Custom Suits for Santa Monica
Bespoke Mr James is a European tailoring house in Playa del Rey — about fifteen minutes down Lincoln from Santa Monica. Fully canvassed, fully bespoke suits cut from your own pattern and made by our atelier in France, from $1,695. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations included.
We have dressed men from Santa Monica since we opened in Los Angeles in 2015. Most of them come to us. Some of them never do, because we go to them instead.
Getting here, or not bothering to
The showroom is at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey. From most of Santa Monica that is a straight run down Lincoln, and there is free parking in front of the shop and behind it — which, if you live in Santa Monica, you will appreciate more than anything else on this page.
If the drive is the obstacle, it need not be. We visit homes and offices anywhere in Los Angeles for $300, and we bring the cloth with us — the full selection, plus linings, shirting and finished garments to look at. For a man who is billing by the hour, that is usually the cheaper option.
What Santa Monica actually wears
The brief we get from this side of the city is consistent: something that works in a meeting and does not look like a costume at dinner. Softer shoulder, less structure, cloth that can take a warm afternoon and an air-conditioned office in the same day.
That last part is where most men go wrong. A smooth lightweight worsted looks cool and wears hot. A high-twist cloth — the yarn twisted harder before weaving — is more open, breathes properly, and holds a crease through a long day. It is the single most useful thing we tell people about dressing for this climate, and it costs nothing extra.
Heavy flannel has its place here too, but genuinely only from December to February.
What makes it bespoke
A pattern drafted for you alone — your posture, the set of your shoulders, the way you actually stand rather than the way a mannequin does. Around thirty measurements and three photographs, front, side and back. That pattern is kept and adjusted for as long as you come to us.
And full canvas. Inside the chest of every jacket we make there is a layer of horsehair and wool floating between the cloth and the lining, attached by hand. It takes the shape of your chest over the first months and holds it. A fused jacket has that structure glued in; it looks similar on the rail and never moulds to anyone. There is no fused option here at any price.
We do not offer made-to-measure. Our starting price already sits where much of it does.
Prices
- Two-piece suit — from $1,695
- 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.
The full breakdown of what a bespoke suit costs and why is worth five minutes before you commit to anything.
How long it takes
Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported Italian and English cloth. Shirts two to four weeks. A rush is possible at a twenty-five per cent surcharge.
For a wedding, six months out is perfect and three is comfortable. We would rather you did not start a year ahead — men change shape, and a suit cut to a body from twelve months ago is a suit that needs remaking. More on wedding commissions here.
Come and see, or have us come to you
The first consultation is an hour and costs nothing. You will meet Robb or Ben — there is no sales floor and nobody else to meet.
Appointment only, seven days a week, forty-eight hours' notice. Call 310-503-3592 or book a time.
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.