ring Jacket mto

Seeing as I received my first custom order suit from Ring Jacket a while back and now have had some time to reflect upon the experience it’s about time I wrote a little piece on the order process.

It’s not a secret that I have quite a bit of experience with the brand and the stores both in Tokyo and in Osaka so I’m already quite familiar with their catalogue, buying and making adjustments to garments at their stores.

In other words, although the custom part was new, I already felt somewhat at home.

The Store

I made an appointment at the Ring Jacket store at Grand Front in Osaka. This was a decision based on convenience at first, but I am very happy this was the store I ended up scheduling at. Seeing as this really has been one of the most anticipated steps in my sartorial journey so far, it’s a relief to be able to travel smoothly and as for the experience, that when it came to the ordering process it all went down in a very relaxed and casual manner, which is all thanks to the staff at the Grand Front store.

Although I have prior experience with Ring Jacket, the brands legacy here in Japan might make going into their stores slightly intimidating. An impression of being very luxurious, and upper class, obviously rightfully so.

But being in their stores has never been anything but a pleasure.

In every store I’ve been to there are very welcoming staff members and more importantly you never get a feeling that there is a preconception or bias. The feeling I get is that there is a lot of passion, among the staff members and in the atmosphere in general.

Regardless of whether I’m just browsing, having something adjusted or in this case making an inquiry for a custom suit, the friendliness and eagerness to assist and to have a friendly chat is always there.

Order Process -Choosing a Fabric

Meeting up to my appointment, I was greeted by one of their staff members, Fujiki-san and after a short chat we proceeded to the ordering table.

The first part, choosing which fabric to go for, was as always the biggest obstacle.
I had seen one of their ready-to-wear suits with an olive green fabric from William Halstead and was just instantly sold on the colourway. Unfortunately that fabric wasn’t available at the time, but even so upon further inspection, the William Halstead fabric had more of a gray tone to it, so in the end I probably wouldn’t have chosen that fabric either way. 

In any case, Fujiki-san, was very helpful in finding alternatives that matched the colourway I was after.

I knew I wanted a green suit, similar in colour to the one I just mentioned so at least I had that to work from. It was a bit of a dilemma, whether to go for exactly the colour I wanted or the most optimal fabric, but I have some plans for my wardrobe that includes either fresco or crispaire, so whether this particular suit ended up being a high twist or not wasn’t of particular importance. 

Upon seeing some of the bunches initially presented to me, it became quite apparent that Ring Jacket is not your everyday suit supplier. In my case I had initially set my eyes on a certain cloth so I didn’t prepare any alternatives which in hindsight I now know I should have. Just the share amount of shades of greens, the different weaves, ply’s, and so on, really makes the task difficult when you’re presented with more bunch books than your imagination can handle. In this case the help from Fujiki-san proved crucial in narrowing down the options.

I spent some time in the Fresco III book, mostly for future purposes, but in the end I found the colour I wanted in the Holland & Sherry Classic Mohairs bunch. I’m usually not a big fan of mohair, but after all, how mohair looks comes down to the type of weave and the percentage used in the cloth and in this case I wasn’t put off at all. Quite the contrary.

It was quite a light fabric, as such, fit for summer in that sense but I guess only time will tell if that’s a burden as far as holding it’s shape goes. More details with regards to the suit are being explored in the review, or presentation as I like to call it.

Order Process -Advice

When it comes to fabrics, if you’re scheduling an appointment they will probably inquire themselves, but if you know which bunches you are interested in, I would advice to be specific upon making the appointment. This not just to give them time to prepare but also because they have more or less everything imaginable available but the particular bunch might not be present for viewing in that particular store at the time. As such, if you inquire in advance they will have it sent over and neatly prepared upon your arrival. You can still order from a bunch regardless of whether it’s in the store or not, but it’s always preferable to be able to have a look and feel the fabric before deciding.

Order Process -Jacket & Trouser model

There are three levels of custom order, the one I was ordering from is the personal order level.

In my case I was quite familiar, not to mention satisfied, with the models available. Thus this level seemed sufficient to meet my wishes, beyond any consideration of price.

If you’re not familiar with their models a brows with the assistance of a staff-member will sort you out, but obviously having a look online or in-store beforehand is advisable.

For me, already knowing which trousers and jacket I wanted, and the level of satisfaction those models already provided through their ready-to-wear items, was after all the reason I wanted to order a custom suit in the first place. Although I include most of the specs in my presentation of the first suit, for the record, I went with the jacket model No-269 and trouser model S-178 for this suit. 

What I really enjoy about the staff-members’ input, beyond their passion, is that they are very aware of what the “Ring Jacket image” is in terms of details and look. If you’re a one-time customer who’s after that classic Ring Jacket look I would definitely suggest taking their advice into consideration when making decisions.

Fitting & Alterations

So, as for what you get at this level of custom order from Ring Jacket.

First of all there are two fittings. One upon ordering and one before finishing the suit. The second fitting was actually a lot more necessary than I had expected, seeing as I knew the models quite well. Some finishing touches but those small adjustments really made a big difference.

I recon the process is similar to other made to measure offers, as in adjusting the jacket and trousers based on a ready-made model. This is at least supported by my prior experience.

Most of the difference comes in terms of quality and craftsmanship, but there are some options i hadn’t seen before:

You can adjust the rise of the trousers, which personally was the first and foremost reason for ordering.

Secondly, you can add some width to the lapels, which comes in handy if you’re drawn to a certain model but want wider lapels, or, just want wider lapels in general. This is all very obvious, but going back to the “Ring Jacket image” there’s a little more to it. Besides their ready-to-wear models being sort of an all across cut, made to fit a bigger variety of customers, these models are still quite a clear representation of what Ring Jacket deems their look.

As such the proportions, the lapel with, gorge line and so on, all are thoroughly thought of and representing the elegant yet casual Ring Jacket look.

With regards to the trousers, an example of the difference in rise is seen below, although, it might not be as obvious on a picture so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Besides the aforementioned, the adjustments are quite generic, but of course based on what you need. In my case I already had quite a few jackets and trousers in the respective models so there wasn’t too much that needed to be done in terms of new adjustments in the first fitting.

But we did shorten the length between the chest and the shoulder on the left side to adjust for my shoulder, which is slightly sloped. Other than that some adjustments to the upper back beneath the collar. 

The rest we based on the jackets and trousers I have already bought. 

In the second fitting we managed to pick up some more alterations that needed to be done. Some slight length adjustments on the sleeves and a little more shortening beneath the collar.

Details

As for detail options you can choose from, the whole selection from their ready-to-wear catalogue is available.

Such as type of pockets and how many both outside as well pockets inside the jacket.

When it comes to stitching details, I personally really like their double lined pick stitching, but the different variations of single line stitching; along the edge and about a centimeter in, are also beautiful.

Lastly, a selection of cupro lining and horn buttons. I’ll add that you do have the option of your name embroidered but personally I never had a taste for that.

Seeing as the trousers I wanted was the S-178 exactly as they are, but adding length to the rise, I didn’t really ask, but I would assume you can change how many pleats you want on the trousers as well. 

Some thoughts on going custom

It might seem somewhat wasteful going the custom way when I’m obviously very much happy with the ready-to-wear suits Ring Jacket produces. Is it really worth it, when in my case the two most prominent benefits are picking the fabric and adding the rise to the trousers? Well, the former is quite obvious. Yes. The latter, also yes.

I won’t take anything away from the benefit of choose fabrics especially considering the climate and seasonal changes we go through in Japan. That being said, the latter, the rise of the trousers, for me is the difference between 98% and 100% satisfaction.

If Ring Jacket made this suit model in a greater variety of fabrics, admittedly I wouldn’t feel the need to go custom. But you wouldn’t expect any shop to provide that amount of options, so it’s not like I blame them for not doing so. Conversely, I would argue that for instance it’s quite remarkable that I found two suits in this model in the perfect colour and fabric, in the same winter release. You can have a look at the Subalpino and the Army Serge if you’re curious.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s been quite apparent to me for a while, since buying my first suit from Ring Jacket, that having a suit made from the respective trouser and jacket models and just adding that 1,5 inch to the rise would result in exactly the suit I want. I couldn’t be more correct. 

Throughout the process I also realized the benefits of picking fabrics from such a variety of books as well. Not that I was completely oblivious to that beforehand, it just wasn’t my primary reason.

Comparing with other stores’ offerings, for me this is the leap from being happy with the suit I got, limited to the options available at that particular store, to simply being 100% satisfied with the suit I got. It’s not like I won’t wear my other suits or I think less of them as such, but it’s the first time I haven’t added a “but if” after saying a suit I got was great. 

That said, I’m not going take anything away from the fact that with Ring Jacket this satisfaction comes at a price and that comparing them to lower priced made to measure options would be somewhat unfair. But at the same time, I think when you’re buying or ordering from Ring Jacket you aren’t just taking a step up in price and quality, you’re entering a whole new realm and category. 

The quality jump is so positively disproportional to the price step it’s almost not believable. 

I once stated, in the article Ring Jacket pt. 1, that Ring Jacket is the bespoke quality ready-to-wear brand and I stand by that, now with experience to back it up (although, I lack actual bespoke experience but let’s be post modern about that). 

If you’re interested in more details and pictures I’ve written a review, or rather a presentation, of the suit here and of course there are pictures in the gallery as well :)