Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[camez_]

Here are the first fittings of two suits in progress (by different tailors).

1. LL Reverse Stripe SB suit
View attachment 2077087

2. LL Premium Mid-Grey Flannel DB
Unfortunately, a good tailor is not equivalent to a good photographer. The photo was taken at a low angle, but you get the idea.

View attachment 2077085

who are the tailors?

 

[classicalthunde]

I figured I’d put my experiences out in the open for anyone struggling to navigate the process. A lot of the knowledgeable bespokers will remain silent on these forums and only provide insight by PM.

The suits from Steed were close enough that I had enough faith in Edwin to fix the shoulders.

The real fun begins once you and your tailor figure each other out.

Jacket #…..
View attachment 2076983

Despite the early troubles, these look great to me.

@lordsuperb how you suggest describing/articulating this look to Edwin if someone wanted to achieve this look on the first go around? Full 3r2, slight belly on the lapel, moderate drape in the chest, not to nipped in the waist?

 

[nmprisons]

Despite the early troubles, these look great to me.

@lordsuperb how you suggest describing/articulating this look to Edwin if someone wanted to achieve this look on the first go around? Full 3r2, slight belly on the lapel, moderate drape in the chest, not to nipped in the waist?

I mean this earnestly: Just show Edwin the picture, tell him you like the cut, and describe what you like about it. These guys are not arrogant or stand-offish in the least.

 

[clee1982]

yup I agree, just show the picture and describe, what you're saying sounds close to house cut anyway, and also I think it's important to show what "you don't want". Like I would always show what I don't want in terms of trouser raise/leg opening, I found them harder to communicate as "mid rise" and "not too slim in leg" seem all to mean different things for different tailor (especially on how slim the leg is)

 

[lordsuperb]

Despite the early troubles, these look great to me.

@lordsuperb how you suggest describing/articulating this look to Edwin if someone wanted to achieve this look on the first go around? Full 3r2, slight belly on the lapel, moderate drape in the chest, not to nipped in the waist?

I mean this earnestly: Just show Edwin the picture, tell him you like the cut, and describe what you like about it. These guys are not arrogant or stand-offish in the least.

I used pictures like Nmprisons mentioned and showed him my suits from Paul Stuart.

Slim things down, raise the chest, no skirt flare --> (They mentioned the more you nip the waist the more the hips will begin to flare.)

 

[tim_horton]

1. LL Reverse Stripe SB suit

That fabric looks fantastic.

 

[taxgenius]

I know the common adage is the first item of tailoring you have made from a tailor will never be ideal, but I have found that this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. If that first item really doesn’t seem like it’s in the ballpark, there’s no need to try again. Maybe the house style just doesn’t line up with how you want to look. I had that experience with A&S where there was so much waist suppression that I looked like I had birthing hips. Yet I never had that with Steven Hitchcock, who is said to be in a similar style to A&S.

And it is possible for that first item to be great. It may take an extra fitting or two but it can happen.

My three attempts at bespoke suits (Naples, Sicily & India) were a disaster and I never gave them a second chance. Since then I have been sticking to RTW (Ring Jacket, Cavour, Natalino) and have been quite pleased. I miss the charm of bespoke though.

 

[ericgereghty]

Here are the first fittings of two suits in progress (by different tailors).

1. LL Reverse Stripe SB suit
View attachment 2077087

2. LL Premium Mid-Grey Flannel DB
Unfortunately, a good tailor is not equivalent to a good photographer. The photo was taken at a low angle, but you get the idea.

View attachment 2077085

That stripe is so great. Amazing looking cloth

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Someone asked me to review SF approved tailors given my "expertise". I think that would be Steed and I Sarti Italiani. Coincidentally, I've tried both. It's hard to keep track of all the tailors I've used before because I don't write an article about every single one of them like a certain someone.

Let's start with Steed. Tl;dr, I think they are ok. They made me 2 jackets. Each have their issues.

My first jacket made up with Fox Tweed. Fittings were fine and no glaring issues. Few months later comes delivery and was a little disappointed. Right side lapel was 1 cm wider, the angle of the press is a few degrees more, and right side quarters was twisting. The left side was normal, lapel was pressed nicely, quarters ran true. To me, it felt like the right side was made by a different coat maker. Sleeves were short and had to be lengthened.
View attachment 2072289
This picture is post adjustment by Steed. Lapels are more symmetrical, sleeve lengths are fine. The right quarter is still twisting. They say the measurement on each side is the same. But visually, I see 1cm less from the right side dart taking in more fabric.

View attachment 2072301
Second jacket in LL Tweed. The quarters are not twisted! Hurray. Lapels are symmetrical. Woohoo! Shoulder divots? Fu... Sleeve head and armhole openings were too narrow, causing restriction in movement and the unsightly divots. My other tailor commented the shoulders are not extended enough. This issue also occurred with the Fox Tweed, however Fox Tweed is very spongey, having more give mitigated the divots in the shoulders.

You would think an aesthetic based on chest drape, the shoulder area would be roomy to match the proportions. Well not exactly, hence some of you look barrel chested in any of the drape cuts. The body is a lot nicer than my first order, but the shoulder area is a fatal mistake in my opinion.

Here is a comparison of Zizolfi sleeve head vs Steed sleeve head. See how much fuller Zizolfi's is.
View attachment 2072303

Overall I'd rate Steed like 6 out of 10. Some will have good results, some will be stumped like me. The make of the jacket is good, don't have anything against it. The cutter's skill, I may have to challenge.

I know we joke around needing 11 orders to be established enough to comment on a tailor's work. But a tailor has fittings for a jacket. From the first fitting, there should be improvements and understanding of the client's body shape and modifications needed. How we went backwards for the LL Tweed is a display of inadequate skill by the tailor. Additionally, I have seen quite a few Steed jackets on other people in the city. A few had collar gaps, which is a very low level mistake...

Will write review on ISI next time. Just fyi, all of DWW tailor recommendations had not gone well for me.

Still waiting on the ISI review!

 

[jonathanS]

Still waiting on the ISI review!

I'm going to guess it's not good - with bespoke, when you try to cheapen out, you get burned (aside from a handful of exceptions in naples but then you have to travel to naples & can you really call that cheapening out?). Nothing against people who can't afford bespoke - I took my fair shares of Ls.

The ones that are really disappointing is when you dont cheapen out, and it takes 5 years to get a suit to your liking. (Or, in my case, you give up & move on to different tailors).

 

[Spaghettimatt]

I'm going to guess it's not good - with bespoke, when you try to cheapen out, you get burned (aside from a handful of exceptions in naples but then you have to travel to naples & can you really call that cheapening out?). Nothing against people who can't afford bespoke - I took my fair shares of Ls.

The ones that are really disappointing is when you dont cheapen out, and it takes 5 years to get a suit to your liking. (Or, in my case, you give up & move on to different tailors).

Yeah I figured it wasn't going to be positive but I'm curious how bad the problems were.

 

[comrade]

My three attempts at bespoke suits (Naples, Sicily & India) were a disaster and I never gave them a second chance. Since then I have been sticking to RTW (Ring Jacket, Cavour, Natalino) and have been quite pleased. I miss the charm of bespoke though.

I find it interesting that you stick to relatively moderately- priced clothing instead of bespoke. I can
understand why you like Ring jacket. Unfortunately, they were unable to fit me and dissuaded me
from going MTM- the salesman said that he was not confident that their makers would follow through with modifications successfully. Those who know me from the now dormant SF Meet-Ups in San Francisco,would probably say that I do not look like a difficult fit. On the same trip East I got a sport coat from the Andover Shop MTM that came out perfectly without a try-on. Do you actually go to Norway for Cavour?

 

[corpseposeur]

It's been a while since I last posted, but I wanted to share two recent commissions from Redmayne's. Both Dugdale's cloths in a soft drape cut.

The lighter blue is from Tropicalaire which is a wonderful bunch for lighterweight fabrics. It's a high twist but doesn't have the sandpaper like quality of Fresco. Finmeresco was a close competitor but didn't have this blue. The idea for this suit was to wear on any occasion that wasn't too formal. These would be more fun weddings, nice dinners and the like. I can probably wear the jacket as a seperate as well.

The midnight blue, is in Dugdale's Town and Country bunch and great stuff. It's a worsted but has a very nice flannel-like feel to it with just a hint of a particularly elegant shine. This would be for the more formal occasions like funerals, formal weddings.The jacket is back with Redmayne's for some minor alterations.

Interestingly this photo made me realize that a semi-spread collar shirt doesn't work as well on me as the spread collar shirt.

Dugdale's cloths seems to have a very distinct character that I really like. They tend to be full bodied, not shiny, they have some interesting colors and patterns while not being excessive.

I'm considering a third suit from Redmayne's in a flannel Glen Check. I'm going to try doing a ventless jacket this time. I'm considering Fox Flannels and Dugdale's and any other cloth that they send over.

Not pictured here, but I've been wearing the Kent & Haste 16oz. blue house tweed around in the colder weather. It serves a very specific need in modern tailoring where you wouldn't wear it to an office, but you can wear it wherever without it feeling too dressed up. It's much more in the military style suit but this one came out very well.

I'm going to try an American bespoke tailor that's reasonably close to me; Joseph Genuardi. I have been wary given my horrible expereinces with tailors in the New York area, but perhaps Hoboken, NJ will be more promising. I've been following his Instagram for a while and I'm optimistic.

 

[tdang]

Hello gents,

Was going to have a wholly Italian sartorial journey this month but in the end had to scrap my EU plans and missed appointments with Zizolfi, Corcos, Qemal and another MBT that shall remain unnamed.

So I made a quick visit to Japan instead and picked up my first commissions from Caid. Not a bad alternative at all.

First, a 3-piece suit with self-belt flat front slacks in a spongey donegal tweed.

Second, a sport coat modeled after the one Steve McQueen wore in Bullitt and rendered in a rustic country tweed. I personally love the shape of the elbow patches.

Placed a new order for a sport jacket inspired by an oatmeal number worn by Humphrey Bogart (I can't seem to find the picture now). I got it in a 90% wool 10% nylon, to be paired with Hollywood top caramel gabardine trousers (also made by Caid). He initially suggested that I get an entire suit made, but I figure being clad from head to toe in oatmeal might be a little too much. So we decided on an odd jacket - trouser pairing.

I also met with an MBT yesterday (@Crispyj knows who I'm talking about) and placed an order for a cream hopsack DB jacket and a sage green herringbone SB jacket, but I forgot to take pictures of the cloths (or the tailor). Will update later during first fitting.

 

[Crispyj]

Hello gents,

Was going to have a wholly Italian sartorial journey this month but in the end had to scrap my EU plans and missed appointments with Zizolfi, Corcos, Qemal and another MBT that shall remain unnamed.

So I made a quick visit to Japan instead and picked up my first commissions from Caid. Not a bad alternative at all.

First, a 3-piece suit with self-belt flat front slacks in a spongey donegal tweed.

View attachment 2078435
Second, a sport coat modeled after the one Steve McQueen wore in Bullitt and rendered in a rustic country tweed. I personally love the shape of the elbow patches.

View attachment 2078437

Placed a new order for a sport jacket inspired by an oatmeal number worn by Humphrey Bogart (I can't seem to find the picture now). I got it in a 90% wool 10% nylon, to be paired with Hollywood top caramel gabardine trousers (also made by Caid). He initially suggested that I get an entire suit made, but I figure being clad from head to toe in oatmeal might be a little too much. So we decided on an odd jacket - trouser pairing.

I also met with an MBT yesterday (@Crispyj knows who I'm talking about) and placed an order for a cream hopsack DB jacket and a sage green herringbone SB jacket, but I forgot to take pictures of the cloths (or the tailor). Will update later during first fitting.

Looking good! I'll be there next week.