Looks like Yoox has a few new items for this month's sale.
What's Yoox?
Yoox is like an Italian Nordstrom Rack (if Mr. Porter were Nordstrom) with a terrible website, weird search/filter options, awful descriptions that tell you almost nothing and like 3 models that model every single item so you never know how anything is going to fit. They are also huge, with a $6b market cap (for the whole net a porter group).
Why buy suits from Yoox?
Yoox is always well stocked with suits from a year or two ago in just a few sizes, because Italy is the center of mid and high end suit manufacturing in the world and home to many well known suit brands, they have a much bigger selection that you will find at Nordstrom Rack, and probably because their website is so shitty, most people are kind of leery of buying a suit with such a threadbare description, the discounts are often very deep and great deals can be had for those who know where to look. In other words a perfect place for FMF posters.
I've bought enough casual wear from JCrew courtesy of this sub to last me 20 years, so I've never bought any non-formal wear from Yoox, but finding good deals on formal wear is fun and rewarding. I've so far kept 3 suits, all full canvas, made in Italy and super 120+ wool, for $170 to $230, and they are my favorite suits. I'm a fat fuck so Italian suits are kind of tough to find for me but if you are more athletic, it should be much easier for you.
What's the Return Policy?
$6.99 return shipping, which you can get back if you pay with paypal using return shipping protection or whatever it's called.
Why only buy full canvas?
You probably all know fused, half canvas, etc. from the relentless Indochino/Suitsupply/Brooks Brothers marketing. Here's the thing: half canvas suits are usually also fully fused, or maybe fused along the edges if it's an unlined jacket. The difference in comfort between a lightweight full canvas jacket and a fused jacket (even one with a half canvas) is noticeable. and in any case, being fully canvased is a useful gatekeeper of quality. At these price levels, there really isn't any reason to go half canvas.
Which brands do I buy?
Just like last time, here's a rough breakdown of quality levels of the brands. Not every brand is in the above linked filter because they may just not have any suits from those brands right now, I will list them roughly in order of price, where lower down the list means relatively lower price.
High end - lots of handiwork, hand made buttonholes, often very fine fabric. Rarely below $1,000+
Kiton,
Tom Ford (made by Zegna),
Cesare Attolini (never seen a suit on sale, but lots of blazers)
Castangia (my personal favorite, priced more like the below level but quality is closer to high end IMO),
Ralph Lauren Purple Label (never seen a suit on sale but possible)
Mid level - machine made, but still full canvas, $400-$800
Isaia (arguably closer to high end),
E Zegna (overpriced IMO),
Sartorio (Difusion line for Kiton)
Belvest (I have a few of their suits and they are great, but rarely see suits on Yoox, some sportscoats occasionally so there's hope)
Some Caruso, some Pal Zileri, most Canali
Value - $150-$300
a lot of Caruso and Pal Zileri, Corneliani, some Canali, Ma.Co (same company as Caruso)
Other - these might be full canvas? No way to find out unless you buy one.
Gucci - When Tom Ford ran Gucci I think these were full canvas? I really don't know and don't want to bother finding out.
Giorgio Armani - Some of these are advertised as being full canvas elsewhere so it's possible, I actually bought one myself just to find out, it arrives tomorrow so I'll let y'all know.
Lavin, Prada, Hermes - I have heard are often made white label by Caruso or Belvest so they might be full canvas, but most are not. I would not bother. I took a chance on a Prada once, it was fused junk and went straight back.
Half Canvas
If you only want to spend $100- $150, Cantarelli, Lardini and LBM/Luigi Bianchi Mantova/LBM 1911 do decent half canvas, especially the unlined ones that have only a little fusing might be nice for a summer suit. Lardini at least also makes some full canvas, but no way to really tell - maybe high original MSRP? I believe Cantarelli has a seperate "Sartoria Cantarelli" line that is full canvas and up there with Caruso or Pal Zileri, but they are rarely seen.
Other misc thoughts
Italian suits all have the "Drop" right on the label, together with whether it's a long or short jacket. My usual size is a 56 6R or 56 6C. Of course Yoox doesn't bother to list the whole size so you can only guess. For some reason they do list the width of the opening of the leg, and that's a way to tell the drop, kind of. anything below 7 inches is likely a drop 8 or 9, low 7 inches are drop 7 or 6, and more than that is going to be below 6. Below 6 is also often described as "large size" in the description. You can also kind of tell by looking at how it fits on the model.
Shirts!
I've also gotten some really nice dress shirts from Yoox. My two favorite so far are Allesandro Ghirardi and Boriello Napoli, I have one of each that have:
MoP buttons
Single needle stiching
Sewn instead of fused collars - just like fused v canvased jackets, although the interlining isn't canvas but another cloth. Cheap fused shirts will develop bubbling on the collar and cuffs when the fusing becomes undone, usually more quickly than suits because shirts are washed more often and often in hot water. I see this on Brooks Brothers shirts and a lot of people on styleforum complain about Spier and Mackay shirts having the same problem.
Separately sewn sleeves - this is huge, and generally only seen on Brioni or other very high end or bespoke shirts. You can tell by looking at the armpit. Most shirts have one continuous seam running up the side and on the sleeves, because it was sewn in one operation by machine. if the sleeves and body have 2 seams that don't join at the arm pit, it means they were done separately and then attached by hand, and these shirts are significantly more comfortable and allow higher armholes and greater freedom of movement, but is of course much more expensive to make.
I got these shirts for around $30 to $40 and they are a huge step up from the $10 JCrew shirts I have. I haven't gotten that many shirts yet so I won't do a full write up but please buy some shirts and post your experiences.
If you are a size US 44-46 like me:
https://www.yoox.com/us/49492283PH/item#dept=men&sts=sr_men80&cod10=49492283PH&sizeId=7&sizeName=46
I bought and later returned this suit. It is gorgeous and a steal at that price. Unfortunately it's a drop 4, which is too fat for me. If you are a fatter size 46 this is a great buy.
https://www.yoox.com/us/49520429CN/item#dept=men&sts=sr_men80&cod10=49520429CN&sizeId=6&sizeName=44
Same deal as above, this actually fits fairly big for a 44 and has quite wide shoulders, and would be a nice winter flannel suit. Too long for me.
https://www.yoox.com/us/49517371JH/item#dept=men&sts=sr_men80&cod10=49517371JH&sizeId=7&sizeName=46
Another super nice suit, but a Drop 7 or 8 that was too skinny for me.
Good luck!
Submitted January 29, 2020 at 09:28PM by compuccesory https://ift.tt/36DPxAG
