If you work somewhere between Wall Street and Midtown, you probably wear denim a lot more often than you wear a suit.
And yet, your suits (no doubt collecting dust as we speak) probably fit you a helluva lot better.
Enter Michael Andrews, a swanky clubhouse tailor tucked away on Great Jones that just expanded its bespoke services to casualwear like jeans and — wait for it — swim trunks.
As told by the eponymous founder, Michael Andrews holds the title of being the largest custom suitery in NYC, with some 15,000 suit fabrics and 5,000 shirt fabrics on offer.
An appointment will run you 60-90 minutes (dram in hand, of course). For first timers, turnaround is about 8-12 weeks. Suits will set you back somewhere in the range of $2,300, with pricier options available if you want something truly sui generis.
But the new MVP here is Andrews’s foray into denim. Now taking appointments for the collection’s spring launch, these jeans will put your busted-up Levi’s to shame.
The fitting process commands the same care and attention to detail as their suiting, with more than 50 denim swatches to choose from. A pair will run you from $395 (for stretch) to $450 (for selvedge), both imported from Japan.
“Bespoke is all about fit,” says Andrews. “It’s the perfect choice for any guy who has a hard time finding jeans that fit just the way they want.”
Which brings us to another age-old query: How do you keep ‘em fitting — and looking — like new forever.
“There is no single way to care for jeans,” says Andrews. “We offer both washed and unwashed denim. As unwashed denim has not been pre-shrunk, it should be hand-washed in cold water or dry-cleaned in order to keep its original shape. If the denim has been washed, jeans can be machine-washed in cold water and line dried. In general, jeans, like other garments, should be washed as infrequently as possible. If they start to smell or are visibly soiled, it’s time.”
And if it’s summer daydreams you have on the brain, opt for swim shorts while you’re there ($395 for their solids and stock designs, or $495 for a truly custom job).
And when they say custom, they mean custom. “We had one military man who did a stint in Iraq and wanted us to put his escape map in his suit,” says Andrews. “For another gent, he had this beautiful landscape picture from a place he and his wife loved, so we were able to put that in the suit lining for his wedding tux.”
Long story short, the sky’s the limit.
So ready that beach body. You don’t want your shorts to outshine ya.
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