Bespoke Tailor in Playa del Rey
Mr James is the tailoring house at 221 Culver Blvd, a storefront on Culver Boulevard in Playa del Rey. We make fully canvassed, fully bespoke suits from $1,795, each cut from a pattern drawn for one person and made by hand in our own atelier in Southern Brittany, France. We dress women as well as men, by the same method and at the same prices.
The house was founded in 2010 by Robb Pollard with Max, our maker in Brittany. It came to Los Angeles in 2015, opened its first showroom in Playa Vista in 2017 and has been on Culver Boulevard since 2021. If you live in Playa del Rey, this is the tailor you can walk to.
Four quite different trades in this city answer to the same word, and what a tailor Los Angeles actually does, from the alterations bench to the cutting room, is set out on a page of its own. We make bespoke only, and the comparison with the made-to-measure shops is on made to measure Los Angeles. The work itself, stage by stage, is described in what a tailor actually does.
Two reasons to come in
The first is a wedding, your own or someone else's. Six months ahead is ideal, three is comfortable, and six weeks is possible as a rush. There is more on the page for wedding suits Los Angeles and, for a whole party, on our groomsmen suits Los Angeles page. Wedding parties are twenty per cent less.
The second is the one good suit. A great many people in Los Angeles need a suit perhaps a dozen times a year and own nothing that fits. That is the case bespoke answers best: one garment, in a cloth chosen for how you live, that is right every time it comes out. Our guide to how a suit should fit sets out what right looks like.
What we make, and what it costs
| Two-piece suit | from $1,795 |
| Three-piece suit | from $2,045 |
| Tuxedo | from $1,795 |
| Overcoat | from $1,200 |
| Odd trousers | from $450 |
| Custom shirt | $295 |
| Home or office visit | $300 |
Every suit is full canvas, at every price. Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations are included. In the finer mills, Drago runs from $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry from $3,495 and Loro Piana from $3,995, and the whole card is set out on the bespoke suit cost Los Angeles page, with how much a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles explaining where the money goes. More on bespoke suits Los Angeles, custom tuxedo Los Angeles, custom shirts Los Angeles and custom overcoats Los Angeles.
For black tie in particular, renting a tuxedo or having one made sets the two costs beside each other, hire by hire.
What the mill labels mean, and why the weight matters more than the super number, is explained in our note on suit cloth.
Alterations on what we make
Unlimited fittings while the garment is being made, and one year of complimentary alterations from the day you collect it. We no longer take alterations in as a separate job, and we do not work on garments made elsewhere.
Getting here, and where to park
221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, CA 90293. We are on Culver Boulevard as it runs down towards the beach, with the marina on one side and the dunes on the other, so most people find us without needing an address twice. There is free parking at the front of the showroom and more at the back, which spares you the metered kerbside nearer the sand.
Coming along Culver Boulevard from Playa Vista or Westchester takes under ten minutes. From Marina del Rey it is a few minutes over the bridge, and El Segundo and LAX are a short drive south along Vista del Mar or Pershing. If you are flying in or out, a fitting on the way is perfectly practical.
A little further afield, we make custom suits in Manhattan Beach, Venice, Culver City, custom suits in Mar Vista and Brentwood; each has a page of its own with the drive from there, and for anyone who would rather not drive at all, we come to you. The drive from every direction, and what each visit is for, is gathered on our page for custom suits near me.
The showroom is by appointment, with forty-eight hours' notice. That is not exclusivity. Robb or Ben is with one client at a time, and an hour of undivided attention is the point of the place.
How a commission runs
The first meeting is an hour and it is free. We talk about where and how you will actually wear the garment, then look at cloth with the prices in front of you rather than behind a curtain. Around thirty measurements are taken, with three photographs, front, side and back, which record posture. The pattern is drawn for you alone and kept on file, so a second commission is simpler than the first. Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported. Wear something fitted so we can read your figure. More in what happens at a bespoke suit consultation, and on booking a fitting. Where those weeks actually go is accounted for in how long it takes to make a bespoke suit.
Questions we are often asked
Is there parking at 221 Culver Blvd?
Yes, free, at the front of the showroom and at the back. You do not need to look for metered parking nearer the beach.
How long does a suit take?
Four to six weeks in domestic cloth and six to eight weeks in imported cloth. A custom shirt takes two to four weeks.
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. If something is urgent, telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time.
Will you come to me?
Yes. A visit to a home or office is $300, and we bring the cloth and the finished garments with us. For anyone in Playa del Rey who cannot get out during the day, that is often the easier way. More on home and office visits.
Do you alter clothes bought elsewhere?
No. We no longer take alterations in as a separate job, and we do not work on garments made elsewhere. Anything we have made ourselves carries a year of complimentary alterations from the day you collect it.
Do you cut for women?
Yes, by the same method and at the same prices. A woman's first bespoke suit in Los Angeles sets out what to expect.
For the fuller picture, what every garment includes, the cloth houses we work with and how the making is done, our main guide to custom suits Los Angeles covers all of it in one place.
Come and see us
Book a private consultation, or telephone 310-503-3592 and we will find a time. You can also write to mrjames@bespokemrjames.com.
More: how to choose a bespoke tailor in Los Angeles · bespoke suits Los Angeles · custom tuxedo Los Angeles · custom tailor Los Angeles · visits to your home or office · book a fitting · about the house.