Would you Buy an Indochino Suit? | Custom Bespoke Suits $300 – $500
“Traditional tailoring and fashion collide at Indochino. All of our bespoke quality suits are custom fit and made to measure, and each design a limited edition. Our weekly releases of new fabrics, patterns, colors and cuts, keep your style on point. Suit up before they’re gone.” – From Indochino.com
I’m not sure I’m a believer. When something is too good to be true, it’s usually false. But the guys behind the online custom suit company Indochino sure seem to be walking the walk, and getting plenty of people in the press to talk.
Founded in 2007, the official Indochino Suit Company story claims it was a business sparked by frustration. An undergrad at the University of Victoria in British Columbia was under impressed with the suit selection available to him at his local retailers, so he and his best friend picked up and moved to Shanghai, in order to start an online custom suit business.
If you’re raising an eyebrow, know that I’m wondering about this story too.
Almost four years later, their business is screaming along and everyone from CoolMaterial, GearPatrol, and even the friggin’ Wall Street Journal is writing about them. $300 – $500 for a made to measure suit. Complete with a money back guarantee, and the company says that they’ll even pick up the tab (up to $75) on alterations if your suit arrives and it doesn’t fit perfectly. You either have your tailor take your measurements, or do it yourself, plug in your numbers into their website pick out the fabrics and options (like ticket pockets… nice), give em’ a credit card number and two weeks later you have a suit that they claim has been made specifically for you.
And make no mistake. Online, the suits… look… good. But here’s what I think could be a fatal flaw. The art of tailoring happens when you’ve got an off the rack suit on, and your tailor is pinning it in until it looks perfect. You can see the suit on you and make fluid changes if it doesn’t look right. That doesn’t happen with Indochino suits. You take some measurements, send it off, and hope for the best.
The few personal reviews I’ve found have been mixed, but some of the comments left on sites like GearPatrol are offering nothing short of glowing reviews. So take a look at the demo video below, and then answer this question in the comments section: Would you buy an Indochino Suit? For now, I’ll personally stick to my preferred off the rack brands, and my incredible tailor.
One final note: I think it’s safe to say the Indochino Suit factory doesn’t look like the video above?
A lone asian in a stark white clean-room? Sounds plausible. 😛
I don’t know. The idea sounds cool, but I’m skeptical about the actual results. I think I’d need to see a good review from a trusted source before I ever decided to make the plunge. You never know if those reviews on some sites are simply employees trying to bump their company ratings (I’ve seen it done).
I bought an Indochino suit about a year ago. I’m happy with it. The sleeve length and jacket length are a bit off, but that has more to do with mistakes on my part than anything on their part. You may wonder why I put up with that: it mostly has to do with the returns process (more on this later). As many have noted, their customer service is very responsive.
Their prices have gone up 10-20% since I bought my suit. At what I bought it for, it’s priced comparably to a Macy’s or Men’s Wearhouse purchase. Compared to the Calvin Klein suit I bought at Macy’s two years ago, the Indochino suit (to my semi-informed eye) is of much better quality. (Then again, if I knew then what I know now about properly-fitting suits, I wouldn’t have bought my CK suit).
Something to keep in mind is their perfect fit guarantee: they’ll keep remaking the suit, after alterations, until you’re happy with it. They basically set expectations for what they think your tailor should reasonably be able to alter, and as you mentioned, cover up to $75 of the alterations. If the changes you want fall out of this range, you can ship back the suit to be remade. Keep in mind, you’re shipping it to an office in Canada, not Shanghai (phew!), but it’ll still run you $10-$20 in shipping, more if you want insurance and/or tracking. That adds up, which is why I took a “good enough” attitude with my slightly off jacket and sleeve length. Don’t get me wrong, though: the suit looks great.
My recommendation? Consider buying an Indochino suit for your second or third suit.
First, read this site and others until you have a good sense of how a suit should fit. Then buy an affordable suit of decent quality off-the-rack at a department store (or if you’re lucky, at a thrift store). Take it to your tailor and have it altered.
Only then, armed with a clear idea of how a suit should fit on you, consider buying an Indochino suit.
I am skeptical as well. I have bought tailor made shirts in Seoul, South Korea on a recent trip, but that was in person and the tailor took my measurements, saw my body, and made adjustments where needed. The shirts fit great, but that seems a lot different than sending in measurements and getting back a suit. Also, considering it is $400-500, and I can buy great suits like DKNY off giltman, as I did yesterday, for $250, I’ll stick with off the rack and then take them to my tailor. She does a wonderful job of tailoring off the rack suits and I usuall get all the work done (pants and jacket) for under $75. So that gives me a quality name brand suit like DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, etc., tailored to fit me for under $300 or right around that.
aliotsy: Terrific review. Thanks for letting all of us who are interested, but a bit skeptical. I think your suggestion to buy an off the rack suit and get it expertly tailored is dead on. Andy: Damn. I’m jealous. Saw those suits on Giltman.com yesterday! Tons of options. Wish I could have pulled the trigger on a few but I was too late and my sizes were gone.
Suits are the bane of my existence. I have purchased several suits from several stores (Men’s Warehouse, JC Penney, Macy’s, a suit store back home) and none of them fit like I would like them to and I get them tailored and nothing seems right. The best suit ever I bought at a thrift store for $12 and it is awesome. Never been tailored, fits perfectly. If I could replicate that suit into different colors I would be a happy camper. But if I had the money, I would probably think about giving Indochino a shot.
Hey, why be down on it? They’re about the price price as a cheap Macy’s suit, and they’ll even pick up the tab for the alterations so it may be even cheaper. Plus you get custom detailing? Sign me up!
Of course from what I hear atailoredsuit.com is better, though a bit more pricey.
I was very suspicious as well at the beginning, but I think it’s all about expectations. You are not going to get a suit rivalling a really custom made suit worth many 1000$, but you are a getting a very well fitting, customizable suit for a really good price. Also, the first suit you get is not seen as the final product by Indochino. A poll on my blog shows that a majority of customers has to get the suit altered – and as mentioned, Indochino refunds up to 75$. You then update the measurements on Indochino.com according to the changes your tailor made. Your next suit is going to fit much better/perfectly.
What makes Indochino really different is their customer focus. They want you to be satisfied, they are willing to help and they are very responsive. Your risk is minimal – in the worst case you can send the suit back and you will get your money back.
As you mentioned, personal reviews are hard to come by – but check my blog sometimes, I set it up specifically for Indochino Reviews and I have some great stuff coming along. http://indochino-review.blogspot.com/
All the best,
Lorenz
received suit, only to find its not exactly what was advertised. I have flap issues, they basically showed one suit online and sent me a different version, short one pocket, and the other boasting a slit pocket…which wasn’t what was shown. The fit is pretty on, and that is saying something, I’m not a big guy, and i’ve been piecing suits together for years, but I’m taking it to a tailor, it needs altering, but only a little. Truth is I didn’t have two grand to spend and needed a suit fast. Maybe I got what I paid for. Going to see what the tailor says, and if he laughs at me for ordering a suit online, but if all goes well and new measurements are put into place, I may give Indochino.com another chance, if you only knew my Men’s Wharehouse stories of pain.
Extremely bad quality – I bought an Indochino suit and very unhappy with it. I had a tailor measure me. I sent in the measurements. And received a suit that looks so bad I can not wear it in public. I am a 40R in all suits. My chest measures 40.5″. It is clear that Indochino over-tailored a 42R suit-cut to fit my measurements. My friend and I measured the suit seems on either side of suit when she noticed the coat was askew. Three seems are 1/4″ different than corresponding seems. And one seem, on the sleeve is 3/8″ different than the corresponding seem. The trousers are fitted at the waist and thigh and straight leg from the knee to the ankle. They look ridiculous. The sleeve buttons are noticeably missewn and lack all symmetry. The belt loops were moved, but obviously the stitching was pulled, not cut, so the fabric is damaged where the loops used to be. The lining is not sewn to the suit so it billows and couples making the suit look even worse.
To top it off, I tried to return it today, 12 days after receipt, only to find that I had to return it within 7 days. Because I travel for work, I was unable to visit a tailor to ask whether this suit could be fixed. And now Indochino looks like they will stick me with this pile of trash, or another one.
DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY.
Honestly, that is by far and away the most negative feedback I’ve heard about Indochino. I’ve heard some negative stuff, but I’ve also heard glowing stuff. I got myself the Ultimate Gray a little while back and I can say with total confidence that I love it: http://dappered.com/2010/11/the-indochino-suit-review-ultimate-gray/ Especially since I used a promo/coupon code to get a discount. For the money, I can’t imagine finding anything else like the suit I received. Not discounting your opinion, but one that severely negative (and again, the detractors are out there for sure) is certainly rare.
@ Trevor M. Finally someone that realizes that Indochino is trash!
@Joe don’t delete this post as you usually do with all the other ones. (the ones that are true and honest)
Looks like an opportune time to throw in my 2 cents since I just got my first Indochino suit – the Classic Navy — yesterday. To my surprise and delight, it fit perfectly right out of the box. The shoulders, sleeves, chest…everything was spot on. I took it in to my tailor today to get the pants hemmed and brought the jacket, too, just to get their opinion. They agreed on the fit — said there were no adjustments required and the tailor seemed quite impressed. Said I definitely got my money’s worth. It’s refreshing for me, because with my size (5′ 4″, 135 lbs), I can rarely find OTR suits that fit well, even with alteration. The only quibble I have is that the hook on the pants waist seems to be a little too close to the button, causing the fabric to pucker slightly when both are fastened, but I doubt that anyone but me would notice, and when wearing a belt you can’t see it anyway. I may have just gotten lucky with this order, but for the price I’m very pleased and will definitely be ordering another suit from them. Also, for what it’s worth, I was downright anal when it came to doing the measurements — I did each at least three times and had my wife double-checking me the whole way. Pleased customer here. Joe, I think I may follow suit (no pun intended) and order the Ultimate Gray next.
Love my “timeless charcoal 3-piece”. It came fitting perfectly and the quality is great. Like you Paige I was meticulous with my measurements.
Bought their classic charcoal suits a few months ago, it’s ok but not great. My expectations weren’t very high for a $300 suit but it still didn’t meet them. Very thin canvas inside the jacket so every seam and crease from the inside is visible on the outside. Pants lining goes down to the middle of my knee, very annoying and shows through when I sit — 2-3 more inches of fabric would have solved that. Fabric is ok but is a lint magnet, which lower quality fabrics often are. I did need alterations, they refunded that with no questions asked. I’ll keep the suit for a couple years and wear it occasionally, but that’s about it.
I bought classic charcoal suits for myself and my brother for my wedding. I’d almost gone with an off the rack Ludlow suit from J-Crew, but I’m on the long and narrow end of a 38L and all they make is a 38R. The sales guy from J-Crew tried to convince me that a 38R could be lengthened to look good, but I was just really nervous about that working and when I found out about Indochino doing totally custom fits I decided to scrap J-Crew and give them a shot.
By the time I decided I only have a little over a month before the wedding so there was no possibility of sending it back for a remake. I rolled the dice going with them, but it turned out spectacularly. I have never had a suit (or shirt) that fit me better than what I got from them. I’m not a huge fashion guy but over the years I’ve owned 5 different off the rack suits (the nicest was a Brooks Brothers, and the worst was JC Penny so I’m obviously not all “bespoke”, but they did the job). I had all but one of these suits tailored to fit me and none fit like this. I didn’t even take the Indochino suit to a tailor after receiving it, it was simply perfect out of the box!The rave review of my suit aside, my brother’s suit was a little less than perfect. It fit him decently, but the fit definitely could have been improved. He probably should have taken advantage of the free tailoring to trim it in a little in a few places, but he couldn’t get his act together on that in time for the wedding (brothers eh). Not too big a deal though, cause the groom’s supposed to outshine the best man anyways right?Anyways, I’m pretty much sold on Indochino for life now. If you’re a hard to find size like me and most places don’t even make off the rack suits that come close to fitting you it seems like a no brainer. If you can actually buy off the rack and have it nearly fit then I guess you might still go that way, but with the prices Indochino charges it’d still be hard for me to spend more on something that isn’t perfectly tailored to me.
CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!!!!!
I was also amazed by the website, pictures, custom fit, guarantee fit, etc… so I decided to go for a black 3 piece.
FIRST IMPRESSION: the textile is nowhere near as nice as you would imagine, feels light and cheap.
SECOND: Aside from the suit being completely wrinkled and poorly packed, there’s an invoice inside from the tailor in Shanghai addressed to Indochino in Canada; with my shipping address and it totals at $150 USD for the custom made suit! so WTF???? I paid near $500USD for something that in the box says it cost $150USD for Indochino!!!!!! (RETARDED STRATEGY- I FELT RAPED)
THIRD: I put on the pants, looked and felt about right. I try on the vest and jacket, and it’s ridiculously large for my size! How can they get the pants waist correct, and have the jacket belly area 4 sizes bigger???? again, just retarded! Pants made for a size 32 with jacket and vest are for a much much larger individual…. just ridiculous.
let’s see now how the company responds on claims but as a started, safe yourself some pain and money, go try on something that fits good and feels good.
PS: No wonder you can’t just post comments on their website’s testimonials…..
What was the address in china??? Maybe we can buy direct?
Just got my suit, fits great but the material is light weight.
My shirt fits perfect too,for $400 can’t beat it.
It
I ordered 3 suits from indochino, they arrived and the jackets were way to small. The pants were cut really weird, I went to my tailor and he wasn’t able to fix them. Also, the fabric was really cheap, at 350 a suit I didn’t expect a lot, but this shockingly cheap looking and feeling. I asked for a refund and didn’t hear back from the company so, I reversed the charged on my credit card. If you want a cheap suit that doesn’t fit indochino is a great place to go.
Sucks you saw how much it cost them, but they are a company trying to make money. That’s what you do when you own a company.
You have described about Indochino in very good way that now I also want to wear Indochino suit once in my life & previously my Custom Suit Designer’s are from Canada named as Modish Fit. Their services are really awesome for me.