‘The Outfit’ will be loved by bespoke suit fans, like ‘Scarface’ to gangsters
We all love to watch a good gangster movie whether it’s ‘Goodfellas’ or ‘The Godfather’, but besides all the violence most of the characters are neatly dressed. Old school mafia members were always on point to present themselves in a bespoke outfit. Back in the old days, there were more of these types of tailors that made custom suits only by hand.
Let us not wander off too much into the history of tailoring, but more on this movie “The outfit”. Going back to the late 50s, an expert cutter that moved from Savile Row, London to Chicago must outthink a group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night.
A handful of people
You’re probably thinking, why are you reviewing a movie on this tailoring blog? It’s actually about a passage in the movie where the tailor implied that there are only a handful of people who can afford such bespoke clothes.
Bespoke clothing isn’t on everyone’s budget, it takes a lot of working hours to make your specific garment and the fabrics will be of very good quality, which increases the price even more. We can agree that in this type of business you need to depend on clients who have consistent cash flow. Off the top of my head we have politicians, various types of entrepreneurs, oligarchs, magnates, royalties, sports athletes, celebrities and of course criminal kingpins.
Those types of people may be in small numbers, but they do have the largest amount of wealth compared to the regular guy. Leonard had made a valid point in this movie, for his business to survive he can’t rule out “gangsters” or kingpins, because Chicago was filled with them and they had the money to spend on luxurious outfits.
It’s not just a bespoke suit
On the surface you may not notice any difference between a bespoke suit and a regular factory made suit. The differences will be noticeable when the hands start feeling the fabrics, the softness and the smoothness of the woven techniques that will indicate the elegance and the superiority. It’s like comparing silk and cashmere to nylon and polyester, I don’t think I have to explain which one will be better and luxurious.
The biggest wow factor with a bespoke suit will be when the person is wearing it. Most of the times you can tell immediately if a suit has been made entirely by hand or not. The tailor made suit that the person is wearing is almost like it’s only made for him, you know that feeling, right?
No matter what body type a person may have the tailored suit will be perfectly fit from every angle. Each measurement will be done to its last millimetre so when your bespoke garment is finished it’s close to your body as it should be, giving you all the comfort and elegance you deserve.
To the naked eye, a suit appears to consist of two parts, a jacket and trousers. But those two seemingly solid parts are composed of four different fabrics. Cotton, silk, mohair, and wool. And those four fabrics are cut into thirty-eight separate pieces. The process of sizing, forming, conjoining those pieces requires no fewer than two hundred and twenty-eight steps.
– Leonard
Sometimes a suit can be a facade
A good cut suit can make a big difference in the perception of a person. People will respect you more or make their way, even if you go to a job application, the person on the other end will have some positive mental picture of you. In some other case, there are men who wear bespoke suits but can be considered as “dangerous”, because they look and act so nice, but underneath they are “white collar criminals” aka con men or even members of a mafia organization. We could call them wolfs in sheep clothing, as the movie ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ by Jordan Belfort.
So, who is your customer? And what are you trying to say about him? A man walks through your door, what about him can you observe? Is he timid, hunched over like a midday clock? Or does he stand with confidence, spine at six and twelve? Is this a man of springtime pastel, clamoring to be noticed? Or is this a man of gray and brown, blending into the hurried crowd? Is this a man comfortable in his station? Or does he pine for grander things? And who would this man like to be? And who is he underneath? Take your measure, and when you understand who he is, then you’re ready to begin.
– Leonard
Bespoke suits are all about perfection
As the saying goes “Mass, is cash”, but will a mass produced suit be a perfect fit? I highly doubt that it will be and for sure quality parts will be replaced with something else to have a higher profit margin.
With a bespoke suit, you simply can’t cut corners on anything and yet it happens! A real tailor will make sure that the inside lining is of silk or at least bamboo and not polyester. Each part of the suit must lay or fall exactly on the client’s body without him feeling uncomfortable in it. The client is requesting a suit for a long period of time, so the cuts must be exact to his length from his neck to his heels. So perfectly constructed that whatever he does the garment mimics his moves, this is what makes a bespoke suit great.
By the way … You ‘re probably wondering now if this movie is any good and I have to admit, it really is! Go watch it, I’m not going to spoil a thing.
