Custom Suits in Mar Vista
Mr James cuts fully bespoke suits for Mar Vista from a storefront a short drive south, at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey. A two-piece starts at $1,795. Every garment is full canvas, cut to a paper pattern that exists for one person only, and sewn by hand at our atelier in Southern Brittany.
Where Mar Vista sits
Mar Vista is 90066, on the Westside of Los Angeles, lying north of Culver City and inland of Venice and Marina del Rey. Venice Boulevard and National Boulevard run through it, and both carry you towards the coast and towards us. The shop sits south of the neighbourhood on Culver Blvd, close enough that a first consultation fits into a morning.
That matters, because bespoke is not a single transaction; it is a consultation, a first fitting, and as many more as the garment needs. Clients who come to us for custom suits Culver City, immediately to the south, make the same calculation.
What bespoke means here
A pattern drafted from about thirty measurements and three photographs, a canvas built into the chest by hand so the jacket learns the shape of your body rather than being pressed into shape by glue, and a garment sewn by Max, our French atelier, who has made every Mr James garment since Robb Pollard founded the house in 2010. Los Angeles since 2015, Playa del Rey since 2021. Sixteen years of one method.
We do not offer made to measure. Other houses do it well; it is simply not the work we have set up to do. The comparison is set out on made to measure Los Angeles. What a tailor actually does sets out the trade plainly, and the bespoke suits Los Angeles page walks through the stages in order.
We dress women as well as men, by the same method and at the same prices. One house, one standard.
What it costs
A two-piece suit starts at $1,795, a three-piece at $2,045, a tuxedo at $1,795 and an overcoat at $1,200. Odd trousers are $450, a custom shirt $295 and alterations $80 an hour. Cloth from the better mills costs more: Drago from $2,995, Zegna from $3,495, Holland & Sherry from $3,495 and Loro Piana from $3,995. The making is identical at every figure, full canvas throughout, so the price reflects cloth, not construction.
Unlimited fittings are included, as is a year of complimentary alterations. Half is paid at cloth selection, the balance on delivery. A rush adds twenty-five per cent; wedding parties take twenty per cent off. For where the money goes, read how much a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles, and every figure, mill by mill, is set out on bespoke suit cost Los Angeles.
If the evening in the diary is black tie, renting a tuxedo or having one made sets the two costs beside each other.
Cloth and colour
Mar Vista lies far enough inland to be warmer than the beach and close enough to feel the marine layer. A mid-weight worsted in the 280 to 320 gram range handles both, and it is what we steer most first commissions towards, in navy or mid grey. We will say which cloth we think right at the consultation, not afterwards.
The neighbours
Mar Vista is ringed by neighbourhoods we already serve. Custom suits Santa Monica go north and west of you, and custom suits Venice and custom suits Marina del Rey go between Mar Vista and the water. Further south, custom suits Westchester and custom suits Playa Vista keep us as busy, and the bespoke tailor Playa del Rey page covers the shop itself. The pattern, the canvas and the prices do not change between them.
Mar Vista is one of the neighbourhoods we look after from Playa del Rey. For the whole picture — what every garment includes, the cloth houses, the full price list and how the making is done — our guide to custom suits Los Angeles has it in one place, and tailor Los Angeles sets out the four quite different trades that share the one word.
We can come to you
A visit to a home or office anywhere in Los Angeles is $300, including travel and the full cloth selection, with finished garments brought to you for fitting. For a Mar Vista house, or a group commissioning together, that is often the sensible way to begin. See home and office tailoring visits.
Questions we are often asked
Is there a bespoke tailor in Mar Vista?
Mr James is a short drive south at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, the nearest genuinely European bespoke house to 90066. Every garment is full canvas and fully bespoke, with two-piece suits from $1,795.
How do I get to the shop from Mar Vista?
Head coastward on Venice Boulevard, or take National down towards Culver Blvd and carry on to number 221. It is a storefront, not a suite, with free parking in front and behind, so there is no garage to find.
What does a suit cost?
A two-piece from $1,795, a three-piece $2,045, a tuxedo $1,795, an overcoat $1,200, odd trousers $450 and a custom shirt $295. Better mills cost more, from $2,995 for Drago up to $3,995 for Loro Piana, and the construction is the same at every price.
Do you offer made to measure?
No. Everything we make is fully bespoke and full canvas, drafted from a pattern cut for you. Houses that do made to measure do it well, but it is not a service we offer.
Can you come to a house or office in Mar Vista?
Yes. A home or office visit is $300, including travel and the full cloth selection.
How long does a commission take?
Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight if it comes from Italy or England. Shirts are two to four weeks, alterations about a week. A rush adds twenty-five per cent. Where those weeks go is set out in how long it takes to make a bespoke suit.
Do you cut for women?
Yes, by the same method and at the same prices. Every garment is fully bespoke and full canvas, whoever it is for.
Who will I meet, and is the first appointment free?
Robb or Ben. There are two of us, and whichever you see at the consultation sees the garment through to delivery. The first hour is free: around thirty measurements, three photographs and a long look at cloth.
Come and see us
221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293. Open by appointment, with forty-eight hours' notice. Reserve a time, use the book a fitting page, or telephone 310-503-3592.