Custom Suits Calabasas

Mr James is a European tailoring house at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, and Calabasas is a proper drive from us. Two-piece suits from $1,795, every one full canvas, made by hand in Southern Brittany.

Calabasas sits at the western end of the San Fernando Valley, in the Santa Monica Mountains, with the 101 through it and Las Virgenes Road climbing south towards the coast. Thirty miles or so separate 91302 from Playa del Rey, which is the honest fact of this page: a journey, not an errand. East along the 101, custom suits Sherman Oaks covers that end of the valley floor; over the mountains, custom suits Malibu covers the coast.

Two ways to begin, and for Calabasas one is easier

The first is that we come to you. A home or office visit anywhere in Los Angeles is $300, travel and the full cloth selection included, and at this distance it is usually the answer. More on tailor home and office visits Los Angeles.

The second is the showroom. Number 221 has no suite number, free parking front and back, and one of two people in it.

Driving in from Calabasas

The usual route is the 101 east to the 405, south over the Sepulveda Pass, then west to the coast. Three quarters of an hour with clear roads, comfortably more at either end of the working day.

The other way is handsomer and no quicker: Las Virgenes Road south through the mountains to Pacific Coast Highway, then east along the water.

We are appointment only, seven days a week, roughly nine to six, with forty-eight hours' notice, so a long drive never finds a closed door.

Or we bring the showroom to you

A visit carries the cloth library into a living room or a boardroom: suitings, shirtings, linings, buttons and the mill books, prices shown as they are chosen. Around thirty measurements are taken and three photographs record how you stand. One visit can measure a whole group.

What it costs

A two-piece starts at $1,795, a three-piece $2,045, a tuxedo $1,795. An overcoat from $1,200, odd trousers $450, a shirt $295. A visit is $300.

The finer mills cost more, and the figure follows the cloth rather than the making: Drago from $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry from $3,495, Loro Piana from $3,995. Every garment is full canvas, so what you choose at the cloth table is weight, hand and mill, not construction. The figures sit mill by mill on the bespoke suit cost Los Angeles page.

What bespoke means here

A pattern drafted from around thirty measurements and three photographs, so posture is recorded and not dimensions alone. A canvas of horsehair and wool built into the chest by hand, which moulds to you and then holds its shape. And a garment sewn by Max, our French atelier, who has made every Mr James garment by hand since 2010.

There is one service here and it is the whole thing. Bespoke suits Los Angeles walks through the stages and custom suits Los Angeles sets out what the house makes, for women as well as men. The made to measure Los Angeles page puts the two methods side by side and explains why we cut only the one.

Still deciding whom to trust? Custom tailor Los Angeles sets out how the house operates, and how to find a good tailor near you gives the questions worth asking.

Turnaround is four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight if it travels. Unlimited fittings and a year of alterations are included.

Weddings and black tie

Six months before the date is perfect, three comfortable, six weeks a rush at twenty-five per cent more. Parties and groups are twenty per cent less, and a party spread across the valley and the coast is the clearest case for a visit. More on wedding suits Los Angeles, and black tie at custom tuxedo Los Angeles.

Questions we are often asked

Is there a bespoke tailor in Calabasas?

Not in Calabasas itself, as far as we know. Mr James is a European tailoring house at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, about thirty miles south east of 91302, and we come to homes and offices anywhere in Los Angeles for $300.

How long is the drive from Calabasas to the shop?

Three quarters of an hour with clear roads, longer at the two busy hours. The 101 east to the 405, south over the Sepulveda Pass, then west to the coast. Parking at number 221 is free.

Will you come out to Calabasas?

For most Calabasas clients it is the sensible way round. A home or office visit is $300, travel included, with the full cloth selection carried to you. Fittings run the same way, so a commission reaches delivery without you crossing the city.

What does a bespoke suit cost for a Calabasas client?

The same as for anyone. A two-piece from $1,795, a three-piece $2,045, a tuxedo $1,795, an overcoat $1,200, odd trousers $450, a shirt $295, a visit $300. The finer mills lift the figure: Drago from $2,995, Zegna and Holland and Sherry $3,495, Loro Piana $3,995.

How long does a commission take?

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight if the cloth travels from Italy or England. Shirts two to four weeks. A rush costs twenty-five per cent more.

I am getting married. When should I start?

Six months before the date is perfect, three is comfortable, six weeks we will take as a rush. At twelve months we would ask you to wait, because a year changes the body. Parties are twenty per cent less.

Do you dress women as well as men?

Yes, by the same method, on the same patterns and at the same prices. Every garment is fully bespoke and full canvas.

Is the first appointment free, and who will I meet?

The first hour is free: around thirty measurements, three photographs and a long look at cloth, nothing owed. You will meet Robb or Ben, and whoever you see sees the garment through.

Come and see us, or let us come to you

221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, by appointment. Reserve a time, use the book a fitting page, or telephone 310-503-3592. If thirty miles is the problem, say so and we will come to Calabasas instead.

Nearby: Sherman Oaks · Malibu. Reading: what black tie needs below the jacket.