I’m starting a new job next month, so I need to buy a few sharp suits. Problem is, I can never get suits that fit me properly in the shops. Do you know of any good tailors I can try? What should I expect to pay for a suit made from scratch and how do I go about choosing the materials and patterns?
Okay, sir, first of all, you need to choose your material. You can buy this from any haberdashery you like, but we’d advise you to purchase it from your tailor. Generally, the material costs as much as, if not more than, the workmanship, so the tailor is more likely to give you a good price overall if you buy the fabric from him. Ask his advice (or a friend’s) on colours that suit you – charcoal, black and dark grey are easy to wear, but not everyone can pull off navy and brown, for example. Don’t automatically go for the cheapest material, and we’d recommend you check it under the natural light outside the store, as well as the shop’s light.
As for the style of the suit, your best bet is to flick through the tailor’s scrapbooks – most places have a folder full of styles they make regularly. Alternatively, you can take in an old suit to be copied, or, if you’re willing to take the risk, take a picture of a suit you like from a magazine. A good tailor will tell you if he is able to recreate it, but those less experienced might find it difficult to copy from an image.
Once all the details have been worked out, it’s haggling time. Bear in mind that by this point the tailor has already spent time with you examining cloth and talking about cuts, so it’s in neither of your interests to have wasted that time. Everyone has their own tactics for getting a good price, but we’d advise you take your time working your way down to a price you both think is fair – push for too cheap a price and you might find this reflected in the end result! The work usually costs around Dhs500 and the material costs anything from Dhs500-Dhs2,000. You’ll get a cheaper price overall if you buy more than one suit, or if you buy a stack of shirts to go with it.
Finally, leave at least a week between when the tailor says it will be ready and when you want to wear it, so if you need lengths adjusted anything tweaked, there’s plenty of time for the tailor to do it properly. He’ll do these amendments at no extra cost.
Got all that? Now head to Madinat Zayed (050 825 2801), which has never let us down. Seen the guys swaggering about looking like extras from a Tarantino movie? Yeah, that’s us.
