Thursday, July 3, 2008

First time with Astor & Black

So I'm having my tux made by Astor & Black for my wedding. They come to your house, take your measurements, get your fit, suit options, and what not and send the measurements to a tailor in Hong Kong, then send the pieces of the suit back to a master tailor to be assembled for you. I needed a new suit as well, so I figured I would try them out. Although I was expecting something more professional, I'm still pretty happy with the experience.
When the tailor showed up at my place, he brought his 4 year-old kid. I wasn't overly happy, but he said his wife was out of town and had to take him with him. I would have liked an option for another time without his son. He (Aaron) told me that if we turned on the Red Sox game, his son would be quiet. I decided to indulge him and we turned on the TV. However, this had the opposite effect as his son started to bounce off the walls in the second inning. I think Aaron told his son to be quiet about 100 times and it did start to get really annoying after about 5 minutes of constant chatter.

Aaron talked to me about what I wanted, what style, options, and pretty much every detail of the suits and showed me fabric swatches. Told me some stories about his other clients, and did what he needed to do well. The price is unbeatable for a bespoke suit as well. I am having Zegna fabric for my tux and suit, so if I bought one off the rack it would be a minimum of $2,000. I pend less than $1,600 for both! I liked the personal attention, he didn't pressure me into higher prices, and he was very personable. All in all, Aaron was a good guy, but when he comes back with my suits, I'm going to politely ask that he come without his child. I really don't like kids and I don't think I should have to suffer them whilst spending $1,600. Any readers have a good way I can ask him to come solo via email without sounding like a douche bag?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not a bespoke suit... The company tells you that only for comparative shopping purposes. It's the same as if you buy off the rack and then bring it to your tailor to have it fixed... This is what was told by me by one of the first employees of the company.

Consider yourself lucky. I was overcharged for my suit simply because I told them that I had a coupon to get 10% off. The employee added 10% to the order and simply deducted it. For example, my shirt after discount came to $100. This is the normal price for the shirt!

LawPartner75 said...

Legalblog,

You have no idea what you are talking about. The suits made the company are completely custom made. I know this because I was in Hong Kong and my sales rep from Columbus actually allowed me to visit their workshop. Its huge, with over 60 tailors all working for their company. They cut individual patterns for each customer! They have shirts that go up to $120, i know because i've purchased them numerous times so if you got 10% off it could easily have still been $100. My stuff is gorgeous.

T said...

I would have to agree with LegalBlog. These guys are very deceptive. I did my own extensive research on online suitmakers and if anyone heeds my warning... STAY AWAY FROM ASTOR & BLACK!