BESPOKE TAILORING FOR THE MODERN MAN - FITTINGS AVAILABLE UK & IRELAND

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How To Talk To Your Tailor

Patrick Cooper • Mar 13, 2020

Considering a bespoke suit? 
The Tailor Company offers a few pointers on how to be the perfect client


Mastering the world of custom-made things can be an expensive education. Decisions are myriad, and it requires a certain type of imagination to be able to picture how the final result will look. It is one thing to try on a mass-produced and finished suit and know whether it works for you. It is another to make a leap of faith. So, in the interest of making the neophyte feel comfortable, we’ve put together a few rules of the road on how best to emerge from the chrysalis of bespoke as a resplendent, worsted butterfly.


DO YOUR RESEARCH

Most great tailors can work in more than one style, but some of the more established ones have developed house styles over the years. Like the brushstrokes of Old Masters, these signatures, such as the way the Attolini family of tailors produce a jacket with a roped shoulder (ie, a slightly raised bump where the sleeve meets the body of the suit), are not for everyone. A broad-framed, athletic man might prefer a more natural-shouldered coat similar to what Mr Anthony Sinclair designed for Mr Sean Connery in the early Bond films. 

So before you set up an initial consultation with a new tailor, see how his style and yours match up. If you want to look like an insouciant Italian industrialist checking into Hotel Il Pellicano, don’t visit a Savile Row tailor who has been dressing Coldstream Guards since the Crimean War. “You don’t want to go to a sushi chef and ask him to cook you a hamburger,” says Mr Thom Whiddett, who came of age in the back rooms of London’s best tailors before partnering with Mr Luke Sweeney to form Thom Sweeney, a house that offers traditionally constructed suits with a modern twist.


HAVE A PLATONIC IDEAL IN MIND

When you arrive for your first appointment with your tailor (sometimes called a consultation), there will be a number of decisions that you will have to make. So have a think about what you like and when you will be wearing the suit. Ask yourself: do I prefer a suit with a single- or double-buttoned front? Will this suit be for the hottest summer days or are you after what is known as a three-season (autumn, winter, spring) weight? How about the trouser width? Even as the fashion pendulum is swinging to a slouchier look, do you prefer to cling to your skinny-legged, Mod roots? To make sure your initial consultation goes well, consider bringing an inspirational image with you. 


ASSERT INDIVIDUALITY, BUT LISTEN TO THE SENSEI

One of the first things that we ask a new customer is what he likes (or does not like) about suits that he already owns, in general, we come across two types of client: those who have definite opinions and those who leave it to you. My job is to steer you in the right direction.

There are certain topics that a client can (and should) assert himself on, such as the length of a jacket, but then there are topics that he should defer to his tailor on; fabric being one of them. It is hard for most of us to visualise how a piece of material not much larger than an iPhone will look and feel when it is covering our entire body. You’ll hear tailors talk about how a particular fabric will “make up”, meaning how it will look when the suit is finished. Listen to them, because each fabric has its own properties. A flannel, for instance, may look loungey, while a woollen fabric made from a high-twist yarn will not crease easily and would be ideal for a crisp-looking travel suit.


LEAVE THE WILD PATTERNS

One of the first decisions that you’ll have to make is what pattern of fabric you’re after. Start with simple blue and grey suits – ones in which the subtle tailoring, rather than the baroque patterns, are what catches the eye. Even if one aspires to dress like Mr Lapo Elkann, it is important to remember that his arsenal probably exceeds 100 suits, while yours is (probably) smaller. 

If you have a bold-check suit, it very quickly becomes a signature look of yours and everyone knows that suit, a plain navy is more versatile. A good benchmark for a well-tailored suit is not someone saying, “Great pinstripe!” but rather, “Have you been on holiday? Cut your hair? New personal trainer? What’s different with you?”


LET THE DETAILS BE YOUR STYLE SIGNATURES

TALK THE TALK

Like many professions, tailors have their own argot. For example, always say, “coat” because “only potatoes have jackets,” as the Savile Row Bespoke Association helpfully points out on its website. Here are some other terms one may encounter during a fitting.

Balance
The balance refers to the relationship between the length of a jacket at the front and the length at the back. These ought to look the same. 

Basting
The loose stitch used to assemble a garment for a first fitting. Don’t be shocked if your tailor whips out a small knife and removes your coat sleeves while you’re still inside it.

Button Stance
Where the buttons on the front of a coat sit.

Lapel (Notch vs Peak)
The lapel is the fold of fabric on the front of a coat that runs from the collar to the buttons. On a suit coat, the two most common styles of lapel are a notch and a peak. The former features a notch where the collar meets the lapel. The latter is more of a statement with the edges pointing upward towards the shoulder.

Kissing Buttons 
Most bespoke suit coats have “working buttons” – or buttons that open. A mark of precision on a bespoke suit coat is having three or four sleeve buttons that just touch and overlap on the edges. These are often called “kissing” or “waterfall” buttons.

On The Cod
Savile Row slang for being at the pub.

Patch Pocket
Lacking a flap or closure, this feature is considered a more casual look appropriate for a blazer or a summer-weight suit. 

Pattern
This is the blueprint, sketched on a man-sized piece of paper that reflects not just a client’s measurements, but also how he stands and any other physical quirks. Some tailors start with a standard outline for, say, a 40 regular coat and then personalise, while others employ…

Rock of Eye
A form of artistry possessed by the finest tailors. This is the ability to cut a pattern freehand, using only a tape measure and some chalk as a guide.

Slash Pocket
A pocket that slashes on a coat’s diagonal as opposed to sitting on a more traditional horizontal.

Ticket Pocket
This is the smaller pocket above a coat’s regular pocket. It is called a ticket pocket because it is designed to hold… well, you guessed it. A handy place to keep one’s Oyster or Metrocard.

Now that you can "talk the talk" are you ready to "walk the walk"? 
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No matter where you live, style and what is considered stylish is always evolving. It’s constantly being shaped and informed by a mix of media, history, and the clash of the fashion avant-garde against tradition.
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Some men don’t know how to wear a scarf because, quite frankly, they hesitate with an added responsibility. Let us convince you to give it a shot. The scarf is your winter best-friend because sometimes even the thickest of autumn fabrics could use a splash of, well, more wool (and colour). We’ll show you seven different ways to wear a scarf with a suit and topcoat with step-by-step instructions so your neck can stay warm and stylish all winter long.
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Ah, the office Christmas party – that one day of the year where getting blind drunk is both the best and worst thing you can possibly do and out-dressing your colleagues is an absolute essential.
by Patrick Cooper 11 Oct, 2019
Historically worn in Victorian times with a cape and usually made from tweed, The Ulster has since become synonymous with high-end fashion, still made from tweed but also from luxury cashmere or wool fabrics.
by Patrick Cooper 12 Sept, 2019
“I’d shop at big-and-tall stores, and it would feel like I was wearing a giant bag. So my usual approach was to forgo the jacket and wear a nice shirt and tie—and maybe a waistcoat.” New rule, guys: You should wear a jacket, even - no, especially - if you’re a little burly. If it fits right, it can give your body a whole new shape and revolutionize your confidence. 1. When a suit jacket fits right, it turns all your soft, round lines into sharp, angular ones. 2. Get a jacket made that hugs your shoulders, and has a slight pinch it in at the middle of your torso. That’s what turns your round midsection into a powerful-looking V. 3. Just because you need a broad jacket doesn’t mean you need a long one. It should just barely cover your butt. 4. The best clothes are ones that give a clear, clean, defined shape to the body. That puts suits, blazers, and sports coats right at the top of the list: these are going to “frame” the body and make it look neatly self-contained. 5 . The odds of finding something with a perfect fit off the peg are pretty low, so get to know a good tailor. Size doesn't matter at The Tailor Company - we can make suits and shirts to a perfect fit for any size or shape.
by Patrick Cooper 10 Sept, 2019
As with the shoulders, if the armholes of your jacket don’t fit, the garment will never look good, as they absolutely cannot be altered.
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