Custom Suits for Long Beach

Mr James sits at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, roughly twenty-five miles west and a little north of Long Beach. A two-piece begins at $1,795. Each is full canvas, drafted to one person's own pattern and sewn by hand in Southern Brittany, where Max keeps the atelier.

Long Beach is the second largest city in Los Angeles County and reads more like a dozen towns than one. Downtown and Alamitos Beach front the harbour. Bluff Park, Belmont Heights and Belmont Shore run east along the water, and Naples sits out on the islands in Alamitos Bay. Bixby Knolls, California Heights and Wrigley hold the older street grids to the north, while Los Altos and El Dorado reach across to the San Gabriel River and the Orange County line at Seal Beach. Signal Hill is a separate city, entirely surrounded. Addresses run from 90802 round to 90815.

If the question is still which trade the errand actually wants, the four distinct trades sold under that single word are separated out on tailor Los Angeles.

The drive, and which way to take it

Three ways across. The 405 is the usual one: join it at the 710 or at Long Beach Blvd, follow it north-west through Carson and Torrance, then leave at Sepulveda or Imperial and finish on surface streets. From the east side the 605 up to the 405 does the same work with less of the harbour traffic on it. The slow and handsome option is Pacific Coast Highway west, over the Palos Verdes Peninsula on Palos Verdes Drive, then north through Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach and along Vista del Mar beside the sand.

Forty-five minutes is honest when the roads are clear. An hour and more if you set off at five, because the stretch between the 710 and the 110 does not forgive a late start. In the other direction, mornings before nine are the quiet window.

Number 221 is a storefront at street level with no suite number, and parking is free both in front of it and behind. Nothing to circle and nobody to sign in with, so after a drive of that length the hour you booked is the hour you get.

Why people make the drive

Four briefs account for most of it. A wedding, which is how a good many people come to meet a tailor at all. Black tie, where the invitation means what it says. A working wardrobe for someone who would rather own two suits that fit than six that do not. And the replacement commission, where something bought off a rail has been altered twice and still stands away from the collar, because a hem and a waist seam cannot answer a shoulder.

Women are dressed here by the same method, to the same patterns and off the same price list as men. How a woman's suit should fit sets out what we are watching through a fitting, and women's bespoke suits is costed exactly as the men's work is.

Cloth for a bay that faces south

San Pedro Bay opens to the south and east rather than straight out at the ocean, so the marine layer tends to clear earlier over Long Beach than over the beaches on the far side of the Peninsula, and an afternoon downtown can run a few degrees warmer than the same afternoon in Playa del Rey. That argues for a high-twist worsted as a first suit. The yarn is twisted harder before weaving, which opens the cloth, lets air through it, and still leaves a crease in the trouser at the end of a long day. A smooth lightweight looks cooler on the roll and wears hotter on the body.

Stripes, checks and weaves goes through which pattern is worth ordering first and which is better left for a third suit. If the work takes the suit out of the county, how to pack a suit so it arrives ready to wear is the one to read.

Neighbours between here and there

The cluster of pages between Long Beach and Playa del Rey follows the route more or less in order. custom suits Palos Verdes covers the four cities on the hill. custom suits Torrance takes the largest of the South Bay cities, custom suits Redondo Beach and custom suits Manhattan Beach the two beach cities north of it, and custom suits El Segundo the last stop before the airport. Prices, cloth and canvas do not change on any of them. Only the length of the drive moves. The shop itself is described on bespoke tailor Playa del Rey.

The figures

Two-piece, $1,795. Three-piece, $2,045. Tuxedo, $1,795. Overcoats from $1,200. Odd trousers are $450, a custom shirt $295, and alterations run at $80 an hour.

Where the price climbs it is the cloth that has climbed and not the work. Drago opens at $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry at $3,495, and Loro Piana at $3,995. Canvas, handwork and method are the same at the bottom of that range as at the top, which is why the cloth table is a conversation about weight, hand and mill rather than about grade. Fittings are unlimited and the first year of alterations is included. Half is due when the cloth is chosen and the balance when the garment is delivered. What a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles breaks all of it down mill by mill, and custom overcoats Los Angeles covers the cold end of the year.

One service, done properly

Roughly thirty measurements and three photographs, so that the way a person actually stands is recorded on the paper and not their dimensions alone. A chest canvas of horsehair and wool, set in by hand. Then the garment is made by Max, the house's French atelier, who has sewn every Mr James garment since Robb Pollard started the house in 2010. We have been in Los Angeles since 2015 and in Playa del Rey since 2021.

Made to measure is not something we sell. We offer one service and it is the whole of it, which made to measure Los Angeles explains plainly, while bespoke suits Los Angeles takes the stages in order.

Count four to six weeks on domestic cloth and six to eight when it has to travel from Italy or England. Shirts, two to four weeks. Alterations, about a week. Twenty-five per cent more will buy a rush, although we would rather you did not need one.

Weddings and black tie

Six months ahead of the date is ideal, three is comfortable, and six weeks we will still take as a rush. Twelve months out we would ask you to wait, because a year changes both the body and the mind about what the suit ought to be. Parties come in at twenty per cent off, and that takes in the groomsmen, the fathers and the brothers. Getting a wedding party measured describes how an afternoon of that goes. The garments themselves are on wedding suits Los Angeles, and where the evening really is black tie, a custom tuxedo Los Angeles carries the same $1,795 as a two-piece.

Or we come to Long Beach

A visit to a home or an office anywhere in Los Angeles is $300, travel included, and the cloth travels with us: suitings and shirtings, linings, and the mill books open on the table in front of you. Finished garments travel the same way for the fittings. Given twenty-five miles in each direction, and particularly where several people are ordering together and one appointment can measure the whole group, it is frequently the sensible way to begin. There is more on home and office tailoring visits.

Questions we are often asked

Is there a bespoke tailor in Long Beach?

Not in the city itself, as far as we know. We are at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, about twenty-five miles west along the coast, and among the closest bespoke houses to 90802 through 90815. Every garment is full canvas and fully bespoke, with a two-piece from $1,795.

How long is the drive from Long Beach to the shop?

Around forty-five minutes when the roads are clear, an hour or more at five o'clock. The 405 north-west from the 710 or Long Beach Blvd, leaving at Sepulveda or Imperial, is the usual route. From the east side, the 605 up to the 405. Parking at number 221 is free in front and behind.

What does a bespoke suit cost?

A two-piece is $1,795 and a three-piece $2,045. A tuxedo is $1,795. An overcoat is $1,200, odd trousers $450, a custom shirt $295, and alterations $80 an hour. Better mills lift the figure: Drago opens at $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry at $3,495, Loro Piana at $3,995.

Will you come out to Long Beach?

Yes. A home or office visit anywhere in Los Angeles is $300, travel included, with the full cloth selection carried to you and the finished garments brought out for the fittings. Where several people are ordering at once, one visit measures the group.

How long does a commission take?

Four to six weeks on domestic cloth and six to eight when the cloth comes from Italy or England. Shirts run two to four weeks and alterations about a week. A rush costs twenty-five per cent more.

I am getting married. When should I start?

Six months ahead is ideal, three is comfortable, and six weeks we will take as a rush. At twelve months we would ask you to wait, because a year changes the body and the brief alike. Wedding parties take twenty per cent off, which includes the groomsmen, the fathers and the brothers.

Which cloth suits the Long Beach climate?

High twist worsted, nearly all the year round. San Pedro Bay faces south and east, so the marine layer clears earlier there than it does on the far side of the Peninsula and afternoons run a little warmer. High-twist cloth is open enough to move air and still keeps a crease by evening.

What happens at the first appointment, and who will I see?

An hour, free of charge, with nothing owed at the end of it: roughly thirty measurements, three photographs and a proper look through the cloth. You will see Robb or Ben. There are two of us, and whoever takes the consultation sees the garment through to delivery.

Come and see us

The shop is at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293. By appointment, roughly nine to six, and we ask for about forty-eight hours' notice. Reserve a time, use the book a fitting page, or telephone 310-503-3592.

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