Paul Stuart

I’ve been shopping here since the eighties out of college. Same salesman who has a good eye for fabrics, matching textures and colors. While I do not buy their suits– everything else there is the best quality. Ties, socks cashmere sweaters belts braces and more. Some of the winter coats that I have bought there have lasted me close to 20 years. However the best is the shoe department. Some of the best footwear from Italy, England and Spain. I own 10 pair of which three I’ve had for 20 years. It’s easy to see why this is the best men’s clothing stores in New York City. Ironically, they are three doors down from Brooks Bros. Corporate. Take the extra steps and going to Paul Stuart and you won’t be disappointed. At Brooks Bros. Corporate you would for lesser quality.

I’ve been a customer for many years. Sadly, Paul Stuart’s value proposition has eroded since the original owner sold the business to a Japanese company — Mitsui & Co. Paul Stuart used to sell timeless, high quality suits and clothing at prices which while not inexpensive, represented good value compared with name brand designer alternatives. With prices rising and the number of alternatives growing, this is no longer the case. While the Phineas Cole line fits me perfectly, I struggle to find classic items that I would actually wear. No one dresses like this and I cannot believe that it is commercially successful. Memo to the designer: Bea Brummell died in 1840. It is now 2015. The store’s tailors are another weak point. Ask them to do anything minutely different from how they are used to doing it and you are going to have a problem. The staff remains as accommodating as ever, but at these prices, that is to be expected.

Cary Grant shopped here when he made North by Northwest.
But it has been updates to the 1970s in terms of interior design.
In 1985 when Barneys was selling suits by the yard you can understand why men might have shopped here.
But on a beautiful Spring saturday in 2015 it is hopelessly out of date.
A soulless shopping experience.

Well, it’s a beautiful showroom. But the question is what kind of quality are you getting for your $ 2000 to $ 3000 suit — and I’m going to make the bold argument that you should get a pretty solid suit for that price.
But unfortunately I have not had that experience. One suit failed on me after a few wearings, and sadly did so in a way that was both embarrassing and incapable of repair — I’ll spare you the details, but my client saw more of me that day than I’d expected them to see. So I didn’t buy another Paul Stuart for quite a while.
And then I thought, hey, why not give them another go? I needed some new suits, theirs looked very nice for the few times I got to wear it, and surely that was an aberration, right?
Well, sadly, no. I picked up my suit yesterday, tried it on for my wife… and already the stitching is failing. $ 3000 momma-​slapping dollars, and the stitching is failing before I’ve even worn it? Are you kidding me? Hopefully they’ll repair it, but I can’t believe I have to trek over there again because it failed the first day — and even if they do repair it… well, perhaps I should wear attractive underpants just in case.
I want to like these guys, I’m in their demographic, but I work too hard for my money to spend it on clothes that fall apart.

Being Disapointed!
I have been dealing with this men’s clothier for many years and in the past dealt with ones salesman who worked there for many years. Since I am working only part time, I have not purchased as much as in past years. Recently I bought a shirt from a new salesperson. I asked if the cut of the shirt had changed and she said no, and said the body shape had remained the same,
When I put the shirt on, it was cut much trimmer, and when I called and spoke to her, she was rather curt, bordering on discourteous. referred me to customer service etc.
I have enjoyed shopping there in the past, because the sales people, knew their products, and were always ready to assist. No longer the case!
I have bought a good deal of clothing there in the past, always enjoyed shopping there, but I think I will be going else where’s from now on!

How disappointing for such a beautiful store to have such blatantly horrible customer service. Not sure whether it was my Adidas, vintage coat, and beanie, my friends wool pea coat and sweatshirt, or our young faces and African-​American skin, that made us undeserving of proper acknowledgement and offering of service in this store, but aside from one or two partial hellos, we received no customer service. Furthermore, we observed several store associates speaking to and offering assistance to non-​African American shoppers, even after looking us in the face and saying nothing. I imagine the products in this store fit beautifully, but we will never know…

Truly a one stop shop for all things men’s. I had to buy a new complete set of everything for my wedding, and I had this list of shops I needed to visit for the entire day. Paul Stuart was not even on my list, and I happened to notice it on my way to my first shop on the list. One hour later, I was done. Absolutely impeccable service from John and Mike who were extremely knowledgeable, friendly and even taught me how to tie a bowtie properly. Shoutout to John especially who walked me through more than 5 pairs of shoes and asked very pertinent guiding questions as to what I needed. Love this shop now — they have my business for life. I will not buy anything else business/​formal from any other shop.

Still best after 30 Years. As a younger man visiting NYC, always stopped to buy a few things but could never afford the third floor. Now older, a little fuller, still excellent service, the unique collection and quality and will let’s just say I visited the third floor and spent too much time there but will be making another visit before leaving town. P S is timeless and after all these years, does not disappoint.

This store is straight out of old New York. This is the New York my father and grandfather grew up in, one where cell phones didn’t exist and men wore suits every day. Some of the products Paul Stuart carries reflect this: they even have a variety of esoterica like sock garters and pocket scarves.
The store gives off a little bit of a lounge lizard vibe. Its décor hasn’t been updated in years and neither has the staff, but there’s no denying that every piece of clothing in this store is top notch. Better than top notch actually, because even the off the rack products fit you like a glove. Having said that, you get what you pay for. Stuart’s basic sack suits start at about $ 1,295 and run up from there, but there’s no doubt that you can keep them in your closet for a decade or more.

Best men’s store ive ever been in, would like to check out kiton.
the service was good and they are well dressed here.
lovely men’s clothing, esp the sweaters, so a sweater for 4000 $!
not sure what it was made of
the prices are high, but selection is impecabble

This place waits on you hand and foot. The suits and ties are outstanding but you pay for it.
The service is perfect and the tailoring is outstanding and I need it since I’m not an off the rack type.
Overall a great place for fine clothing for men.

Great products but sadly, service levels have steadily declined over the last few years — in store or online, it’s a problem. If you purchase online, keep expectations low as you’ll likely receive notice a few days later that what you’ve purchased isn’t available. Don’t bother asking why out of stock merchandise was available for purchase because you won’t get a logical response. The response I got from customer service… «We don’t have a great system.». Here, here!
Frankly, at this price point, service should be impeccable — take note Paul Stuart. I’ve taken my shirts to have them reproduced by my family’s fantastic tailor on the UES so I won’t have to subject myself to the increasingly frustrating interactions with this arrogant retailer.
Time is money and I’ve wasted too much of mine dealing with this store and writing this review (which is my first on Unilocal). Good luck all!

I DIDN’T HAVE A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE IN THIS STORE
1) I order a complete suit for a wedding, it needed alterations, I had to go back exactly 5 times because so many mistakes, the wedding was gone long ago, since breaks between alterations takes about 2 weeks, but I still took the suit anyway.
2) The last time I was in a rush so I walked fast to the second floor, I was just with a regular clothes. Then two salesman came running behind me like I’d commit a crime. Nothing more upset than have the salesman follow you in the store like you are not rich enough to be there.
End of the story:
If you have money to buy a suit, look for another store, you can buy way cheaper and better quality. I kept my suit because it was a present and after so many alterations they wouldn’t accept returns.

To be fair, I have only visited the actual Paul Stuart store once, all other items I own are gifts or from online. When I do go to a store, I am a stickler for good customer service — in this day and age, with the ability to shop online, how could your service be anything but perfect. However, there is a fundamental flaw with the service model employed by the Paul Stuart on Madison Avenue (not sure if its the same at others.)
While I am sure they mean well, Salespeople work with a customer from the moment they come into the store to the moment they check out — including waiting in line with them. I walked in yesterday, and almost ALL THE SALES PEOPLE WERE WAITING IN LINE. I personally was never asked if I needed help, as there was no one on the floor because ALL THE SALES PEOPLE WERE WAITING IN LINE.
Not only were there about 10 groups of Salespeople and Customers all having the same awkward forced conversations, it made the line look twice as long. I looked around, and it seemed as thought there were more people not being helped than there were being helped because… ALL THE SALES PEOPLE WERE WAITING IN LINE.
Take a hint.
p. s. The customer service desk, where they forced exchanges to be made… did not have any change and forced people to use credit cards…

I used to be a loyal Paul Stuart customer. Looking back, I liked the projected air of nobility and quality.
After a few of my Paul Stuart purchases started falling apart, including a blue sweater, I returned the sweater to ask whether it could be repaired.
The always-​haughty staff took the sweater and promised to call me back the next day. They didn’t, and after a week of chasing them, finally a customer service representative called me back to tell me it was my fault that my sweater was disintegrating (the collar was unraveling as was the center of the sweater).
I returned to the store to pick up the $ 600 sweater that had lasted less than 20 times wearing. The staff was arrogant, haughty, and the bottom line is:
There is no point in paying a 500% brand margin on cheap quality and be treated rudely by self-​indulgent staff in a recession.
For posers, not people interested in quality products.

I recently had one of my shoes repaired at this flagship store in NY and it was just a superb experience. I just couldn’t trust the local shoe repair guys in Denver for my $ 500 shoes. The work was quite fast, compared to what I had in mind. Both Peter & Jason were first class and kept informed me throughout the repair. Sure, it was pricier than what the avg-​joe repair guys would charge but worth every cent in my opinion.
As for their suits, I really like their Phineas Cole line as it fits close to Ralph Lauren Black Label suits, which is one of my favorite RTW suits. If I remember correctly, their highest line (Stuart’s Ltd) is made by Oxxford and Phineas Cole is made by Samuelsohn.

Wonderful store. The only place I know of that has suits in ‘medium-​long.’ Every place else has regular-​length suits of course, and some in longs. Paul Stuart has all three sizes.
The staff is very good if you want their help. Occasionally they are obsequious, but that’s par for the course for stores of this caliber (Bergdorfs, Barney’s).
I try and discipline myself and only buy things on sale here (after-​Christmas, and again in the spring). I’m not always successful. ;)

This place is my favorite right now.
Let’s be honest… this place is not for the uneducated average Joe.
The tie selection is the best anywhere.
Sometimes you find yourself drooling in the windows for 15 minutes.
Try their Phineas Cole label for a trimmer more ballsy look/​fit.
5 STARS

I picked up my dad 3 cashmere sweaters here for $ 400-​$ 500 a piece
Very good quality and I’m sure they will last him years
minus one star for being dark. The sweater that looked brown to me was actually a deep purple.

The best description I’ve heard about Paul Stuart is American Dandy. It’s like Polo Ralph Lauren with more color and whimsy.
This store rocks, especially for accessories with color. You definitely pay a premium, but there aren’t many places that have lime green merino socks, lilac cashmere socks, and oversized Prince of Wales check scarves in brown and sky blue. I know, it’s crazy to pay a C note for a pair of socks, but at least I know I’m probably the only person on the block sporting them.
The clothing is well made, I think the regular men’s clothing line is made by Samuelsohn, the Stuart’s Choice line by Isaia, so pretty high quality. You definitely pay a premium for the Samuelsohn line (compared to a Samuelsohn branded suit, for example), but it’s better designed, anyway. The Isaia made stuff is pretty much the same price as you would pay for the Isaia label.
The one weird aspect of the store is that the sales system is an assignment /​rotation. In other words, each sales person is assigned to a specific person who walks through the door, and the assignments are based on a simple queue (at least this is the strong impression that I get). It’s very democratic in one way (sales people don’t get to rush the old guy that screams money), but because you are that sales person’s one shot for a while, the sales staff can be very suggestive, perhaps overly so.