All about the suit game - meet Articles of Style Director of Client Experience Westley Dimagiba
In our next feature we sit down with the man behind the suits, New York native, Westley Dimagiba of Articles of Style.
Infamously referred to as the @threepiecepapi, Westley as his nickname states, 'knows his shiet' when it comes to the suit game.
We caught up with him in New York to learn more about tailoring, custom menswear and his role at AoS.
Before we go a little deeper into what you do, could you give us a quick rundown about yourself and how you got started in menswear with AoS?
Born and raised in New York City by my Mom and Dad migrated here in 1980. You could say my influence with menswear started with my father who wore suits everyday. And as I've gotten a hold of more photos of him at my age, clearly he had a sense of style that's similar to mine now—high waisted trousers/casual tailoring.
My first memory of suits had to be sitting in my father's closet shining his shoes every morning, which he would pay me $1 per pair done. The closet seemed massive at the time, filled with different kinds of suits, shirts and overcoats.
Fast forward to now and you are the AoS Director of Client Experience. Could you talk about your role a bit more and how it's like on a typical day?
To be honest I re-joined AoS for a creative role when I left my last job in bespoke clothing back in 2016, but seeing as I was the only one on the team with traditional sales experience we all decided it would be best for me to man the shop. With that being said, Director of Client Experience seems to come natural for me as most of my family has been in the service industry for as long as I can remember. Every day is different and as you know, we're a small team so tasks/roles switch day-to-day, but I try my best to focus on making sure anyone who has an experience with AoS leaves knowing we're trying our best to educate them and provide the best service possible.
As far as daily tasks go, it's a lot of planning for the days ahead, managing deadlines, arguing with Dan about why I don't like LeBron and keeping the tequila stocked.
Haha. Right. Disliking Lebron and debating the King over tequila could get tricky!
When it comes to tailoring, we know you've been working on your skills for a number of years now—what would you say is the most challenging aspect about learning the craft? What's your favorite thing about it?
I'd say the most challenging thing about tailoring, especially custom, is setting the right expectations. No matter what you learn or how far you've come in this field, GQ and other publications set the precedent that custom/bespoke garments should be "perfect' but it's far from the case.
Just like with any piece of art, it takes time and patience on both sides to make sure clients are happy.
The thing I enjoy the most is educating our clients, they understand that we're not here to pull a fast one and genuinely care about what they want. Plus, hearing life changing stories from clients makes the struggle that much more worth it.
If there was one style tip you could give to any guy what would it be and why?
Find some classic inspiration to build a base, then go from there. Extra tip from my dumbass: don't buy flashy shit because more often than not, it's not versatile.
Going slightly off-topic, we like to ask everyone we chat with - who's on your playlist RIGHT NOW—which artists get ya going?
Going slightly off-topic, we like to ask everyone we chat with - who's on your playlist RIGHT NOW—which artists get ya going?Once I hit 30, I've been living in this R&B space because it keeps me grounded. Right now it's Donell Jones, D'Angelo and Leon Bridges.
Classic R&B sounds no doubt.
So what's next for you, and where can people find you if they want to get custom fitting done?
I'm working on a side project with Dan, which I'll launch this September involving vintage clothing (back to my roots). I'm very active on IG so you can find me @threepiecepapi or wes@articlesofstyle.com.
To connect with Westley hit him up on his social channels below.
https://www.instagram.com/threepiecepapi
https://www.instagram.com/articlesofstyle
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In the meantime groom well fellas, PEACE!
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