Leading the charge on the online made to measure industry is Indochino, in terms of size and money raised. Indochino is also leading the movement into brick and mortar from online. That movement started with their traveling tailor series, which has since evolved into full time showrooms. One of which is in Philadelphia, we will have more on that in a future post. But here at The Fine Young Gentleman we have always been more concerned about the product rather than the marketing or business model. Which is why we are doing another review of Indochino’s suits.
Since the last review Indochino has worked on offering more seasonal fabrics as well as adding a few more options, such as quarter lined jackets. But there are still some areas to improve upon. Most fortunately, however, I think they have improved their fit model.
The suit at hand I actually received early last spring and it served me very well through the spring and summer. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my life together to get up the post in time for the warm season. The fabric is a linen pinstripe, which is a pretty great dichotomy, putting a formal pattern on an informal fabric. It makes the suit really fun to dress up and down; I gravitated toward the latter more, as you will see in the photos in the post. It should be noted that over the past few seasons Indochino has done a good job of working more seasonal fabrics into its collections.
For reference, the details for the suit as are follows.
The details for the jacket are: wide peak lapel, single button, flapped hacking pockets, unlined.
The details for the pants are: no pleats, no cuffs, no belt loops, side tabs, suspender buttons.
As you can see from the photos in this post the fit of the suit is pretty good. With each Indochino suit I have received, the fit has gotten better (for clarification, I provided the measurements for this suit, Indochino did not take them). The alterations I had made to the suit were to taper the legs a little and bring in the chest and stomach a little. Let’s get into the minutae of the suit.
As per usual, I have my critiques. There are a few things that Indochino should’ve fixed by now, such as the suspender button placement (which is off) and the side tab affixing. But it has been improving its fit model, which is more important (additionally, judging by the feedback I have gotten from people I’ve sent to Indochino the fit model has gotten better, but there is still room for improvement). The fit of the suit is still quite good. Enough that it was my most worn suit of the summer (this was helped by the fact that it looks great with a pair of Jay Butlers). But where Indochino really provides an added value for many guys is in its showrooms. Which for some, the ability to go in and get fitted in person is a deal breaker. Admittedly, this doesn’t help every guy (showrooms are in San Fran, LA, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Toronto), but they do cover many of the major metropolitan areas in the US and Canada. Especially if you are a guy living in any of those areas, I would recommend stopping by the Indochino showroom before settling on where you have your suit made. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts of your own on Indochino; please sound off in the comments.
–JLJ
Note: FYGblog received the suit at hand in exchange for writing this review. As always, the utmost effort was taken to present the item in an unbiased and objective way.
Good to see you’re back Justin.
Good review and nice suit.
Very Sharp Justin. Had an Indochino suit early on in the beginning of their company, its was disaster! I like that they have pop ups in the big cities now, Will have to try one again. Thanks for the content.
Was nice meeting you a few months back at the Bloomingdales in NYC.
Keep up the great work with FYG and Jay Butler.
Best,
Steven
Hey Justin,
In regard to your side tab issue, I’ve made Indochino aware of the ill placement. Each time I have a suit made with them, I put in a request to have the adjustable tabs to be placed on the waist band instead of the hip seams.
– Sabir
Sabir,
I’ve told them every time to fix it. But they haven’t. Did they honor the request?
JLJ
Justin,
Thanks for the review! I live in Philadelphia and have an appointment this afternoon to be fitted. They’re running a huge blk Friday event and I figured this would be a good time to try Indochino given my previous skepticism. How would you rate the durability of their suits, as compared to an off the rack brand like Hugo Boss, for instance?
Thanks!
First time online suit mtm, who should i go with for quality and accuracy of measurements? i was thinking oliverwicks, or blacklapel?
It was really great to read this blog post, and this made me exited to order my own suit from Indochino. Unfortunately it didn’t quite live up to my expectation, and I wanted to share my experience here as well to hopefully help somebody make up their mind about these suits.
I own several suits which I wear for work. But I always have trouble finding a suit that fits really well (having long arms in combination with thin waist and shoulders makes a lot of suits to small or big). I went to Indochino with high hopes, they’d measure me and I would hopefully get something that would only need small alterations.
I went to the store for my measurements, they my pictures I was pretty well helped with everything. To my surprise what I received was pretty far off from what I’d expect:
The Suite jacket had to be remade. The first attempt was 1.5 inch to long, while the sleeves were almost 1.5 inch to short. The second attempt needed minor alterations, and fits ok.
The pants were better, the waist and length were good.
What I noticed most about them were the finishes and details, one thing I noticed right away the seems are little sloppy. The pant cuffs have a little wave in them (at random places about 5mm shorter = 1/8″). The width of the legs have a similar result, the pants have strange curve in them and one pant leg is about 5mm wider than the other (which results in 1 leg with a tight fit and the other just right).
It doesn’t seem much but getting these details right is for me a reason why I chose to get a tailored suit over a standard one.
The fabric I chose is one of the premium fabrics which looks good, but the quality isn’t as high as with the off the shelves European suits that I owned before (they were all in the $800 dollar price range).
This probably is specific to the store where I picked my suite up (Boston Newbury), the suite was all wrinkled and creased when I picked it up (like it had been lying on the floor or big pile for several days). Before I can wear the jacket and pants they need to get cleaned and pressed.
All combined my experience was ok. Even though those details I mentioned might be nitpicking, when buying a suit that is advertised for $800 I would have expected those types of details to be right as well.
Being able to choose all those options is really nice, but if I have to choose I’d rather have the few details perfect than the customization options.
For whomever is still doubting, if you’d like to be able to customize all those details, getting a tailored suit like Indochino is a nice experience. Unfortunately my experience with my suite is that it’s a trade-off with the quality and finish of a lot of the small details.
Also if you have difficulty finding a good fit like me keep in mind that you’ll need several alterations. Through the Indochino tailoring service it took me 3+ months to get where I am right now.
Jasper,
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
-Justin
It really looks pretty good! How does it hold up? I find that with my Indochino suits the only problem seems to be a loose button every now and then.
Can you explain the purpose of the side tabs? Do they simply take the place of a belt? Thanks.
Can you explain the purpose of the side tabs? Do they simply replace the function of the belt? Thanks.
Mike,
In short, yes, they do. They also eliminate the buckle from the waistline which can sometimes be a draw for the eyes. So when trying to draw eyes up to your face when you are speaking the belt can be unideal.
-Justin
Thanks for the review Justin! I was convinced to pull the trigger on Indochino thanks to your third review and it did not disappoint. Just bought another one today, Prince of Wales, double breasted and wide peak, three-piece. Looking forward to wearing it soon!
Have you tried a J. Hilburn MTM suit? Amazing quality and craftsmanship. Many personalization options. Similar price range. You don’t have to guess your measurementsite or go to a showroom. A personal stylist will come to your office or home and measure you. Go online to be connected to a stylist in your area.
Has anyone tried their shirts? They were having a big sale so I picked up a suit, pants and shirts. I’ll post when I get them in. Thanks for the review!
Chase,
I have not tried the shirts.
-Justin
I’m offering an honest review from 1) someone who wasn’t compensated by Indochino and 2) someone has purchased a few custom suits.
They are a fucking scam. The suit I received fit like something that’s two sizes too big and off of a department store clearance rack. And the material felt like something you’d get at the Gap.
The customer service is totally full of shit. Condescending – and of course – the reason I didn’t like the suit was because it was the first time I had ordered a custom suit. No refunds of course – they’ll offer to update the suit and I have no idea why I should have any confidence in their ability to do that given how poorly they did the suit the first time.
And the other posts that were critical of the shipping are right – you get a flabby cardboard box with a wrinkled ass suit inside.
Honestly, there are no redeeming qualities for the company. If you want a good suit, try another custom fit company, or go buy a suit at a store and invest $100-$150 to get it tailored. You’ll be much happier.
Hi,
I decided to give Indochino a try and I am very sorry that I did. I ordered about 6 shirts, 6 pants and a suit. The first time I submitted my own measurements and the stuff can back too small. I then brought all of the clothes into one of their showrooms and got re-measured. I got all of it back and it is still too small–way off. The fabric quality is below par, even for the sale price. Probably Men’s Wearhouse level. They are going to re-make it all again (yay!) but I would take $0.20 on the dollar to be rid of these clowns. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Indochino unless you like talking to dopey CSR about their screwups.
cheers
I’ve tried their shirts. wait for the 5 for $300 deal and you can’t go wrong. IMO, beat My Tailor and Oliver Wicks. OW fabric is nicer, but not worth the cost upgrade IMO. The wrinkle free Indos are really easy to travel with. What I don’t like is that I am limited in monogram color and that they always include a 2nd cuff button, which makes no sense if it is a custom size shirt. I simply take off the extra button when I get them
I’ve ordered both suits and shirts from Indochino. They’ve thankfully changed the side tabs to be on the waistband.
One thing that I must stress with either MTM or Bespoke suits and/or shirts, do not go in with the expectation that every thing will be perfect in the first fitting. It may be a good surprise, however this is not the norm. The great thing about Indochino is the ability to go to their showrooms. The staff in Toronto have been consistently excellent with customer service. They’ve been helpful and responsive throughout the entirety of the alterations.
Be prepared to have multiple fittings for your first order. Later on they will have a “confirmed fit”, and the turn around should be much smoother.
Neil,
Great point about not expecting things to fit perfect the first time or first fitting, very true. Although there is no excuse for a first suit fitting terribly, it should still fit well with maybe some room for improvement.
-justin
Hey Justin, that’s a pretty glowing review. And the suit does look great.
I wanted to give your readers another perspective on the company when it comes to shirts. I tried to buy 5 shirts as party of a deal they offered. Ten months later, I finally canceled after they told me that they lost my measurements. I made 6 visits to the store. Every time, they would re-make my order and when the order came back, the last issue would be fixed, but something new would be wrong. I don’t mean a little wrong. Big stuff. Like the front buttons won’t button because the chest is too small, or the arms are tighter than a blood pressure cuff, or the shoulder extends a half inch over my shoulder. I can only imagine the clown factory that they are running that makes this possible.
I’d just advise your readers to realize that they are taking a bit of a risk when they shop here. As you point out, there are still clearly things they are working on. It’s definitely worth a quick read of the Yelp reviews to get an idea of what your experience might be like.
Hi Burk,
Thank you for sharing your story, that sucks that things did not work out, sounds like Indochino didn’t keep their end of the bargain up.
-JLJ
Justin, I like the length of your jacket (not the typical short length you see every guy wearing now) and the fit, which also seems to be a bit more classic rather than extremely slim cut. How did you go about getting this look?
– Mark
Mark,
Good question. For the jacket I believe I specified a longer jacket length, which you can do in measurements, or request it if getting fit in person. For the less tight fit, I forget if I noted a certain fit when ordering the suit or if I made the measurements ever so slightly larger or what, it’s been a while; sorry I don’t quite remember.
-Justin
Nothing fits better than a made to measure suit. To order a made to measure clothing online is always a risk, but new technology is making it every day easier. And once you order a made to measure item, you’re hook and don’t want to go back to the rack.