“I want to choose my tailor-made suit but I don’t know anything about it!”
It’s a phrase that sums up the panic of some of our customers when they enter the store for the first time. Relax, you’re in good hands. Let’s grab your coat and chat over coffee about your choice of suit tailor-made. Give us those 5 minutes of reading time, and you’ll save time when it comes to choosing your tailor-made suit!
Of course, we’re exaggerating – we haven’t just been welcoming gentlemen beginners to our store for the past 10 years.
The choice of a tailor-made suit is always based on a personal approach: wanting to be better dressed, and wearing a well-cut suit, in a quest for Beauty and Coolness at the same time. You’ve read it as well as we have: at the moment, tailor-made suits are selling less well. Over the past 10 years, streetwear has been gaining ground, oversized clothing has taken center stage and formal fashion has been on the wane. But at Rives Paris, what we love is combining the quality of a timeless fabric with a cut in the spirit of the times. Without following any diktat, simply following your desires for elegance.
1. THE 3 BENEFITS OF TAILOR-MADE SUITS
Advantage 1] The choice of a suit in your size!
We try to be understanding, but sometimes it makes us a little sad to see handsome men on the street with sleeves that are too long, shoulders that aren’t pronounced enough. When you’re wearing a suit made just for you, it shows, it’s noticeable, and you’ll be asked the flattering question: “Where did you get your tailor-made suit made?”. If you’re asked that question, you’ve won!
Advantage 2] The certainty of wearing a suit to your taste
Do you know him, that dull man on line 1 towards La Défense? It doesn’t look like he’s wearing his Grey suit: it looks like his suit is wearing him. After years of advising men, we can now tell you: some of you go into a store a little shy, but you always come out with a smile on your face, your chest puffed out, ready to take on life. Yes, that’s what happens when you wear a suit made just for you, like a second skin! A tailor-made suit that suits you, looks like you, and makes you beautiful!
Advantage 3] The assurance of investing in a quality suit
Of course, quality comes at a price, and we’ll talk later about the price of a tailor-made suit. As you know, choosing a customized suit means investing in a durable, high-quality piece that you’ll wear longer than a Zara suit or an inexpensive tailor-made suit.
2. TAILOR-MADE SUITS: WHAT DETAILS NEED TO BE CUSTOMIZED FOR A GREAT SUIT?
We could devote an entire article to customizing a tailor-made suit. We could even turn it into a reality show, like Pimp my ride: pimp my suit! But before we go and pitch this concept to TF1 and M6, let us reveal the 4 details you personalize most in store with us.
1] The choice of fabric is the first act!
This is one of the first decisions to be made when choosing a suit: which fabric? Tweed? Plain fabric? Beautiful wool? Our flagship fabric for your suit is wool twill or wool tweed. Perfect for mid-season, with a shaved thread, and a very slight sheen, natural, not disco, fear not. From Super 130 to Super 150 and from 250 to 280 grams in Navy blue: this is the all-round suit, perfect for work, weddings, bar mitzvahs, anywhere.
If we were to recommend another tailor-made suit variation, it would be with a slightly drier, more rustic wool: it would be a canvas. It’s fresher, more structured, a little less fluid: we’re talking about cold wool. And you can wear it all year round, not too hot in summer.. Especially mid-season and summer. And of course, we can’t forget the flannel, mottled in Grey, especially for winter. Very woolly, warm, and as it is quite thick, quite structured.
Choosing the fabric for your tailor-made suit can take time, and we’re here to advise you.
2] THE CUT AND PATTERN OF THE SUIT
There are many different styles of suit, and the whole point of tailor-made is to find your own. The one that matches your morphology, the one that hugs your body and makes you look your best. Would you prefer a 3-piece suit, a full suit or a jacket and trousers?
Let’s just say that our job is to guide you, even if it’s tailor-made. What you need to understand to keep up with the times are the major trends, the style of the decade. Double-breasted suits are back, and so are three-piece suits.
And overall, if we were to design a tailor-made suit that represented the era, it would be a rather slim-fitting suit, with trousers that ride higher in the waist than they used to and get shorter and shorter at the bottom, coming flush with the shoe.
It hardly breaks at all, and barely even comes into contact with the shoe. With a fairly narrow stocking. More and more, we follow the body’s natural lines. So-called cigarette Trousers simply follow your morphology.
At the top, jackets tend to lengthen, which is a good thing. More flattering.
The goal of a good tailor is simple: we aim for ideal proportions, with legs as long as possible, and bust as long as possible. Shoulders? Not too pronounced. But the streamlined Trousers!
2015-2020 ? At last, we’ve managed to combine the traditional aspect of the costume with modernity.
This means we’re successfully mixing codes, especially since 2017, we’re reviving Trousers with darts, and even Double pleated. Fitted leg. Volume on top and fitted on the bottom, a very old-school code, but with a modern attitude. There’s a simple reason why men’s style fans are beginning to recognize this Rives style: we’ve been working with the same workshop in Portugal for 10 years. A workshop that works with the very best.
3. OUR STYLE, YOUR EYE, YOUR TAILOR-MADE SUIT
In order to achieve a high-quality tailor-made suit that combines fashion, modernity and classicism, we have opted for a number of changes that we offer our customers. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? With a belt? Don’t you find that this line “breaks” the reading of your silhouette, like an 8 cut in the middle?
AT RIVES, WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO OUR CUSTOMERS FOR 10 YEARS: EVERYONE, EVEN THE TALLEST, ASKS US TO LENGTHEN THE SILHOUETTE.
Our solution, our signature? Trousers without belt loops. We lighten the load, remove the bystanders. We also remove the buttons to close the Trousers. And instead, we offer an extended, square placket on 90% of the Trousers we design. No belts or buttons to “interrupt the reading” of the suit.
We work hard on lines and proportions (collar, depth of back slits, number of pockets…) to help you get closer to your ideal silhouette. This is our true stylistic identity: you won’t know it’s Rives, but you’ll feel it.
4. CHOOSE A BUSINESS TAILOR-MADE SUIT
You’ll find us right in the heart of Paris, between law firms and architects’ offices, and you’ll have to watch out for all the businessmen running off to their next appointment on their MP3. If you’re looking for a tailor-made business suit, or a suit for the office, we’re the logical choice.
There are no official rules, apart from a joke between tailors and customers: “you mustn’t buy a more expensive suit than your boss! When it comes to office dress code, all dams are breaking down: while the banking and insurance sectors are still holding out and clinging to the formal suit, other sectors are switching to casual wear every day, no longer waiting for the sacrosanct Friday wear. So how do you stand out with a tailor-made suit at the office? To become the elegant man in your department, follow these three simple rules:
Change suits every day (the minimum is to have three in your wardrobe: a Grey suit, a Navy blue suit, and a brown tweed suit).
Cherish at least two pairs of shoes! Remember to air them out and put the shoe trees back on in the evening, and leave your pair of the day alone the next day. That’s why a good men’s wardrobe should include richelieus, derbies, ankle boots and moccasins.
Choose the right sleeves and shoulders when you have your business suit tailor-made. In fact, you’re going to live in this suit, you’re going to move and work, probably write and wear it out against a desk. Make sure you select materials that can withstand this kind of exercise. (We can advise you, even though we love wool).
Our fabric suppliers are among the best in the world: Loro Piana, Dormeuil, Vitale Barberis Canonico, Zegna, Holland and Sherry. In short, the best French, English and Italian weavers. That’s 5,000 fabrics still in the store. A base of timeless designs, with half of the motifs renewed every 6 months for a unique costume.
5. YOU WANT TO BUY A TAILOR-MADE SUIT FOR THE EVENING.
While work may occupy your days, elegance takes no time off, and demands that you look your best until the wee hours of the morning. Recently, it was Jonathan, a 40-year-old accountant friend and fashion enthusiast (he’s no stranger to contradictions), who confided in us that he follows this rule of propriety: “It’s forbidden to wear the same suit during the day and at night!” Before confessing that he’d invented the rule himself, of course!
For dinner out or a date, you can add a touch of whimsy and ditch your office suit. To choose a tailor-made suit for the evening, be sure to look at the following details:
– Collar shape
– Material
– Number and type of buttons.
If we were to give you our current ideal for a tailor-made evening suit, it would all start with the jacket. The ideal tux would have a shawl collar without satin, borrowing from the codes of Tuxedo. Try a drier material, such as barathea wool. A single, covered button with no buttonhole on the jacket.
What about the pockets? Without flaps. Smooth, clean. Finally, no back slit. If you recognize this description of a tailor-made evening jacket, you should: it looks a lot like a tuxedo jacket, but without the satin!
6. HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TAILOR-MADE SUIT FOR YOUR WEDDING
Dear friend, do you really think we were going to tell you all our secrets for this very special day, also called “the most beautiful day of your life” in this article?
That suit to get in front of the mayor is a real investment, and you’re going to have to take a little more time to make the right choice. And, above all, to consult with Madame and the witnesses.
Choosing a wedding suit is like getting a tattoo: it’s for life, so don’t do it on a whim. Will you still be wearing that baby yellow suit at 65 when your grandchildren ask, “But Grandpa? What for?
So to keep things short and deliver on our promise of a short, comprehensive article, we’ve decided to devote an entire article to it, which you can find here: tailor-made suit for weddings.
7. HAVE YOUR TAILOR-MADE SUIT MADE AT RIVES PARIS: YOUR QUESTIONS
How long does it take to make a tailor-made suit?
It takes 3 weeks to receive the suit, and then a few days for adjustments to be made in our workshop (the workshop adjoins the boutique, and your alterations are made by our tailors. We don’t subcontract alterations, to keep the Rives style from start to finish).
How much does a tailor-made suit cost?
Most of the price is determined by the fabric you choose. When it comes down to it, costume customization weighs very little in the final score. We spend as much time with you as you need, without a stopwatch in hand. We create a prototype for each customer. At the end of the day, 90% of you invest between €1,000 and €1,700 on average for your tailor-made suit.
As you can see, it’s very hard for us to tell you everything and show you everything on a single page.
In short: if you’re still wondering how to choose a men’s suit… come and visit us!
In our boutique, come and browse our selection of fabrics, touch our buttons, take your measurements and see our creations. Come and ask us your questions, and tell us what you want. We’re here to make you shine, and to give you a different experience of tailor-made suiting.
