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DeCarlos Morse wants to make you look good.

The tailor, who opened DeCarlos Bespoke on Monmouth Street about five years ago, says he works with his clients to make custom suits that fit their body and their style.

“We keep it old school, the way they made it back in the 50’s and 60’s,” said Morse. “Now you don’t get the same experience (at other places), but we’re doing it to keep the experience alive. I am hands-on and I work with my clients, get to know them, and work from there to design a suit.”

Morse, a longtime Downtown Jersey City resident, has been tailoring for 20 years and was interested in fashion even as a kid in Virginia, watching his father work on draperies. Always a fan of tailored clothing, Morse worked his way through the fashion industry and worked for Alfred Dunhill, which brought him to the Greater Metropolitan Area.

Today, DeCarlos Bespoke offers reconstruction and custom design services, and once in a while, a bit of alteration. Also, while they focus on men’s clothing, he also has his fair share of women clients.

Morse knows where his priorities lies.

“I’m here to custom-make suits,” he said. “I educate people a little bit, and while I start taking measurements, they decide what details they want.

“And once they understand what they’re getting, the know they have to wait a little longer because they’re getting something from scratch. We use a lot of English cloth, some Italian, because we want a fabric that will last a long time. And overall it’s the difference between having a suit for two-and-a-half to three years and having one for 15 to 20 years.”

Nothing gives him more satisfaction, he said, than giving his customers a perfect finished product.

“I love it and they love it,” he said. “You can be creative and get something particularly just for you, and take the time to do something nice for yourself. It’s really something to see because a lot of these guys I feel didn’t know who they were before the suit, but then they get it and they really admire themselves. You have to be there to actually see it.”

Being in the Village neighborhood, he says, sweetens the deal.

“I specifically put my business here five years ago because I had a good feeling about it and I knew it was an untapped area in Downtown,” he said. “We have great people here and I can see this neighborhood coming into its own.”

DeCarlos Bespoke is located at 411 Monmouth St. For more information, visit DeCarlosBespoke.com or call 201-216-0770.

Village Business Spotlight: For over 100 years, small businesses have played a vital role in shaping the Village. The Village Neighborhood Association is committed to bringing awareness and support to those businesses that embrace the long-standing values and enduring community spirit of our neighborhood.

Photography by Mike McNamara
www.photobymac.com