Renting a Tuxedo or Having One Made: What Each Really Costs

The question arrives once the invitations have gone out and the event is suddenly close. Rent one, or have one made. We are asked it often enough to be worth an honest answer, including the cases where renting is the sensible thing to do.

We make tuxedos by hand, so you would expect us to argue for having one made. We will, for most people. But not for everybody, and not for every occasion.

When renting is the right answer

There are three situations where we would send you to a rental counter without hesitation.

The first is a one-off themed event. A nineteen-twenties party, a costume gala, a white dinner jacket for one night that you will never put on again. Renting a garment you intend to wear once is not a compromise, it is good sense.

The second is a young man who is still growing. A sixteen-year-old going to a formal will not be the same shape at nineteen, and cloth cannot follow a chest that is still filling out. Rent it, and come to us when he has stopped changing.

The third is a guest flying in with no time. We work to four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight in imported Italian or English. A rush order adds twenty-five per cent, and we will still tell you honestly whether your date is achievable. If it is not, a rental shop is the answer that week.

In all three cases, go and rent, with our blessing. Rental houses do a real job and some of them do it well. Rental prices vary a great deal by city and by season, so we will not quote one; get a figure from two local shops and hold it against the numbers below.

What having one made actually costs

A tuxedo or dinner suit at Mr James starts at $1,795. That is a fully bespoke garment: a pattern drawn for you from nothing, a full canvas chest, every stitch made by hand by Max, our French atelier, in Southern Brittany. We do not offer made-to-measure, so there is no cheaper tier underneath that figure and no better making above it. The price moves only with the cloth. Drago starts at $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry at $3,495, Loro Piana at $3,995.

Included, and worth more than people expect: unlimited fittings, and a full year of complimentary alterations after delivery. Fifty per cent is taken at cloth selection, the balance on delivery. A wedding party or group is less twenty per cent across the order. Our other prices are set out on the bespoke suit cost page, and the making is described on our bespoke page.

The honest arithmetic

Take the rental figure you were quoted and multiply it by the number of black tie events you are likely to attend over the next ten years. For a man in Los Angeles with a professional life, a few weddings and a charity dinner or two, the count is rarely fewer than six. Somewhere around the fourth or fifth hire, a custom tuxedo in Los Angeles has paid for itself and you still own it.

The ownership is the point, not the arithmetic. A rented dinner jacket is cut for an average man and then pinned to approximate you. The shoulder will be close rather than right, and the trouser will have been let out and taken in for a dozen men before you. Nobody will say anything. You will know.

Against that, a tuxedo made to your own pattern fits in the shoulder, which is the only part of a jacket that cannot be fixed afterwards. It is yours for twenty years if you look after it, and when your shape shifts the garment can follow you. Our alterations service is $80 an hour after the first year.

If the occasion is a wedding

A groom in a rented jacket standing beside eight groomsmen in the same rented jacket photographs exactly as it sounds. If you are dressing a party, our groomsmen page explains how we handle a group and our wedding page covers the timeline. The twenty per cent group reduction usually brings a made tuxedo within reach of hiring eight.

If you are still deciding what the day calls for, we have written separately on choosing between a tuxedo and a suit for a wedding, and on what black tie means as a dress code in Los Angeles. A custom shirt is $295 and makes more visible difference under a dinner jacket than most people realise; the detail is on our custom shirts page.

How to decide

Count the black tie events in your next three years. If the answer is one and it is fancy dress, rent. If the answer is one and it is your own wedding, have it made. If the answer is three or more, the question has answered itself.

We are at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, a storefront with free parking front and back. The consultation is an hour and free, about thirty measurements and three photographs. You will meet Robb or Ben. We work by appointment seven days a week, with forty-eight hours' notice. Read the whole of our tuxedo and black tie page, book a fitting, or go straight to the diary and pick a time. The number here is 310-503-3592.

Questions we are often asked

Is it cheaper to rent a tuxedo or to buy one?

For a single wear, renting is cheaper. Past roughly the fourth or fifth hire the arithmetic reverses, because a bespoke tuxedo from Mr James starts at $1,795 and lasts for twenty years. Get a rental figure locally and multiply it by the black tie events you expect in the next ten years.

When should I rent a tuxedo rather than have one made?

Three cases. A one-off themed or costume event you will never repeat. A young man still growing, because cloth cannot follow a changing chest. And a guest flying in with less than four weeks, which is too little time for us to make anything.

How much does a custom tuxedo cost in Los Angeles?

A tuxedo or dinner suit at Mr James starts at $1,795, fully bespoke and full canvas. The price moves only with the cloth: Drago from $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry $3,495, Loro Piana $3,995. Fittings and a year of alterations are included.

How long does a bespoke tuxedo take to make?

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight weeks in imported Italian or English. A rush order adds twenty-five per cent, and we will tell you before taking a deposit whether your date is achievable.

Does a rented tuxedo really look different?

In the shoulder, yes, and the shoulder is the one part of a jacket that cannot be corrected afterwards. A rental is cut for an average build and then pinned to approximate you. You will notice it all evening.

Is a made tuxedo worth it for one wedding?

For your own wedding, we think so, because the photographs last longer than the day. As a guest, renting is reasonable unless you already expect other black tie evenings.

Can you dress a whole wedding party?

Yes, and wedding parties and groups are less twenty per cent across the order. We dress women as well as men, and the reduction often brings eight made garments close to the cost of hiring eight.

What happens if my size changes after delivery?

Alterations are complimentary for a year from delivery, then $80 an hour, usually taking a week. A bespoke garment has cloth in the seams to work with, which a rental does not.