Stitched boutique lures in fashion lovers and the average guy

Fashion intimidates the average guy. Stitched, the hot men's boutique at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, is well aware of this. That's why you'll find a massive motorized helicopter, collectors' motorcycles, scotch lockers and action movies flashing across huge flat screen TVs here.

Like babies and shiny objects, this boutique proves it isn't all that hard to get a man's attention.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a middle-age man in full tourist garb -- fanny pack and flip-flops -- moseyed into the boutique to take a gander at the Kenny Roberts & Roland Sands motorcycle displayed front and center. Hands in Bermuda shorts pockets, he gazed and fantasized for a good few minutes. When that ran its course and the "Do Not Touch" sign stopped him from mounting the $350,000 beauty, he took a look around and probably realized for the first time he'd entered a hip men's clothing store.

"(Stitched) is a guy's world," says Tony Maddox, managing partner. "It's a place where a guy feels comfortable." Even if it's truly a fashion mecca masquerading as a man cave.

The boutique serves men who give a damn about clothes, shoes and accessories. That includes the Esquire magazine subscriber who follows trends as closely as sports nuts follow the ESPN ticker. It includes the high-powered businessman who considers off-the-rack suits offensive. And, it includes the hip-hop connoisseur who will one day write his luxury sneakers into his will.

While brands such as Loft 604, Brogetti and Commune all generally stay under $400 for knit V-neck shirts, collared button-downs and raw denim, respectively, custom suits easily skyrocket into four-digit and sometimes five-digit territory. The made-to-measure service is the boutique's pride and joy. For the customer, it's an investment of both money and time.

With all the decisions required for a custom-made suit, men can burn half a day designing the coat, shirt, pants and tie that will reflect his personal taste. How wide would he like the lapel? Does he want a pocket on the shirt? Do coat flaps appeal to him? Is a lining necessary? What fabric would he like the lining? Will that be in a print or solid color? What kind of buttons does he prefer? What color will the stitching be on those buttons? Hundreds of questions, thousands of options. Literally. Stitched has 1,500 swatches and 3,000 fabrics from which to choose.

It's a painstaking process, which explains why it all takes place in the Scotches and Swatches Lounge. Here you have another giant flat screen TV, but a remote control accompanies it. Shiny leather couches beckon customers to take a load off. Derringer cycles tease their wallets. And, aged scotch nudges their style inhibitions.

"I love Stitched," says frequent shopper Clement Reid. "It's kind of like a boys' club, er, men's club."

Reid, 31, has ordered three suits ($1,500-$2,000 each) from the boutique in the six months it's been open. He signed off on the last one while taking in the Final Four NCAA basketball games, sipping scotch and shooting the breeze with staff members.

He hails from France originally, but spent the last four years in Miami, so fashion isn't a foreign concept to the Moet Hennessy nightlife director. Prior to discovering Stitched, a store he calls "anti-Vegas, but also so fitting for Vegas," he frequently had shirts custom-made, but never suits.

Never mind that Vegas boasts two Ermenegildo Zegna stores and a Tom Ford boutique, two of the most coveted brands in menswear. Reid couldn't find a store in town that made him take the leap, until Stitched came along. Now, he's a regular and even treated his staff of eight men and one woman to custom-made shirts recently. Watching custom-fit novices experience the process for the first time clarified one thing for Reid.

"(Custom fit) is a complete game-changer," he says. "You can't go back."

In the far back corner of Stitched, adjacent to Milton Chavez's tailoring quarters, is a shoe-shining station. On this afternoon, its attendant Tommy Maynard sits in one of the elevated chairs with both hands holding a magazine to his nose. Weekends are busy, he says, but other days are hit and miss.

Dressed in a black vest and newsboy hat, Maynard's presence -- and the service he provides -- brings the nostalgia of more modest days. Days when "the average guy" knew the importance of fit, a nice hat and polished shoes.

Maynard, who recently earned a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce customer service excellence award, has worked on Jay-Z's shoes and shines Steve Wynn's every week.

The prices listed on a sign that hangs between his two chairs captures the range of styles that travel through the store. Exotic leathers run $12, boots cost $11, regular shoes are $10 and an athletic shoe shine goes for $9. Yes, even sneakers get shined here.

Stitched carries one luxury sneaker line, Creative Recreation. Prices run from $90 for a pair of high-tops hand-dipped in paint to $375 for Turino high-tops in suede from the Italian collection. Each season's designs use an exotic destination as its inspiration. Spring '11 is modeled after Bali.

First-time Stitched visitors have plenty to keep their eyes busy. A mural at the front of the store features a man in a windowpane suit lifting a woman's dress to reveal her red panties. Whether it's a sexual message or just a tailor examining a woman's hem is up for interpretation.

"We like to call our store classic men's style with a hint of irreverence," says managing partner Maddox. "The irreverence shows up in different ways."

Follow Xazmin Garza on Twitter at @startswithanx.