THE JOURNAL
Illustration by Mr Bruno Mangyoku
As someone who has written about men’s style for more than 10 years, I’ve found the most contentious debates in fashion have to do with money. And, most notably, how much things should cost. Across social media platforms and online forums, you can find vociferous debates about the proper price for quality welted shoes, raw denim jeans and Scottish cashmere sweaters.
Unfortunately, many people often grossly underestimate the cost of manufacturing such things – but who can blame them? As skill sets such as sewing and mending have mostly disappeared from post-industrial economies, many imagine our clothes being spat out of rumbling, buzzing clothes-making machines. Plus, the widespread availability of cheap clothing through fast-fashion retailers has made many of us believe that every shirt should cost $2. In recent years, a few media outlets have tried to pull back the curtain on garment manufacturing and show how much it actually costs to produce things. But for good reason, few have attempted to tackle the suit.
More than anything else in your closet, suits are complicated to make. The coat alone is made from layers of haircloth, canvas, and padding, carefully sewn together using complex techniques. In a factory, it can take about 180 operations to make a jacket, while each of these operations has its own universe of cost-cutting possibilities.
When you consider things such as country of manufacture, shipping, duties, marketing costs and other mundane business dimensions, it’s easy to see why it’s difficult to talk about why particular suits cost what they do. Still, the other day, I was served an Instagram ad, where a new suit company boasted that their $595 custom-made suits are produced in the same factory that makes $3,000 ones. The carefully worded marketing pitch subtly suggests that these two types of garments are comparable –which, of course, they are not. But these types of claims can cause confusion in the marketplace, making customers wonder why some suits cost more than others.
So, I contacted Mr Jeffery Diduch, president of the North American Chapter of the International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives. Diduch has more than 20 years of experience in the garment manufacturing trade, helping leading American factories produce quality tailored garments. He was careful not to give up trade secrets, but laid out a general pricing scheme to show what goes into the manufacturing of a suit.
The following are three stylised examples. To be sure, these are hypothetical suits and not modelled on any one company’s offerings. Although suits are made all over the world, we wanted to simplify this pricing model by sticking to just one country, the US. This way, we keep wages and labour benefits constant and have a better grasp of what might be a company’s overhead. Once you start comparing suits made in the US to China or Italy, costs start moving all over the place. We hope, though, that this acts as a useful guideline.
01.
Half-canvassed suit: around $650
At the lower end of our price scheme is a half-canvassed suit, which functions as mid-way point between the lower-end fully fused suit (not covered in this article) and fully canvassed suit (to be mentioned later).
Inside every tailored jacket will be some material to give the coat structure; otherwise, it will flop on you like a dress shirt. In a half-canvassed suit, the upper half of the coat will be made with haircloth, canvas and some felt to keep the prickly haircloth from poking through. These layers give the chest some shape.
In a half-canvassed style, to make it more affordable, the manufacturer will replace the canvas with a fusible below the coat’s buttoning point (basically the area below your rib cage). This fusible is glued to the back of the garment’s shell fabric to stabilise it. This also saves the manufacturer some costs because they don’t have to do a bit of extra basting. It’s why the lower half of more affordable suits can feel less structured.
What to expect: a fully machine-made suit produced with a half-canvassed construction. By putting canvas across the upper half of the suit jacket, the consumer gets two benefits. First the jacket will feel a little more substantial, giving the wearer the feeling of quality. Second, it will be less prone to bubbling, which can occur when garments go through an improper steaming or dry-cleaning process.
02.
Fully canvassed suit: around $1,500
As you might expect, a fully canvassed suit differs from the previous suit construction in that the canvas runs the entire length from the shoulder to the coat’s hem, giving the garment a bit more heft. The manufacturing at this level will also be more precise.
“When you make patterns for a fully canvassed garment, you typically build in excess allowance all over the place,” Diduch says. “This means that when you’re putting the layers together, there’s room to keep working and trimming until everything is just right. In the previous category, there’s next to none of that. The thing is, cloth moves and linings shift, so things sometimes don’t come out quite right. With a fully canvassed garment in this price tier, the manufacturer will leave that extra allowance so there’s room for careful shaping.”
What to expect: a suit that has been chiefly machine-made, but that may feature some minor hand details, such as turning the corners of the collar or finishing the lining around the armhole by hand. Additionally, you can expect a fully canvassed construction, higher-end fabric and trims, and more precision in the manufacturing process.
By building in more seam allowances during the production process, the manufacturing can more carefully shape the coat, even when the cloth or lining shifts. As a result, you’re less likely to receive a garment where the sleeves feel twisted on you or the lining has no gives.
These dimensions can sometimes be hard to capture in online details, but will be evident when you slip on the jacket on – it will be a smoother feel. Overall, the coat should look neater and feel more comfortable, and the manufacturer should have higher levels of quality control.
03.
Fully canvassed suit with handwork: $3,000+
At the third and highest tier, we have a fully canvassed suit made with much more handwork. The type of workmanship will differ depending on the manufacturer, but you may find a fully hand-felled lining, handset collar, handset sleeves, handmade buttonholes and pockets made manually rather than on an automatic pocket-making machine.
Is there any advantage to doing these operations by hand? “No,” Diduch says plainly. “In terms of functionality, we now have technology that can execute these operations perfectly by machine. However, you may appreciate the work that goes into a handmade suit if you value craftsmanship. Think of it like this: would you rather have a machine-made replica of the ‘Mona Lisa’ or a handmade replica?”
What to expect: along with all of the benefits of a fully canvased suit laid out in the last section, a truly luxurious suit at this tier will also feature more handwork. This may include hand-felled lining, handmade buttonholes, and handset collar and sleeves. Depending on the manufacturing capabilities of a factory, there may not be any practical benefit to setting these operations by hand, but they represent a higher level of craftsmanship.
Additionally, the higher retail price also means that the consumer in the end gets better fabrics and trims, often luxurious suitings not available at the lower price tiers. Overall, the general workmanship will be higher at this tier and appeal to people who value craft.
So, what can you expect as you climb up the price scale? Better quality fabrics and trims, along with more precise manufacturing. At the highest tiers, there should be some handwork for the sake of craft. Additionally, as you pay more for a suit, you can expect better construction: moving from fully fused suits at the lowest end to a half-canvased construction once you spend a few hundred bucks. Above $1,000, you should expect the suit to be at least fully canvassed. Diduch, however, says that the real test isn’t about trying to reverse engineer a suit and figure out its cost structure. Instead, you can judge the quality of a suit more directly.
Think of it like food: the more curious among us may want to read about what constitutes better ingredients and how various cuisines cook their dishes. However, the only test that matters is whether a dish tastes good.
Similarly, when deciding whether you should buy a certain suit, look in the mirror. Does the suit make you look good? Does it make you feel your best? Those are the only dimensions that matter in the end.