What a Bespoke Suit Costs in Los Angeles
At Bespoke Mr James, a fully canvassed, fully bespoke two-piece suit starts at $1,695. A three-piece is from $2,045 and a tuxedo from $1,795. In the finer mills the range runs from $2,995 to $3,995. Every price includes unlimited fittings and one year of complimentary alterations.
Almost nobody in this trade publishes prices. You are asked to book a consultation, sit down, and only then find out what you are committing to. We would rather you knew before you got in the car.
The full price list
| Garment | From |
|---|---|
| Two-piece suit | $1,695 |
| Three-piece suit | $2,045 |
| Tuxedo or dinner suit | $1,795 |
| Overcoat | $1,200 |
| Odd trousers | $450 |
| Custom shirt | $295 |
| Alterations | $80 per hour |
| Home or office visit | $300 |
In the finer mills:
| Mill | From |
|---|---|
| Drago | $2,995 |
| Zegna | $3,495 |
| Holland & Sherry | $3,495 |
| Loro Piana | $3,995 |
What is the difference between a $500 suit and a $5,000 suit?
Three things, and the cloth is the least of them.
The pattern. A $500 suit is cut from a block pattern — a standard shape in a range of sizes, made for nobody in particular. A bespoke suit begins with a pattern drafted for one man: his posture, the slope of his shoulders, whether he stands square or carries one side lower, which almost everyone does. That pattern is kept and adjusted over the years. Nobody else shares it.
The canvas. This is the difference nobody can see and everybody feels. Inside a jacket chest there is either a layer of horsehair and wool floating between the cloth and the lining, attached by hand — a full canvas — or there is glue. A fused jacket is cloth bonded to an interfacing. It looks much the same on the rail. It never moulds to anyone, it can bubble after a few dry cleans, and it holds the same flat shape for its whole short life. A canvassed jacket takes the shape of your chest over the first months of wearing and keeps it.
The hours. A factory suit is minutes of machine time. A bespoke suit is a cutter drafting, a tailor making by hand, and three or more fittings where a man stands in front of a mirror and things get moved.
Here is the part worth knowing: every suit we make is full canvas, at every price. There is no lesser option at the bottom of our range. The $1,695 suit and the $3,995 suit are made identically. What changes is the cloth.
Why does the price change if the making is the same?
Because cloth is a real commodity with real costs. A Super 130s from an English mill and a cashmere blend from Loro Piana are different materials with different prices per metre, and the difference goes straight into the total. The labour does not change. The canvas does not change. The number of fittings does not change.
This is also why we show you cloth with the price on it during the consultation, rather than steering you toward a number first. You choose what you want to spend by choosing what you want to wear.
What does the price include?
- The consultation — one hour, free, with Robb or Ben. Never a salesperson.
- A pattern drafted for you, from around thirty measurements and three photographs, front, side and back. Posture recorded, not just dimensions.
- Unlimited fittings. Most men have three counting the consultation. Some take four or five. We do not stop until it is right and we do not charge for the extra ones.
- One year of complimentary alterations after you take it home. Bodies change. Bring it back.
There is no separate pattern fee, no fitting fee, and no charge for the consultation whether or not you order anything.
How much should you spend on your first bespoke suit?
Start at the bottom of the range. A $1,695 suit from us is the same garment, made the same way, as the one at three times the price — in a hard-wearing cloth that will take being worn every week. Learn what you like about it. Come back for the Loro Piana when you know.
The men who regret their spend are almost always the ones who bought the most expensive cloth first, before they knew whether they wanted a softer shoulder or a stronger one.
Is a bespoke suit worth it?
Honestly: not for everyone, and not for every occasion.
If you need something for one event next week, buy off the peg and have it altered. If your budget is below our starting price, we will tell you so plainly and point you elsewhere — there are other fine tailors in this city and some of them will serve you better at that number.
It is worth it when you wear tailoring often enough that fit is a daily fact rather than an occasional one, or when the occasion genuinely matters and you want to look like yourself at it. A full-canvas suit that fits properly is typically worn for a decade. Divided across that, it is not an extravagant garment.
How much does a custom suit cost elsewhere in Los Angeles?
We are not going to publish other people's prices, because they change and it would be unfair to quote them second-hand. What we will say is this: a great deal of what is sold in this city as "custom" or "made-to-measure" at between $1,000 and $2,000 is a fused jacket cut from a modified block pattern.
We do not offer made-to-measure at all. Our starting price sits inside that range, and what you get for it is full canvas and a pattern of your own, made by our own atelier in Southern Brittany, France. That is the entire argument, and you are welcome to test it against anyone.
How do you pay?
Fifty per cent at cloth selection, the balance on delivery. No deposit is taken at the consultation.
- Rush orders carry a twenty-five per cent surcharge. That brings a suit to roughly three weeks.
- Wedding parties and groups are discounted twenty per cent.
- Home or office visits anywhere in Los Angeles are $300, including travel and a full selection of cloth, linings and finished garments.
How long does it take?
Four to six weeks in domestic cloth. Six to eight in imported Italian and English cloth, which takes two to three weeks longer to reach the atelier. Shirts are two to four weeks. Alterations are about a week.
For a wedding, six months out is perfect and three months is comfortable. We would rather you did not start a year out — men change shape, and a suit cut to a body from twelve months ago is a suit that needs remaking.
Where the suits are made
Robb founded Mr James in 2010 with Max, the house's French atelier, who still makes every garment in Southern Brittany. The business has been in Los Angeles since 2015 and in Playa del Rey since 2021.
As far as we know we are the only genuinely European suitmaker in this city. That is the reason the numbers on this page are what they are: the making happens in our own atelier, not through a middleman, and there is no showroom markup layered on top.
Come and see
The consultation is an hour and costs nothing. We are at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, appointment only, seven days a week, with free parking in front and behind. Call 310-503-3592.
Wear fitted trousers or jeans and a T-shirt, or a well-fitted shirt. Nothing baggy, and please not shorts — we cannot read your figure through loose clothing.