Combatant Gentleman

[ianr]

I just got my Summit navy Birdseye suit yesterday- supposedly the best they have to offer- and was very underwhelmed. I also have Brooks 1818 and JCrew Ludlow suits and I can say they are a large step up in quality from this. Yes, they are double and triple the price, but I don't see the Summit as any sort of great value. It's not a Ludlow or 1818 for $280. It looks and feels like a $280 suit to me and nothing more.

The fabric on the CG suit was thin to the touch compared to the others and the jacket was much lighter overall- leading me to believe the materials it's made with are just not quite up to par. There were also several noticeable stiching mistakes, loose threads, and puckering on the side of the jacket at the seam.

I will say the fit was excellent, but I don't see this suit lasting very long and it really isn't even impressive looking new. Sending it back. Oh well, worth a shot!

That's unfortunate. My Summit charcoal chalk stripe suit seems not to have these quality control issues.

As far as being "light," there are a range of fabric weights for wool... I've not heard of an association between quality and weight for the same make suits, only warmth and drape. If anything, the market pushes for the use of between 7–11 oz cloth.

Sorry to belabor the point, but this article goes over cloth weight selection for a suit:

http://collartocuff.co.uk/2013/02/18...-cloth-weight/

Even if it was 0.25 yard less 11oz fabric, that would make a 2.75 ounce difference, the same difference as using a fabric that was 1 ounce less per yard.

[P J]

I got an email late Monday night that the Canvas Weekender was back in stock. With 15% off, I couldn't resist and pulled the trigger at like 11pm. Got an email yesterday afternoon that it had shipped, and UPS has it arriving on Monday. I understand a lot of people have had some issues with this thing being on backorder for a while, but for me I'd say the customer service experience has been pretty top notch. Obviously, its only 85 bucks, so I don't expect it to be the same quality of bag as that from Hook&Albert, for instance, but it appears serviceable from reviews I've seen. I'm very into American Made, so the H&A bag would certainly be my choice if money were not an object. Even taking into account the higher quality and American wages, the H&A bag appears to be significantly overpriced (seems to be the case across their whole line - e.g. $30 for cotton blend calf high socks). I can return next week with a review of the bag from CB if anyone is interested.

[Billyum]

They have 8 suits in their sale section right now, could be worth a look. I just ordered the blue on brown windowpane suit for $150 (I didn't get the vest, and I had a 10% code because the weekender bag I preordered did not ship on time).

[oxfordsandties]

Does anyone know if any of their suits come with a less structured shoulder and which suits do not have a red inner lining?

[dortenzio1991]

Anyone want to chime in quickly and tell me how the suits fit? For reference, I am a 40R in a slim fit thompson. Is the fit guide online accurate? Trying to plan out my buddy's groomsman wear and would rather go this option than rental. Thanks

[Michael Lemus]

Has anyone else noticed they are charging shipping on anything less than $100? Or has it always been this way?

[MaitreTea]

Has anyone else noticed they are charging shipping on anything less than $100? Or has it always been this way?

I'm pretty sure that it was free shipping over $100.

On another note, I returned the double-breasted suit from them and the return process is painfully slow. I sent it back on 1/11/2016 from Washington, DC and the last update I got from USPS was that it was "picked up and processed by agent" in Atlanta, GA! This seems to be a USPS issue, as a customer representative from Combatant Gentleman told me they are just now getting returns from December!

[lax101]

They ABSOLUTELY used to do free shipping on everything. That's really, really crummy.

[Michael Lemus]

They ABSOLUTELY used to do free shipping on everything. That's really, really crummy.

That's what I thought as well. I used to buy shirts and get free shipping on one shirt. I suspect they no longer contract shipping and handling to their provider and instead handle in house? @vishaal is CB now charging for shipping?

[Bronco]

Well, I received the peacoat in December and was really disappointed with the quality. It felt like velvet more than wool, which was really weird...smooth rubbing it one way, very rough rubbing it the other way. I also agree with everyone else that the navy color is basically black. I had returned it but USPS lost it and now I can't get credit back from Combatant Gentleman. I emailed a numerous times and had absolutely no response despite providing them with the tracking# (which I made sure to take picture of before shipping out since there didn't seem to be any place in their website of tracking). I wished they just said something back instead of ignoring a concerned customer.

I've learned my lesson I guess? I don't know...I feel very disappointed.

Update:
While initial service was not on par, I just got contacted again and they will be refunding me full credit. This definitely made my day and it really makes me confident to buy from them again.

Interesting. I literally am having the same exact problem. Except no response. I ordered the navy and what I received was poor material and indistinguishable from black.

I attempted to exchange mine and they have never acknowledged the exchange after a month. I tried emailing them and no follow up.

At this point I paid $100 to basically try on peacoat. Franky I liked a number of other items and this was sort of my trial but I certainly won't be going back.

[Bronco]

UPDATE: Got to give credit where it is due. I checked my PM's this afternoon and there was a request by a CG representative asking about the problem. I emailed them my order number and reiterated the problem and within a few hours they had courteously handled the issue.

While my first experience wasn't my ideal I will say that I am happy they have some people out here really trying to make things right.

Will probably give them another shot in the near future. After all I have liked a number of items from the website.

[Dasnub]

That's unfortunate. My Summit charcoal chalk stripe suit seems not to have these quality control issues.

As far as being "light," there are a range of fabric weights for wool... I've not heard of an association between quality and weight for the same make suits, only warmth and drape. If anything, the market pushes for the use of between 7–11 oz cloth.

Sorry to belabor the point, but this article goes over cloth weight selection for a suit:

http://collartocuff.co.uk/2013/02/18...-cloth-weight/

Even if it was 0.25 yard less 11oz fabric, that would make a 2.75 ounce difference, the same difference as using a fabric that was 1 ounce less per yard.

Honestly I think the weight is less to do with the wool and more the chest piece/lining. There is a very noticeable difference between my other nicer suits.

[ianr]

Honestly I think the weight is less to do with the wool and more the chest piece/lining. There is a very noticeable difference between my other nicer suits.

I'm not trying to disagree with you except on the weight issue. Higher quality interlining generally weighs less in an apples-to-apples construction comparison. For example, horsehair vs. rayon. Nobody is selling interlining cloth based on a higher weight.

I believe you that you have higher quality suit jackets that happen to weigh more. I am only trying to explain that heavier weight is not a good indicator of quality.

[Michael Lemus]

2016 Pea coat Update: Wanted to follow up on my Navy peacoat review. Unfortunately, the two bottom buttons have fallen off, luckily I heard them hit the ground and was able to save the buttons. Took it to the tailor to have the two bottom buttons put back on as well as have the other buttons reinforced. My tailor who does custom clothing in downtown Chicago said there just isn't enough threading for them to be secure enough. I will say that CB was awesome about the situation. They sent me a replacement peacoat, which those buttons fell off too but then in the end refunded me the entire peacoat purchase amount. Anyone else having issues with their 2016 peacoat?

[batkins9]

2016 Pea coat Update: Wanted to follow up on my Navy peacoat review. Unfortunately, the two bottom buttons have fallen off, luckily I heard them hit the ground and was able to save the buttons. Took it to the tailor to have the two bottom buttons put back on as well as have the other buttons reinforced. My tailor who does custom clothing in downtown Chicago said there just isn't enough threading for them to be secure enough. I will say that CB was awesome about the situation. They sent me a replacement peacoat, which those buttons fell off too but then in the end refunded me the entire peacoat purchase amount. Anyone else having issues with their 2016 peacoat?

Off topic, but I'm just curious; why do you refer to Combat Gent as "CB"?