Custom Suits for Palos Verdes

Mr James is a European tailoring house at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, a straight run up the coast from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Two-piece suits from $1,795, every one full canvas, cut to a pattern drafted for one person and made by hand at our atelier in Southern Brittany.

The Peninsula is four cities rather than one: Palos Verdes Estates on the seaward side, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates inland, Rancho Palos Verdes on the southern and eastern slopes, with Palos Verdes Drive ringing the whole of it. Torrance and Redondo Beach lie across the northern boundary, which makes this the quietest address in the South Bay.

Getting here from the Peninsula

Two routes. Down the hill to Palos Verdes Drive West, north on Pacific Coast Highway through Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, then Vista del Mar along the sand. Or inland on Hawthorne Boulevard to the 405. The coast road is the better company; the freeway is the one to take at five.

Number 221 is a storefront with no suite number, free parking in front and behind, no garage to circle and no lobby to sign into.

What the Peninsula commissions

Three briefs come down the hill regularly. The wedding, the reason most people walk into a tailoring house for the first time. Black tie, for the evening printed on a card that says black tie and means it. And the pared-back wardrobe of someone who has decided two good suits beat six indifferent ones.

A fourth turns up often: the suit meant to replace something that never quite fitted, where a jacket taken in at the waist still stands away from the neck. We dress women as well as men, on the same patterns and at the same prices.

Cloth for a hill above the ocean

The Peninsula keeps its own weather, and an evening on an exposed terrace is cooler than the same hour inland. A smooth lightweight worsted looks cool on the roll and wears hot. A high-twist cloth, the yarn twisted harder before weaving, is more open and still holds a crease at the end of a long day.

Shirts are a set of small decisions, and shirt collars and cuffs explained goes through them.

What it costs

A two-piece starts at $1,795, a three-piece at $2,045 and a tuxedo at $1,795. An overcoat is from $1,200, odd trousers $450, a custom shirt $295 and alterations $80 an hour.

Cloth from the better mills costs 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 one is full canvas and fully bespoke, so what you choose at the cloth table is weight, hand and mill, not construction. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included, half paid at cloth selection. Every figure sits mill by mill on the bespoke suit cost Los Angeles page, and custom overcoats Los Angeles covers winter.

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. And a garment sewn by Max, the house's French atelier, who has made every Mr James garment by hand since Robb Pollard founded the house in 2010.

We do not offer made to measure. There is one service here and it is the whole thing, as made to measure Los Angeles explains, while bespoke suits Los Angeles walks through the stages.

Turnaround is four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight if it travels from Italy or England. Shirts are two to four weeks, alterations about a week.

Weddings and black tie

Six months before the date is perfect, three is comfortable and six weeks is a rush we will still take at twenty-five per cent more. A year out we would rather you waited, because bodies move in twelve months. Wedding parties are twenty per cent off.

Getting a party measured is the part most grooms dread, and how to get a wedding party measured describes how we do it in one afternoon. The garments sit on wedding suits Los Angeles, and a custom tuxedo Los Angeles starts at the same $1,795.

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 brought with us: suitings, shirtings, linings and the mill books. For an address on the Peninsula it is often the sensible way to begin, since the drive is the only awkward part of the process. Finished garments come up for the fittings the same way, and where a group commissions together one visit measures everyone. More on home and office visits.

Questions we are often asked

Is there a bespoke tailor on the Palos Verdes Peninsula?

Not on the hill itself. Mr James is at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey, a straight run up the coast and among the nearest bespoke houses to all four Peninsula cities. Suits start at $1,795, full canvas.

How do I get to the shop from Palos Verdes?

Down to Palos Verdes Drive West, north on Pacific Coast Highway through Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, then Vista del Mar along the sand. Or inland on Hawthorne Boulevard to the 405.

What does a bespoke suit cost for a Palos Verdes client?

Two-piece from $1,795, three-piece $2,045, tuxedo $1,795, overcoat $1,200, odd trousers $450, shirt $295. Better mills run $2,995 to $3,995, and the making is identical at every price.

Will you come up to Rancho Palos Verdes or Rolling Hills?

Yes. A visit is $300, including travel and the full cloth selection, with finished garments brought up for the fittings. For a group it covers everyone in one appointment.

How long will a suit take if the wedding is on the Peninsula?

Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported. Six months before the date is perfect, three comfortable, six weeks a rush at twenty-five per cent more.

Which cloth do you recommend for the Peninsula climate?

A high-twist worsted for most of the year. It is more open than a smooth cloth, so it moves air through a warm afternoon and still holds its crease by evening.

Coming from the Peninsula, what should I expect at a first appointment?

An hour, free, with no obligation: around thirty measurements, three photographs and a long look at cloth. You will meet Robb or Ben, and whichever of us you see sees the garment through to delivery.

Come and see us

221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, seven days a week by appointment, roughly nine to six. The calendar moves week to week, so the simplest thing is to look and take what suits you. Reserve a time, use the book a fitting page, or telephone 310-503-3592.

Nearby: custom suits Torrance · custom suits Redondo Beach · custom suits Manhattan Beach · bespoke tailor Playa del Rey. More: custom suits Los Angeles · bespoke suit cost Los Angeles · about the house.