Tailored vs Off The Rack

There was a time once when the groom's attire was an afterthought. A mere side dish to the main course that was the bride's wedding gown. For suits, RTWs would be the norm, as long as the tie matched the motif. And for the barong, altered off-the-rack pieces from Onesimus would be just fine. Anyway a suit is a suit and a barong is barong. Right?

I remember my first tailored barong (more formally know as the barong tagalog). It was for my Kuya's wedding and I was a secondary sponsor. It was tailored in Lucban, Quezon where residents claim is the birthplace of the Barong Tagalog. I'm not sure about that, but if it were then I won't be surprised. That barong had, what I believe, a classic barong fit: a little bit long and a little bit wide. Nowhere near the slim fit pieces preferred by the younger generation nowadays.

I've had a couple of barongs tailored since then, mostly by the tailors of the groom having the wedding I'll be wearing the barong to. And each time I had a barong tailored the more I would appreciate a tailored piece vs. off the rack. It may be because of my (limited) height and wider than usual shoulder that off the rack pieces don't really fit me.

Now, my first tailored suit was made last year. It was always so difficult getting an RTW to fit me that I always had it altered anyway, so I thought I might as well just get a tailored one. Not only did it fit me better, it also cost less! It was tailored at Anicete's tailoring where I'll have my male entourage's attires tailored as well. You may contact them at 0918 3181238. Look for Mr. Anicete.

Now, for my own attire, I'm again looking at getting a tailored suit. Some may say that getting a known suit designer would cost a lot, but after doing the math, it's not far from what you would pay for a nice suit at Zara. A suit at Zara costs about ~8k and matching trouser would cost ~3.5k. A nice inner shirt would be about ~3k, and  a vest if you could get one to match your suit would be about ~3k as well. A tie at Zara would set you back ~2k. Now that's almost ~20k! If you were to contact some of the more well know designers you'll be very surprised that their pricing isn't that far from this number. With a tailored suit, you'll be paying almost the same but will be assured of a better fit.

I've already met with three designers and I'll be making my decision soon. All of their designs were great so it just comes down to pricing and the rapport I had with them.Of course going for Mr Anicete is cheaper, but I want to stand out from my entourage hence a proper designer is in hand.

Hopefully, when our wedding day comes, my suit won't merely be a side dish to Yeng's gown, but something that would compliment her gown. It can be the puto to Yeng's dinuguan. Complimentary yet the star is still the dinuguan. 

Yeng, if you reached this point, I know you've just cringed at my analogy. Hehehe.