By Nicknameless
from Wisconsin on 02/05/2010
Pros:
Fine soft yet crisp wool, Interesting muted color, Well made
Best Uses:
Standard suit occasions
Chest Size:
Feels true to size
Sleeve Length:
Feels true to length
Bottom Line:
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
The suit came yesterday; I haven't worn it yet, but here are my observations after carefully inspecting the suit and trying it on. 1. The fit is great in my case, but fit is such an individual matter that there may not be much to learn from my experience. I can usually wear a 40 regular right off the floor, and this 40 regular fits me great. There is nothing unusual about the fit of the 40R jacket or the 34 pant on me. (I'm 5'11", 170, fairly broad-shouldered; reasonably fit for an old guy.) 2. The pants are elegantly pleated in front. Maybe I don't understand suit terminology well, but the Sierra description says "flat front," which led me to expect no pleats. There are pleats. They are discreet and understated and I don't mind them at all, but they are pleats. 3. I hadn't bought a suit in ten years because in my line of work the sport coat is my dressiest normal attire. Choosing a green-toned suit as my only one went against conventional wisdom, so I was relieved to see when the suit arrived that the "green" color really is very muted. There's no doubt that green is the suit's deep hue, but it's a dignified look. There's enough black with the green that, as the Sierra description says, the overall effect is chestnut. I'm not positive about this, but I think I might be able to wear either black or brown leather with this suit. Certainly black, but probably brown too. That's unusual. As for the "birds-eye" pattern, I didn't know what this meant, and even an internet search didn't make me much the wiser, so I just took a chance. I can't easily describe it except to say that the pattern is hundreds of thousands of the tiniest imaginable black, dark green, and white checks. This sounds horrendous, I know, but it isn't. From any distance, say a foot or more, the impression of pattern comes more from natural color variance over inches and feet than from the micro-pattern. To this bird's eye, "birds-eye" yields a rather plain or old-fashioned look, nothing particularly bold, and that's fine with me. 4. I'm happy with the suit, I think. I'm only slightly nagged by this thought: Even at the deeply discounted price, the cost of this Italian suit was quite a bit higher than I would pay for a decent one sold off the rack at a local store, and what did I get for the difference? I know that knowledgeable, careful dressers will point to technical details of the cut, sewing, and construction, and I wish I had the eye for this kind of thing, but I guess I don't. We'll see with time, but for now I'm not positive that this very nice suit will look better or wear better than the last suit I bought years ago for a few hundred bucks at a local department store. Maybe it will. I'm staying open minded about it. I guess I'm trying to remind others like me, regular folks who are not fancy or especially knowledgeable about clothing, that good fit and reasonable elegance probably don't require words like "Italian" on the label. Anyway, I don't mean to be negative. I'm happy with my purchase.
