Three-Piece Suits in Los Angeles

Mr James makes fully bespoke three-piece suits in Los Angeles, at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey. A three-piece is a jacket, trousers and a waistcoat cut as one commission, from one pattern, in one cloth, so that the three pieces agree with each other in a way a waistcoat bought on its own never quite does. Every garment is full canvas and made by hand at our own atelier in Southern Brittany, France, by Max, who has made for this house since it was founded in 2010. The figure follows the cloth, so we talk about it at the consultation rather than on this page.

What the third piece actually does

A waistcoat changes the shape of a man before it changes his wardrobe. It closes the space between the lapels, so the eye reads one unbroken line from the collar to the hem of the jacket instead of a bright triangle of shirt. It holds the shirt flat across the waist, which matters more than most people expect, because a shirt that blouses at the middle is the commonest reason a perfectly good suit looks untidy by four in the afternoon. And it means you can take the jacket off and still be dressed, which in a city where the jacket comes off at lunch is the practical argument rather than the romantic one.

There is a quieter gain as well. The trouser waistband sits under the waistcoat, so a belt becomes unnecessary, and side adjusters or braces do that work instead with nothing to interrupt the line at the middle. A buckle under a waistcoat makes a small hard ridge that shows in photographs, and once you have seen it you do not stop seeing it.

When a three-piece is the right commission

We would not put every client in one, and we will say so at the consultation. For a first suit meant to carry a whole working week we usually suggest a two-piece in mid grey or navy, and a three-piece as the second commission, because the two-piece is the garment you will reach for on an ordinary Tuesday. Where the third piece earns its place at once is anywhere you are looked at for a long time: a groom, a man who speaks in front of rooms, a trial lawyer, anyone whose working day ends in a photograph. Those are the days when a shirt that has stopped behaving is expensive.

Where it does not belong is an office that has settled on an open collar and no jacket, because a waistcoat on its own over a shirt reads as costume rather than tailoring unless the rest of the room is dressed. If that is your week, the honest answer is a soft jacket and good trousers, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a piece you will not wear. Our pages on custom suits in Los Angeles set out how we usually sequence a wardrobe.

How a waistcoat is cut

The waistcoat is the most closely fitted garment in tailoring and the least forgiving. It has to follow the chest and the waist with almost no slack, because any looseness shows as a ripple across the front rather than hiding in a fold, and it has to end at exactly the right point: long enough that no shirt and no trouser waistband appears below it when you raise your arms, short enough that it does not ride up on the hips when you sit down. Half an inch decides whether a waistcoat looks made or bought.

We cut the back in lining rather than cloth, which is the traditional construction and the sensible one. It keeps the garment cool under a jacket, it reduces bulk where the jacket is already doing the work, and the buckle at the back takes up the small amount a body changes across a year. Then the details are chosen: five buttons or six, lapels or none, two welt pockets or four, a pointed bottom edge or a straight one, and what the back lining should be, since you are the only person who will see it. The full set of fit checks is in our note on how a waistcoat should fit.

The trousers are cut to be worn with the waistcoat, which is a point easily missed. The rise is taken a little higher than it would be on a two-piece so the waistband sits comfortably under the bottom of the waistcoat with no gap, and the choice between pleats, turn-ups and side adjusters is made with that in mind. We have written about those trouser details separately.

Cloth for a three-piece in this city

Three layers over the torso is warmer than two, and that is the honest objection to a three-piece in Los Angeles. The answer is weight rather than compromise. A high twist wool in the lighter weights, sometimes sold as a fresco, breathes through the weave and sheds creases almost by itself, which makes it the cloth we reach for most often here. A hard finished worsted in the mid weights is the year-round choice for anyone who wants one suit to do everything. Flannel, tweed and heavier worsteds are January cloths in this city, and a three-piece in any of them is a pleasure for about six weeks of the year.

Colour matters as much as weight for a three-piece, because there is more of it in view. Mid grey and navy carry a waistcoat without announcing it. A strong pattern does not, since a check that reads as quiet across a jacket reads as loud when it covers the whole front of you. The houses we buy from, and how to choose between them with the books open, are set out on our page about suit cloth and the mills.

Three-piece suits for weddings

Weddings are where this commission is asked for most, and for good reasons rather than sentimental ones. The waistcoat holds everything in place through a day that runs from a warm afternoon to a late evening, so the photographs taken at nine look like the photographs taken at two. When the jacket comes off for the dancing the groom is still dressed. And a waistcoat gives a groom a way to stand slightly apart from his party without wearing a different colour, which is usually the elegant solution.

Timing is the part worth hearing early. Six months before the date is perfect, three months is comfortable, and six weeks is a rush we can sometimes take. Making itself is four to twelve weeks once measurements and cloth are settled. Everything else about dressing a wedding, including the party and the fathers, is on our page for custom wedding suits.

How the commission works

The first consultation is an hour and there is no charge for it. You will meet Robb or Ben, and a client always meets one of us. We talk about what the suit is for before we look at anything, then open the books. About thirty measurements are taken along with three photographs, which record how you actually stand, since posture is half of what a pattern has to answer. The pattern is then drawn here in Playa del Rey and the garment is cut and sewn by hand in Brittany.

Fittings are unlimited and they continue until the garment is right, not until a quota is used up. One year of complimentary alterations on garments we have made is included. We do not offer made-to-measure, and we will say so plainly if that is what you came in for: everything that leaves this house is cut from an individual pattern. We no longer take in alterations on clothing made elsewhere.

We work Monday to Sunday by appointment, roughly nine until six, and we ask for forty-eight hours of notice. There is free parking at the front and the back of 221 Culver Blvd. As far as we know we are the only genuinely European suitmaker working in Los Angeles, which is a statement about where the garments are made rather than about the good tailors who are also in this city.

Questions we are often asked

What is a three-piece suit?

A jacket, trousers and a waistcoat cut as one commission, from one pattern, in one cloth. The waistcoat is the piece that makes it a three-piece, and because it is cut at the same time as the other two it agrees with them in cloth, in balance and in length in a way that a waistcoat bought separately does not. At Mr James every garment is full canvas and fully bespoke, so the three pieces come off a single pattern drawn for you.

Is a three-piece suit too warm for Los Angeles?

Not if the cloth is chosen for it. Three layers over the torso is warmer than two, so we drop the weight rather than the waistcoat: a high twist wool in the lighter weights breathes and sheds creases, and the waistcoat back is cut in lining rather than cloth, which takes a good deal of the heat out of it. A heavy flannel three-piece belongs to January here, not to August.

Should the waistcoat match the suit?

For a working suit, yes. A matching waistcoat is what makes the three pieces read as one garment and is the version that works in a courtroom, a boardroom or at a wedding. An odd waistcoat, in a different cloth or a different colour, is a separate idea and a good one, but it is a sport coat decision rather than a suit decision, and we would usually make it after the matching one exists.

How many buttons should a waistcoat have, and which do I fasten?

Five or six is the usual range, and the number is chosen to suit the length of your torso rather than for its own sake. Fasten all of them except the bottom one, which is left open so the waistcoat can move when you sit. If a waistcoat is cut properly the open bottom button does not gape, because the shape above it is doing the work.

Can I add a waistcoat to a suit I already own?

To a suit we made for you, often yes, and it is worth asking early, because cloth from a particular piece will not be woven again and a mill will not always have it. To a suit made elsewhere, no. We no longer work on other people's garments, and matching a cloth we did not order is guesswork that usually shows in daylight.

Is a three-piece suit right for a wedding?

It is the commission grooms ask for most often, for two reasons. The waistcoat holds the shirt flat through a long day, which is what keeps the photographs looking the same at nine in the evening as they did at two in the afternoon. And when the jacket comes off for the dancing the groom is still dressed. Six months before the date is perfect, three months is comfortable, and six weeks we can sometimes take as a rush.

How long does a bespoke three-piece suit take to make?

Four to twelve weeks from the consultation, once measurements and cloth are settled. A three-piece is not slower than a two-piece by much, because the waistcoat is cut at the same time and fitted at the same visits. Imported cloth sits toward the longer end of that window, since it has to reach the atelier in France before anything is cut.

What does a bespoke three-piece suit cost?

The figure follows the cloth, so we give you a straight answer at the consultation with the books open in front of you rather than publishing a number that would be wrong for most commissions. The making is the same whichever cloth you choose, since every garment is full canvas and cut from your own pattern. The consultation is an hour and there is no charge for it.

Book a fitting

If a three-piece is what you want, or if you would like an unhurried hour to work out whether it is, pick a time that suits you on our fitting calendar, or start from book a fitting. You can also call (310) 503-3592. Bring the date, if there is one, and any photographs of suits you have liked. If you are still deciding whether the third piece is for you, our note on when a waistcoat earns its place is the place to start.