Wedding Suit Error - What is reasonable to ask for?

[LondonOx]

My best woman and I have had suits custom made for my wedding in two weeks. We went to the shop yesterday to try them on and discovered that one of the suits (mine) has been made incorrectly. My suit has been made with a dart (as is traditional in a man’s suit) rather than a princess cut (as is traditional in a woman’s suit). There are a couple of problems with this:

1. We don’t match, which was a significant part of the reason for getting suits custom made in the first place


2. It’s just not what I ordered

Because the wedding is in two weeks, there isn’t time for them to remake the jacket before my wedding. This is obviously a bit of a nightmare, the only saving grace is that the suit does actually still look good.

I am having a call with the them to discuss a solution, which I assume will be some kind of discount. I have no idea what it is reasonable to ask for. For context the three piece suit and shirt came to about £2k.

No, we're saying you have to do the job you were paid to do, not the job you can be bothered to do.

I agree with this

This is exactly the example I was thinking of

I would ask them to give you the jacket at cost. It isn’t what you ordered and it isn’t like they can sell it to someone else.

Two weeks on Saturday is the 7th May

But that would mean OP is getting the jacket for free basically.

Yes it isn’t what she ordered but if she still plans to take the suit then 50% off is insane.

The difference between this and a decorator is that OP doesn’t have to take the suit. They could still sell the suit to someone else.

Probably something like 10-15% is reasonable. The change is quite minor and you still like and want to purchase the suit.

They can't sell the suit to someone else - if it's been tailored, and that's what people go there for, then no-one else is going to buy it.

I think I'd be pushing for it to be re-made rather than a discount. They DO have time - they just have to find it (unless of course there's some missing info, like the fabric comes from somewhere far-flung and has to be ordered). The back of the suit won't be affected, and neither will the sleeves. They may be able to re-use those pieces when they reconstruct (I have made jackets, so I do vaguely know how it works) depending on what they've done with the seams inside the lining.

My suit has been made with a dart (as is traditional in a man’s suit) rather than a princess cut (as is traditional in a woman’s suit).

That's actually not true. I make most of my clothes, and do a lot of tailoring. I have several jacket patterns that are shaped with a dart. It's a design choice.

Your issue is that the suits aren't matching. But will anyone really notice????

Is it really impossible to make a suit in 2 weeks?

Not at all. I have a had a full three piece suit made in less than a week before now but clearly this 'tailor' can't do it because they send the work out.

The issue with rejecting the order is that I’m getting married in two weeks on Saturday (i.e 8 days) so my options would be very limited in trying to get something else, and this is something that I’ve been picturing for my wedding day for the last two years.

Personally I think £500 off is reasonable, I might be inclinded to start at 50% off the wole lot then haggle. If they tried to insist on much less than that I think I'd just reject the order and buy some off the rack suits, then have them adjusted in a rush, which is doable.

@ExMachinaDeus Sorry if that's inaccurate, it's how it was explained to me.

My issue is:

1. The suits don't match. Maybe no one will notice, but I went to a lot of effort and expense to make it so that they did in fact match


2. It is a design choice I was asked when ordering, with examples shown of each, and it isn't what I wanted/ordered, even if it is undoubtably still very nice.

I know someone who was unhappy with the way a number of traditional radiators were fitted in her house and also the time it took for gas services to be laid to her property (which she was having to pay for). After a bit of pushing, she got the whole lot for free, because none of it was done right or to timescale. Good on her!

Tippexy Are you saying that the OP has got date wrong? She said she's getting married in 8 days not on the 8th

They really can remake your jacket in the time span. They already have everything they need, measurement wise. What they mean is it would be very disruptive to their probably over booked and underpaid tailors.

They have made the error. Oops and a minimal deduction is not on.

That 'gapping' will happen with the jacket, after a couple of hours wear, body heat etc, it will relax and you will lose the fit.

Don't be fobbed off, ask what they will do to fully remedy the situation as you will not accept partial fulfillment, ie just the one jacket, and yours, the important one, is not what was ordered. They must do better than their current offer, that's ridiculous.

@luxxlisbon your comprehension is wrong. OP would be paying full price for the pants and half price for the jacket in this scenario.

However it doesn't account for the suit being a 3 piece rather than a 2 piece.

It absolutely matters, whether it looks good or not, is immaterial. You've order a woman's cut and they've made an assumption or a mistake and given you a man's cut. That's a totally different product and you'll always know that it's not what it should have been and it will be in the photos too forevermore.

I would push for them to make the jacket as specified in time or else they refund the majority of the cost of the jacket.

Obviously should have included diagrams from the start, but this perhaps better illustrates the different in the jacket cut of a dart vs. princess cut. Orange jacket showing the princess cut. Grey jacket has a dart instead.

The difference between the cuts is such that you could probably rescue the sleeves, and maybe part of the front and back jacket pieces, but a traditional jacket is cut without side seams, whereas a princess line bodice has side seams and the front and back are each made of 4 separate pieces. It would be easier for them to save the sleeves and recut the front & back entirely from new cloth - if they had exactly the same fabric.

And if that's all they did for 2 weeks, they should be able to do it. If it's not Savile Row style mostly hand-sewn tailoring, I'd could make a princess line jacket in a bout 3 days: a day to cut & make up the bodice, and set the sleeves, a day to do the lining, and then a further day to fit & finish. But that depends on other orders for them, I suppose.

Still they didn't do what was ordered so it is their responsibility to make good the error.

I would divide the £2000 into half as the trousers are okay. Then I would ask for 50% off the jacket. So I think £500 off is reasonable.

I also agree with this although I still think they should be moving heaven and earth to remake it in the eight days.

She wouldn’t be getting it ‘basically for free’ @luxxlisbon . She would be getting a 25% reduction.

How did you get on OP? You must have spoken to them by now - I'm fascinated to know if you reached a satisfactory resolution.

@ReviewingTheSituation

Sorry for the delay! After confirming they couldn't make the jacket in time, they offered to discuss compensation after the wedding and honeymoon 😀

They offered me a £200 refund on the jacket, a further £200 discount on a purchase in the future and a discount on alterations on a suit I bought from them last year (I lost a lot of weight for the wedding).

Overall, I'm happy with that and the suit does look great.