Australian Members - Part II - if you read the first post, you'll get what this is all about.

[wurger]

Exclusives are the rtw range, Hand Grade was their MTO range, that was discontinued a couple of years ago.

 

[click here]

Thought I will post here before I list on ebay.

I'm selling a new without box Trickers Stow in size 39. RRP£425.

Selling it for $300AUD shipped.

IMG_4515

• click here
• Feb 24, 2018

IMG_4615

• click here
• Feb 25, 2018

 

[California Dreamer]

Those Moores ships for free

Even better.

 

[sliq]

Wurger is there a code for the 10% SF member discount?

 

[wurger]

Wurger is there a code for the 10% SF member discount?

SF10

 

[shuuy]

Mrs. needs a new jacket for work, thought MTM works - athletic shoulders, long arms, small waist makes it hard for anything off the rack to work... even with tailoring.

Been to a couple of tailors in Sydney who don't do ladies ... Any experiences/advice here?

 

[Foxhound]

The only SF approved tailor I've seen doing ladies where has been Joe @ The Finery Company with B&Tailor.

 

[shuuy]

Anyone going to give it a go?

 

[nakky]

The only SF approved tailor I've seen doing ladies where has been Joe @ The Finery Company with B&Tailor.

He's made my wife some stuff (suit, jacket, pants and a polo coat) and they are amazing. Don't think Joe uses B&Tailor for much anymore.

Anyone going to give it a go?

What's the price range for TF MTM?

 

[am55]

He's made my wife some stuff (suit, jacket, pants and a polo coat) and they are amazing. Don't think Joe uses B&Tailor for much anymore.

So to be clear you can't use Joe to access B&T from Australia anymore?

 

[nakky]

So to be clear you can't use Joe to access B&T from Australia anymore?

Not sure. Best to reach out to him and check

I haven't had much made by B&Tailor recently with Joe as I was using other options he recommended.

I have no doubt he can deliver you the B&Tailor aesthetic if that's your thing.

 

[Epicure]

The darts are angling inwards when they should be straight usually indicates that there is a balance problem

A Neapolitan cut with English style quarters? Very strange.

I’ve never had anything made from Calder or know who the maker is so it could just be the “style” so all of this is based on the photos provided

To agree with you, @nakky, a Neapolitan cut with English style quarters does strike me as strange and is precisely why I made my initial post about the suit @Bravo Sierra has taken the time (and had the guts) to share. Indeed, why would a maker choose to draw an imaginary line at the buttoning point and make a jacket that is strikingly Neapolitan above that line and obviously British below?

One reason could be that the intention was to emphasise the chest while minimising thighs/hips. While that could at least be a consideration for a Neapolitan tailor looking at my body (as I shared earlier, open quarters could draw undue attention to my ample thighs), @Bravo Sierra appears to have a strong chest and a decent drop, looking at the photos provided. So I think this is unlikely.

That could lead us to the conclusion that perhaps the tailoring has been stuffed up and the balance is off. But looking at the photos, I can see little evidence for the balance being off by that much. Sure they don't fall dead straight, but the angle isn't off so much that if the balance could (?) be adjusted to make the darts run perpendicular to the horizontal plane, I'm not sure this would serve to open the quarters much.

IMHO, it is precisely because @Bravo Sierra looks to be in fairly decent shape with a broader than average chest that achieving the open quarters has presented a difficulty. Or, at very least, this influence on the final position of the quarters has not been accounted for. I've read posts from other forum members suggesting that the top button on the jacket essentially acts as the fulcrum point for the so-called balance that we are discussing. If this is true, then the only way to create more opening in the quarters without shearing some cloth from the quarters themselves would be to reduce the angle created by the lapels above the top button. Judging by the photos alone, there's no space for adjusting anything above the top button on Bravo Sierra's suit. The shoulders and chest fit cleanly, without an excess of cloth. Personally, I'd probably leave it alone, and not risk further expense, nor the potential to make the overall appearance worse. At the end of the day, it's still a nice suit, it fits very well, and to bugger it up for the sake of current SF group-think regarding the preference for open quarters would be a shame. Possibly a costly one if the end result were to ultimately lead to avoidance of regular wear through self-consciousness and eventual descent into a graveyard of sartorial mistakes/broken dreams like Goodwill et al.

I'll close a thought about things like this that can make the MTM process perpetually frustrating for those of us concerned with getting all the stylistic details, as well as the fit, bang on. My thought is that a good bespoke tailor is worth it, even though it's been recently shared on this thread (I can't remember by whom) that one shouldn't worry about getting too caught up in the MTM vs bespoke distinction, and that it often actually doesn't matter so much. I personally persist with suboptimal MTM (too expensive, some stylistic execution lacking) and suboptimal bespoke (relatively cheap but house style not quite right), for the present time at least. I persist because I don't travel much and I don't have too many locally available options. Sometimes I even overpay for stuff by quite a bit, because it means I get a certain cloth, convenience, fast turnaround, or a combination of these and other factors that are attractive to me. The desire for convenience isn't through laziness so much as not having that much spare time on my hands (though this post could be taken to indicate the contrary!). Someday I hope to find a great bespoke tailor with whom I'm happy to form a long term relationship without an excess of travel while conceding and accepting that the odds aren't greatly in my favour.

Summary/take home: MTM is great because you can get something unique in a nice cloth, but for the forumite caught up on perfect execution of detail, it can be frustrating and rarely 100% satisfying even with good results. You can waste a good deal of money. Be prepared to take some major disappointments and treat each commission as a risk. While the likelihood of failure might not be even close to as poor at the roulette or blackjack table, it's a good idea to go in asking yourself, 'Can I afford/accept blowing $XXXX if it just doesn't turn out and I end up donating it to Goodwill?' While I've not found a good bespoke tailor myself, I feel fairly sure that such risks and lack of control inherent in the MTM process would be greatly reduced if I did. Yes, the bespoke tailor has a house style, personality, idiosyncrasies and opinions, but a good one should be able to offer a much more intimate experience, with chances to change and alter along the way with multiple fittings. I doubt even the best MTM operations will ever be able to provide the high level of attention to detail and personalisation that the bespoke process provides. And I highly doubt opinions that bepsoke vs MTM doesn't matter will carry much weight if I'm ever lucky enough to find my ideal bespoke tailor.

 

[Petepan]

View attachment 932018
Anyone going to give it a go?

I'll bring my arm if you bring your leg. Even then, I dont think that will be enough....

 

[sliq]

There's nothing wrong with taking elements of different regions and putting them into one if that's what you desire. I've had a single button suit made with a high lapel gorge and reasonably open quarters, clean chest with no padding + soft natural shoulder; sure, single button is distinctively English and i've brought in italian elements, but ultimately I wanted the best of both worlds..

But as sartorial scholars say, know thy rules and break them. I doubt any tom dick or harry on the street would notice the points everyone has pointed out.

 

[Epicure]

There's nothing wrong with taking elements of different regions and putting them into one if that's what you desire. I've had a single button suit made with a high lapel gorge and reasonably open quarters, clean chest with no padding + soft natural shoulder; sure, single button is distinctively English and i've brought in italian elements, but ultimately I wanted the best of both worlds..

But as sartorial scholars say, know thy rules and break them. I doubt any tom dick or harry on the street would notice the points everyone has pointed out.

Agreed, if all the details are as @Bravo Sierra wanted them, then all good.
As for what the TomDickHarrys on the street notice, I wouldn't doubt that all these details are indeed missed. I don't dress myself for the TomDickHarrys on the street, and I'm sure there are a few others here in the same boat.

On a partially related note, I had the opportunity to get my photo taken after picking up a new suit today and thought I'd make a cross post from the WAWYN casual thread. First time I've posted a fit pic on this thread. Now I just have to wait a month or two for the temperature to drop before bringing it out in the wild.