"It really is more exclusive than bespoke"

[kitonbrioni]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/16129a56-414...0779fd2ac.html
"James Beattie, a City of London trader, buys bespoke suits and jackets, but a navy blue blazer with a heavy white stripe and gold buttons by Ede & Ravenscroft is one of his favourites because "the fabric is from a limited run - they get just a few hundred yards of a fabric which is never made again. It really is more exclusive than bespoke," he says."

"James Barlow, who works in internet publishing, is the proud owner of a Duffer of St George Prince of Wales check suit. He believes the growth of interest in limited editions is partly due to the reaction in recent years against ostentatious labels.

"I admit I used to wear them when I was younger but nowadays they're so naff and certainly not special, whereas a limited edition really is exclusive," 37-year-old Barlow says. "In the world I work in, it's about what's modern, so something quirky and different, with a story behind it, is always interesting.""

 

[Rome]

The "Limited Edition" thing is never in style but never goes out of style either.

 

[yachtie]

Sounds like he should join the London Lounge.

 

[Film Noir Buff]

Originally Posted by yachtie

Sounds like he should join the London Lounge.


Even limited editions aren't without their limitations:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/...pic.php?t=7139

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Film Noir Buff

Even limited editions aren't without their limitations:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/...pic.php?t=7139
While I think that the pattern in question has some real issues, it is not so large that a competent tailor could not do a good job matching the patterns. I have sportcoats with much, much larger patterns that are matched perfectly. The whole LE thing, including the LL version, doesn't really do it for me. I think that most tweeds, and who really wants a limited edition plain or stripe, likely evolved over time to become their best. A one off shot at doing a special fabric seems really unlikely to be any good.

 

[Manton]

Originally Posted by iammatt

The whole LE thing, including the LL version, doesn't really do it for me. I think that most tweeds, and who really wants a limited edition plain or stripe, likely evolved over time to become their best. A one off shot at doing a special fabric seems really unlikely to be any good.

But the whole point is not to do things that are widely available. There is nothing like the triple check, for instance. Or the first plaid, which was much larger in scale than comparable light brown plaids. The Eden in Paris, if it ever happens, will also be unique.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Manton

But the whole point is not to do things that are widely available. There is nothing like the triple check, for instance. Or the first plaid, which was much larger in scale than comparable light brown plaids. The Eden in Paris, if it ever happens, will also be unique.
I understand the idea behind it, and it does have merit, but one of the trade offs that you can end up with is a pattern that is not as fully developed as it might have been if tested for years by the market or simply evolved over time. The first plaid, from what I have seen, looked to have taken advantage of the best of what can be gained from a limited edition. The triple check does not sing to me. There is certainly more risk in a commission/one-off/limited edition fabric than something from book XXX, and sometimes there is more reward as well.

 

[Manton]

The only point in doing it is if you want some pattern or color that you just can't find. Yes, there is a risk. The triple check color is not quite the same -- not quite as grayish -- as the color in the illustration that inspired it. I would have preferred a dead on match to the illustration a bit better. But it's still quite nice as it is, and totally unique.

Mostly I am happy with what I can get in the books (or on the shelves). That certainly goes for tweeds. The gun club pattern, for instance, is far from unique. However, the coloration in the LL version is better than any I have seen.

 

[Film Noir Buff]

Originally Posted by iammatt

While I think that the pattern in question has some real issues, it is not so large that a competent tailor could not do a good job matching the patterns. I have sportcoats with much, much larger patterns that are matched perfectly.

The whole LE thing, including the LL version, doesn't really do it for me. I think that most tweeds, and who really wants a limited edition plain or stripe, likely evolved over time to become their best. A one off shot at doing a special fabric seems really unlikely to be any good.

Probably youre right. You need an artisitic eye to get a mill, even a great mill, to produce or reproduce a fabric correctly. My research has yielded the revelation that even established cloth merchants go through a series of back and forths to make sure, shade, color, texture and so on is right every year they order from the same mill.

Also, when you buy something to be exclusive, you need to admit that you want other people to know it's exclusive and if the pattern itself isnt objectively beautiful, then unless the crowd you wear it around might have cause to have seen the fabric when they were shopping, where is the added bravado?

It would follow suit that if you buy something from a Smith's, Harrisons, Lesser or Holland and Sherry book, there is the chance that others have seen the fabric and even if they havent bought it, appreciate that you have and are a exhibiting a certain knowledge of elevated items.

 

[Pariolino]

Originally Posted by Film Noir Buff

Probably youre right. You need an artisitic eye to get a mill, even a great mill, to produce or reproduce a fabric correctly. My research has yielded the revelation that even established cloth merchants go through a series of back and forths to make sure, shade, color, texture and so on is right every year they order from the same mill.

Also, when you buy something to be exclusive, you need to admit that you want other people to know it's exclusive and if the pattern itself isnt objectively beautiful, then unless the crowd you wear it around might have cause to have seen the fabric when they were shopping, where is the added bravado?

It would follow suit that if you buy something from a Smith's, Harrisons, Lesser or Holland and Sherry book, there is the chance that others have seen the fabric and even if they havent bought it, appreciate that you have and are a exhibiting a certain knowledge of elevated items.
Two Questions:

1. You write a lot about your research, can you give us some insight as to your methods as a lot of your consclusions seem to be soooooooooo far off.

2. I can also appreciate getting that perfect color, especially when you are talking about a crowd that is really experienced. On that note, how many iterations of Bellevue have you gone through in the search for your forum's cloth club? Also, how are you proposing to deal with the idea of matching sraps and buckles on the uniform over there? Finally, have you thought about something that would go nicely with the rubber on the walls?

 

[Will]

Originally Posted by iammatt

I think that most tweeds, and who really wants a limited edition plain or stripe, likely evolved over time to become their best. A one off shot at doing a special fabric seems really unlikely to be any good.

The black chalkstripe on gray flannel produced privately by a group of LL members last year was a great example of a classic that was no longer in the books. The group buy was the only way to get the cloth.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by iammatt

The whole LE thing, including the LL version, doesn't really do it for me. I think that most tweeds, and who really wants a limited edition plain or stripe, likely evolved over time to become their best. A one off shot at doing a special fabric seems really unlikely to be any good.


For the life of me I can't figure out what to do with that LL flannel.

 

[Film Noir Buff]

Originally Posted by edmorel

For the life of me I can't figure out what to do with that LL flannel.

I was thinking you could make one of those raglan overcoats with the cape sewn onto the back Could be natty in a Sherlock Holmes way.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by Film Noir Buff

I was thinking you could make one of those raglan overcoats with the cape sewn onto the back Could be natty in a Sherlock Holmes way.

Raglan and cape are two words that will never make it into my closet.

 

[LSeca]

Originally Posted by edmorel

For the life of me I can't figure out what to do with that LL flannel.

I thought you had a SC made out of it, the triple-check fabric. Whether it is the LL flannel or not, it is a great looking.