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This past November we wrote about our visit to Raja Fashions, the traveling bespoke tailor. As promised we’re writing to report back on our impressions now that the suits have arrived. Our order was for two men’s shirts, two men’s suits, and one woman’s suit. It was about 5 weeks after our visit the first of the items arrived. The tailor sends one of each item at to check the sizing, if you like the fit just fill out a form on their website and they make and ship the remainder of your order.
For the most part we were thrilled with the quality of suits and shirts, and the customer service. Of the few issues we experienced the biggest, by far, is with the woman’s suit. For reasons that were not clear to us then and are still confusing to us now the women’s suits do not come finished and require a second fitting. We thought the suit for Mrs Columbo would simply be unhemmed, but it was much more than that. Her suit was only a vague outline of a skirt and jacket, without any semblance of having been made to fit a specific person. The second fitting is not until February so we have several weeks before we can report back on the overall quality of the women’s suits.
The men’s suits, by comparison, are ready to wear out of the box. While we had hoped they’d be shipped in a garment bag (maybe with a suit hanger) the items come packed in a plastic bag which itself is in a nondescript brown box. But any disappointment over the packaging goes away when you try a suit and shirt on for the first time. Easily the best fitting (and most expensive) suits we’ve ever owned. We can’t imagine picking up another off the rack suit again; we’d rather save our money for Raja’s creations. The shirts were incredibly soft and fitted to our dimensions. No more billowy shirt big enough to contain two or three of us.
All in all we’re very satisfied with the men’s clothing, but it remains to be seen how we’ll feel about Mrs Columbo’s suit when it is ready after the next fitting. But for a man who doesn’t like to shop and try on clothes all day, suits and shirts from a tailor like Raja are the perfect fit.
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Comments
So how much did the custom shirts cost? I find the Hugo Boss Red Label shirts fit me well because they don’t have a bunch of extra material around the waist line, but I would try a custom shirt depending on the price.
It is hard to quantify cost as it is based on materials, style, your haggling ability, and the quantity of items being ordered. I would guess we paid less total by getting three suits and two shirts at once than wif we’d ordered them one at time over different visits.
So with that caveat in mind, I’d guess a suit of the quaility/material I choose ordered by itself would probably run $800. Not being rich there is a real chance in the future I’ll be buying suits just one or two at a time just once a year.
I’d guess one shirt ordered by itself would run $85. I can’t imagine only buying one shirt at a time though, so assuming you bought several at once you can probably get that down to $50-$65 per shirt.
Finally I’d like to add that you are under no obligation to purchase anything when you visit the tailor. If you are at all interested in the experience I’d encourage you to make an appointment and see for yourself.
I have gotten pieces individually tailored before and waiting five weeks for a suit seems a bit long. Especially if you have to wait for a woman’s suit until February, when you ordered it in November.
Made-to-measure shirts from Brooks Brothers takes about 6-8 weeks. MTM suits from Ralph Lauren take about 8-12 weeks, in my experience.
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What was the approximate cost for the suits? I realize prices may vary based on fabrics, etc., but let’s assume the readers have the same general taste as you, so what was the approximate cost?