Cunard washed my husband's Armani Tux

[QuipMC]

Not really. It's a mass-made off-the-rack suit. There is nothing difficult whatsoever in the replacing.

 

Well actually, that's not quite the case. Pret-a-porter clothing changes from season to season and from year to year.

 

Fortunately for men this variation is far less radical than the changes you'll find in women's wear, but even within the category of dinner suit (tuxedo) you may indeed purchase something that is called that - and even by the same maker - but it will be a somewhat different fabric and often a significantly different cut.

 

For a tall man like my husband, some years jackets are all cut short and there is simply nothing in a particular line - a line that he's successfully worn before and likes - that will work for him. From long experience, I will guarantee that "nothing difficult whatsoever" is not accurate for all people, particularly those with certain builds.

Edited March 23, 2015 by QuipMC

[PunkiC]

I really find the constant name dropping, money or oneupmanship that seems to be inherent in your posts/threads, very tiresome. It is not necessary in convivial posting that is shared by many.

 

Sorry if I offend, but I find reading some of what you write almost unbelievable; I would never say how much anything has cost. Perhaps this is just my English reserve.

 

I assure you that I have never been, and never will be, offended by posts written by people I don't even know. Life is too short and there are far too many joyful things to do in this world and simply not enough time to waste being offended by much of anything. Perhaps that is just my American common sense. ;)

 

In this case the fact that it is an Armani tux and that is cost $2,135.00 is very significant.

 

Now this will probably make you cringe even more. When we first bought the tux and took it to the tailor, he said, "There is nothing I can do to make that jacket fit you any better. You have the perfect Armani body." DH reminds me of this statement on a fairly regular basis. :p So, since "off-the-rack" Armani jackets fit him perfectly, there is no need for him to have a bespoke tux as is often necessary for men with less than "perfect Armani bodies".

 

Apparently, Cunard also feels the fact that it is an Armani and cost $2,135.00 is significant, as they called this morning and advised that they would reimburse the cost (less 10% depreciation) as soon as we send them the damaged tux (they pay the shipping).

 

Now we start the search for a replacement. Despite Im_Reading's assertion that we will have "no difficulty whatsoever in replacing" it, I don't remember ever having seen a tux of this weight (luxurious tropical-weight wool), cut, or fit. He has tried on numerous Armani tuxes, before and after this incident occurred, and none of them even came close to the original, despite the fact that most of them cost considerably more that the original $2,135.00 we paid.

 

Seago2 writes:

 

It's a little cringe worthy but what I find remarkable is that she makes suits for him. She made every stitch of clothing in an entire wedding. That takes talent and tenacity that is worth remarking upon.

 

I don't make his suits and dress shirts anymore because over the past 40 years tall/slim sizes have become readily available almost anywhere. When we were first married that was not the case and it would have been impossible to buy him a ready-made suit. Fortunately our next-door neighbor is a brilliant seamstress/tailor and taught me all the tricks of the trade. Now I use my skills pretty much just for alterations and making costumes. We love costumes. If I ever get a grandchild, there will be a whole new explosion of adorable outfits coming out of my sewing room.

 

Our wedding clothes were not traditional American styles, so, here again, to get what we wanted, I had no choice but to make them myself, or have someone else make them, which we simply couldn't afford at the time. That, however, was a labor of pure love. See the pic.

 

Fortunately, we are done with formal affairs for the season and he will be able to wear his white dinner jacket for late Spring and Summer events.

 

I know that this will make some of you "cringe" even more, but I bought the white dinner jacket on e-bay for $89.00 and it is every bit as amazing as his tropical-weight Armani tux. That jacket came from England and I could tell by the picture that it was wonderful cream-colored wool, not the cheap polyester blends that often appear on e-bay. My guess was correct and we dearly love that jacket. We will never send it out to be pressed on a ship.

 

OBTW, one upmanship is two words. ;)

Edited March 23, 2015 by PunkiC

[roscoe39]

as they called this morning and advised that they would reimburse the cost (less 10% depreciation) as soon as we send them the damaged tux (they pay the shipping).

 

 

OBTW, one upmanship is two words. ;)

 

 

Great result, bully for Cunard doing the right thing. They don't often get the kudos, only the brickbats.

 

Im suggesting a trip to Italy to find a replacement. Tell hubby theres no other way...and while you are there you'll have to stop by Venice Florence and Naples as well while you are there...

 

regards

[PunkiC]

Great result, bully for Cunard doing the right thing. They don't often get the kudos, only the brickbats.

 

Im suggesting a trip to Italy to find a replacement. Tell hubby theres no other way...and while you are there you'll have to stop by Venice Florence and Naples as well while you are there...

 

regards

 

Yes, I was very impressed with the way Cunard handled the issue.

 

We will be in Rome in October, once again on the Queen Victoria, and have been thinking of taking the train up to Florence or Milan for our return flight home. Since we almost always fly on award tickets internationally, it will depend on what shows up. It would be nice to fly Emirates from Milan or Rome to Dubai and then back to LA on an A380. Even business class on the A380 on that route is pretty snazzy and gets you into the onboard bar for parties and amazing scotch.

 

Somewhere along the way we hope to find the perfect Armani replacement tux. :D

 

 

He has enough other tuxes to cover until we find the perfect replacement.

[fantasy51]

OBTW, one upmanship is two words. ;)

 

From time to time I do some copy-editing or proofreading. This statement made me wonder. What do I do when I'm not sure? I turned to 'The Oxford Dictionary of English' (second edition, revised 2005). It has 'one-upmanship', which means both of you had it wrong. :p

 

(Historically, though, there is often a progression in words. Often they start as two words, then become hyphenated, then end up as one word. This means that if we look at this issue over time, then all three of us may be correct. However, in this case a google search for the two-word version is only bringing up the hyphenated or one-word version.)

 

Diane

Edited March 23, 2015 by fantasy51

[QuipMC]

Wonderful to hear a positive resolution!

 

Adorable wedding photo, by the way. Very much of its time...and I say that with nostalgia. ;)

 

Best of luck hunting down the elusive replacement. (And here I will "name drop" because otherwise it's impossible to communicate this advice.) Check with NM on made-to-measure for the replacement, as that should give you the opportunity to review and check the hand of at all fabrics available for MTM, not just the ones they chose to make up this season. It used to be an "event" once a year...now it's pretty much ongoing.

 

And lastly: congratulations on the eBay score! Anybody who has trouble with that is simply too...too...well, snobbish. :p

[PunkiC]

From time to time I do some copy-editing or proofreading. This statement made me wonder. What do I do when I'm not sure? I turned to 'The Oxford Dictionary of English' (second edition, revised 2005). It has 'one-upmanship', which means both of you had it wrong. :p

 

(Historically, though, there is often a progression in words. Often they start as two words, then become hyphenated, then end up as one word. This means that if we look at this issue over time, then all three of us may be correct. However, in this case a google search for the two-word version is only bringing up the hyphenated or one-word version.)

 

Diane

 

I actually found it spelled all three ways, "oneupmaship" being listed in the Urban dictionary which I believe is evolutionary language. So, I guess everybody is right. :D

 

QuipMC writes:

 

Wonderful to hear a positive resolution!

 

Adorable wedding photo, by the way. Very much of its time...and I say that with nostalgia.

 

Best of luck hunting down the elusive replacement. (And here I will "name drop" because otherwise it's impossible to communicate this advice.) Check with NM on made-to-measure for the replacement, as that should give you the opportunity to review and check the hand of at all fabrics available for MTM, not just the ones they chose to make up this season. It used to be an "event" once a year...now it's pretty much ongoing.

 

And lastly: congratulations on the eBay score! Anybody who has trouble with that is simply too...too...well, snobbish.

 

Thanks for your post. Yes, the eBay score was fantastic. I have bought him several Armani jackets on eBay as well as a morning coat and two top hats, one black and one grey. It is a great resource for hard-to-find iems.

Edited March 23, 2015 by PunkiC

[roscoe39]

Yes, I was very impressed with the way Cunard handled the issue.

 

We will be in Rome in October, once again on the Queen Victoria, and have been thinking of taking the train up to Florence or Milan for our return flight home. Since we almost always fly on award tickets internationally, it will depend on what shows up. It would be nice to fly Emirates from Milan or Rome to Dubai and then back to LA on an A380. Even business class on the A380 on that route is pretty snazzy and gets you into the onboard bar for parties and amazing scotch.

 

Somewhere along the way we hope to find the perfect Armani replacement tux. :D

 

 

He has enough other tuxes to cover until we find the perfect replacement.

 

 

can thoroughly recommend the emirates flight from Italy, done it several times, the bar is a lot of fun and always seems to have a good atmosphere.

 

There is quite an extensive Armani store in the Airport at Rome if you fly out from there.

 

The train from Rome to Florence is a really good trip and very scenic. From memory its only a few hours and passes through some very pretty scenery and villages. If you end up in Milan, there is a really good outlet store outside of town that would also be worth visiting. I can't imagine you wont enjoy shopping...lol....regards Roscoe

Edited March 23, 2015 by roscoe39

[bobby1119]

I have been following this thread. Sorry for the loss of the tux, but the namedropping and price-dropping have diminished any sympathy I can muster for the situation. On second thought, having re-read the entire thread, I find myself wondering if this, indeed, is real.

Edited March 24, 2015 by bobby1119

[Salacia]

Bobby, different stroke for different folks...Anyway, all's well that ends well.

 

Say amen and say no more - if it suits :)

Edited March 24, 2015 by Salacia

[bobby1119]

Bobby, different stroke for different folks...Anyway, all's well that ends well.

 

Say amen and say no more - if it suits :)

 

That suits me well for sure. So will I finally meet you on the November 2015 Caribbean cruise of Queen Mary 2?

[Salacia]

That suits me well for sure. So will I finally meet you on the November 2015 Caribbean cruise of Queen Mary 2?

 

I sure hope so Bobby. Got some family medical issues that keeps me from booking. Hopefully, I'll meet you on board and drink a toast...I'll even

spring for the first round :)

[PunkiC]

can thoroughly recommend the emirates flight from Italy, done it several times, the bar is a lot of fun and always seems to have a good atmosphere.

 

There is quite an extensive Armani store in the Airport at Rome if you fly out from there.

 

The train from Rome to Florence is a really good trip and very scenic. From memory its only a few hours and passes through some very pretty scenery and villages. If you end up in Milan, there is a really good outlet store outside of town that would also be worth visiting. I can't imagine you wont enjoy shopping...lol....regards Roscoe

 

As I was reading your post, DH was telling me about the Armani factory store in Milan. He found it on the internet. :-) Despite the fact that he can no longer wear it, he is having separation anxiety at the thought of sending his wonderful tux away in a box never again to be seen again. :-(

 

We do very much enjoy the train rides from Rome to both Florence and Milan and I know we would love shopping in Milan. I don't believe, however, that Emirates flies A-380s out of Milan and, unless they have upgraded them, the biz class seats on the 777s aren't very comfy and they have no party bar. Another first-world problem. ;-)

 

We will keep you posted.

[roscoe39]

As I was reading your post, DH was telling me about the Armani factory store in Milan. He found it on the internet. :-) Despite the fact that he can no longer wear it, he is having separation anxiety at the thought of sending his wonderful tux away in a box never again to be seen again. :-(

 

We do very much enjoy the train rides from Rome to both Florence and Milan and I know we would love shopping in Milan. I don't believe, however, that Emirates flies A-380s out of Milan and, unless they have upgraded them, the biz class seats on the 777s aren't very comfy and they have no party bar. Another first-world problem. ;-)

 

We will keep you posted.

 

Check with your travel agent as the Emirates 380 flies out of Milan on a friday, I think its a late afternoon flight. Enjoy the shopping...

[PunkiC]

Check with your travel agent as the Emirates 380 flies out of Milan on a friday, I think its a late afternoon flight. Enjoy the shopping...

 

That would be me. ;) I don't know any travel agents who are really savvy about award travel. Do you?

 

It was very interesting to learn that Emirates now flies an A-380 directly from Milan to JFK. Go figure. I will, however, shoot for the A-380 from either Rome or Milan to Dubai and then again from Dubai to SFO or LAX to avoid the 5.5 hour flight in domestic first from JFK to SEA.

 

For now we have only booked Air Canada in business, SEA/YYZ/IST on the outbound. Not exactly my first choice, but at least it will get us from home to our ship in reasonable comfort. If something better pops up we can always change. I would prefer Lufthansa first SEA/FRA (I love, love, love the caviar and iced vodka) and then TK from Frankfurt to Istanbul.

 

DH has been very easy to sell on the shopping trip to the Armani factory store in Milan. :D

Edited March 25, 2015 by PunkiC

[PunkiC]

I received an e-mail today from Property Claims at Princess cruises (which apparently handles claims for Cunard too). They advised that they have received the damaged tux which we sent them last week and will be reimbursing us for the full purchase cost, less 10% depreciation, plus the cost of shipping the tux back to them.

 

They further stated that it might take two weeks for the check to arrive.

 

Kudos for Cunard for handling this so painlessly. Of course, we still lament the loss of that beautiful tux, but they have done their best to make it right.

[pepperrn]

I received an e-mail today from Property Claims at Princess cruises (which apparently handles claims for Cunard too). They advised that they have received the damaged tux which we sent them last week and will be reimbursing us for the full purchase cost, less 10% depreciation, plus the cost of shipping the tux back to them. They further stated that it might take two weeks for the check to arrive. Kudos for Cunard for handling this so painlessly. Of course, we still lament the loss of that beautiful tux, but they have done their best to make it right.

Excellent news. Congratulations, well done :) .

 

Happy sailings for the future.

Edited March 31, 2015 by pepperrn

[poshtotty]

So pleased all is resolved to your satisfaction.....although I do think you should be compensated for "pain and suffering"..I know how I would have felt if one of my favourite posh frocks had been ruined !! :)

[PunkiC]

So pleased all is resolved to your satisfaction.....although I do think you should be compensated for "pain and suffering"..I know how I would have felt if one of my favourite posh frocks had been ruined !! :)

 

So true. Even though DH could no longer wear the tux it was obviously painful for him to box it up and send it off. He really did love it.

 

I am optimistic that we will be able to find something that he likes just as much and we will have a grand adventure searching.

[Salacia]

So pleased all is resolved to your satisfaction.....although I do think you should be compensated for "pain and suffering"..I know how I would have felt if one of my favourite posh frocks had been ruined !! :)

 

A bridge too far!

 

All's well that ends well. Lock it up, please!

[poshtotty]

A bridge too far!

 

All's well that ends well. Lock it up, please!

 

In a word ....irony ....:)

[PunkiC]

Fast! :)

 

Thanks Cunard. I'm impressed.

Edited April 8, 2015 by PunkiC

[Salacia]

In a word ....irony ....:)

 

You can't irony a shrunken tuxedo, Posh totty. (smile)

Edited April 8, 2015 by Salacia

[poshtotty]

Love it !!..You'd need gallons of wrinkle-release..:)

[Seago2]

Fast! :)

 

Thanks Cunard. I'm impressed.

 

Hey good for you! Glad it worked out for you.