Amy Silverman wanted a tuxedo. She had a few weddings and charity evenings coming up, and she wanted to look like James Bond. But her dream tuxedo proved elusive.
"I kind of makeshift things from what I can find that will fit me," Silverman said. "Being 5'2," it's nice to be able to go and get something made that fits the way it should. Even when I go and buy stuff from the men's section, I still have to get it tailored because it's too big or it doesn't fit exactly right."
Silverman was willing to go custom-made. She wanted her tux cut like a man's, but met resistance when she'd go to custom fitters. "I've had situations with other businesses in the past where I've went in with a friend of mine who is a guy, we're similar size, and they'll fit him but they won't fit me," she explained.
Enter Ricardo Perez, owner of bespoke clothing store Dapper Club. Perez was inspired to start his business by his own shopping disappointments. "When I used to buy suits off the rack, they didn't fit me properly. I would spend like an extra $150 on tailoring," said Perez. "At that point, you're spending about $700 on a suit that wasn't really designed for you, doesn't have any of the personal details that you would want. I wanted to create something that would be a little more affordable for people, where they can personally design their own suits, pick out the details of it, and it's made for their body."
Perez got his passion for dressing well from his mom, who always kept the family dapper. Years of playing trumpet in classical and jazz bands and a hitch in the Marine Corps only made him more style-conscious.
"I've always just taken pride in the way that I look," Perez said. "And more than anything I just wanted to provide a place for people to have a one on one consultation, the luxury experience, the personal touch."
Silverman got Perez's name from one of her friends and stopped in. "She was telling me about an experience she'd had at a different place, and I'm all about ... everyone deserves the same treatment. No one should face discrimination like that," said Perez. "So then I told her, you know what, I'm sorry you experienced that. I'm going to do my best to make sure we're creating the suit that you wanted."
The price impressed Silverman. "Typically, if you go get a custom suit made it's going to cost you between $1,500 to $2,500, or even more sometimes. His prices are well below that," she said.
But Perez's attention to detail stood out even more. "He asked specifically how I wanted it to look and if I wanted it to be more of a women's cut, or a men's cut," Silverman said. "He asked me to show him some photos of other tuxes that I liked. We talked through how we could get that look, and how I wanted it to be that look." Silverman said Perez even called his tailors to make sure that it was absolutely clear that a woman named Amy was getting a tuxedo reminiscent of James Bond, and she wanted it to stay that way.
Since he primarily works with men's clothing, Perez recalls being nervous about Amy's tux, but he figured he had the skills. "She wanted a men's suit, so that's why I was definitely willing to try it out," he explained. "I did my best to make sure that she walked out of here looking 100 percent."
There was a little bit of trial and error. "When the tuxedo was done, the pants actually didn't fit her that well," said Perez. "Amy was a little worried about it, and I was like, 'you know, I'm sorry about that, we can definitely make sure it fits perfectly.' We had the pants redone, and the rest was history. She was pretty happy with it."
Perez didn't see his effort as unusual. Then again, this is a man who takes 20 different measurements of each client and who gets up in the middle of the night to make phone calls to fabric suppliers in Asia. "That's the same kind of interest I put into everyone's suit," he said. "For me, it's like a passion creating the suit, making sure it fits the right way and looks the right way, and I would apply it to everyone. If she walks out of the shop with my tuxedo, it's a representation of our brand. So I wouldn't want her to say, "eh, it's OK, I'm not really happy about it." I take a lot of pride in making sure that everyone who steps out of the shop, they look their best."
But Silverman can't stop raving about her Dapper Club experience. "I've been telling all of my friends, male, female, whatever, if they're in the market, to go check it out because he definitely goes the extra mile to really do a good job for whatever kind of fashion statement you're trying to make," Silverman said about Perez. "It was really nice to have someone who was open to what I was envisioning. He was so open to it, had never done it before, but was like, hey, if this works, I'd love to do this more often."
Although he himself is straight, Perez wants his relatively young company to cater to everyone. He recently hired a designer to focus on female suits, and already feels that he's open to a variety of bodies and gender expressions. For him, it's not just about the product, it's about educating his clients, no matter who they are, to go forth and pick out suits with or without him.
"We're like the luxury brand that every person deserves," Perez said. "That's our motto right now, and I want to keep it that way. My real passion is making sure that everyone knows how to suit up, how to be dapper, and know all the rules. That goes for men, that goes for women, that goes for everybody."
Dapper Club is at 1252 N. Milwaukee Ave. and DapperClubInc.com .