I have been lurking silently in the lounge for well over a month now, lapping up the articles, discussions and examples. Thank you all for this remarkable effort, and for letting me come here and learn. Here’s a small contribution, a tale of my fledgeling efforts to sartorialize for my upcoming wedding.
I came upon the LL looking for inspiration for daytime wedding attire. It will be an Australian midday summer ceremony in a country church, followed by a reception in a nearby historic winery. Over the last two years, I have had two suits, several shirts and a pair of odd pants made by a tailor in Singapore. These have elicited plenty of compliments, and I was looking forward to a reason to make more. My fiancée and I had a lot of fun researching her off-white dress, and we agreed I could have a parallel suit-making venture.
When I started out I wanted to bespeak a suit that I could use again after the wedding. This ruled out the ultra-formal morning suit. Most “strollers” seemed to be plain grey suits with a little extra length from rental outlets. But I kept googling and found an example of a formal suit that offered some creative freedom, printed it out, and went to see my tailor. From what I’ve read elsewhere I expect apprehension in some quarters, but humour me if you can.
My tailor is Tony Tang, of Anson Tailor in Singapore. I enjoy working with Tony very much, and I recommend him to others. He does the cutting and outsources the tailoring. He has clients in Japan and Indonesia, and Americans have dropped in too. That might explain why Tony’s style is quite flexible, but he does like British styling. My first two suits were under SGD 2,000 each, in S120 Vitales Barberis Canonico cloth. I’m happy to try chasing answers to any questions regarding Anson Tailor.
My first visit began with brainstorming. Tony had ideas in dark blues, but I was stuck on pseudo-traditional grey. Tony suggested a longer look (extra 2½“) could later be modified to a regular business suit, which offered some room for experimenting although limiting button options and pocket placement. Tony was not keen on peaked lapels, and I had no preference. The odd trousers I’d bought earlier were deliciously comfortable, but I wondered if a sleeker look was possible. Tony suggested I try a single pleat. We then looked through several bunches for inspiration, before I spotted what seemed to me to be a cure for everything – grey shadow stripes with a blonde pinstripe from Dormeuil’s Amadeus range. Having little understanding of price or quality, I saw instead a cloth that hinted at the stripes of morning trousers, had pinstripes for a business setting, and was morning-suit grey. It was the nexus of all the things in my head. Of course, if you mix every colour of plasticine you also get grey.
I left to shop for waistcoat material around the cloth merchants of Arab Street. Tony rejected outright my first purchase, a silver Chinese silk brocade with a little bit of cream embroidery in it. Patterns were okay, but Tony didn’t like the cream – it made the pattern busy, and the suit was already complex enough. He was right, and good to stand up for it. On a subsequent visit to Singapore I found a silver-grey Japanese silk. It was slightly on the underweight side, but after adding a lining both Tony and my fiancée were happy. It is lighter and shinier than I’d imagined, but I think it will grow on me quickly once it is finished.
Tony sourced the Dormeuil cloth and put together the suit for my first fitting a few weeks later. The cloth is spectacular – the coat appears smooth pinstriped grey under a bright light, while the pants demonstrate the shadow stripes. My one-pleat trousers still puzzled my eye, but were very sleek. Unfortunately the coat was boxy and loose. Tony seemed to spot that immediately, pinned in several adjustments and quickly scheduled another fitting. The extra fitting left me feeling confident that it would still work out.
The second fitting was much better – here are some (campily posed) pictures. Pardon the turned-up polo shirt. The suit makes me look very tall, and I have fallen in love with the trousers. I had food poisoning that morning which made me forget half of the questions that LL had inspired me to ask. I don’t know if Tony has Saville Row experience, and I don’t remember what pockets we planned. But the collar will be notched and there are no vents. Tony recalled a lovely Dunhill tie that matches the tint of my fiancée’s dress, and he will make a white winged collar shirt with a slightly tighter than usual chest to wear smoothly beneath the vest. The suit will be decorated with an apricot (theme) boutonierre and a white pocket square.
My third and possibly final fitting is at the end of this month. I am hoping LL’s readers might have some timely ideas as my wedding approaches, or else suggestions for when the suit is shortened for business wear. For instance, could it take more waist suppression (the photographer was sitting down, so angles might not be true)? Or are there bleedingly obvious faux pas I’ve committed? Aside from having my photos on their side?
Prenuptially,
Tampan
Image 1
Image 2
Also will you be wearing a nice set of cuff links? 
