« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
May 29, 2006
us trip
[UPDATE: My appointment diary for the next American visit, June 16-27, 2006, is filling up fast.]
Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York.
I have a small number of slots left, so please e-mail me as soon as possible if you wish to make an appointment. Thank you.
I shall have my San Francisco hotel confirmed within the next few days. Once it's confirmed, I'll post it both here on English Cut and in the newsletter.
Lastly, don't forget Lucy and I will be selling shirts this time round and no, you don't have to be an exisiting suit customer to be measured for one.
I'm very much looking forward to this trip. I really do like catching up with my American friends.
Posted by tom at 11:30 AM
May 24, 2006
the london taxi...
[Amanda, who saved the day.]
Well, I know this hasn't much to do with Savile Row. But chances are if you're in London you'll find us with one of these:
A black London Taxi. It amazes me that these brilliant people effectively serve an apprenticeship to learn the knowledge. Often it takes up to three years.
It's astonishing what these people have stored inside their heads. I'm fortunate enough to travel all over the world, but I always miss these guys when I'm away. They're always helping me out and saving the day.
This is Amanda, who got me to a part of town quicker than I thought possible the other day.
So I make no apologies here, but we do have the best taxis in the world. And definitely the best looking drivers :)
Posted by tom at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2006
english cut shirts in america...
[Solid collar patterns- made of wood- which are used in the design of the customer's personal paper pattern.]
I'm pleased to say that many of the first English Cut shirts have been delivered to their proud new owners. And as I expected, they are delighted. Nigel and everyone at Rayner & Sturges have done a sterling job.
It's nice for me to be able to offer my clients such a wonderful product, which I truly believe compliments my tailoring, and also helps a little in the support of British craftsmanship.
As you know, until now the English Cut shirts are only available to my bespoke suit clients. I know this has caused a lot of disappointment for people who would love to order shirts, but the cost of a suit is a little out of their reach.
This I can totally understand, however we did not do this for the creation of some exclusive club. It's simply that I can only truly look after so many bespoke suit customers at any given time.
I'm sorry that it appears that were making it difficult to buy something as "simple" as a shirt, but it's not just the shirt. It's also the experience and service you'll value and remember long after the shirt has been laundered and worn to death.
[Miss Lucy Adams, who assists me on my U.S. visits.]
To make the shirts more accessible, I'm delighted to announce that Lucy Adams will be again travelling with on my next US trip. And apart from the super job she does of keeping the English Cut tour on track, she will be measuring and looking after shirt customers who are not yet ready for one of our suits. As my existing customers will testify, apart from being one of the most charming young ladies you could ever meet, Lucy is extremely efficient and professional in her work, and will do a first class job of measuring and dealing with all the details of your shirt(s).
People who know me are fully aware of my faults, but one thing I don't do is take this business lightly. I have every confidence in Lucy and Rayner & Sturges. Therefore, should you wish to sample an English Cut shirt, our U.S. itinerary is here, and you can arrange a U.S. appointment with Lucy at englishcut@gmail.com
Thank you.
[BACKGROUND READING:] "Thomas' Top Ten". The most popular and informative English Cut articles.
[NEWSLETTER:] Please subscribe here.
Posted by tom at 4:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2006
ravi tailor in new york
I'm pleased to announce that a super tailor of Savile Row, and once again a very good friend of mine, Ravi Tailor of Anthony J Hewitt, is coming to New York this weekend.
Ravi will be staying at my usual hotel, The Benjamin, on 50th and Lexington.
I usually try to be in town with Ravi at the same time, he's great fun. Hewitt's is a great business and they are all thoroughly professional.
Ravi Tailor
Anthony J Hewitt
9 Savile Row
London W1S 3PF
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7734 1505
Hotel Benjamin: (212) 715 2500
He's got a new website, including his itinerary here.
I've known Ravi for a long time, he really does a super job. I hope you'll pay him a visit in Manhattan and maybe try on one of his suits. I rate him extremely highly, both as a tailor and as a all-round good fellow.
Posted by tom at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2006
the relationship...
[My old Remington, which I use to type the customer's name in their labels. Very heavy.]
You may have noticed on English Cut that I love Savile Row and the tailoring business. Also, I feel that the experience and happiness I've gained from this trade has made me pretty fit to wield a tape measure.
There are lots of different ways you can market your business. And as a lot of people do, they like to publish testimonials from customers and examples of their work on delighted clients. If you've been reading English Cut, you'll know this is not something that I make a habit of doing. Simply because, as we say, "You're only as good as your last coat".
This I take particularly to heart. To cherry-pick favourable displays of garments and the flushed platitudes delighted customers can often cause problems. Not to the delighted customers, of course, but to the new prospective customer. Hopes and preconception are planned on something that's not yet been born. Especially worrying if it's his or hers first bespoke.
I have plenty of letters and photographs from delighted customers. Sometimes a simple "Thank you", sometimes a full set of wedding photographs and a long letter from the bride and groom. Of course it's wonderful to recieve these. Thankfully not so commonly, I also get complaints. We all get them, and that's life. But my customers are personal to me, and I like to keep it that way.
This being said, I'm going to publish this letter from a lovely gentleman who's recently received his first suit from me. The reason is not to wave my flag, but more to point out the facts as I've said earlier. This is a relationship business. Anyone who calls himself a Savile Row tailor already knows this- we're not here for the quick buck. It simply cannot work that way, without causing immeasurable damage to the trade.
Here it is, with my response underneath, written verbatim:
Dear Tom,Now this sounds like the perfect ending to the perfect tailoring experience. But here are the facts.Just a little note to say that I have received the suit and have given it a full run (4 days out of a 5 day week on business). I wasn't quite sure when I first put it on as the shoulders were a bit funny, but it settled down quickly over the road test.... and, this is a spectacular suit. Really, possibly one of the best in my wardrobe, if not the best. It is soft in an A&S way, but at the same time, pretty trim with lots of shape. Less drape/room than what I am accustomed to with A&S both in the chest/arms- but then again, it is also because of the peak lapel style. The cloth was an exceptional choice, different but not too flashy (the blue overcheck is subtle and very elegant), also surprisingly versatile with all types of shirts and ties (a female colleague even asked if I was wearing a different suit having changed shirt and tie).
Bravo! I received compliments. People asked me at least two times in one week if I spent a lot of time working out at the gym - no mean achievement as I have put on 10 lbs over the last 5-6 months (as you know). Other people have mentioned that I look very elegant. No one mentioned the suit in particular (always good - one should never receive compliments' on one's suit, compliments should rather be addressed to one's comportment).
So, I told people that I had not been working out, but that I had a great tailor!
Feel free to post this on your website if you like!
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your kind note. I know we can do a lot better, and I hope a lot quicker!
We both learned a lot with this first one. So it was a good exercise for us both and I'm delighted you're pleased.
At least with the re-make we can let it out should you grow any more.
Take care and Kindest Regards,
Tom
My customer was based in Europe and we met in London almost a year ago to the day. He was extremely passionate about his style of dress. He is young but has an extremely broad knowledge of the world of bespoke. He's tried a few different tailors, some he prefers more than others. But what gave him time in my book was he never criticised anyone. Instead he always approached the situation as a gentleman. He appreciated their strengths and weaknesses, which we all have.
Also, he didn't want to rush this through. I know we do "skiffles" for existing customers who we know well. That's life and we're all pushed for time at some point. But it's very prudent not to be impatient on your first.
He placed his deposit and ordered a three-piece suit of Lessers cloth. Measurements were taken and the pattern was cut. We made a single breasted peaked lapel. Not very common, a style that can be a little cleaner across the chest, with less drape by the very nature of its style. Because he's often travelling on business, we didn't get a fitting until a good two or three months later. All went pretty well. I was perhaps a little over-optimistic on how fitted I wanted to make the jacket. He was a little concerned with the weight he'd put on with all the travelling. No problem, this is what it's all about. I'd re-cut it and all would be well. After another few months we got together again. We could've tweaked the jacket and the suit would have gone home to its new owner. But I wasn't happy; the coat needed let out further.
This we could've done. But had he wanted to let out a perfectly good suit five years down the line, we'd be stuck.
So in the end, I put my hands up and decided to make another coat from scratch. He, being the gentleman he was, accepted this and appreciated my decision over the inconvenience. This is where the fun really started. First of all, the cloth was out of stock, and the replacement was a different shade. However, they did have just enough of the old length which was in short pieces, so I had to jiggle around with it to cut my job. Also it was a check, which didn't make life any easier. No matter, with several hours at my board and lots of head scratching we finally got it out. And in the end and all was well. We had a fitting and we were both much happier.
So I simply had to finish it and send it to him, easy.
But Mr Murphy had defiantly taken up full-time residence. On the final pressing of the jacket, the tailor, who's done this about twice in twenty years, managed to burn the pocket flap. On this news I decided to lock myself in a darkened room. Remember, I'd used all the remaining cloth left in the world!
But after some long slow breaths with my head in my hands, I remembered the original jacket. This I should be able to dismantle and make a matching flap. Thank God it worked. When I slipped it on before I put it in the box to be delivered, I was at last delighted. Exhausted, but delighted. And I knew my client would be too.
[Me in the garden of Warwick Hall, trying to take my mind off burned pockets.]
So there you have it. I made no money on the job, and I'll have a nervous breakdown if anyone picks that cloth ever again. But I don't care, because the end result is the customer's letter above. Of course things are normally a lot simpler than this for everyone. I simply wanted to make him a suit he'd be delighted with, and he knew that. Fortunately for me, he had a wonderfully kind and tolerant approach to this situation. Now, no matter what happens in the future, I know I've gained a super customer whose patience has earned him a suit he'll be delighted with for years to come. If he'd not been so understanding, we could of parted unhappily and the whole experience would have been tainted.
So know you know why I never like to shout from the rooftops on how good I am. Tailors are not always as fortunate to find customers of this calibre.
Remember if your dealing with the best, they'll dearly want to give their best. And providence can, and usually will, be cunningly trying to dash our plans. But hold out and you'll have something special that you'll always cherish.
Nothing good comes easy, or even early, sometimes.
[BACKGROUND READING:] "Thomas' Top Ten". The most popular and informative English Cut articles.
[NEWSLETTER:] Please subscribe here.
Posted by tom at 12:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 3, 2006
high pitch and low pitch...
[natural pitch, where the sleeve wants to hang]
Sleeve Pitch [the way a sleeve hangs], now what's all that about?
It may only be two small words describing a small detail, but it causes its fair share of panic and disappointment, both to customers and novice cutters alike.
You can try your best from start to finish when producing bespoke. The best materials, skilled craftsmen and years of experience. And yet even after all the diligence of checking again and again, things can go wrong. And pitch is often where disaster strikes.
When a suit is shipped to the far corners of the world or even dropped off at a customers hotel just around the corner, any cutter worth his salt will try, if physically possible, to slip the jacket on before the day of the fitting, just to see how it looks. Yes, a big chap's jacket is going to look a bit daft on Skinny Me, but I can still see how it hangs. Which to an experienced eye will give a good idea of the final outcome.
This is where sleeve pitch can catch you out. Often when the customer or even some cutters think the sleeve is too big or tight, the problem may not be that at all, but the problem is with the angle the of pitch that the sleeve has been inserted.
Is it a tad high or low? The thing is you can't tell, not unless it's being worn by its intended owner. I know this sounds obvious, but we do a lot of tweaking with bespoke. So if I meet a man who's suit looks super, apart from the fact we've got a little too much width in the shoulders, because they're often about to literally to catch an aeroplane, I say, "No problem Sir, I'll fix that and courier it to you".
Trickier than it looks.
If I take the jacket and do this simple alteration, the sleeves will often be removed. This is also done when we need to clear the scye (armholes). This is normally not a big deal, but unless the sleeve is returned to the same pitch as it was fitted, then we can get problems. With a changing scye shape or similar alteration, it's easy for the tailor to re-fit the sleeve a little high or lower than before.
[move the arm back, pitch now too high, hence the big furrow at the back.]
It only takes a quarter of an inch to change this. And this is the problem- it's very difficult to notice it when you look at the coat on yourself. And it's nigh on impossible to measure for in a fluid bespoke.
So what can happen is that the customer who's jacket was almost perfect, apart from the shoulder width or suffering from a little too much chest fullness, now has an unsightly bagging and collapsing at the back of his sleeve, or certainly as bad, a diagonal strain line at the front. Right where everyone can see it. Something that will definitely make you grind your teeth and curse the tailor.
There is an average position of pitch which will work for most people. But there are extremes, such as a military man who's always standing to attention i.e. with his shoulders and arms well back. He will than need the sleeves to be pitched low. Conversely an older gentleman with a stoop for instance will need to have his sleeves pitched high i.e. forward.
The pictures are just an average gentleman's fitting on me. However you can easily see what happens if I move my arm forward or back a little. It can make the sleeve seem big or tight. Then if I move my arm to match the sleeve it's as clean as can be.
[move the arm forward, pitch too low, hence the furrow at the front.]
So if it happens to you, don't worry, it's not as disastrous as it looks. Stand sideways on to a mirror in your favourite suit and see if the pitch matches where your arm naturally hangs when relaxed. Just move your arm back or forward a little and you'll see what I mean.
In the old days if a cutter got a job from a tailor which was obviously too high or low, the tailor would be scolded and told the job is either "scratching its *****" or "picking its ****".
I know, not very English Cut or PC these days. But that's the way it was.
So now you know. Simple, really.
[BACKGROUND READING:] "Thomas' Top Ten". The most popular and informative English Cut articles.
[NEWSLETTER:] Please subscribe here.
Posted by tom at 9:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 1, 2006
Lucy in Cumbria..
[Spring on the river Eden, here at the Hall]
Sorry I've been neglecting English Cut for a while. I do love telling you what we tailors on Savile Row are up to, but we wouldn't be tailors if we didn't have customers, and Thank God, I've a plenty to look after at the moment.
Not that I'm complaining, just that I'm chained to my cutting board here at the Hall for the next while. I know, it could be a lot worse. The view of the spring flowers outside are quite beautiful.
[Old master with those glasses...]
Talking of Spring and all things new, my assistant Lucy Adams is in her final year at university. And I must compliment Julian and the rest of the staff as they seem to have been earning their pay. I've got to admit she's a great help here at English Cut and some of the work I've seen and the ideas she's got are really pretty good. So as she's a little more time to spare than me, I asked her to treat herself to a suit and we can really see what she can do.
As I said, her cutting is pretty impressive, albeit a bit too technical and new-fangled for me. However, the deal is, we'll make Lucy a suit, using our tailors. We enjoyed working on the design and cutting the pattern together up here in Cumbria. This of course is for a very fussy customer [i.e. herself]. Rather her than me.
I must admit I like the look of the style she's got in mind. So if it fits, which is entirely up to her, we may just have the best dressed girl in the USA by the time we've finished.
We've chosen something a little bit special for this little experiment, certainly one of the most exclusive cloths I've ever come across. Scabal Super 150's & 22 Carat Gold stripes. Well she did say it just "caught her eye".
[Yes, that's 22 carat gold thread, and don't ask...]
Watching Lucy cut that pattern for an hour, I've never known her so quiet, for so long. Well, every cloud has a silver lining. Or gold, as in this case.
Watch this space and we'll see how she looks.
Posted by tom at 5:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack