Custom Suits for Hermosa Beach
Mr James is a bespoke tailoring house about twenty minutes up the coast from Hermosa Beach, at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey. We make fully canvassed, fully bespoke suits from $1,795, cut from a pattern drawn for one man and made by hand in our own atelier in Southern Brittany, France.
Hermosa is a town of shorts and sandals, and that changes what a good suit has to do. It is worn rarely, so it has to be right every time it comes out, and it has to feel as easy as everything else a man here wears.
A suit for a beach town
The answer is usually soft tailoring: a natural shoulder, a jacket that moves, and a cloth that breathes. A navy or mid-grey in high-twist wool covers interviews, dinners, funerals and most weddings, and the jacket earns its keep again with odd trousers at the weekend. Why fit matters more than anything else is set out in how a suit should fit.
Weddings on the sand
A ceremony by the pier or on the Strand asks for different tailoring from a ballroom. Wind, sand and the glare off the water all argue for a lighter cloth, a paler colour than you would wear indoors, and trousers cut to sit cleanly above the sand rather than pooling on the shoe. Linen and wool and linen blends come into their own. Black tie on a beach is possible, and it is worth talking through first; tuxedo or suit for your wedding covers the choice.
Six months ahead is ideal, three is comfortable, and six weeks is possible as a rush. Wedding parties are twenty per cent less. More on the wedding suits page and on groomsmen suits.
Cloth for the coast
Salt air and a warm car are both hard on tailoring. Cloth with a firm twist recovers overnight on a hanger and resists creasing; a soft flannel will not. We set the choices out plainly in the best suit fabric for hot weather, and we will tell you which cloths we would not recommend for the way you live.
What it costs
| Two-piece suit | from $1,795 |
| Three-piece suit | from $2,045 |
| Tuxedo | from $1,795 |
| Odd trousers | from $450 |
| Custom shirt | $295 |
Every suit is full canvas, at every price. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included. Finer mills run from Drago at $2,995 to Loro Piana at $3,995. Full detail on the cost page.
If you would rather we came to you
A visit to a home or office anywhere in Los Angeles is $300, with cloth and finished garments brought to you. It works well for a wedding party measured together in one evening. More on home and office visits.
Questions we are often asked
Is there a custom suit tailor near Hermosa Beach?
Yes. Mr James is at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, about twenty minutes up the coast.
What should I wear to a beach wedding?
A light cloth such as linen, a wool and linen blend or a high-twist wool, in a paler colour than you would wear indoors, with trousers cut to sit cleanly above the sand.
Will you come to Hermosa Beach?
Yes, for $300 a visit.
How long does a bespoke suit take?
Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported Italian or English cloth. Fittings are unlimited and included.
Hermosa Beach is one of several neighbourhoods we look after from the Playa del Rey storefront. If you would like the fuller picture — what every garment includes, the cloth houses we work with, prices in full and how the making is done — our main guide to custom suits in Los Angeles covers all of it in one place.
Come and see us
221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey. Monday to Sunday by appointment, roughly nine until six, forty-eight hours' notice. Free parking front and back. The first meeting is an hour and free, with Robb or Ben.
Book a private consultation, or telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time. You can also write to mrjames@bespokemrjames.com.
Nearby: Manhattan Beach · El Segundo · Playa del Rey. More: bespoke suits · about the house.