In Person: The J. Crew FACTORY Cotton Suit

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.