How Much Does a Bespoke Suit Cost in Los Angeles? A Straight Answer

A fully bespoke two-piece suit at Mr James starts at $1,795. A three-piece starts at $2,045, and a dinner suit starts at $1,795, with unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations included in every one of those figures.

That is deliberately the first thing on the page. Almost nobody in Los Angeles will put a number in writing, which is why this question is asked so often and answered so rarely. Our complete list sits on what a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles. This piece explains what sits behind those numbers, and if you would rather read about the work than the price, what a tailor actually does is the companion to it.

What the entry price includes

At $1,795 you are not buying a stripped version of anything.

• A one hour consultation, free, with around thirty measurements and three photographs, front, side and back, so posture is recorded as well as size.
• A pattern drawn from nothing for you, kept on file for every commission that follows.
• A full canvas garment, cut and largely sewn by hand by Max in our atelier in Southern Brittany, France.
• Unlimited fittings. Most clients have three, counting the consultation. Some have five, and it costs them nothing.
• One year of complimentary alterations from delivery.

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported. The process is set out step by step on our page about bespoke suits in Los Angeles.

What the cloth does to the price

Price here is set by one thing: the cloth you choose.

• House cloths, from $1,795
• Drago, from $2,995
• Zegna, from $3,495
• Holland & Sherry, from $3,495
• Loro Piana, from $3,995

The gap between the first line and the last is the mill, the fibre and the finish, not the standard of work. A fine Loro Piana worsted costs more by the metre and drapes a little differently. Whether that is worth two thousand dollars to you is a reasonable thing to weigh up, and we will weigh it up with you rather than steer you upward. On what the numbers on a bunch mean, see Super numbers and cloth weight.

Other garments: an overcoat from $1,200, odd trousers at $450, a custom shirt at $295.

What the price does not change

The making is identical at every level.

Every garment that leaves this house is full canvas. There is no fused option, no half canvas option, no construction upgrade to buy. The $1,795 two-piece has the same horsehair and wool canvas stitched into the chest, by the same hands, as the $3,995 suit in Loro Piana. The pattern is drawn the same way, and the fittings are unlimited in both cases. We do not offer made-to-measure at all, so there is no cheaper tier where the work quietly changes.

Why that matters over ten years of wear is set out in how a suit jacket is built, and the difference between a $500 suit and a $5,000 suit looks at where the money goes.

Why most Los Angeles tailors will not publish a number

There are honest reasons and less honest ones. The honest one is that bespoke is genuinely variable: if construction changes with the budget there is no single entry price to quote. There are very good houses here that work that way, and they are not hiding anything.

The less honest one is that a number you only hear in the room is easier to adjust once the room has told you something about the person sitting in it. That is a poor way to begin a relationship meant to last years. Our numbers are on the website, and the bunches are open at the consultation with every price visible.

What a deposit schedule looks like

The same for everyone. Fifty per cent at cloth selection, the balance on delivery.

The deposit is taken when the cloth is cut to your pattern, because at that moment it is committed to you. Nothing is taken at the consultation, and nothing for a fitting. If your weight changes between deposit and delivery, the fittings absorb it and the price does not move.

Rush and group pricing

Two adjustments, both published. A rush commission is plus twenty-five per cent, which buys a place at the front of the bench in Brittany. We will tell you honestly whether your date is achievable before taking anything. Four weeks is tight and sometimes possible in a domestic cloth. Ten days is not, and we would rather say so.

Wedding parties and groups are less twenty per cent across the order. Our wedding suits page sets out the timings, and for black tie the custom tuxedo page covers the particulars. We dress women as well as men, on the same terms.

What you get for the money

Set against the hours, the arithmetic reads differently. The consultation is an hour, the pattern is drawn by hand, and the garment is cut and assembled largely by hand in Brittany. It then comes back here to be fitted, taken apart where it needs to be, and fitted again, as many times as it takes. Alterations are $80 an hour to anyone off the street, and for a year after delivery they cost you nothing.

Spread over the life of a full canvas suit, commonly ten years or more, $1,795 is a smaller number than it looks on the day. You are buying the pattern as well: the second commission takes less of your time than the first. A fuller account sits on our custom suits in Los Angeles page.

Questions we are often asked

How much does a bespoke suit cost in Los Angeles?

At Mr James a fully bespoke two-piece starts at $1,795, a three-piece at $2,045 and a dinner suit at $1,795, with unlimited fittings and a year of alterations included. The figure rises only with the cloth: $2,995 in Drago, $3,495 in Zegna or Holland & Sherry, $3,995 in Loro Piana.

Why is the custom suit cost so different from one tailor to the next?

Because the word custom is not defined, so the same price can buy very different things. A fused jacket cut from an adjusted stock block and a full canvas garment cut from a pattern drawn for you are both sold as custom. Ask whether the pattern is drawn from nothing, and whether the chest is canvassed or glued.

Is a cheaper cloth a cheaper suit?

No. The making is identical at every level here. A house cloth at $1,795 has the same canvas, the same hand work and the same unlimited fittings as Loro Piana at $3,995.

What deposit do you take, and when?

Fifty per cent at cloth selection, the balance on delivery. Nothing is taken at the consultation or at a fitting.

Do you charge extra for a rush order?

Yes, twenty-five per cent. We will tell you before taking a deposit whether your date is achievable. The normal turnaround is four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported.

Is there a discount for a wedding party?

Wedding parties and groups are less twenty per cent across the order. We dress women as well as men, and the same terms apply.

Are fittings and alterations charged separately?

No. Fittings are unlimited and included, and alterations are complimentary for a year from delivery. After that they are $80 an hour and usually take a week. A visit to your home or office is $300, including travel and the full cloth selection.

If you would like the number confirmed against the cloth you actually want, the consultation is an hour, it is free, and you will sit with me or with Ben. Book a time here, or call the shop on 310-503-3592. Mondays to Sundays by appointment, roughly nine until six, with forty-eight hours' notice, and free parking front and back.

Robb, Mr James, 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey