A few years ago, J. Crew went into the suit business big time and introduced the Ludlow suit. I saw it in the catalog, and it looked awesome. The fit was supposedly fitted, but I had been burned before by suits that claim to be “slim fit,” yet are so boxy on me I feel like David Byrne in one of his big Talking Heads suits. (Banana Republic, I’m talking to you.) So while I admired the Ludlow suits in the catalog, I had never actually wanted to buy one – until I saw this Ludlow in a floral Japanese cotton on jcrew.com. I thought it was one of the most beautiful suits I had ever seen. The floral pattern was distinctive, but the blue/grey color made it subtle. I wanted it. But at around $450 for the jacket and pants, I decided I would wait for a sale. I kept my eye on the website (I basically checked it every day), and eventually it did go on sale, plus an extra 30% off, so the suit was just over $200. (As of the writing of this blog post, it’s still available and on sale.)
I have no problems ordering clothes, even suits, online. I’ve bought numerous suits from Topman online, and they’ve been great. (I always assume I am going to the tailor to do some alternations.) So how did my first J. Crew suit fit? Let’s start with the jacket. I usually wear a 36 short. And the Ludlow 36 short fit perfectly. Even with the Topman jackets, I have to take in the sleeves. But with the Ludlow, the sleeves were perfect. And there’s a really nice taper to the jacket so it doesn’t feel boxy at all. I love it.
The pants, on the other hand, did not fit as well. I usually wear a 30″ waist. (With some stores like H&M and Uniqlo, I have to up that size.) The Ludlow pants are supposed to be trimmer, but they were huge on me. The waist was fine, but the pants were so baggy, so I just took the pants to the tailor to make the legs more fitted. They’re still not as skinny as I’d like, but my tailor really has an aversion to skinny pants.
This suit goes with a lot of shoes that I own. It looks great with my navy suede wingtips, or even my black plain toe bluchers. For this pic, I chose my teal Cole Haan wingtips. A bold suit deserves a bold pair of shoes.
Photos by Lynn Pelkey.