The picture above may give you an idea about how comfortable bespoke is. This gentleman is a client of mine who popped in to see me to re-order.

I was a little surprised to see he was wearing his last suit minus the trousers. As you can see he was in jeans and casual shoes. Wearing a classic grey worsted coat and waistcoat with jeans is something I'd never of considered. But I had to admit I thought he looked extremely comfortable and relaxed, yet very stylish.

Worked well I thought. What do you think?

I thought I should write a quick note to explain something which has been confusing some of my clients recently. You see every time we send out a new suit or jacket we pack it with a compliments slip. This of course is pretty normal. However, on the corner of the compliment slip we pin a little pewter Spitfire.

(one of our compliment slips)

As our clients will know this is our company logo. The main reason is as I said earlier. I have had the very good fortune to take the controls of this beautiful war bird a while ago and got to fly her one sunny afternoon. This is thanks to the help of a very good friend who realised my love of this beautiful aircraft.

As a little thank you to the bravery of the pilots and all of the Royal Air Force we like to support their memorial fund. This we do by purchasing these lovely Spitfire lapel badges. We don't expect you to wear them but if they make you pause for a moment of appreciation then that will be enough.

I would like to wish all of our readers our very best wishes for the new year. Sadly the start of 2010 has been marked with the loss of a very dear friend and colleague, Mr Ron Hardy.

Ron has been working for Edwin and I for the last thirteen years. He has been in the tailoring trade all of his life and sadly passed away at the untimely age of only 67. Until last summer Ron was working full time as hard as ever. Apart from the huge loss to his partner, Pat and their family. His amazing skill and patients will be a great loss to our trade.

(An example of Ron's work)

Ron has made for many clients who have recognised his wonderful skill in making their clothes over the years. Recently you may remember the beautiful overcoats that Ron made for some of my clients. I hope our friends who were fortunate enough to own some of these pieces will treasure these truly rare and outstanding garments. These of course were only a tiny example of Ron's huge contribution to this very special trade.

One look at at some of our friends work confirms the outstanding beautiful skill that so much reflects the man. Ron's calmness and unflappable patience has helped not only myself but everyone who was fortunate enough to know Ron.

We have all lost a wonderfully kind and witty man who will be extremely missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this sad time.

As you can probably gather my pile of work has kept me pretty quiet. It's been a very busy but enjoyable year for us all here at English Cut.

As this was my first Christmas as a married man. I had to prove myself with the festive roast for our family and friends whom we'd invited to our snow covered home. I must admit that cooking a 20lb turkey in our Aga for 13hrs was pretty nerve wracking. However, as I was told, all was well and I relaxed in the knowledge that I'd performed my Christmas duties.

(the local scenery)

I'm very much looking forward to next year and I hope to make some interesting additions to English Cut which I hope you'll enjoy. I know some of our readers have already arrived into 2010 but before we nip down to our local for the evening. I'd like to wish a you all a very happy and prosperous 2010.

Thank you all again for your wonderful support and all your very kind wishes to both Claire and I. Until next year, best wishes to you all.

The winter sun has finally returned to poor old rain battered Cumbria. My lovely county has had a pretty awful couple of weeks with rain and floods. When I returned from the United States I had to meet clients in London and hardly seemed to have caught my breath since I left home. We had a super trip, all went well and we've been blessed with plenty of work to keep me quiet on these dark winter nights. It's going to take me the next few weeks simply re-cutting the work that I tried on whilst on my trip. It takes longer than you'd think to check my notes re-cut the clothes and check every pattern. Cloth is like fluid but if you're diligent with it you can eventually get it to work your way.

I know some of my clients may gasp with worry when they see this apparently random pile but worry not. These clothes are far stronger than you think and believe it or not I do have an order to this collection of sartorial commissions.

Left alone I'll slowly but surely get through this and enjoy every minute of it. I really don't think I'd care to be working full time in London any more. To try to concentrate with all sorts of distraction just wouldn't work for me. Of course the fellows on the Row manage fine and like everything in life, what must be done, will be done. I'm glad to be in our little tailoring haven here in the quiet north.

(spots before your eyes)

I thought you may like this picture. Paul is making a fitting for a local client here at the Hall. As you know we match the checks and stripes on our jettings. This we also do even on plainer fabrics as we are here with this birdseye. It's totally unnecessary and matching those dots isn't easy, that's all Paul will see when he's trying to sleep tonight.

(even with the darts it looks lovely)

I know this extra effort will be scoffed at by the words finest tailors but to Paul and all of us here it matters. I suppose that's why we are English Cut.

Our first stop in Chicago went very well and now we’re on route to San Francisco as part of our Autumn USA visit.

Business was brisk and the diary’s looking good, so God willing we should have a good trip. This was my first experience of Halloween in the USA and I’ll doubt I’ll forget it. Certainly, if Chicago’s anything to go by, Halloween is quite a party. I thought I’d time travelled to the 31st of December.

(all new to me)

It’s always nice to experience something new. And even more comforting to discover our friends this side of the pond don’t need an excuse for a party. What a very civilized nation.

Lucy and I will get down to business over here and as usual time will fly and we’ll soon be back home.

If anyone would care to meet up with myself or Lucy please let Jenni know at and she’ll do her best to help.

This lucky fellow is Lee Oxley one of my tailors who started with us after leaving Anderson and Sheppard last year. He's settled in so nicely he's even treating himself to a new blazer, which is perfect for that sartorial edge down the local pub or the golf club. As I said earlier if you can only afford one peice of bespoke in your wardrobe this is essential. You'll really get your moneys worth over the years. This is his first fitting which dosent look bad for the first job that I've cut for him. Lee's keeping it simple with one button and a peaked lapel. A dark pair of trousers and tie and it's formal enough for most occasions, polo top and chinos and it's great for after the beach. That's what you call versatile.

Unlike poor me, who has to fit his own suit which is a lot harder than you think, I'll make sure that his fits.. This is obvious as you'll see from the pic below of my lovely new wife Claire and I, we both look as if were straight off the top of a wedding cake. Claire looks great in her "Oscar de la Renta" but my suit's a bit on the big side. However, you dont know how lucky I felt to get the girl and a new suit! Too big or too small I didnt really care.

(happy tailor)

I'd like to thank Val of Warwick Hall for our super day. If you'd like your special day here I can highly recommend it. I must also thank Roger my great pal who did a super job with the photographs and Terry Brown of Scabal London who very kindly gave me the lovely fabric for my suit. Just before my wedding I was visiting a shirt makers in Northern Ireland whod I'd heard great things about. They very kindly offered to make me a shirt for the big day so I must thank Richard and all the gang from Smyth and Gibson who did an amazing 48hr turnaround for me. Even with a huge pile of work Paul, Peter and Katherine made a lovely job of my suit. I promise to do my part and fit it properly soon.

I'm also delighted to tell you that my original "English Cut" girl, Lucy Adams and I will be travelling together again this Autumn. She's a lot wiser than when I plucked her from the University I was teaching at five years ago. We've booked our tickets and our dates are here. This is my last but one trip around all four city's and we both can't wait to catch up with everyone.

I've also moved my cutting room over the drive to the stables which has lots of room and lots of light. Working in a 300yr old building is pretty inspiring and the view's not bad either. I promise not to post any more wedding pics but you did ask. I know it's great to see Claire but I'm all too aware of who's now joined at her hip, poor girl.

(view at the end of the garden)

Anyway, I'll leave you with this final picture below. I don't know what I was saying at this point in my speech. Perhaps to Claire's parents I was pledging my undying loyalty to their daughter? Or maybe I was auditioning to be the next Conservative candidate. Would make a great caption competition if you've any ideas?

("we'll fight on the beaches")

My next American dates have been confirmed for October-November, 2009. Full details here.

Please e-mail me if you wish to make an appointment at my hotel. Thank you.

Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York.

As always, I look forward to seeing everybody. Thanks Again!

[When I'm in the U.S., it's always far easier to reach me via my mobile:]

+44 (0) 7811 388 536

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No sooner had we left the church and enjoyed a few days in France I'm back at it on a train to Savile Row. We had a super time and we'll post some pics when we have the posh versions.

A very kind reader wrote and told me about this lovely film clip from Pathe news. It's a super insight into how Savile Row used to be. They also describe the amazing pedigree of Henry Poole. Thank's again to our reader and you can enjoy it here.

This is also one here that I found on the same site. I was very fortunate to work with some wonderful people who worked on the Row in those distant days.

It's been a while I know but apart from how busy we are I also got married to the delightful Claire last Saturday.

So we're in France for a while taking a bit of deserved quiet time for both of us. It's a bit of an extreme way to get a suit made but it worked and we had a wonderful day.

(the venue for our marriage, Our Lady and St Wilfreds)

If you're interested we'll have some pics up soon. Thank you to everyone for all their kind wishes.

Talk soon, Mr & Mrs Mahon :)

It was a very busy day last Friday on the Row. I had a lot of fittings to do and the weather is far too hot. When I escaped for an hour I met my old business partner and friend "Boycey" or better known to you as Edwin Deboise from Steed. We originally met when we were both cutters for Anderson & Sheppard and although we're only five miles apart we never seem to get the time to catch up. Needless to say after an hour in Starbucks we put the worlds to right.

I've not only been busy meeting clients on Savile Row. We also had a visit from Mr William Boehlke of "A suitable wardrobe " fame. He writes a very informative blog about his constant persuit of true bespoke. He dropped in with his lovely wife on the way to Scotland visiting a weaving mill. We fitted a couple of suits he's having made and we also found the time to eat well and enjoy a couple of pints.

(very smart)

If you remember earlier I designed some school blazers for Sportswear International. I tried my best to weave a little of the finer details of bespoke into a mass produced garment for youngsters. With the limited budget you can't perform miracles but you can hope for them and I'm delighted that it worked. So well in fact the first batch of blazers has completely sold out and they're busy trying to restock.


(a young James Bond)

There's nobody more aware than me about the cost of bespoke clothes and I know what a privilege it is to wear such lovely clothes. Although they earn their hefty price tag mainly because of all of the hours of hand labour that goes into them. However, there are quite a few details we can consider and incorporate in a machine made garment which ultimately can make all the difference. Obviously on this occasion it worked.

One of the first schools to order was the Manchester Enterprise Academy. Last week I met their new principle Marie Quayle who is determined to raise the standards of the new Academy through the roof. Before changing to Academy status the schools past was typical of large inner city comprehensives. They've had their fair share of problems which they tackled head on and now have a fantastic future to look forward to.

I'm especially delighted that they're reverting back to the tradition of all the pupils wearing school uniforms. Now of course I would but this story gets even better because it was the pupils who enjoyed how they looked and felt in their new blazers. It was they that ultimately decided on this more formal look. Try as some people do they just cant kill off the fact that people want to be comfortable and look smart. Dress down Fridays and abandoning school uniforms seemed like a good idea at the time. However, in reality it's an attitude that doesn't make people feel particularly good or do anything for their own or establishments image.

(top sleeve matching)

Back on the cutting board the picture above is of a new suit we're cutting for a client that was especially woven for the London Lounge. It's a terrific Prince of Wales with a decent bit of weight to it. Although those checks are tricky to match it'll make a super suit. This incidentally was cut by my new apprentice who I'll introduce you to later. He's only been with me for a while and is still going through the usual yard stick beating process at the moment. I'm sorry that's not very "politically correct" for modern business but then again we're not a normal modern business.

("Boy, make me the doublet, and patch the pantaloons, or else I will rap the yard-measure over your ears.")

By the way my client is sure to recognize his fabric but don't panic I was standing next to him all the way:)

This is a new television programme that airs this Monday evening.

I've not seen it but the content looks pretty interesting and I like the basic idea behind the programme. A little bird tells me there's a nod to the Savile Row suit.

Basically in this "Green and pleasant land" how many things are still made in the UK?

The details are here.

These as you can imagine give us tailor's lot of fun. I for one still have to scratch my head a bit when I cut one. Remember, I don't have block patterns so I do this from scratch. It's especially difficult as in this case where it was my clients first order, a morning suit for his wedding. Luckily I always get there in the end and thankfully I have Fred Eltham' one of my most experienced tailors to help me at the young age of 74.

You see I know that there aren't many cutters who can cut one of these straight from a blank sheet of paper and more's the point that there are even less coat makers that can put them together. It does look a little bleak for the future of such beautiful garments, well certainly the hand made ones. You see good coat makers can pick and choose what they want to make. Of course they charge more to make a body coat but they really are a quite a task and in all fairness the extra that is charged often doesn't seem enough for all the extra hours of effort. Needless to say the younger guys are not very keen to learn,

Like fitting any garment there are lots of things to consider, however one of the key things is the "balance". The balance of a coat or trousers is one of those very tricky things to try and explain in words. However with the help of some pictures I'll try to explain a little about what this means. I chose to do this now because on tail coats this is extremely important. If you get it wrong you can't hide it and it ruins this particular type of garment.

So here goes with my brief explanation. If you lose track then don't worry, apprentice cutters have been doing that for generations. In basic terms balance means the relationship between the front and back of a garment. The human form is very simply like this. As far as the coat is concerned try to imagine a person standing normally but sideways on to you. Now imagine a line at 90' to the standing body running through the nape of the neck or top of the shoulders. You still with me? Now imagine another horizontal line, again at the same angle running through at what would be a good coat length, just below the seat. Now the distance between the two lines at the back of the persons body at the front is the same.

However, stand any person sideways on and usually their chest or bust is prominent. Down their back it is usually straight in comparison. This is the part you have to think about, if you follow the silhouette of the body the distance between the lines over the front or chest area is longer than between the lines at the back. So in other words we usually need more in length of material down the front of the body than down the back to keep the garment equal or in "balance" between the lines. I hope you got that bit because you'll see that I said "usually" because this is often not the case. As you can imagine a person with a flat chest and rounded back will turn the equation completely around. In another example you may have a man that has a normal posture but a very large stomach. This again increases the length down the front of the body to keep the lines in balance. You may have heard a tailor say " you need more or less back balance" which is basically this situation that he's trying to get right. If you can get this principle with my description you'll easily image the same process for the trousers or a skirt. Usually this is the other way round as the extra length is usually over the back as your seat is the most prominent. Well it's 11pm here and I'm sure that's enough mental exercises in words for the moment so let me tell you what happens if it goes wrong.

One of the most common errors is shortness in back balance. Basically not enough length in material between our two back lines. The obvious signs are two things, the coat wants to stand off at the neck and when it's pulled onto the back neck you get awful diagonal drag lines from the side seams towards the centre of the back. If it's too long in the back you get collapsing in the lower back in the form of horizontal lines. If it's short in front balance you'll get the fronts scissoring across each other if it's long the fronts will fall away and want to swing open at the bottom. I could go on all night about this but as far as clients are concerned their tailor should be taking care of this. I'll leave the explanation there which should help clarify what I'm talking about next.

(swinging open, too long in the back)

Back to the body coat. These garments, well certainly if I cut you one will be very fitted. My clients know that my armholes are cut very small and that they almost need to be shoehorned into my coats at the fitting. However a body coat should be exactly that, fitted very neatly around the body. The more skin like the fit, the more you can move. This fellow is about a regular 40" chest but look at the tiny armholes. The blade cuts emphasize this further and he loved how it fitted his body like a glove. Now basically the balance on a coat like this needs to be absolutely spot on. The reason is that the length of the tails will make any errors glaringly obvious. If it's in balance as this one was, thank God. It will hang perfectly straight and look very elegant. If I adjust it on the mannequin I can show you what happens if it's long or short in balance. The tails cross over if it's short in back balance and just as bad the tails will swing open if it's long.

(tiny armhole,you'll move like Fred Astaire)

Now after your lesson here's the fun part. To alter a tailcoat is quite frankly a nightmare especially if it's completed. Also it's very expensive. There is however a little shortcut that's been used for years and here it is. Rather than take the coat apart just sew a few lead fishing weights into the lining at the bottom of the tails. It will hang beautifully. Easy when you know how:)

(straight and true, promise no lead;)

This little pile above is a only some of the work that I've got to cut and get made. In these inclement times we've been blessed to have a very full order book.

As you know I try to spend most of my time here at the Hall in my beautiful native Cumbria. Apart from my regular trips to the USA I always seem to be getting on a plane or a train. No bad thing I know you'll say, especially if your stuck in an office all day.

I don't know why it is but somehow those cases I carry seem to be getting heavier. When I do my big trips around the USA it's like a mini rock band on tour. Ok, I don't get the groupies but it's a different flight to a different city every couple of days and a very busy schedule. I like to think we create a form of art just like some musicians. Musicians as you know eventually stop touring. This way they can stay in the studio and hopefully do better things. This is ultimately at the point where I'm at now.

As I said earlier I've been tailoring for over 25 years now and am enjoying every minute. That being said I'm rather hoping to develop English Cut to possibly include some other wonderful English products which would compliment us and also be of interest to you, our friends.

They do say "you cant please all of the people all of the time" but in the last quarter of a century I'm pretty confident most of my clients have been pleased that our paths crossed. I hope I can reflect in a similar way in another 25yrs.

Anyway with these ideas in mind it will cause some changes as I'm desperate to recapture that very rare commodity called "time". I'm sorry but I doubt I'll be able to take on new customers :( as my existing clients keeping me busy enough. This will also be the same on my USA visit this Autumn. My plan is to complete the commissions we have on order return to the US to ensure all work is completed satisfactory and that everyone is delighted with their orders. I will have my usual visit this Autumn and then also return in the spring of 2010 to make sure all is as it should be. I then hope to hang up my US shears and leave the travailing tailoring business to the other artisans. The US is a wonderful place and I wont be able to stay away but it's definitely only short visits to catch up with friends and holidays after that.

Please don't panic as there will be no immediate change and we'll still be here as we love what we do too much. Next year however, I hope only to be cutting for about a third of what we do now. It's incredible how things can grow and tailors do have a habit of forgetting there are only 24 hours in a day. It'll be nice to slow things down a little.


(we're getting the hang of it)

I don't usually post pictures of my work but David and I had a great time when he visited us at the Hall. He ordered his first bespoke and David loved meeting Paul and the gang. His suit turned out to be very special. Special they all are, however I drafted his pattern with him there and then let him cut it himself! He had a steady hand and if he were 20 years younger I think he'd be as good as they come. Sadly I broke my phone recently and lost the pictures of him cutting. David is very pleased and kindly sent me this picture even though he's only had one fitting but it's looking pretty good I think. Don't worry I've already scalded him for fastening the top button.

What do you think of this marketing plan? English Cut suits "cut your own". May solve the time issue:)

Anyway I've got to run as I've a lot to do. Something tells me this is going to be a very quick year.

In between running round the globe fitting hand made suits to personal clients I've been doing some special homework. The director of this company, Sportswear International initially contacted me the best part of two years ago to have a suit made. Sadly for him we were too busy to help but he wanted to come and see us anyway.

You see Kirk Robertson the managing director of Sportwear International that supplies the very best in sportswear to schools and clubs. He can put his hand on heart and say this because they had researched, developed and tested their products. This confirmed that there was no doubt that their products could stand up to any form of scrutiny. However the same could not be said for their school uniforms, especially their school blazers.

Certainly they had a fine range which was competitively priced and was as good as anything thing else found on the market. This was of course the problem, it was just the same as was what was on the market. There had been no research, no development or testing on their range of school blazers. Obviously a very important piece of clothing. The fact was that unlike their other products their school blazers were only equal to the market leaders, not better and in a word unremarkable, unlike their sportswear.

This is where yours truly came in. They knew there had to be something better and the key was to start from the beginning. Of course Mum's not going to pay £1,500 for their dear child's blazer but there where still huge differences we could make which wouldn't bump up the cost too much. We drafted new patterns that were slimmer and more fitted, reduced the huge armhole so the wearer could actually move. We put the waist button in the waist instead of the usual position stuck halfway up the chest bone. We've ripped out the stiff construction and replaced it with more natural and softer materials. As you can imagine the fabric has to be very tough, I mean Kevlar tough. Obviously this ruggedness doesn't usually make a good bed partner for a soft luxurious feel. Once again with a fresh approach they managed to find an amazing fabric that was strong but soft to touch. Incredibly you can put it through a washing machine. I really must add it to our range:)

(modelling outside the hall)

The new range is called the S-Cut, self explanatory. We addressed everything in the range from the ladies skirt to the men's tank tops. It's a completely new approach to school wear. We're still studying and tweaking the range because everything can be improved. You can view the range here. Of course for about £20.00 ($27.00) for the jacket retail there are limitations but we've made big improvements. As you can see on our model, who's a little taller than the usual pupil you can see the more natural shoulder and fitted shape. A long way from the previous boxy look. It's been a real treat for me to be able to improve these clothes that children and young adults have to wear. They really have been forgotten about far too long. It's incredible the youngsters who hated wearing school uniforms are now not just tolerating them but are actually enjoying wearing them.

(the ladies didn't miss out either)

We've put a lot of time and effort into these including fitting in a breakneck schedule to Shanghai to meet with the manufacturers to make sure everything was up to standard. In the beginning to try to design something that fitted within such a criteria but still make it unlike anything made before seemed impossible, especially with the cost constraints. Dare I say it I'm very proud of the end result. It's not going to make me a millionaire but it is another chapter in the English Cut gospel for good clothes, not expensive ones. The important thing is that it'll make a lot of youngsters very, very happy.