The journey to find my bespoke suit — Part I

A suit is a set of garments crafted from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, orig­i­nating in England as country wear.
- Wikipedia

I have always had a healthy attraction towards suits. Ever since I was young I wanted to have a nice suit. In my high school years, I enjoyed ‘dressing up’ in a shirt and pants, occa­sionally adding some flair with a tie. I remember this fellow by the name of Brandon. Quite the oddball, he wore a three piece suit, brown flannel if I remember correctly. Hell, he even had a pocket watch. I envied him. I don’t know if he paid for it himself, but I certainly didn’t have the means to purchase a suit. And even if I had the money I wouldn’t know where to purchase one. I looked upon suits with great respect. A man in a suit is a man who is important. A man in a suit is a man who has some­where to be. A man in a suit is a man of mystery. A well-tailored suit that gave a man an impressive silhouette spoke volumes about him.

My first suit was a thick wool suit in the color of charcoal gray from Jones New York. It was decent enough for a young man going to his aunt’s wedding. The years went by and my knowledge and taste in suits expanded (as did my waistline) and it was time for another suit. This time I was endowed with a Calvin Klein suit in black. The material: some kind of wool with an ever-so-slightly rough texture. It would prove to be a good investment. Every­where I went with it, I received compli­ments from friends and strangers. One rainy day as I was walking home with my pizza dinner this middle aged fellow with thick round glasses and brown tufts of unkempt hair strug­gling to stay lively on his balding head stopped in his very rushed stride and exclaimed, “Hey man, that’s a nice suit! Where’d you get it?” I told him it was a Calvin Klein suit from Macy’s. It’s a handsome enough suit that I wore it to my friend’s wedding, along with a matching third piece (that’s the vest) that I had hunted down years after my initial purchase.

To this day I still wear that suit. The three button garment with flat front pants (no cuffs) has served me well. But it is beginning to show slight signs of wear. The trouser’s inseam has also worn down several times, enough that I had to have a tailor patch it up. How did they come to require repairs? Well, my forceful friend happened to be one heck of a wrestling fanatic. Mix that with his out of control testos­terone levels and lots of spare time, you’ve got a forcible grap­pling match on your hands.

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