DADS AND GRADS CUSTOM SUIT PROMO - ONE DAY ONLY

Create a beautiful new suit or sport coat from ANY of our custom MTM collections for Dad (or the first suit in your Grad's wardrobe) with a special one-day-only 20% discount, June 16 only! Made-to-Measure specialist Kent Rogers is taking 3 1.5 hour appointments that day for fitting, selecting fabric, and styling your new custom garment.

Please email promotions@BUTCHBLUM.com to RSVP. 

SUIT CONSTRUCTION 101

We are often asked why our suiting costs what it does - particularly with the preponderance of "buy-one-get one free" mass market retailers. To answer that question, one needs to understand how a mass-market suit is constructed. The Discovery Channel video above takes you inside a typical American suit factory, and shows how mass-production churns out thousands of identical suits.

After you watch the video, consider the following:

Our Italian handmade suiting, like Sartoria Partenopea, requires many of these steps to be completed by hand, with a single needle and thimble. Automation is virtually nonexistent in these factories, and a garment can remain on a single tailor's worktable for multiple workdays, sometimes requiring over 24 hours worth of work.

Even our high quality machine-made suiting requires more steps than shown in the video. While some parts of the construction - like a pant's tab waist or the jacket's skirt pockets - are rapidly constructed by machine, companies like Coppley and Samuelsohn eschew glue-based 'fusing' to construct the chest pieces of the suit, preferring to loosely baste (a long, temporary stitch) in canvas pieces to give the suit its shape and fullness. The Samuelsohn factory takes construction a step further, hand-basting the chest pieces in order to ensure an individualized fit. The looser hand-stitches tend to conform to an individual's shape better than tighter machine stitches.

The next time you browse through Butch Blum's impeccably curated collection of suiting, stop and think about the steps it takes to create a suit worthy of hanging in our store, and of the incredible value of your investment.

BACKSTAGE W/SARTORIA PARTENOPEA

 This cheeky little video takes us backstage for last year's Sartoria Partenopea ad campaign, featuring a simulated suit jacket painted on the model. It illustrates - rather literally - the feeling of a custom handmade garment from this company...like a second skin.

ARTISAN DAYS - TODAY

 Today - March 12 - and tomorrow, March 13, Butch Blum (in partnership with the Italian Trade Commission) will be hosting a spectacular presentation of handmade clothing, from diverse artisans like Sartoria Partenopea, Luciano Barbera, Faliero Sarti, Transit, and Fratelli Rossetti shoes.  For ladies offerings, click here.

We will have special order opportunities from the designers, in both Made-To-Measure and Ready-To-Wear clothing and sportswear, as well as delicious hors d'oeuvres from Barolo Ristorante and wine tasting from Wilridge Winery - Seattle's oldest continuously running winery. The Olson Kundig Architecture firm will be bringing a selection of Tom Kundig's handmade interior accountrements, and Glassybaby will be providing their unique handblown signature votive holders.

Please email promotions@BUTCHBLUM.com to RSVP. Space is limited, so early RSVP's are greatly appreciated! We look forward to seeing you at this incredible event!

ARTISANAL EXCELLENCE - SARTORIA PARTENOPEA

Sartoria Partenopea's construction is unparalleled in its class. 14 distinct areas of the jacket are completely hand-sewn - essentially everything on the garment but the stress-bearing seams. This puts it in a unique class of garments designed for gentlemen who appreciate the unique comfort and fit that comes from a handmade garment, and who want the very best in their professional wardrobes.

Partenopea also features a feather-light fully canvassed jacket, as well as a broad selection of styles, each featuring the same impressive level of hand construction. Gentlemen can select fashionable lightly padded and canvassed "unconstructed" garments (including the legendary Neapolitan "camicia" shirtsleeve shoulder) as well as more traditional silhouettes with more shoulder pad and stronger lines.

Last, but certainly not least, is Partenopea's value-conscious price point. Beginning at around $2995 for a jacket and pants, Sartoria Partenopea sells a custom Made-To-Measure garment at nearly half the price of off-the-rack models from similarly tailored brands like Kiton and Brioni. Garments in the same price class from mass-market labels (Ermenegildo Zegna, et al) tend to only feature hand finishing on the leading edges, with the majority of construction done by machine.

Come see our incredible selection of fabrics for Spring 2013, as well as their presentation during our Artisan Days celebration March 12 and 13.

WHY MADE TO MEASURE?

We often have clients ask us "why should I have a suit made for me? Isn't this one off the rack just as good? Well...yes, but it may not serve your needs in quite the same way. The following are four different kinds of guys who LOVE MTM suiting, and who knows? You may very well be one of them! 

1)The fit connoisseur.  The made-to-measure process is notable for offering an outstanding fit. Whether you're a 6'9 basketball player with shoulders that pitch forward and a particularly small waist, or a 5'9 guy who fits comfortably in an off-the-rack 40R, a MTM garment can offer a fit that's geared towards YOUR body. You may not be aware of the individual challenges your body can offer, but our MTM specialists are trained to see every detail, and will adjust your order accordingly. Once you've had a garment custom made for you, nothing feels quite the same.

2)The designer.  One of the most important MTM clients is a guy who can wear off the rack suiting, but chooses to wear something that expresses his individual personality. Details like ticket pockets, peak lapels, "storm tabs" or suede elbow patches, and even colorful linings (or no lining at all) can generally be added to your order for no extra charge. Life is in the details, and it's the little extras that make a custom garment truly satisfying.

3)The luxury enthusiast.  MTM fabric collections are notable for carrying fabrics that are too precious to order in large quantities. Superfine wools (anything using a Super 150 or higher yarn) and exotic fibers like vicuña, yangir, and guanaco are impractical to carry in store, but are easily available to those who can appreciate them. 

4)The guy who only has one suit. If you're only going to have one tailored garment in your wardrobe, shouldn't it be something you love to wear? A made-to-measure garment is a popular choice for a wedding, graduation, or other special event, and we encourage clients to choose fabrics they can incorporate into their regular wardrobe, even if they don't find themselves dressing in a full suit and tie often. Because of modern silhouettes and softer jacket construction, a MTM suit can be split up and used in different ways. The 3 piece suit you get married in could be a great sport coat with khakis, a cool vest with a pair of jeans, and a sharp dress pant to pair with a button-down and a sweater.

Come check out our latest Made-To-Measure offerings from Samuelsohn, Coppley, Sartoria Partenopea and more, and find out for yourself why a one-of-a-kind custom suit is one of the best wardrobe investments you can make.

INTRODUCING SARTORIA PARTENOPEA

 We are proud to present a new handmade tailored garment to our lineup, from the experts at Sartoria Partenopea. Sartoria Partenopea was founded in Naples in 1993, with a mission to create Italian handmade clothing using modern fabrics and construction techniques.

Partenopea's garments are over 60% hand constructed. Each step in the manufacturing process is overseen by a single tailor, who chalks out a pattern by hand, cuts the fabric by hand, and sews the various component pieces together by hand, before machine sewing load-bearing seams. These steps make them one of a handful of suit manufacturers in the world that produce clothing of this quality and attention to detail. Partenopea has an outstanding attention to value as well, with a starting price point roughly half the cost of similar 'designer' tailored goods.

Come check out this outstanding garment and see why Sartoria Partenopea is one of our favorite new resources.