J. Crew FACTORY Corded Cotton Suit Jacket & Matching Pant – $156.80* ($206)
*Use code FABFEB to get this price. Code expires 2/22/12. Was going for as low as $121 earlier this week.
Well hell fellas. It’s all but sold out now (you know who you are) but in case they get a new group of jackets and pants back in stock, here’s how this thing looks and feels in person…
The Good
The Price – C’mon. $216 at full price for the set is certainly fair. During one of the many extra 30% off J. Crew Sale & FACTORY codes it drops to a bargain at $151.20. During this most recent extra 20% off on top of 30% off FACTORY items, the thing was $120.96. No wonder it’s all but sold out..
The Fit – These FACTORY suits are pretty close to a ludlow. A warning on these: Maybe it’s the fabric (more on that in a second) but these feel like they fit slightly tighter than the wool/poly Thompson suiting. They do come with a good contour off the rack, and expect a shorter than average drop. It might be too short for some tastes, as a 38R came up about half an inch short for me on my 5’9.5″ frame during the curled-fingers test. That’s not a huge deal for some, but for others, it might be a deal breaker.
The Shoulders, Armholes and Lapels – Little shoulder padding. Decently high arm holes. The 2.25″ – 2.5″ lapel is a little slim for some, but it’s more than fine on a summer suit.
The Color & Pattern – It’s a lighter blue, but it’s a subtle shade so it’s not as retina gouging as your Dad’s ruffled shirt baby blue tux. The “corded” part of the fabric is really not much more than a very, very fine stripe. Keeps it interesting.
You can break up the pieces – Some suits, even cotton ones, are hard to break up and wear separately. That’s not the case with these. The jacket is soft enough in the shoulders that it looks fine with jeans. It can easily pass as a sportcoat that was made w/out a matching pair of pants, and speaking of the pants, they’ll look fine with a polo this summer.
The Sleeve Buttons – Non functional and no accent stitching. Should be relatively easy to tailor if you need to bring up the sleeves (which seem to be a normal length.)
The Bad
The Fabric – It’s decent, but it’s nowhere near as soft and moveable as the L.L. Bean Signature twill suiting. This suit has a bit of stiffness to it, and it’s not the lighest stuff ever.
The Interior Structure – It’s got some extra 80% cotton 20% poly lining to it that it could certainly do without. Especially if you’re going to wear it in the dead of summer. It’s no where near as breezy as, say, the Bonobos Seersucker.
The Pant Rise – It’s a bit on the higher side. Could have used a little less distance between waist band and crotch.
The Botton Line:
Even at full price it’s a good value, since you can wear each piece separately, or, pair it up for the full suit. At 20 – 30% off or the recent stupid-bargain price of almost $100 off, it’s a steal. Not a bad pick for a Kentucky Derby Party, a summer wedding (as long as the temps aren’t outrageous) or a nice post-sunset night out with your significant other once the weather gets steamy. Worth keeping an eye on to see if they get more back in stock.
Shirt by ratio/clothing, tie by Urban Outfitters, watch by Orient.
Still waiting for a for-real, Florida-capable summer suit. Can it happen? Linen? Several hundies?
I found the suit and pants to run large. I would recommend sizing down if possible. However, my tailor was able to make the suit fit me well. I plan on wearing nonstop this summer.
Still going through at $121
not a bad looking pincord suit; but, the fact that it is fully lined absolutely kills it (pretty much ruins the reason for the suit in the first place). I would probably get the lands end or haspel version and tailor it…
Ouch, totally sold out
I was in the Factory brick and mortar store at the Wrentham Outlets (in MA) this past weekend, and they were carrying the Thompson suit in the corded cotton above, as well as grey, navy, and khaki. All Thompson suiting was also 30% off. Great option for anyone who lives in the Northeast.
Same boat… and to be perfectly honest it seems even a linen suit seems like it could have you sweating bullets down hurr.
I recently purchased this suit, and I think Joe’s review is pretty dead-on for everything but the fit. I agree with Daniel that it runs a bit big, at least on me. I found the drop of the jacket to actually be longer than the charcoal, wool-mix Thompson suit I have. I’m the same height as Joe, but I appear to have a slightly shorter torso, so the jacket does not look proportional. Too bad, because it is a pretty nice option, especially if you live in a cooler climate.
Picked it up at $111.00 shipped, have been waiting for this review. The color is amazing – under bright light comes off more like a gray than a blue, and the fit is not bad (though tailoring of course will help make it perfect). My biggest issues right now are the lapels being on the small size, and it is a pretty heavy jacket for summer, especially in 100% humidity DC area. Still… such a bargain, and the people I have showed it off to so far all like it, so probable keep.
Dear J.Crew:
I would probably buy both your Thompson suits AND every Factory blazer you made if you offered them in size 36.Yours truly,
That makes two of us…
three…
I would have picked it up, but I never saw it in 46L. I think j-crew has stopped making cloths in that size.
Too bad it’s sold out. I was waiting on this review to jump on the bandwagon
You should both e-mail them. I did. contactus@jcrew.com
Interesting. Pants were a little big on me, but the jacket wasn’t. It fit to the point that I could have gotten away without tailoring. But a 38R seemed a touch too small. Especially with the rise of the pant. But, I’ve got a slightly longer torso, so… there could be the difference.
Follow up: That said, it is roomier than a 38R in Banana Republic’s “Tailored” fit… which… I can’t get my friggin’ shoulders into.
Me too.
Looked good but they didn’t even have 34L pants, let alone 36L (which I need).
I suppose I should clarify what “big” means, which is probably the wrong word anyway. I agree that the shoulders fit a bit tighter than the wool-mix suit
jacket (making the fit better for my slightly smaller shoulders, which
are closer to a 37/37.5). The sides are pretty good (I would need it tailored, but no more than the wool-mix Thompson). The drop (and sleeves) on the one I have are longer than you described; the jacket bunches when I do the curled-finger test.
I might just be an odd size…wouldn’t be the only thing odd about me.
Cool, done.
J.Crew…can I get a 36S?
In addition to the comments about lack of options for tall skinny guys, short big guys will run into problems too. Usually a 46 is a little too big for me, this one was a little small. Also the 38 pants (Jesus, how did I end up back in those, ohh yeah, sympathy weight) don’t come in 30 length. I hate to ruin the great hem on these but I’ll have to shorten them then lose some weight.
Linen has a big wrinkle problem. So you can’t really wear it as a proper suit. It can only be used as a night out kind of suit.
Back in stock for most sizes. Still missing 38.
Just an FYI: I emailed them about the 38s. They said they have no future plans to get anymore in 🙁
Hey Joe, so I picked up one of these in February and have been wearing them as seperates. I’m going to a wedding this weekend and was planning on wearing the whole suit. How would you dress it up? What kind of shoes? I don’t want to be under-dressed, but the suit is a bit on the casual side. Thanks!
Just purchased the jacket on sale for $44 and the pants for $22 on sale. I am 5’5″ 140 lbs with small shoulders but a 36″ chest. Ordered a 34S.
For $44 you can’t go wrong, you can’t even get a Uniqlo jacket for this price. One of the biggest parts of a great fitting suit is the shoulders and J Crew does a great job not over building and padding the shoulders. Actually J Crews Factory suits just have cloth padding which allow the suit to contour to you with no hangover or divots. The sides are nicely formed and give a great shape. The length is a little longer than I expected since the Dappered review said it was shorter than other Thompson suits, which I don’t find correct. I will agree the fit is a bit more snug compared to the worsted wool suits. The fit is snug enough that the sides do pull a little when the top is buttoned. The material is a bit stiff and hopefully after a few wears it breaks in. I bought the suit for the summertime but it oddly has a bunch of unnecessary lining and padding.
In the end hard deal to pass up at $66 and besides it being borderline too snug in the gut area it is a very well fitting suit.