The London Lounge

luk-cha

I was in there three weeks ago and the cloth had only just arrived and the hadn't made the books up yet. They were cutting the swatches so they may be ready now.

Regards

GAH

I am speaking from memory here so may well get this wrong but I think the Bateman range luk-cha is referring to is their 'Solaro' book. It contain some nice fabrics and some good bright colours which would look good in a high summer jacket. Their 'fresco' book contains some very nice materials. They...

TimMureau I am sorry that I don't have any information as a customer of Oakwood. My only experience was sending them an e-mail requesting information. They never replied. To offer some background information (or glorified gossip!) I buy some of my materials from a merchant close to Leeds. They obvio...

Trevor Souster and Hicks offer two grades of bespoke as well as a standard MTM. The two bespoke grades are termed something like 'machine finished' and 'hand finished'. Further details, including price, can be found on their web site. Bespoke is only available at their Woburn premises. I went to see...

Kolecho The details and style you listed sound very nice. Addressing your questions in reverse order, I think a variety of seam options are appropriate (including swelled or double stitched) but I tend to go with plain as I think there can be a danger of 'detail overload' on a jacket like this. On t...

Stephen No problem and no need to feel guilty. You seem to have found a much better solution - a local tailor with good credentials who you have found by recommendation. Let us know how you get on. By the way, Slaters is a pile-em-high, sell-em-cheap operation that gears itself to offering low cost ...

Hello Stephen

Happy to be able to help.

The address is Kay Street Industrial Estate, Openshaw, Manchester. M11 2DU. Telephone 0800 298 6789 or 0161 231 3231.

They also have a web site at www.lesliepowell.co.uk.

Regards

GAH

Hello Rutherford If you are willing to look at other forms of waistband adjustment (particularly strap and buckle side adjusters) you may find the RTW choice opens up a little more. To my knowledge, Hackett, Kilgour and Mark Stephen Marengo all stock some trousers with this feature and I am sure oth...

Hello David Sorry I can't point you in the way of a bespoke tailor in London who fits your requirements but a couple of thoughts. As this is such an important day and you only have 'one shot' at getting the suit right, might it be an idea to look at a ready made suit which you could have altered to ...

DonB If you find a pair that you like in all respects except for buckle colour there may be a simpler solution than bespoke. I was recently looking at a pair of brown monkstraps in the Cheaney store on Bond Street. They had gold coloured buckles and I was looking for silver. I was told that it would...

TVD Thank you again. I already have both MTM and bespoke suits and am aware of the differences in the finished garments. What I am now looking to do is to use the services of a London tailor rather than the firms in the north of England which I have used to date. Through research and visits I have n...

TVD Thank you for your reply. On re-reading my post I see I have not phrased my question clearly. Whilst I understand the different feel, appearance and detail in bespoke work as opposed to MTM I wondered whether using a firm's MTM service would give an accurate indication of their bespoke operation...

Gentlemen

A number of the Savile Row and associated firms offer MTM options.

Is there any merit in trying this option first before going bespoke or are they such different animals that they bear no relation to each other?

Regards

GAH

Thank you all for your contributions. Mr Logsdail, Mr Kabbaz and Mr Despos - I appreciate the view from the other side of the tape measure. I agree that the tailor/client relationship is a more satisfying one all round when it is based on collaboration. There are a few times when I have benefitted b...

Gentlemen A comment from Manton in the unlined spotscoat thread about being "in 'talks'" with his tailor about the lining of a coat prompted me to ask this question. How far would you ask a tailor to deviate from his default standard? To be clear, I am not talking about asking anyone with a clear ho...