The London Lounge

^ he really ought to cut those fingernails...

a tailor wrote:to help understand. go to ask andy, go on search, ask for cutting a low shoulder. scroll down to that title.

http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Tuto ... oulder.htm

I still view that most recent illustration as an ideal when crossed with Mr. Alden's rolling shoulder picture. It may require a "natural shoulder" or slight padding. Mine is a picture of a highly structured and padded shoulder. That is how you get the concavity that lifts the end of the shoulder up...

Again, be cautious with the surfeit of information here. I can wear structured, concave shoulders because I am slender of build and not at all muscular, with slightly sloping shoulders. I think Alden can wear natural shoulders because he has much more broad and athletic shoulders than I have. What y...

Pelham wrote:
What was the proper term in Britain?

Black lounge coat with striped trousers.

It is traditionally considered informal dress and just another variant on lounge suits, albeit a bit spiffier. Apparently, in the City London, there was time they were worn with top hats.

Given the suiting that I'm using, is the "spalla camicia" the only way to achieve that look? I'm absolutely in love with it. Notably absent is the "waterfall" effect in the drape from the sleevehead. Is this a byproduct of the suiting weave / weight / materials? I would say it comes from more metic...

Also, not being American, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "(s)troller", which I find a rather frivolous term (don't you push babies around in them in the US?). The moment you mention it, you get all sorts of snide remarks about waxed and twirled moustaches, frock coats, top hats etc. It i...

My shoulders are somewhat muscular, however, not very square, so I will trust the tailor's eye when it comes to padding. Having come from a family of two physicians, i'm keenly aware of the "I read it on the internet, I must know better" mentality that they encountered with their patients. I would ...

There are lounge jackets, Norfolk jackets, and Spencer jackets. No such a beast as a "(s)troller jacket" exists.

BTW did I mention that slim cut braces trousers out of decent weighted cloth (16 or more Oz) look amazing. Amazing!!!!

I think it was T.H. Holding who said that as a cutter, as you take the customer's measurements, you should ask if he prefers a close fit or an easy fit. Most of us fall into one or the other camp. I am most definitely in the clean fit camp, and I have an allergy to loosely fitting clothes. They make...

One thing I would like to add is that please don't just follow forum group think and insist on natural shoulders at all cost. Natural shoulders only work if you want a rather negligee and easy look, or if you have unusually square and muscular shoulders. For me, that means something I would wear in ...

The tailor I go to also drafts directly onto the cloth in this manner.

It sounds like cutters like these draft like T. H. Holding - aka Mr Chopper - except with the graded block patterns kept in their heads.

It sounds like you were mostly drafting by pattern manipulation of block patterns.

Thank you for your insights. I enjoyed hearing about your recollections and anecdotes.