The retail price for a hand-tailored Ted Lapidus suit is around $1500, not including the egregious mark-ups you tend to find in such retailers as Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, etc. But hang on -- throw on an old sweater and some torn up jeans, walk down to the fashion district and you can get the same suit for $1100. Sound good? But hang on, there's more to it than that: you not only get your one suit for $1100 -- it just so happens to be "Buy One, get Two Free" over at Royal Mode. So you just got yourself THREE suits for hundreds of dollars less than the price of one, anywhere else.
Of course, Jordan's first reaction was: "They're knockoffs." It was certainly something to think about. At prices like this, you certainly have to wonder. But that's just the thing: in a world where you can find a cotton t-shirt for $200, has it truly become so unheard of to find designer suits for the kind of price they OUGHT to retail for? Have we become so accustomed to our "trusted retailers" who routinely slaughter us with peak-season prices only to mark them down 80% after Labor Day? I can't be the only one to notice that $250 coat at the GAP happens to be sitting on a sale rack for $20 with every turn of the season. At a certain point, it gets you thinking: "What the hell is this stuff really WORTH, anyway?" Certainly not nearly what we, the brainwashed consumer, are willing to dish out. All this I tried to keep in mind as I discovered this little untouched gem of opportunity in the decidedly unglamorous streets of industrial Downtown.
Of course, the great irony is that LA's fashion district is no secret at all; at least, not to the retailers who come here on a regular basis to stock all those quaint little boutiques, over on Montana Avenue. Yeah, scandalized yet? A great deal of this stuff comes straight from Los Angeles St (where most of their clientle wouldn't be caught dead), hand-picked and brought back to the Westside where it's marked up 300% for you, not knowing any better, to buy in the comfort of your very own suburban sanctuary. And why not? It's good business -- brilliant, actually.
Which brings us back to Royal Mode, licensed distributor of Ted Lapidus. These suits are real, folks... it's just that we've forgotten what a good deal is supposed to look like; or a bad one, for that matter. Go ahead and check this stuff against anything they're selling in Beverly Hills -- you'd be surprised.
Many thanks to Mr. Aghai and Leon for the suits -- one of them just landed me a job in Tokyo! Not bad for a "knockoff," eh? ;D read more
