February 18, 2005
A proper suit.
Via the ever interesting
caterina.net is a delightful blog,
English Cut, by Thomas Mahon, a "bespoke savile row tailor, london." Everything you ever wanted to know about a proper suit. Quite fascinating.
He makes what they call "bespoke" suits, which are evidently the top of the line.
Here he explains what that is.
Bespoke is actually a term which dates from the 17th century, when tailors held the full lengths of cloth in their premises. When a customer chose a length of material it was said to have “been spoken for”, hence a tailor who makes your clothes individually to your specific personal requirements, is called bespoke. Unlike “made to measure” which simply uses a basic pattern which is then simply adjusted to your measurements.
I'll discuss with you what type of suit you are looking for and it's uses. Then a cloth is chosen from the full range available today, also which type of style and fit would be most suitable for you
Clothes made by me have all the hallmarks you would expect from true bespoke tailoring. More than 20 measurements and figuration details are taken from the customer. Then a personal pattern will be cut from scratch, no basic pattern is simply adjusted as so many other tailors do today.
Using your pattern the cloth is then cut and trimmed using the finest linings and silks available. A single tailor is then given the parts of the garment to make from the fitting stages to the final complete suit. Each suit is completely hand made even down to the button holes.
In case you're wondering, these start at around $4000. Since that's probably a bit too much for most of us, he also kindly tells
here all about the various types of suits, from ready-to-wear up to bespoke. Every man should read this. I've never seen it laid out so comprehensively.
All in all a most interesting and classy site. After reading about Iraq, especially about the savagery of the British over there (we wouldn't want the Americans to get all the credit), it's nice to be reminded that there are still civilized people out there. Somewhere. Or if not civilized, at least properly dressed. That may be all we can hope for at this point.
