Bar III suit review

[somaticmarker1]

I recently asked for opinions about BAR III suits (one of Macy's in house brands). I ended up ordering the Pindot Dark Blue and thought I would share my impressions.


Pros

-A true slim fit. I found the Alfani Red line to be boxy for my frame. I have a 38 inch chest, 29 inch waist. But the Bar III suit coat fit me fairly well out of the box. I still had to get the waist brought in, but I was really impressed by the contour.


-High armholes. The suit jacket doesn't fly off. Even raising my arms horizontal to the ground, there is miminal movement in the jacket.


-Shoulder padding. I'm on the extreme end of miminal shoulder padding. I don't really care for any at all. The shoulder padding on the Bar III is slightly too much for my taste, but I think most others would like it


-Quality, lightweight fabric. I know my tailor well and have brought 4 suits and 5-6 blazers to him in the last year. He often works on some high quality stuff like Hickey Freeman. He made a point to tell me multiple times that the fabric of the BAR III was excellent and reccomended that I buy more suits from the brand. He's never been that expressive before.


-Price. $600 retail, with sales and coupons I got mine for $240. Regularl on sale in the $300 range.


Con's

-Peak lapels. I like peak lapels, but I know many don't. However, the peaks are subtle. Nothing like the stuff Shannon Sharpe somtimes wears.


-Extreme taper on the pants. I really liked the taper on the pants. The pants fit me perfectly. However, it might be a drawback for some.


-No separates. There is a 7 inch difference between the coat and the pants. This is simply a pet peeze of mine due to the 9 inch difference between my chest and waist. Had to spend $10 more to get pant waist taken in.


Overall impression

I have a new favorite brand of reasonably suits. I have tried multiple brands trying to find a good fit (Tommy H, Alfani Red, Calvin Klein, Banana) and never really found anything I liked, with the exception of bonobos, of which I own 4 of their suits. Bar III is a definte step above anything else I have seen in the $500 - $700 realm. I plan on buying the Cotten Khaki they have. I would recommend that everyone try them out.

[Tat]

Well thats good to hear, I to own a charcoal tweed Blazer from BarIII and I love it. It fits great, and mine has minimal shoulder padding, which I really enjoy since I have huge shoulders to begin with. Im glad your purchase went well.

[emory]

I LOVED their fit of their jacket on me... pants were too tapered so it didn't work out. I also found the brands you stated to be too boxy, but now I'm stuck because I don't know where else to look.

[somaticmarker1]

Emory. I found that Bonobos suit jackets had a similiar fit to those of Bar III. The waist was slighlty larger on the Bonobos suit, but they were still slim cut, even less shoulder padding than the Bar III, and high armholes. Bononbos suit pants are slim fit without the extreme taper on the Bar III.


Bonobos suits typically go far about $600, but using a couple of the Livingsocial/Groupon deals with the promo codes floating around out there, you can easily get them for $400. I own 4 bonobos suits, and I really like them.

[Squire]

@somaticmarker1


How do Bonobos' suits fit? I've been checking them out lately, especially because of Bonobos' return policy. Their suits seem (at least from pictures) to be a happy middle ground between J Crew suits (which, look too trendy) and more traditional suits. Would you say that is an accurate impression?

[somaticmarker1]

@Squire


Bonobos just adjusted the cuts of their suits a little and have a more "accommodating" cut in the chest area. I only suits from the previous cut.


I own a Charcoal, Medium gray, Blue, and Light gray from them. The suits are slimmer fitting, but I needed a good deal taken in at the waist. However, one it was tailored the suit fits really well. I actually found the chest to be slightly tight, so the new cut may be a good thing. The suit jackets have high armholes and extremely minimal padding.


With respect to the pants, I preferred the slim fit suit pants over the straight leg. I'm not sure that they offer slim fit pants in their new suit line. However, the straight leg still fit me well.


Overall, I found the fit of their suits to be exactly what people on this site are looking for. Slim fit, high armholes, minimal shoulder padding, and pants that aren't baggy. And they are not trendy, when I wear them I get compliments about the look and cut from both 60+ year olds to 20 somethings, male and female.

[trash]

I had one of Bonobos' previous suits and found the shoulders too tight in my usual size. I tried a size up and the shoulders were good, but then everything else was too big. And the pants were way too slim. If they ran some more Groupon-type deals I'd give their new cut a try because I otherwise the suit and if you can get it at 50% off with those deals (and maybe throw in a 20% code) it's a bargain.

[Squire]

@somaticmarker1 and trash,


Thanks for all your input. The nice thing about Bonobos is the return policy, which helps ease some of the concern about shopping for a suit online. I'll just have to wait and see if any good deals or promotions come my way sometime soon.

[guz1019]

I tried on a bunch of suits in the past few days:


Hugo Boss

Alfani Red

Calvin Clein

Bar III

J Crew Ludlow


I wear 36S, and the Bar III by far fits the best. I wasn't able to size down to a 35 in any of these, so can't say anything on that front.

[NakedTruth]

Rather than start another thread on the same subject, I figured I would add augment the most comprehensive review of the Bar III slim fit suit from Macy's. Like the OP, I also measure 38" in the chest and 29" in the waist. Note that my writeup concerns Bar III suit separates.


As can be seen from the pictures, the Bar III jacket fits me quite well. In fact, it fits me better than any other suit jacket I have tried. [Caveat: I have forgotten how well the Ludlow jacket fits.] Personally, I do not believe the jacket will require any tailoring. There is no pinching when the button is closed, nor is there much puckering in the back. Stylistically, the peak lapels can be a turnoff, and the sleeves may be too short for some, but this is the couture du jour.



<ul>Bar III suit pants are quite snug, slim, and short. [*]Waist: Since I wear a 29" waist in most pants, the 30" waist was surprisingly tight for pants in light gray (not shown) but about right for the black pants. Others have sized up but the 32"W in light gray was too loose on me. YMMV.
[*]Rise: These pants had no extra fabric in the posterior. Women told me they were not too tight, but I would be concerned about it if I did not wear the jacket.
[*]Leg: The leg was about as slim as Bonobos suit pants (e.g. The Charleston) though not as slim as other Bonobos pants.
[*]Inseam: Short. Although marked 30", the inseam was actually 29" leaving the leg of the pant to merely rest at the laces of the shoe. Again, this is the present trend, but these pants left no fabric to let out. Yet other sizes (32"W) did have extra fabric. YMMV.
[/list]

[llie19]

thanks nakedtruth. 38 jacket and 29 on pants, that's an insane drop. i agree that the stuff at macy's (i have tried alfani, bar iii, dkny), for their prices, fit surprisingly well, and yes, some of us can indeed get by without have any tailoring done.

[somaticmarker1]

I feel like I should provide an update on my experience with the Bar III suit. I bought the Pindot Blue around 7-8 months ago. As I previously stated, the padding in the shoulders is a bit much for my personal tastes, but considering my extreme minimal shoulder padding stance, most others on the board will probably like it.


I have worn either the full suit, slacks, and blazer probably a good 40 times. I wear the slacks by themselves far more often than the blazer. I feel like the blazer just doesn't quite look right without the slacks. Overall the suit has held up with the exception of one thing, the stiching on the front buttons on the blazer had to be replaced after 3-4 wears.


Bar III remains my favorite suit brand in the $250-$350 range, especially now that you can buy separates. Nakedtruth is right, I would suggest sizing up one size in the waist (The 30" waistline is perfect for me).

[Dr. Faust]

I'm interested in getting this suit for my wedding (5 groomsmen + me) as it looks like a quality, affordable suit. Specifically, I am looking at the midnight blue Bar III. Does anyone own this suit and have a picture of it? The only pics I can find are on the Macy's website, which look great, but lighting can have a great effect on how blue a navy suit looks. Thanks in advance!

[marathon]

I'm interested in getting this suit for my wedding (5 groomsmen + me) as it looks like a quality, affordable suit. Specifically, I am looking at the midnight blue Bar III. Does anyone own this suit and have a picture of it? The only pics I can find are on the Macy's website, which look great, but lighting can have a great effect on how blue a navy suit looks. Thanks in advance!

I don't have it, but I've seen it in person twice in the last few days. It's not a continuous color but varies a lot. I'd say it's bluer and less consistent of a color than the Macy's website makes it appear. It's not glen plaid but it has that sort of variance. If you're buying six I'd certainly go visit it in person if you're able.

[Dr. Faust]

I don't have it, but I've seen it in person twice in the last few days. It's not a continuous color but varies a lot. I'd say it's bluer and less consistent of a color than the Macy's website makes it appear. It's not glen plaid but it has that sort of variance. If you're buying six I'd certainly go visit it in person if you're able.

Thank you very much for the quick reply. Do you mean the color varies from suit to suit or the color varies within the suit? Unfortunately the only Macy's in the area does not carry this suit, so I can't see it in person. I am, however, going for more of a blue than a navy, so if it's bluer than the Macy's picture that's probably ok. The Bar III has had many very positive reviews, and most of the groomsmen are quite slim, so I am hoping it turns out well.

In your opinion, was it a good-looking suit Marathon?