I’ve always thought that the suit is a modern suit of armor. It should fit like a second skin. And whereas I’ve been buying suits off the rack for years, I’ve found that it’s been always full of compromises— whether arm holes are too tight or the crotch doesn’t fit quite right. And since fitment is everything (honestly, more important to me than quality), going with a fully custom suit was an experience I was excited, and ready, to have.
I recently had a chance to partner with Chookhare and Sons, a custom men’s clothier with showrooms located in cities all across the country including Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, and personally worked with the company’s owner, Ton Chookhare, in getting fitted for my very first custom suit. Now I’ve heard that finding the perfect tailor is as important (and personal) as finding the right doctor or dentist– and this was right. It was so easy to build rapport with Ton– getting to understand his personal story, his reasons for starting up a suit company, and understanding each other’s aesthetics and where they meet in the middle for the design of my suit. And that term, design… he gave me the chance to design my suit, as opposed to dictating to me what he thought I should be wearing– and as I used my own Instagram influences, I perused several of his fabric books and finally settled on a color and fabric. Trust me, that was no easy task.
