I completed the purchase of a suit from Indochino a few days ago. It was the first suit I've acquired from Indochino, and my fifth suit overall. I've purchased three fully custom/bespoke suits so I have some experience with buying a suit.
My previous experiences with buying fully custom-made suits were excellent. Indochino, as you're probably aware, is not full custom, but made-to-measure (MTM). MTM means that, instead of being made completely from scratch, the suit is usually made from mass-produced, pre-cut patterns. So, because of that, the price-point for MTM is usually lower than full custom, but higher than non-name brand off-the-rack. Also, because MTM is not fully custom, it's not likely to fit as well, but it should be close. A fully custom should fit you like a glove. The base price for a fully custom three-piece suit at most US clothiers, using a European, Super 110, four season-weight, wool and assembled in Asia, is around $1400. A three-piece suit from Indochino, using Australian, Super 100, wool woven into fabric and assembled in Asia is around $850. Super 100 wool is a little more coarse than Super 110, but it's fairly close in texture. I assume that Australian/Asian wool fabrics are comparable in quality to European, but I'm not an expert on that subject. Indochino says in their marketing literature that their suits are "custom." Legally, they're probably allowed to say that, but technically, as I've already explained, that's a little misleading.
With a fully custom suit, you have control over every single detail in your suit's construction. That is not the case with Indochino MTM. With Indochino, you can decide on pick stitching, having a ticket pocket, lining colors, and the like. On other features you have much less or no control. For example, you have a choice of notched, peak, or shawl lapels for your suit jacket. You do not, however, have a choice over how wide they are, as Indochino has only one width available for each. This is actually a big deal, because lapel width, especially with notched lapels (usually used for single-breasted suits), should be proportional to the width of your face/head. The notched lapels for Indochino are a little on the narrow side, but not enough to be a deal breaker for me. As I was being measured for the suit coat, I mentioned to the service rep that I like my coat a little shorter, with minimal shoulder padding, and small arm holes. She said she would see what she could do. I got the impression that Indochino is not set up to make those three items fully customizable either, but they can be adjusted somewhat once you receive the suit and bring it back in for your free alterations. My purchase was of a charcoal, three piece suit under Indochino's 50% off Christmas sale, making it around $425.
I received the suit in the mail a couple of weeks later. I was very disappointed. It didn't fit well at all. In fact, the fit was so bad that I wouldn't have been able to wear it as was. Indochino gives you 10 days to bring the suit back in for free alterations. Judging from the other reviews here, it's a common problem with this store that the suits initially don't fit very well. I suspect that the tailors in China are under contract with Indochino to get the suits delivered to the customer within two weeks, so in order to meet their obligation, they're shipping the suits out in haphazard fashion, putting speed over quality. If Indochino wants to do things that way, fine, but then they need to give people longer than 10 days to bring the suit in for alterations. Thirty days would be about right. I was not a happy camper when I took the suit back to Indochino a few days later for alterations and I thought they were headed for a one-star review here on Yelp!
Fortunately, however, the situation was salvaged by Anna, the tailoring specialist at the Tyson's Indochino. She assured me that they could get everything fixed. She marked up the suit with me wearing it and said they would have it ready in 3-4 weeks. I wasn't in a rush, so that was fine.
Upon receipt of my email notification that the suit was ready, I returned to the Tyson's Indochino and tried it on in the store with Anna standing by to make sure everything was good. The fit is not quite as good as my fully custom suits, namely, the length is a little longer than I usually get, it has more padding in the shoulders, the lapels are more narrow, and the arm holes are a little bigger. Nevertheless, for the price the suit meets my needs. I will be using the suit as my interview suit, so having it look a little more conservative is fine.
I went to the Tyson's Indochino a total of three times during the purchase process. The first time I entered, someone immediately greeted me. The next two times, however, I was ignored until I approached one of the service reps and told them why I was there. Once they were aware of me, however, they were very attentive and helpful. read more