The Technical Center was built at a cost above $125 million, which was an extraordinary sum at the time and provoked exactly the reaction you’d expect. Seventy years later it’s still in use and still admired. Whether that was expensive depends entirely on which number you divide it by.
The number men use for suits
The ticket price, compared against other ticket prices on the same rack. It’s the easiest comparison and the least informative one, because it says nothing about how long the thing will serve.
The number that matters
Cost divided by years of use. A well-made suit worn regularly for ten years is cheaper per year than a poorly made one replaced three times, and the reverse is also true: an expensive suit worn four times is bad value however good it is.
So the honest question is about your life
How often will this actually be worn? Answer that and the tier follows. Nobody on our floor is on commission, which is the only structural reason to trust an answer to that question from the person selling you the suit.
Also for Warren: The First Suit a Family Buys Together. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
