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January 27, 2006

naval uniforms

[click on image to enlarge]

While I was on Savile Row the other day, I walked by Henry Poole's and saw this marvellous window display.

Old, antique Royal Navy uniforms. The proper ones.

A little bit of trivia: A certain Henry Poole tailor is by law the only person in the world allowed to work on Admiral Nelson's uniform, the one he was actually wearing when he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Only this tailor carries the Royal Warrant for it.

Also, if you've ever seen old photos of the Ethiopian king, Haile Selassie wearing a uniform, they were made by Poole's as well. That's his Royal Warrant on the top right.

Why do I love working on the Row? This picture says it all.

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January 14, 2006

english cut handmade shirts

[A lovely shirt from Cole's of London.]

I have started investigating getting English Cut handmade shirts made for my clients. Every time I go to America I receive lots of requests for them, so I've decided it may be time to do something about it.

For those of you new to Savile Row and English sartoria, a little background information:

Jermyn Street is traditionally where the finest English shirtmakers have their shops. Located about five minutes walk South of Savile Row, traditionally the thing to do was go visit your tailor on Savile Row for your suits, then go visit Jermyn Street for your shirts. Even today, it's not uncommon for a customer to visit both streets on a single afternoon's shopping.

Probably the most famous shirtmaker on Jermyn Street is Turnbull & Asser, who do wonderful work. Or for those looking for something more off the beaten track, when I worked at Anderson & Sheppard we always referred our customers to Budd of Piccadilly, located in the Piccadilly Arcade, just off Jermyn Street, which is a real gem of a company. Though the shop is very small, I've been told that this is the only Jermyn Street firm that still has a proper workshop on its main premises. Wonderful.

But now it's very common for Savile Row tailors to have shirts made for their clients as well. Dege & Skinner have their very own in-house shirtmaker, but the more common practice is to subcontract the work out to third parties, the ones who also supply Jermyn Street.

When I was in London last I had a few conversations with people who could perhaps supply for me. Though I am not by trade a shirtmaker, I have had some experience with it, having apprenticed for a shirtmaker in my youth for a few months. So I may not be the world's authority, but I do know the Real McCoy when I see it. And any shirt carrying the English Cut label will be nothing less than that.

Life being short, I am only going to sell shirts of the highest quality. They'll have to be as good as anything you'll find in Jermyn Street, or else it'll just be a waste of time; yours as well as mine. That means every customer individually measured, every shirt hand cut and sewn from the client's individual pattern, using the best cottons on the market.

The usual practice is not to get a "fitting" when the garment is half-made, the way you do with a bespoke suit. Instead, the client will get a first "prototype" shirt made. The client will then try the prototype shirt on, wear it for a few washings to break it in, see how it fits, then call upon the shirtmaker with any needed adjustments. Once the adjustments on the prototype have been fixed, then and only then would the client's full order go into production [six to twelve shirts per order is fairly typical].

Then after that, all the client has to do when he wants new shirts, is get on the phone or drop me an e-mail and place an order. Easy.

Cole's of London has a very good introduction to what goes into the making of a good, Jermyn Street quality shirt, including:

1. Designs matched.
2. Removeable collar stiffeners.
3. Two-piece yoke.
4. Two-piece collar.

I would recommend go reading it on their website, under the link, "The Perfect Shirt".

If it's economically feasible, I would prefer it if the shirts were made in England. There are a few manufacturing firms still around, but it seems most shirtmaking these days is subcontracted out abroad [Peru, China, Portugal, India etc.], even with the high-end Jermyn Street firms. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, the quality may still be very high, but I suspect my customers would rather know the shirts were made in England, even if it ends up costing a little more. The label does say "English" Cut, after all.

My advice to anybody visiting Jermyn Street or Savile Row would be to ask where the shirts are manufactured, before placing an order.

We shall see where this all takes us. This idea is only in its infancy, although yes, it's already starting to receive a lot of interest from my customers. Please do let me know what you think, either in the comments or via e-mail. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you.

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January 9, 2006

please subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

[Please subscribe by clicking here. Thank you.]

I have added a mailing list to English Cut for my new monthly newletter.

You may subscribe by clicking on the link above, or the one on the sidebar with the envelope icon.

This newsletter will be especially useful for my existing customers who want to keep abreast of my travelling itinerary, and new potential customers wishing to plan their first appointments, without having to read my weblog on a regular basis.

Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time, and it goes without saying, I won't use your details for any other purpose than the one just stated.

I hope you will subscribe. Thank you.

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January 3, 2006

wedges, or, how "bespoke" is bespoke?

[Left arm and right arm patterns. Because the gentleman's arm is permanently bent, I had to create a "wedge" to compensate, instead of just making the right sleeve shorter.]

The idea of "bespoke" is not only is it hand-made, but it's designed to fit just you and only you.

And the mark of a Savile Row tailor is that he pushes that idea to the extreme.

Here's an example. In the photo above, I was drafting the arm patterns for a client. The gentleman, for whatever reason, had an arm that could not open fully; it was permanently bent.

If the suit was off-the-peg, there would only be one solution- take it to an alterations tailor and have him shorten the sleeve.

But with bespoke, that's not how it's done. What I did as a standard procedure was create a wedge, using extra paper stapled together, to create a unique pattern for the gentleman's right arm, different from his left.

[Close-up of the wedge. Three pieces in all, stapled together.]

Wedges are very common on Savile Row, and not just on the arms. It's not just that no two bodies are ever identical, but no individual body is ever 100% symmetrical or perfectly shaped. Therefore the tailor must compensate accordingly.

[Another wedge- this time for the spine at the back of the neck.]

In the third picture above we have another good example of a wedge being used, this time on a different client. This gentleman holds his head further forward than most, so I placed in a wedge to compensate for the extra curvature of his spine. It's just small detail, but small details matter.

And in case you noticed from the photos, I always have a piece of green cloth on my cutting table when I'm drafting a pattern. It always feels nicer to chalk mark the card with the cloth behind it, as opposed to just having the hard, wooden table.

[BACKGROUND READING:] "Thomas' Top Ten". The most popular and informative English Cut articles.

Posted by tom at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

warwick hall

[The view from my office at Warwick Hall.]

People often wonder why I prefer to spend time cutting in Cumbria, instead of on Savile Row.

I think the above picture, which I took from my office window two days ago, really says it all.

If you're looking for a magical weekend, far from the madding crowd, perhaps you should consider getting your suit fitted at Warwick Hall instead of London. I'll be happy to look after you, and it should be a weekend you won't forget in a hurry.

I hope you'll think about it. Thank you.

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