Indochino – Helping Men Look Better, One Suit at a Time

Walking in to Union Station, I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the banners hanging out from the Great Hall’s ceiling. I couldn’t decide if I thought that the of Indochino’s Traveling Tailor felt hip and modern or laid-back and retro…or maybe it was a combination of all of the listed adjectives.

Indochino is your own virtual tailor, here to supply you with custom made suits at an extremely accesible price.  From Forbes to Wired, the Vancouver (& Shanghai) based company has been making headlines about their stylish, convenient and affordable delivery of sophisticated suits to men in need around the world. How does it work? You go online, order a suit and in 3 weeks, it’ll be delivered to your doorsteps. Last week, they arrived  in Chicago in their “Traveling Tailor” tour that is in town until the 20th so hurry and make an appointment with them.

The process was some fun, some work and a lot of knowledge learned about suiting up. Being a complete newbie to the world of custom suiting, I did not know what to expect besides being measured up. The process was a little more involved than that. After taking and inputing my measurements, I met with a stylist to work on the details of the suit: things from color of lining to how many buttons your best should have. Everyone I’ve worked with was very nice, professional, but hardly stuffy, and didn’t mind I asked questions silly enough to drive anyone mad. For example: why would I want to get a 3, 5 or 7-button vest and why a monogram in the inside of your jacket is a nice, understated, touch.

The thing that would probably stop me from ordering a custom suit online is my fear of not getting the measurements right and I’ve relaid that concern to Daniel (the appropriately opinionated stylist). He assured me that that’s not a problem. Indochino’s guide online is very detailed (has pictures too!) and the process if very simple to follow. They’ll even send you a measuring kit and fabric samples to help you along the process.

Something that others wonder too is what it means to have their Indochino ordered suits made in Shanghai. I didn’t have the least bit of worries about that. After all, the best custom made suits I’ve seen in my life, come from east Asia. In fact, dealing with Indochino meant that I don’t have to hop on a plane and carry a very heavy dictionary to China to get an excellent garment – made just for me.

Now, all I have to do is wait 3 weeks and admire how a well a bespoke suit feels and looks on me.

Disclosure: I was invited by editor of Chicagonista to the Traveling Tailor event and did not pay for the suit. That said, I was under, absolutely, no obligation to write about the event or the company.

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