Whenever I post a link to a suit or sport coat, many people respond in shock bc of the price. Let's break down why tailored clothing costs so much money. 🧵
For this, I'm going to assume that the suit was made in the United States, largely because I'm relying on information given to me by a friend who works at a high level in the US suit manufacturing industry. These are simplified numbers but are generally reflective of reality.
The first thing to understand is that suits and sport coats are not made like casualwear. They are built up from many layers of haircloth, canvassing, and padding, which are carefully sewn together using either specialized machines or human hands (needle and thread)
Let's break down the cost of making a suit.
A garment worker at a US suit factory makes about $15/hr. The total number of minutes spent on making that suit (in terms of actual operations) will be about 260 mins.
The factory also has to pay for worker benefits, which, spread across the total production, adds about $23 per suit. And then there's the cost of overhead (e.g., warehousing, administration, etc.). That adds an additional $26 per suit.
So now we have spent $114.
There is also the cost of materials. A factory may spend about $30/meter for fabric. They need 3.5 meters to make a suit, which brings the price per suit to $105. Now add $30 worth of trims (haircloth, padding, canvas, buttons, and such).
So now we have a total cost of $249.
$249 is how much it costs the factory to make a suit. To make a profit, they do a gross margin markup of 40%. That means they sell it to a brand for $415. The brand has to pay for a bunch of other expenses (e.g., marketing, administration, etc).
The brand also has to make a profit. So they sell the suit to a store at a gross margin markup of 60%. (This store, too, has its own expenses, such as sales staff, warehousing, marketing, etc.).
Now, we have a retail price of $1,037.
The above is a rough sketch of what it would cost to make a fully machine-made, fully canvassed suit in the United States. The price could go up on a host of factors. The factory could spend more on nicer fabric. Or they can include some hand-tailoring details.
Alternatively, the price can go down. The suit could be made in China, where the avg garment worker in a suit factory makes just under $4/hr. They could buy cheaper fabric. Or they can do a fully fused or half-canvassed construction, which may be less durable or not hang as well.
One of the ways to cut costs is in the patternmaking stage. Remember, a suit is made from many layers of material. Each of these layers has to be cut according to a pattern, which is a term for the architectural blueprint for the garment.
If a factory is taking the time and care to make a good suit, they will draft the pattern a little larger than what they need, then lay those internal pieces—haircloth, canvas, padding—on and carefully stitch. Then, they trim away the excess material—trim, adjust, trim, adjust.
However, if they're trying to cut costs, the components of the suit are cut exactly as they're supposed to be, laid on top of each other, and just sewn. There is no trimming or basting, you just sew everything together and hope for the best.
The problem is, cloth moves and linings shift. So things, sometimes, these lower-end garments don't come out quite right. Everyone along the stage is trying to maximize money, so the garment goes out to the sales floor as-is, and you hope a customer doesn't notice.
However, even at the lowest level—garment made in China, cheaper fabrics (but still natural fibers), fully fused or half-canvassed construction, no trimming or adjusting during the manufacturing process, etc.—you are looking at a retail price of about $500.
So, the answer to the original question: Why are suits expensive? They are more complicated to make than casualwear. They often require more expensive fabrics. If they are made in the UK, Italy, or the US, there are wage and labor laws.
There are many ways to look good; you don't have to buy tailored clothing. But tailoring is a beautiful thing, and the price paid goes towards supporting workers who are skilled in a special area of manufacturing. You can also end up with a garment you love and look good in.
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Have you ever noticed that old clothes online sometimes look better than old clothes in your closet?
Why is that? 🧵
It's often said that clothes were better made in the past. This is true to some degree, although the discussion is often narrowly focused on durability.
In this thread, I'll focus on something else: how clothes age, which affects how long you enjoy wearing them.
I'll give you some examples.
A hundred years ago, denim was mostly woven on slow shuttle looms, which produced a narrow-width fabric that was finished with a self-edge (selvedge). This fabric was taken straight off the loom and given to factories.
A couple of years ago, I saw Jesse Watters on Fox News say that Otaa ties are "the best ties in the world."
So I bought one.
Otaa is an Australian neckwear company that has been showing up a lot in American politics. Along with Jesse Watters, they appear to be favored by RFK Jr. and his top deputy, Jim O’Neill.
Let me tell you a beautiful story about this couch. 🧵
IG msviciousdesign
Some will recognize these motifs as Mughal paintings, which flourished on the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 16th and 18th century. But menswear nerds will recognize them as something else: Drake's of London.
Left: thrifted couch
Right: Drake's of London scarf
Drake's of London is a menswear label that started in the 1970s, initially with men's accessories, but having since grown to a full line of apparel. They are known for many things, but this print is perhaps their most famous. It appears on scarves, pocket squares, and even ties.
Style lessons from Robert Redford, one of the most stylish men in the last century. 🧵
A tailored jacket continues to be one of the most flattering things you can wear. However, for it to look good, it has to fit right. That means a jacket that bisects you halfway from your collar to the floor when you're in heeled shoes. Also trouser + suit jacket silhouette flows
It also helps to know how to use this visual language, especially with regard to ideas about formality. For instance, a dark business suit cries out for a tie. If you don't want to wear a tie, try a more casual garment, like a sport coat.
Let's start with a test. Here are two tan polo coats. One is machine-made. The other is handmade. Can you guess which is which?
Please answer before moving on. Then you can scroll through the answers to see whether most people got it right.
The first coat is machine-made. It's from an American ready-to-wear company called J. Press. The second is handmade. It's from a London bespoke tailoring house called Anderson & Sheppard.
You can spot the difference by how the edges are finished.
I've seen people here suggest Obama was a stylish president. I couldn't disagree more. Outfits like these read better in 2025, but during the slim-fit, Euro style craze of his presidency, Obama was routinely panned for his "frumpy dad style." See Vanity Fair.
His style transformation really came post-presidency. I suspect, but don't have proof, that this is partly the influence of his wife, who is quite stylish. Even his suits look better now. See clean shoulder line + shirt collar points reaching lapels + nice four-in-hand dimple.