Custom Suits in Los Angeles

Mr James is a European tailoring house in Playa del Rey, Los Angeles. Every suit we make is fully bespoke and fully canvassed, cut from a pattern drawn for you alone and made by hand in our atelier in Brittany, France. Two-piece suits from $1,795, with unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations included.

The house was founded in 2010 by Robb Pollard with Max, our maker in Southern Brittany. We have made custom suits for men in Los Angeles since 2015, and since 2021 from a storefront at 221 Culver Blvd, a few minutes from LAX, with free parking at the front and back.

What "custom" means here

In Los Angeles the word custom covers three quite different things, and it is worth knowing which one you are being offered.

  • Altered off the peg: a ready-made suit, taken in or let out by a tailor. Quick and reasonable, but the shoulders and chest are someone else's.
  • Made to measure: a standard factory pattern adjusted to a handful of your measurements. Better, and often sold as custom. Most made-to-measure jackets are fused, with the structure glued in.
  • Bespoke: a new pattern drafted from nothing for one man, his posture, the set of his shoulders, the way he actually stands. Hand-made, with a floating canvas, and fitted on you as it is made.

Every custom suit Mr James makes is the third kind. We do not offer made to measure, and there is no fused option at any price. If you want the longer comparison, we have written an honest one: made to measure or bespoke in Los Angeles.

What every suit includes

  • A pattern drawn for you from around thirty measurements and three photographs, front, side and back, kept on file and adjusted for as long as you come to us.
  • A full canvas chest of horsehair and wool, attached by hand, that moulds to you over the first months and holds its shape for years.
  • Your choice of cloth, lining, buttons, detailing and monogram, chosen with the prices in front of you.
  • Unlimited fittings. Most clients have three, counting the consultation.
  • A year of complimentary alterations after delivery.

Prices

  • Two-piece suit, from $1,795
  • Three-piece suit, from $2,045
  • Tuxedo or dinner suit, from $1,795
  • Overcoat, from $1,200
  • Odd trousers, from $450
  • Custom shirt, $295

In the finer mills: Drago from $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry from $3,495, Loro Piana from $3,995. The price is set by the cloth; the making is identical at every level. Wedding parties are twenty per cent less. Half is taken as a deposit when the cloth is chosen and the balance on delivery.

Very few tailors in this city publish their prices. We do, and the reasoning behind them is on what a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles.

How a custom suit is made

  1. Consultation. An hour, free, with Robb or Ben. We talk about where and how you will wear the suit, then choose cloth, lining and detail together.
  2. Measurement. Around thirty measurements and three photographs. Posture and stance are recorded as carefully as length and girth.
  3. Making. Your pattern goes to the atelier in Brittany and the suit is made by hand.
  4. Fittings. As many as it takes. Each one brings the garment closer to you.
  5. Delivery. A final try-on, then a year of alterations if your shape or your mind changes.

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported Italian and English cloth. Shirts take two to four weeks. A rush is possible at a twenty-five per cent surcharge. For a wedding, six months is ideal and three is comfortable; there is more on wedding suits and dressing a wedding party.

What we make

Custom suits across Los Angeles

Most clients come to the showroom in Playa del Rey. Many never do, because we go to them: we visit homes and offices anywhere in Los Angeles for $300, and bring the full cloth selection with us.

We have written about each part of the city we dress most often:

Choosing a custom tailor in Los Angeles

There are other fine tailors in this city, and the right one depends on what you want. Ask any of them three questions: is the jacket full canvas or fused, is the pattern drawn for you or adjusted from a block, and what does the price include once fittings and alterations are counted. The answers tell you most of what you need to know. We have set out the rest in how to choose a bespoke tailor in Los Angeles.

If you are still deciding between off the peg, made to measure and bespoke, we have written a plain guide to buying suits in Los Angeles.

What we offer is a combination you will not easily find elsewhere here: a European house, garments made by hand in France, full canvas as standard rather than as an upgrade, a published price that starts at $1,795, and the same one or two people looking after you from the first conversation to the last fitting.

Questions we are often asked

How much is a custom suit in Los Angeles?

At Mr James a custom two-piece suit starts at $1,795, a three-piece at $2,045 and a tuxedo at $1,795. Every one is full canvas and fully bespoke. Finer mills run from $2,995 to $3,995. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included.

How long does a custom suit take?

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight weeks in imported Italian or English cloth. A rush is possible at a twenty-five per cent surcharge.

Is a custom suit the same as made to measure?

Not always. Custom is used for both. Made to measure adjusts a standard pattern; bespoke draws a new pattern for one man. Every suit we make is fully bespoke. We do not offer made to measure.

Where is Mr James?

221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, with free parking at the front and back. We also visit homes and offices anywhere in Los Angeles for $300.

How many fittings does a custom suit need?

Most clients have three, counting the consultation; some have four or five. Fittings are unlimited and included in the price.

Do I need an appointment?

Yes. We are by appointment only, with forty-eight hours' notice. The first consultation takes an hour and costs nothing.

Book a consultation

Book a private consultation, or telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time. You can also write to mrjames@bespokemrjames.com.

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.