sastre (clothing item)

21:42 Jan 27, 2017 

That's the point of the sentence, but the only point of the query is "sastre". We're not being asked to translate "raído".

20:51 Jan 27, 2017 

The main point of the query is the fact that the once elegant, tailor-made suit in question has seen better days (feel free to use that last euphemism).

21:18 Jan 26, 2017 

Interesting. It does sound paradoxical, but that's presumably deliberate. Maybe you could expand on it a little, something like "a suit that had once been stylish and was now ragged", or something like that? Important not to overdo it, though.

20:42 Jan 26, 2017 

My text confirms what you are saying, Charles. There are definitely references to him having previously been rich, and this is the first glimpse we get of him so it might be important to convey that. However, "threadbare tailored suit", or even "ragged tailored suit" sounds a bit weird to my ears. I am still not sure.

17:12 Jan 26, 2017 

I think the difference between "traje" and "sastre" matters. A sastre (=traje sastre here) may not literally have been made to measure by a tailor, but it looks as though it was; it doesn't look like an off-the-peg suit. It implies a more stylish cut. The idea of this man wearing what started life as an elegant and relatively luxurious garment and is now threadbare suggests something about him and his personal history that would have been missing if it had just said "un traje raído", and is missing if you translate it as "a threadbare suit", in my opinion.