Made To Measure Suits Up Jeff Powell
Jeff Powell, a great friend since my teens, is a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. Since he is a graphic designer and mostly works from home, he never had the need for a suit…until now.
Jeff was invited to a wedding, considered renting a suit, then asked me what his best bet was. I immediately suggested we go out and buy him one. Even if he only wears it a handful of times a well fitted suit is a fantastic investment.
The biggest concern for Jeff was budgeting. He had to come under $300 including everything from shoes to tailoring. To add more fuel to the fire we had a time constraint of less than two weeks to get it all together. I set out to research what were the best stores to go to since he has a more athletic frame than myself.
I also started thinking of what color the piece should be and settled on a nice simple gray. Since we live really close by to one another in Brooklyn, I took him to Target. Why Target? Because a man of Jeff’s build would look ridiculous squeezed into anything H&M or Zara has to offer. Merona suits are not badly made at all and for the money Jeff had to spend they fit perfectly into his budget.
We managed to find everything at Target except for the shoes. I tried desperately to get him to go for brown but he felt he would get way more use out of black. Amazingly we found a great pair of Dexter plain toe black leather uppers for $29 at Payless.
The suit looked too baggy and I could not get him to Imparali in time for a fitting so we found a great little tailor close to his apartment who did all the alterations for $75. Since Jeff is of a more athletic build, we needed to go for a fitted but not too tight look on the suit itself. I asked the tailor for a lot. The sleeves were too long, waist was not suppressed, pants were ballooning, etc. He was really accommodating with all my bossy demands, though, and really got how I wanted the suit to look on Jeff.
I was not too happy with the break on the pants and I feel Matt at Imparali could have done a much better job but overall with the time constraint involved, I think the final result was pretty awesome.
The shirt and tie color I feel was a great contrast to the gray and compliments his skin tone really well. We originally tried on a blue combination and felt it was a bit too stiff. Jeff being a graphic designer understands the importance of a good color pop. We also found a pack of 3 Merona pocket squares for $4.I lent him one of my own tie bars:
We also made sure the back of the jacket had no neck roll and that there was a nice bit of cuff peeking out from the sleeves:
All in all Jeff is very happy with the results and it was such a great experience for me to aid someone in purchasing their first suit. He even said that it makes him feel “damn good” when he’s in it.
Here’s the itemized list for everything:
Suit Jacket by Merona: $60
Suit Pants by Merona: $25
Shirt by Merona: $25
Tie by Merona: $15
Belt by Merona: $15
Pocket Squares (box of 3) by Merona: $4
Socks by Merona: $3
Shoes by Dexter: $29
Alterations by Santiago Tailoring: $75
For a grand total of $236.
If you live in the New York area and would like your own Made To Measure manly make over, feel free to reach out to me at madetomeasureny@gmail.com.
To check out the work of Jeff Powell please visit: www.negativeink.com.
Love the color combination and the tie definitely pops. Very nice!
Looking sharp there young man, looking sharp! LOL
Amazing!! I love budget makeovers… especially from the ultimate do-gooder, Target! Kudos to you on an incredible job well done.
Pretty incredible for under $250. Really nice choices all around (you were right about brown shoes though).
I don’t think they should be able to make suit pants for $25, but oh well.
You sure you’re not related to this guy?
Hey MC,
Thanks so much! There are a lot of flaws in the suit still but I’m overall pretty pleased. Nothing a little more tailoring can’t help, though.
Jeff and I are not in fact related. We’re definitely brothers by friendship, though.
-Dennis
Dennis,
Great to have you back. I like this combination. Are you sure you couldn’t get the jacket to get more fitted than that, or is that a proper fit for Jeff…?
About this Target place, I remember seeing clothing ads in Vibe magazine a few years ago with Target merchadise at ridiculously low prices. Please believe it, I would go to town in a store like that.
HEY!
Thanks for the feedback.
The jacket could have been way more fitted but we were on a time constraint and I could not get him to Imparali in time. I also hate the break on the pants because they are crumpling at the bottom.
This is more of a what you can get in a hurry post. Had I more time with Jeff, I think the results would have been spectacular.
Best,
Dennis
I have to say, for the price that is a very impressive result! The shoulders seem a bit too big to me, but from what I can see on the first pic, he’s just a really athletic guy. Never heard of Merona, guess it’s US only? How is the material, is it really wool for that price?
Thanks Lorenz. If I can recall the suit is only part wool, not 100%.
The shoulders on the 38 were too small and the jacket was too tight all around where the 40 (pictured here) was a better fit shoulder wise.
Jeff was a hard man to fit but considering the budget and time constraint, I don’t think the results are bad.
After the wedding, I’m going to try and get him to Imparali to have the whole thing redone.
Best,
Dennis
I believe the result is really nice. I mean, athletic types are probably the hardest to fit, aren’t they – and for the ~200$ the result is really good
Thank you, Lorenz!
This was truly a challenge and I knew things weren’t going to be 100% with trusting another tailor.
I’m glad you can appreciate the results with the limitations involved.
Yea I agree his jacket could’ve gotten a lot more suppression
Absolutely.
Thankfully, tailoring it again is always an option.
I’m just glad Jeff finally has a decent suit in his wardrobe.
Hey Dennis. Amazing you could pull all this together for the price. It’s a noble effort but Merona puts up limitations that simply cannot be overcome. Otherwise known as the Bank Teller Effect.
Dennis,
I miss your posts! The blogosphere isn’t the same without you! More posts, when you have time. : )
The jacket is still a little off for me in regards to the proportions, but given the budget and time constraints, it came out as good as you can get. It still looks better than a rental (does someone rent regular suits?). At least the outfit looks classic and not dated. At every wedding, there’s always 2 guys that I see: the old guys in 20 year-old suits that they wear a few times a year, and the younger guys rocking the Regis look with a matching shirt and tie.
Well done!
Great read and excellent pictures. I absolutely LOVE reading about bargain dressing, especially from those who can pull it off (you).
This blog has earned a new reader!
I think I would have hit up the local thrift store and then had it tailored. I guess for a guy who NEVER wears a suit, it’s ok, but as you said, it needs a lot of work.
A for effort with the time contraint. But main, I’ve tried the Merona route myself once to see if it works, but it’s a terrible material in my opinion. But of course, it’s just my opinion. I still love seeing real attempts, and not a commercial to hawk something or a fake review that you magically got a $5000 suit for 30 bucks on sale