suit at the time. But little did I know the lapels were really thin, the buttoning point.

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of the jacket was high and by the lapels being thin, I recommend that your lapels should be at least three and a half inches. These days, my lapels are between four and four and a half inches, but it should be at least three and a half. I don't know the exact measurements of the Ludo lapels, but if I have to guess, it's been a while since I've seen one, I'd say they're sub three inches. But once again, I didn't know any better.

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That's the suit that I thought was a really nice suit. So I was telling the Clothier that whatever you see on that suit that I'm wearing right now, this is exactly what I want on my custom suit. The only difference was, since I was getting two custom suits made, I made one notch lapel and I made one pick lapel when my Ludlow suit was just a notch lapel. So before you get your first custom suit, you should understand

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suits first because the custom suit is just going to be a reflection of the suit that you think that are nice without first getting to know what a nice suit is. So you definitely don't want the buttoning point of the jacket to be too high because what that does is it doesn't properly frame your body. And there's something called the dreaded triangle which is when your jacket is buttoned you can still see the shirt.

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between the top of the waistband of the trousers and the buttoning point of the jacket. Your shirt should not be visible when your jacket is fastened. The rise of the trousers should be high enough and the buttoning point of the jacket should be low enough. That way they almost meet. That way there's no extra space between the buttoning point of the jacket and the waist of the trousers. But this is something that you see pretty much every day.

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because a lot of guys have not even been thinking about that. So if you don't know something, you just don't know it. You know what I mean? You don't know what you don't know. And that's one thing I had no idea about. I didn't realize that the J. Crew suit had a low rise. I didn't realize that the J. Crew suit had a higher buttoning point. And once again, I didn't realize that he had skinny lapels. So definitely do your research first before you get into custom suits.

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because as you get deeper into it, you're going to realize, damn, I got a useless suit and I paid some money for it. Because a custom suit is going to cost more on average than an off-the-rack suit. Not always, obviously, you know, because certain companies off the rack suits are like $3,000 versus you can get a custom suit made for around $600, $700 depending on the company. So I'm not saying all the time, but if we're comparing apples to apples,

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Whichever company you're getting the off-the-rack suit from, I bet you their custom suit costs more than that. So, do your research. Know exactly what you're looking for. So for example, like I was saying, you want the wider lapels. You want the lower buttoning point should be around your belly button, maybe slightly higher. And you want the rise of the trousers to be high enough. That way your pants don't sit on your hips, but they sit on your natural waist.

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So that's the first mistake that guys make when they get their first custom suit. The second mistake that guys make when buying their first custom suit, they pick a fabric that's not versatile. Your head can really spin when you go into the whole fabric selection process because there are so many fabrics. And I used to roll up with a suitcase to my appointments. That's not really good because now you have way too many options.

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and the client's head is probably spinning at this point. You know, you should have your basics and then have a few that are unorthodox but definitely don't go too crazy because once you give somebody too many options, now they can't even really make up their mind on what they want. And as I was saying, a custom suit could be expensive. So my recommendation is when somebody's getting a custom suit,

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You want something that's going to be very versatile that you can wear to a lot of different events. And we're talking about your first custom suit here. But if you're getting like five or six custom suits, obviously there's a lot more room there for you to play around with different variations. But to start, I definitely recommend something like navy, charcoal or medium gray as your first suit. But

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I used to see guys pick some crazy patterns because to them, they're like, man, this is going to be a one-of-one. I'm going to go all out. I kind of get the thought process because you want it to be extra special, but it already is special because it's a one-of-one, but they want people to know it's a custom suit. So they want a pattern that you're not really going to find off the rack. Like I said, man, I get it.

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but it's not really a smart way to go when you're getting your first custom suit. So my recommendation for that is an easy fix is to go for something versatile. Even if you already have those colors in your closet, but this is a little bit different because this is your first custom suit, it's supposed to be better than what you already have in your closet. Don't shy away from the basics, man, because the basics are very important.

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foundation of your suit wardrobe. So you want to make sure you have your basics covered before you start exploring other options. So that's definitely a mistake that I saw when I was in the industry. I didn't really try to talk them out of it because I didn't know that much better myself, even though my first two suits, one was navy, one was charcoal. But I didn't think anything of it when a client would tell me they want like a pink suit or something. Hey man, that's what you want.

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I had a guy tell me he wanted the same suit that Nas had in the Street Dreams video. And I thought that was really, really cool back then. It's not even really that I'm against a pink suit really, but he was just more like, that shouldn't be your first suit, man. All right, let's go to number three. The third mistake that guys make when buying their first custom suit is not caring enough about the fit.

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This one is crazy because you're thinking, okay, he's getting a custom suit because he really wants it to fit him well, better than something off the rack, which is not made for you. It's made for everybody that on similar sizing as you, then you take it to a tailor to get it tailored to your body. But if the custom suit comes out right, you don't have to take it to a tailor. Most guys don't really care about how the suit should fit.

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The whole thing when they're getting the custom suit, it's more about the fabric and certain details that you can have in the suit. And once again, all those things are cool and I get it. But the most important part about a suit, whether it's custom, whether it's off the rack, is the fit. How could you be getting a custom suit and not really be fully invested into the fit?

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It's an issue because most guys don't really know how a suit should fit anyway. So if they're lucky, they work with somebody that does understand fit. And I can tell them, no, it should fit like this. Don't worry. I got you. Make sure that it fits you perfectly. But when you walking in, number one, you don't really understand fit. You like me back then where I thought that the tighter the suit, the better the suit. So you're going in with that mentality.

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So that's going to throw everything off. Now the suit is going to come out way too tight. But that's not even the crazy part. In my experience as a Closetier, the guys didn't really care about the fit at all. It's not even like they wanted the suit to fit tightly. It's just that they didn't really pay attention to that part. That wasn't why they was doing the custom suit thing. They were doing it for all the other stuff. Versus custom means you want it to fit you right.

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That's the ultimate thing when it comes to custom. But you'll be very surprised, man. Most guys all just have the mercy of the custom clothing here. When you ask them, how do you want the suit to fit? They're like, yeah, I want it to be fitted. But that's pretty much the extent of it. They're like, yeah, you know, you can take it from there. And like I was saying, back then, I didn't know much, but they were looking at me like, the way your suit fits, that's how I want my suit to fit too.

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And looking back now, what a horrible fit that was. So if you work with me in the past and you told me you wanted your suit to fit the way that my suit fits, I apologize, man. I should have been a better example to you. Oh man, crazy. And that takes us right to number four.

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The fourth mistake that guys make when buying their first custom suit is they prioritize the wrong things. I couldn't tell you how many times I met with a guy and all they cared about was either the fabric. Once again, the fabric is important, but they cared about the fabric for the wrong reason. They were trying to find something as out there as possible as opposed to something basic. But forget the fabric for a second.

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We already covered that. What most guys are into when they get in a custom suit is the lining. God. I'd say the majority of the appointment, most time was spent on them picking what lining they want for the suit. The funny thing is the lining is something that nobody really sees, unless you really want them to see it.

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The lining is probably the least visible part of your suit, but yet that's the part that most guys spend the most time picking. And don't worry, I did the same exact thing. I picked the lining that was out there. It was a red lining with what looks like a cocktail waitress, and it was just repeated throughout the lining. And without fail, every appointment I had,

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The guys couldn't wait to get to the part where, okay, when do I pick my lining? Once again, not the fit, but the lining is where the majority of time is spent. Newsflash, the lining is the least important part of your suit. When I get something custom-made now, just give me something solid, black, navy, doesn't really matter. And...

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I'm sure that guys go out of their way to make sure that people see their linings whenever they're picking out those crazy ass linings. Another thing that guys used to spend a lot of time on is they wanted a contrast stitch and either on the lapel buttonhole or on some of the sleeves buttonholes. I did both. I can't even begin to explain to you how tacky that is. But once again, I get it. It's one of those things that tells people.

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you wear a custom suit. Because if you buy a suit off the rack, they're not going to have contrast button holes. So you want people to know, hey man, this is custom. And God forbid the Closier has contrast button holes. And once again, you're going to be like, I want mine just like that. It's ridiculous, man. And guys used to spend so much time on what color thread they're going to use for their contrast.

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I understood because I did the same thing. But looking back now, it's like, what the hell was I thinking, man? I remember when I realized that that was so corny. I started wearing a lapel flower just to hide the orange of my lapel buttonhole. But I had no way of hiding the sleeves, unfortunately. And if you guys know me, I speak with my hands a lot. I'm Caribbean and I used to rap. So everything is me moving my hands when I speak.

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I couldn't hide those orange contrast buttonholes, man. So there's a picture, if you're reading the blog post that comes with this episode, where you will see a picture of the contrast buttonholes that I used to have on my suit. Those are the things that you look back and you're like, man, what the hell was I thinking? At least I hope, that's the hope, that you get to a point where you're like, man, what the hell was I thinking? Growth is a beautiful thing, man. So.

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To tell the truth, I don't regret doing those things because it gives me the opportunity to relate to a lot of guys. Cause I think a lot of guys think that I have no idea what they're going through or I've never been there so I can't really tell them. No, I've been there, trust me. Whatever stage that you are at currently in your menswear journey, I've been there. So I was the guy that hated to wear a suit. I was a guy that thought he really loved suits and knew how to dress, wearing my stuff too tight. I was the guy that got my first custom suit.

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wanted it to fit like one of my bat suits, spend a ton of time picking the lining, spend a ton of time thinking about what color thread I wanted to use on my contrast buttonholes. I've been there, man. And I'm so glad about that because I can relate to everybody. So when you hear me speak about certain things, this is me speaking from experience. Now the fifth mistake that guys make when buying their first custom suit.

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is a lot of them used to tell me to measure them tight. That way the suit is going to fit them perfectly by the time that the suit is done in about six to eight weeks because they will be smaller back then because they're going to lose weight. Let me tell you something, man. When you're getting a suit made, you should have it measured for the way that you look now. Because in my experience, whenever a guy told me that he was going to lose a few pounds by the time that we would meet again in six to eight weeks,

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so that I can deliver the suit, they end up gaining weight as opposed to losing weight.

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True story, man. Losing weight is not easy. And when you're putting pressure on yourself to lose weight by a certain amount of time, let's say six to eight weeks, you don't really see a result. You start to get stressed out, you start to eat more. And then there you are in six to eight weeks, having a new custom suit that does not fit at all. And usually at that point, you won't be able to get the suit we made for free because

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the measurements were correct. You asked for a couple inches to be removed from your current measurements because you were going to lose weight, but you end up gaining weight. Actually, it can be remade, but you just have to pay for it again. So definitely don't go into an appointment thinking that you're going to lose weight and have the suit done smaller. It just doesn't really make any sense. But let's say you do know yourself and you know that you can cut weight. In that case, set your appointment after you lose weight.

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And I know that's not always ideal because you have to wait six to eight weeks for the suit to be finished. So you're trying to cut corners. But I promise you it's for the best. Last thing you want is to wait six to eight weeks and then get a suit that does not fit. Now you have to wait another six to eight weeks to get something that fits you properly because you might not be able to be tailored to fit. But that's how it happened over and over and over again. Don't make these mistakes.

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So this is the part of the show that I like to call, I have a story to tell. Usually it's a story that I find funny. This one is the opposite. So the other day I was minding my own business and I got a notification on my phone from YouTube studio and I got a comment from some dude named Tom Contos. And he goes, Vladimir, why do you insist on using vocabulary terms like homie, bro, and dude?

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It's like going off-roading in a brand-new Cadillac. One isn't made for the other. The crazy part is I usually get 99.9% positive comments on YouTube, but there's always that 0.1% that be on some real dog whistle downright racist. Sometimes I laugh at it because I'm like, you wish you could dress better than me, so.

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You definitely have some issues that you have to work through. Maybe you weren't hugged enough as a kid, but sometimes it really, really irks me, man, like this one really irked me when I make videos or when I make my podcast, this is the real me. So when I'm making these videos and I'm making this podcast, I always think that I'm talking to one of my friends. One question that I get, people always ask me, how come I look so comfortable in my videos?

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It takes some practice, but eventually, I started to look at the camera like he was my friend. Like I was speaking to a friend of mine. And from that point on, it was easy because I'm speaking to my best friend. I'm not speaking to just the camera or when I'm doing the podcast, I'm speaking to my best friend. I'm not just speaking to a microphone. If the way that I speak is not for you, then just go to another YouTuber, man.

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You know what I'm saying? Go to Kirby Allison or the Gentleman Gazette or the Provision Gentleman or I mean pick one man there's a million of them and a lot of them do a good job but I'm clearly not for you and I don't know why you would take the time out of your day to let me know that because I can't really care less if you watch my videos or not. The reason why I started YouTube is

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I couldn't find somebody that sounded like me and looked like me while also being stylish as hell on YouTube. Yeah, there are other black dudes on YouTube, but back when I was looking, those who didn't know anything about menswear. They would make menswear videos, but it was like very fashion-forward versus I'm a traditional classic menswear guy. So I said to myself, since I can't find that person on YouTube,

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and I'm sure I'm not the only one that's looking for a person like that, then I should just start making videos because I talk about menswear anyway, so what's the difference between just turning the camera on and still talking menswear? So that's how my channel was created. And I fully get it that what I do is not for everybody. Menswear is extremely pretentious. So I know a lot of people look at me and they're like, who's this guy?

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talking about menswear, he's not supposed to be into classic menswear. So there's a lot of jealousy there too, you know what I mean? One thing I can care less about that, because I don't do it for you. I do it for the guy that goes on YouTube and is looking for somebody that talks like him, that also knows what the hell he's talking about. Menswear is universal though, so I get love from a ton of people that look nothing like I look, and I welcome the love.

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but I can care less about somebody else's thing. Why is this guy speaking like that? I'm obviously not for you. I don't make my videos for you. When I turn my camera on to record, I'm not thinking about you. There are people out there that mess with me heavy because I speak this way and I look this way. They can relate to it. Those are the people that I think about when I make my videos or I record my podcast. But like I said, the menswear is universal.

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And a lot of guys from all sorts of different walks of life and backgrounds mess with me heavy because they know that I'm the real. But at the same time, there are some jealous dudes out there that leave me comments like these. Ha ha ha ha. It did hurt me at the time. It didn't last that long, but I did black dude. So now.

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He won't be able to have access to this dupeness. But that's on him. He should have just kept his mouth shut and keep watching my videos so he can learn how to dress. But no, he had to come at me with, what do you talk this way? So if you're a guy out there that thinks like Tom Cantos, saying stupid things like me speaking the way I speak, it's like taking a Cadillac off-roading, just keep your racist comment to yourself, man. I'm not talking to you, fam, about that.

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You gotta be kidding me, man.

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So this is the part of the show where I invite you, the listener, to leave me a question and I answer it live on the podcast. If you want to participate, all you have to do is go to imnotagentleman.com. There will be a microphone on the bottom right corner and you can just leave your name, where you're calling from and your question. Today's question comes from Barney. Let's get to it.

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Caller: Hey Vlad, this is Barney from South Florida. Is there any truth that your shirt collar should frame your face or is there a standard that you should be looking for as it relates to dress shirts? Love the content. Keep it up, brother.

Vlad (host): This is a good question and I think this is one of those things that gets misconstrued a lot. I'm always preaching that you should have your collar points be long enough to be hidden under your jacket's lapels. And I think a lot of people think that, but doesn't that depend on the shape of your face? And my answer to that is no.

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Now you should be mindful of your color, depending on the shape of your face, but not the color point themselves. It's more of the spread of the color that determines that. So if you happen to have a really wide face, you should have less of a spread to counterbalance your wide face. Or if you have a really slim face, then

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you should have a wider collar, once again to counterbalance your face. In both scenarios, the collar points should still be long enough, that way they're hidden under your lapels. A short collar point helps no one. So to answer the question, yes, you should be mindful of the collar, depending on the shape of your face, but that doesn't have really anything to do with the collar points. The collar points themselves should always be long enough to be hidden under your jacket's lapels.

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So very good question from Barney because I've gotten that question before. So that was my episode on the five mistakes that guys make when buying their first custom suit. Thanks for checking out the podcast and tuning in again next week for another fire episode of I'm Not a Gentleman. Peace!

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Outro music: Back in that bag, in that bag, again
Whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah (Hey)
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Back in that- yeah
Tell 'em to watch it...

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If you feel like you're always winging it when you have to get dressed up, listen up fam. 90% of guys don't really have a clue when it comes to style. And I want to make sure you part of the 10% that's really killing it in these menswear streets. I just opened registration for my Master the Art of Dressing Wear cohort. You're going to learn how to easily put an outfit together. We're going to go in-depth about my 3 secrets to always look sharp without trying too hard.

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and we'll cover everything from your shoes to your accessories and everything in between. To get more cohort information, click the link in the show notes or go to imnotagentleman.com. The cohort starts October 2nd. Get signed up today. Peace!