Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Menswear View: The Get – White Street Suit?

Note: Doug regularly guest blogs on J.Crew for men (the "menswear view")- which is wonderful! :) (Thank you Doug!) The following is his post:

As part of their new arrivals for October, J.Crew has added a Charcoal Grey Herringbone suit. At $570 the “slimmest, trimmest silhouette yet” has many of the details that have been heavily promoted elsewhere – felt collar, pick stitching and functioning buttonholes. Speaking of buttonholes, I may be in the minority but isn’t six a bit excessive? Typically three or four are the norm.

So what do you think of this latest addition to the J.Crew suit collection? Grey (or variations of it) seems to be the only color available. How about Glen Plaid or Brown? Does this latest offering entice you at all? Let me know what you think.

21 comments:

  1. You know, for my wedding, I've picked chocolate brown dresses for the bridesmaids. But now I am at a loss on what to do for the guys. It's a fairly laidback wedding and all the guys seem interested in buying (and keeping!) a suit, rather than renting a tux. And now I wonder -- what suit color goes well with chocolate brown dresses? What about this charcoal color Doug mentions?

    The other colors in my wedding are yellow and pink, if that helps. I was going to go to a store and sort of drape fabrics side by side but thought I'd see if anyone had any ideas here. :)

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  2. What about the patchwork sportcoat and matching pants--- ugh! Surely they aren't meant to be worn together, but you KNOW someone is going to try and fail miserably!

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  3. I opted for the Italian slim suit instead. I've tried one the 'white street' & disliked the feel & look of the material. I've already made my order, just waiting for them to ship it.

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  4. By the way, they've pulled this item from their online store.

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  5. Where are these suits coming from? I never see them on jcrew.com.

    The working buttonholes look like they only have buttonholes on the first four. Is this how it is? Either way, the buttons and faux buttonholes can be undone easily and voila, four buttons.

    I'm assuming however that the bottom two buttonholes are the only working ones so that if you needed to tailor the sleeves shorter/longer, they can easily move the buttons. If all are working, it is two expensive to get the sleeves altered.

    All that said, this is very fashion forward look with the narrow lapels and super trim fit so six buttons with the bottom ones unbuttoned "fits" so to speak with the fashion-y look of the suit.

    I'm loving the look of the Abraham Moon wools blazers and the price is right for my Christmas present (but I whould rather they were non-darted.)

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  6. I would suggest the italian cotton chino suit in the wheat color. That'll go with brown.

    I ordered the child's size suit for my son and the fabric is quite nice and will work in most moderate climates and versatile to be able to wear again besides weddings.

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  7. Matt,

    You can find suits online via the weddings + parties pages. I'm not sure if they are listed under the regular meens items.

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  8. Matt: Haha, "fashion-y" . . . You've made my dad.

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  9. I'm confused by the "get-white street suit" title. Is that JC's name? What does it mean?

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  10. melanie,

    I think a grey suit (either charcoal or a lighter tone) would work for the men. Grey would also work well with pinks and yellow because it's not going to be as harsh a contrast as black would be.

    Navy is another option, but riskier pairing with chocolate.

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  11. My bf ordered the coat as soon as it appeared on the site. He is a 37 tall, and they had a 38L- the first we've ever seen in a moderately priced suit jacket! The strange thing is that the slacks are prehemmed! So there were no pants for him to order that go with the jacket. He wears a 30/34...and they didn't even have 32/34.
    He hasn't received it yet, but should in the next day or so.

    cheers-- dea

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  12. Anonymous post 1:25. "The Get" was lifted by me from the recent NY Times Fall Menswear magazine. Just a way to preface the post - meaning should you get it or not.

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  13. I like the idea of a J.Crew suit, but since I don't require one for work I've skipped on the jacket. I do have several of the J.Crew dress pants and really like the fit and the fabrics.

    I agree with Douglas on the buttons on the cuffs. The suits I've owned have had either three or four buttons. Why six? Is there some historical reason I am missing or did they simply have too many left over buttons in the factory?

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  14. All - On closer inspection I think the buttonhole shot may in fact be a very sloppy Photoshop mishap. The top two buttons have no opening at all. Very strange.

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  15. Melanie - How laidback is it? IMO Charcoal or Navy work well with Chocolate. If you can go a bit more casual, and keep in mind I'm no FabulousFloridaMommy (who really should be the J.Crew payroll….) this might work;

    Three button Legacy blazer in blue - $298.00 Item # 90620

    Classic-fit essential chino in British khaki - $59.50 Item # 64782

    Solid Vintage Oxford shirts in white - $59.50 Item #78339

    Solid skinny knit tie in navy, iris or dark khaki - $49.50 Item #75980

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  16. i can't find this suit on the website as well, even in the wedding section. Judging from the post, I like the look and color. I would like to see in medium blue as well.

    However, the price is steep and six button holes are excessive. Matt mentioned that they may be designed with tailoring in consideration. For nearly $600, J Crew should just have the in-house tailor adjust sleeve length according to needs (like the way how some of the chinos have various length options).

    Patrick

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  17. anybody else notice that this suit is missing from the website now?

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  18. Six seems like a lot, but in most bespoke suits 5-6 is actually the norm - so my guess is, what with the working button holes & pick stitching (also both signs of bespoke tailoring) J.Crew is offering those extra's at a more affordable price point.

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  19. So I had to leave this comment here because even the sales rep. I talked to was baffled. I bought this suit, and then when I decided I wanted the 38R size instead of the 38S size, it vanished from the internet. Now, they are also selling a "refined herringbone" sport-coat, and pant (separately, not as a suit). The jacket that I received had 3 buttons, it was just pressed to hide the third. It says it is made of Italian Wool, has 4 buttons on the sleeve, pick stitching. As far as I can tell, Its some hybrid suit, taking a little from the refined herringbone couple, and the italian wool suit. Also, the sales rep I spoke to did seem to indicate that someone thought it was a pre-sale item, and it is to go on sale late October/November. Oddly enough, there was no record of it in their system, until she pulled up my order number. How weird is that?

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  20. Actually I'm getting really disappointed in J.Crew. For pushing it's men's suit collection so hard and how available they are at a great price, it's close to impossible to find a popular and staple 38R in anything. Their year-round, italian slim, and White Street collection has been sold out and I keep being told that there's a waitlist well into the next two months. What's the point of shopping for a suit at J.Crew if you know they aren't going to have your size and won't for months? You don't order a suit, dress, or anything for months out; you order it because you need it pretty soon. In my opinion, it's ridiculous and leaves men like me very disappointed. Anyways, off my soapbox and off to Brooks Brothers and their Black Fleece Collection (where I know they'll have my size).

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  21. Every man need to have at least one tailored suit and shirt!Experience is an easier way of shopping for bespoke suit and shirt!Euro Tailors

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