So I haven't talked with you all in QUITE a while. I know, I know. I'm sorry about that. I've been busy this summer and it's totally me, not you.
I figured I'd start this blog back with a review of Indochino, one of the more famous made-to-measure online suit companies. I guess I should start off with some background.
I love suits. Absolutely adore suits. Like seriously, I love them. I don't own enough and all of them have been off the rack then altered (minus my Indochino and a Doctor Who suit before it). The problem with me is that I'm short and skinny. So you know what that means??
It means I can only find suits in the kids section at Belk and Dillards. Which is mildly inconvenient because those suits usually suck or are boring. I want something that pops. As a government student at Liberty University, dressing up is a must. I might as well not feel disgusting in what I wear.
So anyway, Indochino kept sending me Facebook ad after Facebook ad after visiting their website one time. I finally decided to jump on the Indochino train and order the Blue Sharkskin (now the Essential Blue) suit for $400. It literally jumped prices to $450 the week after I ordered. So I was thankful for that.
So the process is easy. Get someone to measure you, send in your measurements, customize your suit online, and you're set. My girlfriend, sister, and father all measured me and came up with pretty much the same measurements. I placed my order and I was set (BTW, the suit, all upgrades, and shipping was included in the $400).
Then comes the waiting. You know, that hellish time where you REALLY hope your suit will fit you properly. But, Indochino rocks in that aspect, too. You see, if the suit doesn't fit properly, they give you up to $75 for your local alterer. If it still doesn't fit, you can send it back and get it remade. How awesome is that? You'll be happy no matter what.
So, enough with that. Time to break out the suit, right? Well after sitting in front of my door waiting for FedEx due to tracking the package, this showed up one morning.
A nice, white Indochino box. Excitedly, I opened it up and tried on the suit. And how did it fit?
Like a glove. It was the best-fitting suit I've ever owned. And I am so so so happy with it.
So let me tell you a little bit about it and the customizations I got.
Here are the pants. Sorry, my shirt wasn't tucked in properly, but these pants fit me perfectly. They're bunched up a little around the thighs because I had to take the pictures myself and was holding my iPhone at an awkward angle. Trust me, I love these pants. I actually wore them around the house today. Weird, I know… but I wanna get my money's worth since it's too hot outside to wear this 100% wool suit right now. Anyway, aren't those pants incredible? Love them!
Image may be NSFW.
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Here's a really bad butt shot. You're welcome.
Image may be NSFW.
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Okay, I love this. I chose a peak collar (as I was getting a double-breasted suit), but you can choose peak, notch, slim notch, or shawl collars for any suit you order off of Indochino. In addition, for free, I included a working boutonniere and got the boutonniere hole to have contrasting colors. It matches the lining of my jacket (which I also chose).
Here's the front of my jacket. Yeah, sorry, I really suck at pictures. But there's the double-breasted design. I love double-breasted suits because they are classy AND DON'T USUALLY COME IN MY SIZE. Plus, they work exceptionally well on very skinny people. Also, there's a shot of my toes.
So I sorta should've turned this picture facing the right way, but as you can see, there are two vents in the back. Indochino allows you to choose one vent, two vents, or no vents. I thought the two vents would be perfect for the double-breasted suit (though they are usually reserved for larger people).
Here's the left side of the inside of my jacket. Notice you can choose the lining color (I chose red, but they had just about every color you could want). There's also an option for monogramming (again, free), which I used for my name and the ability to add a pen pocket, which I obviously chose. That button down near the bottom is the jigger, used to hold the inside of the jacket together. You fasten it first before fastening the outside button. That pocket all the way at the bottom… I have no idea what it's for, but I assume for my phone, as my iPhone 5 fits very neatly inside of it. The problem is that with a double-breasted suit, it's very hard to reach all that way down. That's a good place to put your phone if you don't plan on using it for a while.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Here's the right side of the jacket. Again, sorry about the angle. Only one pocket, but how many do you really need? Maybe one or two more… ;)
I thought this was a nice touch. With the suit I bought, they match the felt lining under the color with the color of your lining inside the suit. I'm not sure if they do this for all suits or not, but the Essential Blue (Sharkskin) has it. Very classy.
Finally, here are the sleeves of the suit. In addition to the contrasting boutonniere, your final sleeve buttonhole can also be constrasting. If you notice, I also chose the option of having actual working buttonholes for the suit. This is a risky option, though. If you need to alter the sleeves, your tailor won't be able to much due to the buttonholes. I went out on a limb and decided to do it. Luckily, my suit fits perfectly.
So ready for the whole thing?
Here's the suit with a tie. Again, I had to take all the pictures myself, but as you can see, the suit fits amazingly and it was definitely worth the price of admission.
For $400 (now $450), you get a completely customized and tailored suit with free shipping delivered right to your door. Like most of you will, I ordered my Indochino suit after reading mostly positive reviews and a few really crappy ones. But I'm pretty sure those are rare and entirely the fault of the people doing the wrong measurements.
So would I order another Indochino suit? Absolutely, yes! I'd love a black suit or a tux or a nice seersucker. And if you guys at Indochino want to ever send me another one to review, you better believe I'd love that ;)
I can't recommend this company enough. You're doing yourself a disservice if you buy anything off the rack nowadays. Go try Indochino and be amazed. Or if you're like me, you'll wear it around the house just for kicks.
-Christian