Buying a Man's Suit in Britain - Help!

Hello everyone!

I've been living in Britain now for nearly 9 years, yet I still find buying men's clothing here a horrible experience.  Maybe it's because I live in a northern provincial city and not London, but it has been my experience through the years that mens' clothing in Britain comes in only one of two categories.  It's either extremely expensive (overpriced) and bespoke in quality, or it is cheap, mass-produced, polyester, ill-fitting garbage.  My other big problem with British clothing is sizing.  Not only is it not universal as it is in the USA (eg. size 46-48 inch chest in the USA is always an XL), but trying to find anything larger than a 44 inch chest is next to impossible, unless you got to a big-tall man's shop.  And once again, these shops usually deal in only 100% polyester, ill-fitting, cheaply made rags.  Are British men that puny chested where 42-44 inch chests are labelled XL and sometimes even XXL? My God, that sound anaemic!  My British friends tell me this is so because American men are all fat slobs.  I reply that could be true and that may also not be true, but a man's chest size has little to do with fat deposits in his gut.  It is a reflection of the amount of muscle mass he possesses in his upper body, namely his chest and back muscles.  I ask my British friends who appear to be my height and weight what size jacket they wear, and invariably their jacket sizes are always several sizes smaller than mine.  I can only guess that this might be due to the fact that American sports stress upper body strength, so weight training is an important part of PE in American schools, where as running and cardio is emphasised more in Britain and Europe.

Anyway, getting back to my original topic.  I want to buy a nice mid-priced but good quality 100% wool suit.  I'm thinking along the lines of the quality and price of suit you'd get at Jos A. Bank in the USA.  My problem is I can not find anywhere online or in the shops of my town that isn't either some cheap polyester sack or a bespoke top quality, £3000 Savile Row type of thing, which is way out of my price range.  I wear a 50" Long suit, but I haven't seen much on the rack larger than a 44" Regular.  Seriously, buying clothing in Britain is a nightmare for me.  I don't know what it's like for you ladies, but I always find clothes shopping here a frustrating experience.  Most of my stuff I have relatives send over from America, which in itself is very expensive.

I need a nice looking, stylish, 100% wool, size 50-Long, mid-priced suit in the £400-£800 range.  Ideally, I'd like to buy it from a shop with an in-house tailor to make whatever alterations necessary.  I am not looking for some department store suit you literally buy off the rack and carry out with you that day, unaltered.  I don't have the £2000-£3000 for a tailor-made bespoke suit, or the time to go to London to be fitted for one.  Does anybody know of a shop in the North West of England that specialises in what I am looking for?  Whenever I ask my British friends this question they consistently point me in the direction of stores which sell only polyester suits as separates, nothing available over a size 44-Regular, and they always are in the £100 range - and it shows!

What am I missing?  Surely, British men could not be this tasteless when it comes to clothing?  Or is being well-dressed only reserved for the rich in this country?  Is there a British equivalent to Jos. A. Bank, or something in the mid-price range with a decent enough quality?

Thanks!



I'll admit

Aren't you just lovely?

Try Jaeger, Reiss, John Lewis, Aquascutum, Harvey nics ( if you can get to one), House of Fraser.

Aren't you just lovely?

Try Jaeger, Reiss, John Lewis, Aquascutum, Harvey nics ( if you can get to one), House of Fraser.

Yes, lovely I am.......With regard to your suggestions:

-Jaeger = slim choices above size 44 and noting in 50 Long.

-Reiss = Nothing available over size 46, and most suits are size 44 and below.

-John Lewis = Once again a department store and not a men's haberdashery.  And once again the only sizes available are in the 44 inch range and under.  The few available over that are not Longs.  Not only that, most of the suits are the usual polyester, cheaply-made, £150 specials that seem to be the only level of quality (...or lack there of) you find available in this country - excluding uber-expensive Savile Row bespoke tailoring, of course.  Little surprised that a place with the reputation of John Lewis would sell such rubbish.  But then again, I wonder if John Lewis is like much of the majority of the commodities and brands that come out of Europe: you only pay for the smug name, the quality is actually horrendous.

Aquascutum = I like their suits, and the quality is about what I'm looking for, but the only thing they had in size 50 Long is a tuxedo.  Most of the suits available were all 44 and smaller.

Harvey Nichols = Please!  Nothing over a size 44 is available in this place.  Quite a bit over-priced for what they deliver too, if you ask me.  But, I'm desperate.  If they had anything presentable in a 50 Long, I'd take it no matter how much they charged.

House of Fraser = What a joke!  Once again, more of the usual Euro-trash nightmare of trying to smugly live off of a name, as the haughty snobs try and sell you junk!  I even checked their big-and-tall department, and once again the limited number of suits available in my size are the £80-£100 polyester sacks you'd find in a Wal-Mart back in the USA.

Listen to me please!  Before some of you Brits try and stereotype me as yet another fat American, I can assure you I am not.  I take a size 50 Long jacket and have a 38 inch waist trousers.  That's a 12 inch drop, which should tell you that while I may be considered 'muscular' by UK standards, I am not fat.  This size is extremely common in America, yet any jacket over a size 44 is rare in Britain - and even rarer in on the Continent! And guys should forget about finding many suits in the Long category too!  Look, I don't know if the years of rationing during and after WW II has stunted the size of British men, or if I am just looking in the wrong places, but I will reiterate what I said in the previous message.  Buying clothing in Britain is a frustratingly annoying experience for most American men over 6 feet tall with a bit of upper body bulk.

Thanks for the reply, however.  I appreciate your taking the time to make a few suggestions.

Dude I feel your pain. When I flex the guns I worry about seams popping.

The big thing is is that thin is in. I think nick grimshaw was voted best dressed male last year. If I ever meet nick grimshaw I am going to push him over.

Try these online guys (there are a few of them)...I hear good things about them.

http://www.asuitthatfits.com/shop/index.php

Also there is a Brookes Bros in London....they do American cuts.

I personally am giving up on suits and go more for like a Steve McQueen classic preppy American jacket and slacks kind of thing. You can mix and match. But you do need a good navy suit and a grey.

It's just messed up right now unless you are twenty and rail thin.

Have you tried Next? I'm not sure if (and highly doubt) they do any in store alterations, but they are affordable and do seem to have some selections that fit your criteria:
http://www.next.co.uk/x54384s3#496995x54?i=50

Jacket 100% Wool though the lining does have polyester...however it's available in the size 50L in both the tailored and regular fits.

I don't presume to know anything about buying suits never having done so myself...but that seems like a fair option based on your criteria.

Another option would be to buy suits from the States and bring them over if what you want is more readily available there.

Good luck with your search

Yes, lovely I am.......With regard to your suggestions:

-Jaeger = slim choices above size 44 and noting in 50 Long.

-Reiss = Nothing available over size 46, and most suits are size 44 and below.

-John Lewis = Once again a department store and not a men's haberdashery.  And once again the only sizes available are in the 44 inch range and under.  The few available over that are not Longs.  Not only that, most of the suits are the usual polyester, cheaply-made, £150 specials that seem to be the only level of quality (...or lack there of) you find available in this country - excluding uber-expensive Savile Row bespoke tailoring, of course.  Little surprised that a place with the reputation of John Lewis would sell such rubbish.  But then again, I wonder if John Lewis is like much of the majority of the commodities and brands that come out of Europe: you only pay for the smug name, the quality is actually horrendous.

Aquascutum = I like their suits, and the quality is about what I'm looking for, but the only thing they had in size 50 Long is a tuxedo.  Most of the suits available were all 44 and smaller.

Harvey Nichols = Please!  Nothing over a size 44 is available in this place.  Quite a bit over-priced for what they deliver too, if you ask me.  But, I'm desperate.  If they had anything presentable in a 50 Long, I'd take it no matter how much they charged.

House of Fraser = What a joke!  Once again, more of the usual Euro-trash nightmare of trying to smugly live off of a name, as the haughty snobs try and sell you junk!  I even checked their big-and-tall department, and once again the limited number of suits available in my size are the £80-£100 polyester sacks you'd find in a Wal-Mart back in the USA.

Listen to me please!  Before some of you Brits try and stereotype me as yet another fat American, I can assure you I am not.  I take a size 50 Long jacket and have a 38 inch waist trousers.  That's a 12 inch drop, which should tell you that while I may be considered 'muscular' by UK standards, I am not fat.  This size is extremely common in America, yet any jacket over a size 44 is rare in Britain - and even rarer in on the Continent! And guys should forget about finding many suits in the Long category too!  Look, I don't know if the years of rationing during and after WW II has stunted the size of British men, or if I am just looking in the wrong places, but I will reiterate what I said in the previous message.  Buying clothing in Britain is a frustratingly annoying experience for most American men over 6 feet tall with a bit of upper body bulk.

Thanks for the reply, however.  I appreciate your taking the time to make a few suggestions.

You may need to go in store to see quality and then order online.  Some of the options you poo-poo'd as not being the right size have the size you are looking for online.  You can then likely go in store for tailoring.

Also I am not sure you are getting the best out of House of Fraser and John Lewis.  If you are finding £100 polyester suits, you are looking in the wrong place.  The whole point of these stores is that they have a number of brands that offer different experiences.  I was thinking Hugo Boss for one, which has size 50 on quick look of their website.

Just want to say it's not much easier for women. Either it looks like it came from the market stalls or it's horrendously expensive. I've ordered online but it's a luck of the draw. Mostly I wait until I go back to the states for my yearly visit with empty suitcases and bring them back full!

You may need to go in store to see quality and then order online.  Some of the options you poo-poo'd as not being the right size have the size you are looking for online.  You can then likely go in store for tailoring.

Also I am not sure you are getting the best out of House of Fraser and John Lewis.  If you are finding £100 polyester suits, you are looking in the wrong place.  The whole point of these stores is that they have a number of brands that offer different experiences.  I was thinking Hugo Boss for one, which has size 50 on quick look of their website.

Indeed, I have searched thoroughly online and have visited each of these shops in person, as you suggest, and that is why I wound up seeking advice here.

Regarding your Hugo Boss online site you recommend, you are mistaken.  The size 50 they list is the European size 50, which is equal to a USA 40 Regular. 

Sounds like you will need to do what many of us do/have done in the same predicament. Either have suits made bespoke (doesn't have to be Saville Row, by the way) or get them from the States.

Sounds like you will need to do what many of us do/have done in the same predicament. Either have suits made bespoke (doesn't have to be Saville Row, by the way) or get them from the States.

That's a lot of money for an article of clothing I will probably only wear once, maybe twice, a year.  However, other than buying a £1000 return plane ticket (....That's another thing. Why have transatlantic airfares skyrocketed in price in just a couple of years?), it's probably my only option.  I can do that, or go on a 30 day fast and try to atrophise away as much upper body muscle as I can in order to fit into a girly-man size 44 inch chest.....Just kidding.  I'm not trying to imply that Englishmen are wimpy.....Under-developed muscle-wise, perhaps, but certainly not sissified.  Ha ha! 

Google 'English Rugby'....

There are some big son's a.....big guys over here.

I see these ads in the paper for Raja Fashions. Apparently they visit cities around the UK and take your measurements. Back in Hong Kong they put your suit together and ship it over for a second fitting a few weeks later.

http://raja-fashions.com/

Consider it part of the price you pay for being such a stud.

Google 'English Rugby'....

There are some big son's a.....big guys over here.

I see these ads in the paper for Raja Fashions. Apparently they visit cities around the UK and take your measurements. Back in Hong Kong they put your suit together and ship it over for a second fitting a few weeks later.

http://raja-fashions.com/ [nofollow]

Yeah, I know, I was just making mischief with the usual negative stereotypes about the English male and supposed links to being soft and effeminate.  I don't buy into that nonsense; I was just being a wise-guy.

Regarding rugby players, I've asked a number of the guys I know here who are that size and I usually get the standard, 'I don't know, me missus buys all me gear'.....or they invariably point me in the direction of the same feeble shops I've railed against earlier on this page.

I beginning to think this @sshole British Class System is at play here.  If you want to dress reasonably well - nothing extravagant - then you have to have a lot of money in this country.  Not only that, but you must also be fine-boned and exceptionally slender, as many rich men are when you consider (outside of Rugby Union) their preferred sports and leisure pursuits. Sailing, golf, tennis, cricket, squash, etc. do not call for the same level of upper body girth that American football does.

Consider it part of the price you pay for being such a stud.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.....Look me up sometime, girl.

I beginning to think this @sshole British Class System is at play here.  If you want to dress reasonably well - nothing extravagant - then you have to have a lot of money in this country.  Not only that, but you must also be fine-boned and exceptionally slender, as many rich men are when you consider (outside of Rugby Union) their preferred sports and leisure pursuits. Sailing, golf, tennis, cricket, squash, etc. do not call for the same level of upper body girth that American football does.