Mason and Sons Sample Suit
Ferinstal
North of Londinium...Posts: 310MI6 Agent
Just got an email from Mason and Sons offering the Conduit Cut suit for £375/ 50% off.
Apparently these are their ‘Sample Suits’, so I’m guessing are the equivalent of ‘Demonstrators’ at a car showroom but that sounds like a fair deal.
Dont get me wrong…I fully appreciate how much better an MTM etc would be but for somebody who rarely has to wear a suit now, that seems like a really good deal to get a well-made suit?
thoughts/opinions much appreciated.
Yes. Considerably.
Comments
Mason & Sons Conduit Cuts are exemplary suits, I dearly love the two I have and several years later they still give a genuine thrill to slip on . If you have the dimensions for off the peg have no hesitation as this is a great deal.
Thanks Royale - that’s what I figured. Even a little ‘local’ tailoring must be worth it at that price?
would absolutely recommend their Conduit Cut suit. Even in off the peg they fit skinny guys like me well! Quality is so much better than most of my other suits too.
Bought the navy one - this'll be the first nice suit I've owned in my life. Got a size larger than usual as I don't want to risk it not fitting, so I'm hoping a tailor will be able to take it down without much issue if needs be.
I would really careful with ordering a larger size! IMHO, you should contact Mason & Sons and find out some key measurements before they ship your order. Especially the shoulders and armscye: if they are too wide, it is almost impossible to get them tailored down a size without a lot of really expensive work by a good tailor. The jacket length can also be an issue, depending on the shape of the quarters.
Sorry to self-promote, but I wrote an article for the website about things to look for when buying a suit that may help and can give some ideas of the questions to ask Mason & Sons. David and his team are great people and I have no doubt they'd want to make sure you're happy with your purchase:
Hope that helps!
John
If I had opportunity to wear suits more, I would jump at this offer. Seem to have a few size variations in stock too.
I strongly agree with canoe2. Don’t get a larger size. Getting it tailored to fit will ruin the suits cut and dimensions completely. Get in touch with them and they will give you the best fit advice.
Hi John, thanks for the advice. To clarify, I bought this suit more as an investment for the future and don't plan to wear it for some time yet, but wanted to take advantage of the 50% offer.
The reason for my getting a size up is I'm planning to bulk up and gain some muscle over the next year or so, as I'm pretty muscle-devoid at the present moment! I'm already a size 38 jacket-wise so thought opting for the 40 would be more sensible as I'm hoping to get bigger.
I do understand the concern though and thanks for linking your article, which I shall have a read of.
I ordered the navy Conduit Cut suit on Thursday, and received an email last night from Masons to say that the suits are being made in Houston (bearing in mind I'm in Essex in the Uk, close to London) and won't be shipped to the UK for a month or so.
Am I alone in being a little disappointed that British suits are being made overseas for a company/brand which prides itself on its 'Britishness'; and in having to wait a month?
^ I felt 100% the exact same way after shooting them a couple of questions in an email; it was a dealbreaker for me. I live in the US and have full confidence and no doubt that the manufacturing in Houston would be good, even top-notch. However, I did not place my order because I believe that a suit of British design and heritage should be made in Great Britain.
It's sort of like how Sunspel manufactures the vast majority of its line in Portugal now. Only a few of their pieces and their non-Riviera t-shirts are still made in England. The quality is excellent nonetheless, but you really wonder why Sunspel doesn't pride itself on its Portuguese manufacturing.
Thanks proteinpro - I’d agree. At least it’s not being made in a sweatshop in some poor country and I’d anticipate that it will be well made in the US - but it’s bit of a farce for “The Home of British Style”, ‘committed to building a portfolio of brands and products that represent the best of British design’…
Hmm, I didn't interpret the email to mean the suits are actually manufactured in Houston, just that they are currently located in the showroom there. But I could be mistaken.
I interpreted it as that they were located in Houston, not manufactured there also. I don’t have a Mason suit currently, so hadn’t actually checked where they were made - but I assume these suits were manufactured in line with all others they produce as RTW. I assume their Houston/US sales were heavily impacted by Covid and not being able to do their roadshow, and the discount is so sizeable because they have surplus stock when wanting to roll out a new line.
Pretty sure a sample sale means the suits are already made and are floor models and whatnot. Mason & Sons has a showroom in Houston, not a factory.
It would be somewhat ironic though for a 'champion' of British tailoring to have suits presumably made in Britain, then have them shipped to a Houston showroom, just for some of them to be shipped back to Britain...
I'll email Mason & Sons in the morning and see if they can shed any light on the situation.
These sample suits for their Special Order line were not made in the US, and were only housed in Houston where their American consultant is based. But they were not made in the UK either. I have a number of examples of their Special Order suits, and they are made in Italy. There are only one or two factories in the UK that make suits now, and at the time Mason chose a place of manufacture they were more satisfied with the results they could get in Italy. The quality was superb and the turnaround time was very fast. The patterns are their own, so it’s not some rebranded Italian design. While I have been very happy with the suits they made in Italy, I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
They make their bespoke suits in London (by someone who cut suits for Roger Moore in A View to a Kill!).
Thanks for shedding some light on the situation, Matt 🍸🍸