Throughout my suit shopping struggles, my mom kept telling me to go to Brooks Brothers. So, the husband and I went to Brooks Brothers.
On the plus side, service was good. We were promptly greeted by a gentleman, and once he found out we were looking for women's clothes, he summoned a female sales rep. She seemed to know the stock, although she did warn me that things were picked over due to their winter sale.
Yet, despite her assuring me that all their pants were styled the same, I tried three different pairs and each was off in its own way. Some were lined, some weren't, some fabric seemed to show every curve (good and bad!), some didn't... Honestly, it was weird. My usual size was on the snug side, but the next size up was huge. Since they do tailoring, the sales rep was telling me that they could take in the larger size, but honestly, between a huge waist and being way too long, I was afraid that any tailoring attempts would result in Franken-pants. And then do I have to pay for said pants anyway? Not something I want to find out.
Now, jackets are a lot easier to fit for me, and Brooks Brothers has some beautiful ones. I loved the gray with white pinstripes, and the check-patterned navy. But these jackets were FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. Like...come on! That is an INSANE amount of money! I forget how much the pants were, but we were basically looking at a close to $1,000 suit for me, with who knows how much tailoring required, some of which might be included (hemming), some of which might not be (taking in pants waist).
And since we were looking at having to order some sizes, it would be another two trips to Birmingham to have everything fitted and altered, and they really wanted online orders to go through the store so they could get credit for them. Honestly, just thinking about all the guessing, ordering, fitting, waiting, and altering involved, with no real guarantee of success, makes me tired.
So while appreciate the efforts they went to in trying to find something that worked for me, I think the upshot is that I'm just not a good fit for Brooks Brothers, both in body and in wallet. read more