Hi guys! Before going into the main article, I want to let you know that I actually discussed SuSu on the podcast, starting at about 45:22. It’s more of an overview, but I suggest you listen and read to get the best experience. But it’s up to you!

It may surprise you guys to know that I’ve only really tried a handful of custom suits. I did Indochino twice when I was in college and had one suit made when I worked at Ascot Chang– the rest have mainly been Atelier Fugue, and a pair from Hall Madden. I’m not someone who aims to try every maker nor write a review about it. I just want to get something made that reflects what I want from a suit. 

This experience has largely been surprisingly successful! I’ve certainly enjoyed my Atelier Fugue and Hall Madden suits, both of which have had soft-shouldered, relatively drape-cut jackets (with wide lapels) and high rise, straight/wide) legged trousers. These Suits are certainly quite “Ethan”— especially when you consider that these makers don’t regularly make garments in this cut (or even wear it themselves). To be clear, this isn’t about being special or unique (in fact, I wish more people considered my silhouette and wore it with ties), but about simply wearing an item that expresses who I am and what I like. That’s why I’ve been wearing my Fugue and Hall Madden suits for the past 5-7 years. 

Of course, things change. I’ve gotten older, and with that comes being wider and bigger! I had my Hall Madden suits made around 2020/early 2021and that was before I went to the gym semi-regularly; as a result, the suits have become a bit tight and nearly uncomfortable in the shoulders and through the sleeve. It was fine when standing at rest but proved to be a problem when I bent my arms…or wanted to layer when it was colder. 

Thankfully, my latest Fugue suits were cut wider (I updated most of my fits in 2021 and pushed him to do wide legs), but there was also a new element in the mix:  I was becoming more familiar with patterning issues. For example, I noticed too late that I likely should have lowered the back rise measurement (there are likely other things as well, if we wanted to be picky).  That’s the issue with remote custom, as well as the fact that with Fugue, I mainly took point in suggesting adjustments. Perhaps I’m not at good as this as I thought! Thankfully, I don’t work in menswear anymore.

There was also the fact that a few of my Fugue pants suffered from an odd QC issue: the fly was quite short in comparison to the rise. While this may not have affected overall fit, I was curious if the fact that the “fly stitch” was higher on the front made the pants sit differently than if the fly ended closer to the fork of pant. At the very least, it made for a bit of an awkward visual appearance when I went sans jacket. 

But as you all have seen, I still wear those suits quite often. I was fully aware of the issues and did my best at the alterationist (and the therapist) to not let them bother me…at least to the point of insanity. It did keep me wary about custom, however. I wasn’t planning on doing any new orders unless I could talk about the fit in person..and potentially explore more fabric books (that were affordable). 

Nothing really pinged my radar (most MTM services are in NYC or too online, which scared me), until I started talking with my friend Jack about Suit Supply. At this point, he had worked there for a Beat and had been able to work the custom system and produce a few rather Golden Era-friendly garments; some of them are worn to work, while others are worn for pleasure (SuSu apparently has strict uniform policies which delve into not just fabrics/colors but design elements). He told me that if I ever wanted to try it out, he could help me get the fit I wanted; he even teased me about guaranteeing the proper long-fly length (“no pant has ever had a short fly”, he said). 

I was able to see Jack’s work firsthand when our friend Serhan decided to bite the bullet and get a suit made. And as you remember from a previous pod, it came out really well! Not only was the DB jacket well proportioned but the trousers were high and straight; RTW would not have been as clean on him; Serhan later got a cotton SB suit. Then James decided to give it a go, but instead of a pleated, full cut trouser, he opted for a flat front flared trouser (still with a high rise); he also got a padded, shapely, single-breasted peak jacket with a short waistcoat. I should also say that James and Serhan were also able to go with a 4-ply fabric (similar to Crispaire) that also helped convince them to try SuSu; it was much more interesting and LA-friendly than simply going with a worsted.

In any case,  Jack and the boys were really pushing the SuSu system to get what they wanted… and succeeding. Their suits weren’t exactly just any Suit Supply suit— they were exactly what they wanted. They are also quite different from what the brand offers or what their sales associates wear (at least in-store). 

And so it was decided. I was going to save up and try Suit Supply for myself. I was ready to put Jack to work and get myself a suit that reflects, well, my self. 

Contrary to popular belief, their custom program isn’t based on their existing models. You can’t just go in, put on their Havana or Roma cut suits, and then tell the sales associate to make adjustments based on your body. They also don’t rely on body measurements. Instead, Suit Supply has you put on a “fitting jacket and pant” that well, fits your body the best. They then create your “Style Passport” by adding or subtracting centimeters as needed: increase the thigh by so much, shorten the sleeve by such, lower back rise, and so on. It’s mainly about adjusting the base garment to get to the final garment. 

This is quite close to what my process was for Hall Madden, though again, the difference with Suit Supply was that I had an idea of what I wanted because I could see their RTW…even though they aren’t able to base their MTM off of it (or do MTO).

I was obviously a little apprehensive about this process. The fitting jacket was a two-button, rather trim jacket with shoulder pads; the trousers were quite slim and had a medium rise at best. Because the fitting garments were so radically different from what I wanted or what was even being sold on the racks, I became quite anxious. 

Looking back, I think my fears were a bit silly. Not because it was unwarranted (custom is always scary!), but because other custom orders have been way more abstract. I actually think I was more nervous about SuSu than with Hall Madden or even with Atelier Fugue, the latter of which made most of my suits for the past 5-7 years. Dave (owner of Fugue) actually never measured me in person, nor did I try on anything when I was ordering. He did my first commission as a mixture of body and garment measurements (or at least that’s what I provided to him). From then on, any adjustments or fixes for future orders were done by text (“for the next one, let’s add 1’ to the rise”, etc) or on a video call, simply because we had a garment to work from at that point.  

Compared to Hall Madden and Fugue, Suit Supply’s process seemed exponentially more tangible, but perhaps that’s why I was being more wary— those damn fitting garments weren’t anything close to what I wanted. You’re telling me that this 2010s fit was somehow going to be turned into my contemporary take on 30s/40s proportions? 

Again, I had already seen Jack’s work on my friend Serhan, who had commissioned a Navy Suit at the end of last year. Granted, Serhan isn’t a full menswear guy, so he was looking to Jack and me for direction. I was there for the entire process, both the fitting and the final delivery, and I was able to help ease Serhan’s first-suit anxiety as well as provide guidance. The final result was phenomenal, with the full/straight cut looking quite flattering on Serhan’s lanky frame. There were only a few alterations to the trousers, which we then applied to his second commission: a taupe cotton suit. In that one, we found some other issues thanks to the fabric (collar gap and too shallow of a fork), which necessitated a remake but came out just right. There was also James’s 70s-inspired suit, which again was set to be quite different from SuSu’s standard fare, but thankfully we were able to get it right. 

Jack and I were a good team, even if I was simply providing suggestions on fit and wasn’t literally working on his tablet. But with me in the customer’s seat, I was still a little nervous.

And so I put my trust in Jack… to a certain extent. Like any #menswear customer, I continued asking questions and suggested certain things. “Can we make this bigger?” “Can this be wider?” This due diligence (as annoying as it may be) was all to ensure that I was getting my desired fit. Jack was courteous the whole time and even joined in, a quality I appreciate; “You probably want this higher, right”? “I know you said you feel a high armhole is restrictive. Do you want to see if we can lower it for comfort?” He was an attentive fitter, but it obviously helps that he was very familiar with my style, knew my desired silhouette, and was a true menswear enthusiast (with a collection of vintage suits) as well.

There were a few times where Jack started a bit slim or narrow (such as with shoulder fit), no doubt due to fitting typical West LA finance bros for their weddings, but that’s why I was vocal about what I wanted. I wasn’t about to waste money! We both knew that we were doing things that common SuSu customers (or even staff) typically order (or are allowed to do lol), but we were in this together. It was this heavy amount of dialogue and discussion that assuaged my apprehension…and felt quite refreshing. It likely helped that Jack and I are actual friends, as well as the fact that he is a vintage enthusiast who understands POV. I likely wouldn’t have considered Suit Supply if it weren’t with him. 

I said it before, but I’ve always wanted a true, in-person partner for these things, to make commissioning feel cooperative, to know how much my own ideas/taste can be made possible with their system! Thank God for Jack. 

Let’s get into the fitting details. But before I go on, I want to emphasize that I never looked at the Suit Supply fit program, so I have no idea how Jack input these changes or what the interface looked like. The process was simply having a dialogue while I tried on the fitting garments, suggesting changes and adjustments as we went along, something that, again, I had never really done before. In other words, I trusted Jack to reflect my taste on his iPad.  All I know is that the system has its limits in how much you could add, but clearly with Jack’s attire (and a few other employees), it at least isn’t too trim. 

My jacket base was a 42R jacket simply because their fitting garment was slim (I’m a 40R in The Armoury, which is classic cut anyway); the 42R was just better in the chest and shoulders. We didn’t change much to the former, but we did lessen the hips (to prevent flaring) as well as lightly extended the shoulders for comfort and a cleaner back. Jack was concerned about the latter, since my final garment would be soft-shouldered (compared to the padded fitting garment), but I told him to trust me– I don’t mind a bit of shoulder drop (it’s slouchy). 

I also told Jack to widen the sleeves as much as he could, because of comfort; I’ve found that a lot of my jackets (including Ring) have been a bit too trim and can be uncomfortable, especially with how blousy my dress shirts can be. Going wider also harmonizes with the other jacket elements: an extended shoulder, a slightly longer length (compared to what people like), a bigger chest, and, of course, a wider and longer leg. 

For illustrative purposes, I brought a few of my favorite and best-fitting jackets (Ring, Fugue); I also made sure to try on a few of their existing garments. SuSu doesn’t really do this, likely to temper client expectations (as RTW is certainly different from MTM), but I thought it was important to show Jack what I wanted, from both a finished garment perspective as well as overall silhouette. Jack did measure a few elements of them (Jacket length, sleeve, shoulder) to check his work, but a lot of it was simply saying, “we’re going to add such and such to this measurement”. I trusted him. 

After all, I’m a pretty easy Jacket fit, with just a touch of back and shoulder posture issues, but I wasn’t too concerned. I just asked that the jacket not be longer than what I typically wear, that the sleeves weren’t too slim, and that there be BPH. In terms of the latter, he was confident we’d be fine… though on my pattern, he apparently dropped the buttoning point a bit so that might have been a problem (spoiler alert, it wasn’t). 

As you can see, the jacket came out very nicely! The shoulders were extended, the chest had good drape, the sleeves were full, the armhole was comfy, and the hips weren’t flared; the jacket length was also perfect. It was honestly surprising to see how adjusting a slim and padded SB jacket all gets reflected in a DB, but it was clear Jack knew what he was doing. I didn’t need any alterations to the jacket outside of shortening the sleeves. 

I ended up getting an SB as well (I’m on that two jacket, one trouser game), which also came out nicely.  On my SB, I made it a few cm longer than the DB (or rather, my DBs are always a bit shorter than my SBs),  which is something that exists in my RTW as well as a move I did over at Fugue. The only issue was that the shoulder angle felt a bit off, either due to posture or a QC issue. While we couldn’t alter it, Jack and I made sure to extend the shoulders slightly (and evaluate receipt more closely) in the other commissions, where it wasn’t an issue.

Again, this isn’t a perfect MTM fit, but it was pretty good and definitely serviceable for my wardrobe. At the very least, the jacket fit was close to what I liked from RTW Ring Jacket; it also obviously fit better than RTW Suit Supply, which, despite their updated fits, still feels a bit too snug for my frame. In any case, the jacket fit was as dialed in as we could have it. But the trouser journey was a different story. 

Trousers are always a difficult thing to get right, no matter who you are. It also doesn’t help that the base is so different from what I wanted my final ones to look like. Like I said before, they were a pair of mid-rise, slim pants. As much as I trusted Jack (and saw his work with Serhan), I wasn’t confident that Jack would be able to add inches to get to what I wanted, but we did our best. I brought in a pair of 1940s trousers to help illustrate what I wanted, but it really wasn’t necessary. We intended to max out as much as the system allowed..

My main thing was that I wanted the leg to be full and straight; I didn’t need the leg opening to be exactly 10”, but it should be wide and the leg shouldn’t have too much taper; however, I was also open to a bit grade, considering that we both felt that my Fugue pants needed some more shape The other thing was that I wanted the rise to be quite high. It didn’t need to be 14.5” or something, but it should rest at my belly button. I also wanted to make sure the zipper went through the whole rise, which again, was a disappointing issue from Fugue; Jack assured me that they’ve never had a short zipper, which was good at least.

Initially, Jack didn’t want to max things out too much. And so, my first fitting trousers were about a 36W, which, as you probably can tell, is quite a bit bigger than my typical size. Jack did this because the rise is inherently higher than smaller, more correct sizes as a base, needing only a 1” or so increase to get it to where I wanted. This also meant that the leg was naturally wider as well, which left Jack to simply add in a few sporadic cms to maintain the relatively wide leg and reduce the existing taper grade. Of course, he had to reduce the waist and hips a bit as the pants were quite big there; I didn’t want them to balloon out like jodhpurs due to the pleats (which obviously adds room as well). 

We thought we were sooo smart by working around the system. When the pants came in, all we would need is a hem (we went unfinished in length), right ? We were so wrong. The trousers were bad. Even with our initial measurements and comparing them to the 40s pants I brought in, the finished trousers were too big in the waist, hips, and thigh; the only saving grace was that the leg was straight from the knee down– and had a good leg opening. 

The most glaring problem was that there was excess fabric in the front crotch panel (the area right of the zipper). It collapsed on itself, making for a very awkward fold/pleat-esque thing; it didn’t help that the fabric was very drape-y, as this exacerbated the issue. The fabric was simply not “taut”; it only fixed if I let the pants sag in the front slightly, revealing that this might be a back rise issue as well as an excess front issue. 

Jack thought that if we took in the waist, seat, hips, thigh, and lowered the back rise a bit, it would help. Suit Supply tailors tried their best, but I ended up bringing the SuSu altered pants to my tailor as well, who took in even more, especially in that right thigh/hip. The result was a good, clean leg, but with pockets further back on the thigh due to how much we took it in. Unfortunately, the crotch wrinkle was still there. 

It was clear that this isn’t due to excess fabric from the side, but from the front, likely due to the fact that we started from the bigger block. And as I learned from pinching and pulling my pants, this wrinkle wouldn’t go away unless you could somehow take in fabric from the fly (not possible). If I kept the pants, they would be a little passable with a DB jacket (as the quarters cover the crotch), but certainly not with an SB. That wasn’t good enough for me, especially because I want the option to wear the pants sans jacket.  These trousers were cooked.

After this back-and-forth tailoring, Jack and I decided that we needed to do a remake. This time, we started from my proper size (a 34W) and maxed out as much as we could, especially the leg opening and the rise. I told him that the altered-but-cooked pant had a great leg silhouette and length, so we could use that as a new reference (as opposed to my vintage ones).  The logic was that if we start from a smaller/correct base block, the trousers would come out normal and taut, reducing the excess fabric in that front panel. 

This did the trick. The new pants came out swimmingly! In fact, they might be the best trousers I’ve ever owned. The leg is nice and straight, with just a tiny bit of taper grade through the leg that kept things sharp and clean. They’re similar to my Fugue ones, but with more shape without being trim; I’m not sure how that worked out, but it did. The rise was indeed shorter than the 36W, but the difference was negligible (I think Jack said its less than an inch). They sat high on my body, elongating my legs. 

What’s more is that the trouser rise met the buttoning point of the jacket, something that my Fugue ones didn’t do because Fugue has a higher, 60s-esque buttoning point. Nothing wrong with that, but I do find I like these two things to be a bit harmonious. It seemed Jack was right to lower the buttoning point of the jacket (and thankfully, it still adheres to BPH). 

It was done. We had nailed the pattern (or rather, “Style Passport”). And so I was ready to order again and start to overhaul my suit arsenal, at least in terms of my solids. 

While getting the right fit/silhouette (at least as close as possible) was a big draw for these orders, a significant impetus for these orders was that Suit Supply actually had a fabric that I liked.

In the past (three or so years ago), the only breathable fabric was a wool hopsack (not always preferable to be used as a full suit), and it was only available in navy. Apart from that, their solids were all Super 120s worsteds that were a bit too delicate and shiny. I had become enamored with Crispiare from Holland & Sherry (used in my Ascot Chang and Hall Madden suits) and used it as my True North when looking at fabrics. To be clear, I’m not a brand-name guy. I just knew that I wanted a relatively mid-weight cloth that was breathable and wrinkle-resistant. It just made sense for climate as well as my general approach to tailoring: clean, matte, and with a nice drape. Similar fabrics also have the benefit of being textured, so they work really well to break up, as opposed to overly fine/shiny worsteds. 

Obviously, my Fugue suits were not this, but I still enjoyed wearing them anyway. However, if I were going to try a new maker, it would have to at least have that type of fabric, in addition to getting the fit that I wanted.   At some point, Suit Supply added the 4-ply to their books, so I was sold. 

My first commission from Suit Supply had to be a Navy one, which I got in both DB and SB jackets. And as you can see, the 4-ply looks really good. The drape only adds to the inherent gravitas of the Navy, making for a very clean and elegant attitude, allowing me to be a little jaunty in my styling while still being tempered. It’s certainly the darkest suit I’ve ever owned.

A few months after that suit, I decided it was time to do one in brown. You may have noticed that I had two brown suits: one in dark brown Crispaire from Hall Madden (that my shoulders and arms were outgrowing) and one in a lighter-brown worsted twill from Fugue. The latter was fine, but I just wanted one brown suit (with two jackets); I just never did the follow-up with Hall Madden, and I felt like I didn’t need one from Fugue. Thankfully, SuSu also had a deep, chocolate brown (with a twinge of a red hue) in the 4-ply as well. It came out swimmingly, with no alterations needed. The brown suit (in both jacket variations) has been one of my favorites to wear. The inside of the DB even says “Very Ethan”, which is quite true. 

The last SuSu commission was an off-white (almost a cream) 4-ply suit in, you guessed it, a DB and SB. I couldn’t help myself! I really liked the 4-ply fabric, and seeing it done as an off-white really reminded me of the old Palm Beach fabric, which was a mix of cotton, mohair, and rayon. I already had a white DB summer suit in the form of a white linen number from Fugue, but this suit had shrunk at the cleaners a few times, making it a bit rough to keep long term. It was also linen, which is decidedly seasonal and looks a bit odd when combined with other fabrics. 4-ply cloth is breathable, textured, and made of wool, so it can be worn separately in other seasons– think Winter Whites, like if I were to wear the pants as a nod to cream flannels. 

I also had a cream SB jacket from Ring that I enjoy wearing, but I always lamented that it wasn’t part of a full suit, as I’ve never had a SB white suit before. So this SuSu commission not only let me get back to the Palm Beach Cloth of it all, but also allowed me to get both jackets to have options (as I also love wearing odd jackets).  And as you can see, I’ve been enjoying it. I feel like Summer Ethan has been reinvigorated! 

With these three orders, I was done.  They didn’t have a mid-grey that I enjoyed, so I wasn’t about the replace my Fugue one any time soon…until I learned from Jack– the text literally came when I was writing this blog post– that they were getting more 4-ply fabrics, which include new greys (similar to mine apparently) as well as actual patterns (as they didn’t have any when i was there). Do I start saving up?

I’m sure you’re curious about the design details and how I reconcile my specific tastes with what’s available. And the answer is that it isn’t really all that serious. 

You see, despite my love of specific tailoring designs from the 1930s-1970s, I’m actually not that picky. I am aware that elements like notch angle and gorge as well as pocket shape is something that varys from maker to maker (or house to house in terms of bespoke).  As I’ve written about before, I am fine with some concessions– it just can’t be too far out there: gorges can’t be super high, peaks can’t be too bellied, and lapels in general should be wide enough. Everything else is fine within reason: there should be BPH, and breast pockets shouldn’t be too high. It doesn’t make sense for me to be more picky; otherwise, I wouldn’t own anything. After all, I like the RTW I own (Ring) as well as what I commissioned from Fugue and Hall Madden. They aren’t 1930’s dupes, but I don’t need them to be. My 1930’s nods come from styling…but the suit details should still be in the spirit of what I like from suits.  

Thankfully, SuSu’s inherent details are indeed close to what I like enjoy, in broad strokes of course. Their notch lapels are relatively wide and don’t have too high of a forge. Their peak lapels are pretty close to horizontal. Their patch pockets are nice and big, though their breast pocket ones are a tad small (like most modern makers in general); thankfully, the barchetta version is just fine. But here’s the kicker– these elements don’t technically exist tangibly, at least not in the way that I would order it. 

For example, their normal notch lapel is only found on two-button suits; their 3-roll-2 jackets tend to have the “concave lapel”, which has an inward curve to its belly and features a notch-cut that looks more square than the traditional triangle shape. Their two-button jackets also tend to be padded in the shoulder, while their 3-roll-2 has the soft, pleated shoulder. In other words, it can be a bit tough to visualize what exactly you’re going to end up with. You may just have to be lucky that the store you order from has a customer’s order as an example or if the sales associates themselves are wearing the details you want. 

If you keep up with the brand (or have friends who work there, like I do), you will have no doubt heard of other options, such as the Low Gorge Peak. This intrigued me based on the description, but by the time I saw it on the floor, I wasn’t impressed. It was more of an 80s style low gorge, which meant that the lapel didn’t feel as “wide” or “sweeping”, being more of a tool to elongate the visuals of the wearer; the lowered buttoning point (inherent to this design choice) didn’t help things either. As a notch, it looked a bit more like a 70s bellied lapel, which I felt would look weird as a 3-roll-2 since the whole point is that such a jacket could have been a three-buttoned jacket; putting that top button on the curve of the belly is just wrong. That being said, I did see variations of these details on a few mutuals and sales staff where it looked a bit more palatable. Again, this shows that the product from MTM to RTW was always going to be slightly different. 

In the end, I decided against any of the new novelty options, for fear that it wouldn’t translate properly– I simply picked the standard notch lapel on the 3-roll-2 SB and the standard straight peak for my DB . While a swelled edge wasn’t available, I went with the 6mm pickstitch on both jackets as a compromise. I always like this detail because it makes the cloth look more “plush” and dynamic; it also feels a bit sporty (though pickstitching is certainly more “dressy” than a continuous stitch), which helps make the solid cloth a bit more approachable. I also kept the barchetta breast pocket (no patch) and went with flapped jetted pockets for both the DB and SB Navy jackets (to keep it formal), but changed to standard patch pockets (not the tulip ones, as they have a smaller opening) on the Brown and White suits jackets. But as you’ll see later, I had to get the Navy SB jacket remade due to a shoulder issue, so I ended up doing it as a patch pocket because I missed that easy entry.

My trousers were made with the standard side tabs (not the oversized ones) and also added suspender buttons, as I typically do for all my custom trousers, regardless of whether I use them or not. Believe it or not, I actually have been using them (I guess I’m regressing to my true vintage roots), so it was a worthwhile choice. I do love my vintage belts, but there’s just something about the belt-less waistband that I enjoy. I have seen some people use the “wide waistband” option not just as a way to get a higher rise, but also to approximate a 40s dropped-loop detail; they simply choose belt loops over side tabs, remove and shorten them in order to be closer to a vintage style. I do admire the dedication, but that’s a lot of work. I’m fine with my side tabs and suspenders! 

More to come on how I’ve been earnestly enjoying suspenders again after so many years without them! 

I am very impressed with how my SuSu suits came out! I’ve always known them to be a bit “2010s” in their adherence to the Neapolitan-but-slim fit silhouette that they helped popularize during that time. But thanks to that same commitment to being “on trend”, they seem to have followed the newest wave of #menswear and TikTok fashion mfers in adopting elements of vintage: wide lapels, draped chests, high rises, and wider legs. The fact that you can get a 70s cut (in the case of James) as well as a 30s/40s silhouette (I’m sure they prefer to call it “80s/90s Armani) from their MTM and some special models of the RTW is quite interesting. 

To be clear, I wouldn’t have spent money on this “experiment”— that thankfully worked out well enough for me to overhaul some of my wardrobe— without Jack’s help. I can not understate just how much of this success came from working with Jack. After all, I likely wouldn’t have entertained this until he told me just what he’s been able to accomplish from his own commissions (though he works there, so I’m sure the employee uniform allowance and/or discount eased his experiments).  And after seeing Serhan’s classic suit, as well as James’s 70s-inspired cut, I felt more secure in the SuSu process. 

I even think that the fit (or the final “pattern”/Style Passport) is better than my Fugue ones simply because I was able to talk through things in person with Jack. It feels like a true partnership, with my own taste and input directly imbued into the Suit, making it a truly personal garment, especially since this type of fit isn’t common across SuSu customers or even the staff.   I’m just glad that Jack prioritized my taste and was down to figure things out. I didn’t want this to be an experience where the sales person said “we don’t really do that; that’s not our style”.

Again, I can’t speak to how the other SuSu employees are (or their level of classic menswear-ness like Jack), so be wary– or at least speak up and bring examples– if you decide to try it for yourself. At least you know that it’s possible to get an Ethan-friendly silhouette from Suit Supply. Who would’ve thought? 

But don’t take my enjoyment of these suits to mean that SuSu made a flawless garment. This is still MTM, so there a limit to what we can get; there are also things that MTM can’t fix.

I know that I have various shoulder pitch issues and that my body protrudes in different areas. As you can likely see from the photos, this results in some shoulder issues, especially in the Navy one, where it “divots” when I raise/bend my arm; it doesn’t seem to have as much of an issue in the Brown or White ones.  Upon closer inspection, it looks like perhaps the shoulder seam on the Navy isn’t as straight as the others. I am not certain if this is a QC issue on finishing or if the factory simply put the wrong shoulder pitch on just the Navy jacket. It seems to have been done correctly on the others! 

And while I thought we had figured out the “crotch wrinkle/collapse” issue, it seems that this still occurred with the white suit trousers. There is also the possibility that this is due to the fabric, where it simply makes issues with body relief much more visible. Oddly, this isn’t the case with the Brown one, but it also feels like the Brown cloth is much softer and perhaps even taut; Jack remarked that this may be due to the dying process “softening up the fabric and making it more dense”; the Navy and White certainly feel more stiff and crunchy and therefore show “collapsing” in a more noticeable manner.

Jack and I tried one more fix on the white pants. In the remake, we reduced the waist and hips and lowered the back rise, as well as marked my pattern as a “flat seat” (instead of regular). The hope was that this would make the trousers even more “taut” and ultimately lessen the amount of excess fabric in the front. At the time of writing, this seems to have helped, but we’ll see as the fabric gets softer with each wear.

Obviously, I’d need a higher degree of custom (like bespoke) to get these issues correct, at least from the fitting stage (then again, who knows, I’ve never done it). Without the use of remakes, it would have been incredibly difficult and time-consuming to hone in on the best fit (or desired silhouette) at Suit Supply. This is why bespoke makers do multiple fittings (and even a basted one) to address issues before the garment is finished.

At this point, I think Jack and I have done what we can. We’ve certainly exhausted the remakes, and so I’ve generally made my peace with them. I’m not actually that picky and I’m also not here to get an objectively perfect fit. For the purposes of my life and wearing suits for fun, we got it. The suits are high-waisted, slouchy, comfortable, and look like something you’d expect me to wear. And as you can see, I’ve been wearing them a lot. 

It’s almost to the point where, recently, outside of Riding Boot outfits, I’ve seldom gone with separates. Suits have just been the move, leaning into the drama and gravitas through how they envelop my shirt and tie combos. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy doing that with my Fugue suits, but I think it’s because the fit has been dialed in, as well as the fact that 4-ply cloth is undoubtedly quite “Ethan Style”: it’s deep, matte, textured, and drape-y. 

I guess these were a good move as I begin this next decade of my life. It’s my hope that these pieces get to stay with me and gain Cultural Patina as I get older. Again, it certainly helps that these Suits are the current epitome of my approach to menswear:  deep and wide/slouchy but certainly classic, able to be worn however I feel like it. 

In the end, these aren’t really Suit Supply suits– they’re mine, all mine! Let’s just hope my body doesn’t change too much this time around. 

– end of blog post – 

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Always a pleasure,

Ethan M. Wong (follow me on IG)

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