Just how honest are London tailors

[davidhuh]

Dear Lordsuperb,

There are too many pictures and blog post about various tailors that have gauged my interest in the past year.

Marketing is fine - take it as such.

Also, it can be frustrating at times when working with one tailor and they misinterpret what you wanted.

I understand. Don't get stuck in blaming the tailor or yourself. He doesn't know you well enough, you may not be experienced enough to express what you want precisely, and there are simply very human misunderstandings and mistakes.

It looks like I'll have to take things slow and think about each project from here on out.

This is what I meant. Develop with one tailor first and see where this takes you. You might want to change later, or add a second one for a specific reason. But have a number of basic suits done by one tailor first.

Something I only learned over time is the value of a tailor who is around the corner or easy to reach. There are so many quick fixes that can be done without taking appointments - such a relief.

Cheers, David

[lordsuperb]

Thanks David.

[dopey]

Yes, Silk used Caraceni. I haven't heard from him on LL in years and years.
Dopey may be the most recent Caraceni Roma client here.

Dopey is a happy occasional Caraceni customer, whose patronage is limited to the occasions when he gets to visit Roma. He is glad, therefore, that he will be returning to the Eternal City again this June.

And he is also grateful to uppercase for not just the recommendation but also for the helpful advice on getting started with them.

[uppercase]

Dopey, that's good to hear. I'm glad that Caraceni Roma worked out for you and you continue to use them when you visit Rome.
I'm sure that people here would enjoy hearing your experience with Caraceni and what you think of the suits they made for you.

Davidhuh, I do agree with you that you get the best results when you stick to one tailor, one around the corner, and develop a long term working relationship with them.
On the other hand, I think that many of us here don't have local tailors - easy access- but rather use a traveling tailor or we become a traveling client. Also, some here like to frequent different tailors, if only for the fun of it; I count myself among that group.

[C.Lee]

... some here like to frequent different tailors, if only for the fun of it...

More butterfly than bee, fair enough. There is a little Rube Goldberg in all of us:






Regards.

[Dr T]

In in Hong Kong at the moment _ I see Gieves and Hawkes are discounting at the Lantau outlet. Last time I was here it was a 70% sale - now its 80% - all from No. 1 Savile Row

[Dr T]

No, if you are in Rome , forget Milan.
Go straight to Caraceni on via campania 61b.
The finest tailor I know of.

Im in Rome now -if I get the opportunity I will visit tomorrow -thanks again for the advice

[hectorm]

Im in Rome now

Since you´re in Rome now, why don´t you drop by Sartoria Ripense at 38 Via di Ripetta just 2 blocks south down from Piazza di Poppolo. My favorite tailor shop and haberdashery in Rome.
To be frank, all that Caraceni dynasty has been difficult for me to follow, as it has been to find the Caraceni´s tailor shops in Rome. If you're lucky with that address on via Campania, just let me know which one is which.

[Dr T]

Im in Rome now

Since you´re in Rome now, why don´t you drop by Sartoria Ripense at 38 Via di Ripetta just 2 blocks south down from Piazza di Poppolo. My favorite tailor shop and haberdashery in Rome.
To be frank, all that Caraceni dynasty has been difficult for me to follow, as it has been to find the Caraceni´s tailor shops in Rome. If you're lucky with that address on via Campania, just let me know which one is which.

********!! did not get you message in time - another time another opportunity - thank you for your advice

[rathatha]

Dopey, that's good to hear. I'm glad that Caraceni Roma worked out for you and you continue to use them when you visit Rome.
I'm sure that people here would enjoy hearing your experience with Caraceni and what you think of the suits they made for you.

Davidhuh, I do agree with you that you get the best results when you stick to one tailor, one around the corner, and develop a long term working relationship with them.
On the other hand, I think that many of us here don't have local tailors - easy access- but rather use a traveling tailor or we become a traveling client. Also, some here like to frequent different tailors, if only for the fun of it; I count myself among that group.

Dear All

I have not posted in a while on LL, but I am a happy Caraceni customer since 2012. The address in via Campania is still active ( last time I was there was in Jan 2015). It is Tommy and Guilio Caraceni's shop (http://www.tommyegiuliocaraceni.com/ita_/index.html) though no actual Caraceni is still cutting/sewing. Carlo Tonini is the head cutter and I have been extremely happy so far. I chose Caraceni based on uppercase and Dopey's recommendations and they are the only tailor I have ever been to. Did not yet feel the need to change. If you know what you are doing, Carlo will execute flawlessly any type of coat you ask for. If you dont know what you are doing, like me, he guides you through, explains and without a doubt the suit he will make for you will be stellar. I have a three piece suit ( made for my wedding), a lounge coat and a LL flannel from them and I must say that Carlo has really made the experience of getting each of them made so special that I always go back to Caraceni every time I am in Rome even if I am not getting a coat made.

Please do visit them and you will not be disappointed.

Also Camiceria Soldati is a shirtmaker in Rome that doesnt really get the credit it deserves. Of all the shirts I have, I prefer Soldati more than the rest.I have shirts made from Ascot chang and Maria Frittolini. Ascot chang is poor quality through and through, not much else to say. The work of Frittolini is exceptionally good, but given that she is in turin and a lot of fitting is done over email/post, it takes a lot of effort to get the fit right. Soldati is true bespoke, muslin fittings etc.. and the work is consistently good. Do pay them a visit if you are in Rome.

Regards

[uppercase]

It's great to hear that you're happy with Caraceni Roma and in particular, never wanted to go elsewhere. Caraceni will not disappoint nor let you down.

Caraceni Roma is truly an old school tailor with an old school sense of pride, heritage and craftsmanship owned by the brothers, Tommy and Guilio Caraceni. A small, family owned business in the Italian style.

You are making me nostalgic...I haven't been back to Rome in many years. I wish I could get on a plane and go today. My first stop: Caraceni. My second: Trattoria Al Moro.
And then wait, in delicious anticipation, as Caraceni begins to create its sartorial masterpiece, and I can return for my first fitting.

But I do vividly remember working with Tommy and Carlo to make my coat and trousers and the collaboration was a wonderful experience. Carlo is an old master tailor, a perfectionist with a strong, conservative, point of view and guiding hand. And ofcourse Tommy is the maestro director who told me that he only knows how to make one kind of suit, one silhouette, the same one that they have been making for....what?...80 years. And old Guilio was still cutting when I was there some years ago...perhaps only for his long time personal customers.

There is nothing smart, slick nor commercial about this off-the-beaten track bespoke shop in Rome and no one is trying to sell you anything. This was certainly a very different experience than I have had working with any other Italian tailor. Caraceni are old, solid and established and cater to a clientele which share their values of low-key subtlety, unremarkable style, yet whose bespoke suits are deeply and confidently elegant. You either get it or you don't.

The only comparable bespoke experience I have had - which has given me the satisfaction, pleasure - was when I frequented Brioni bespoke in Rome on via Barberini back in the good old days.

But now we need to see photos of your coat, rathatha!

[rathatha]

Hello uppercase, if my wife saw your post she will cancel our Christmas trip to Rome. I have a LL linen I want to make into a coat by Caraceni and being back on LL makes me want to run back to Italy.

I will surely post pictures soon but I wanted to tell you Brioni on via Barberini is absolutely disappointing, atleast was in 2012 when I went there. The prices are bespoke but nothing there is bespoke. I would never recommend Brioni bespoke to anyone.

Regards

[andreyb]

Uppercase, that's quite a description of Caraceni's atelier! It makes anyone want to run to Rome!

Can you share what Brioni bespoke was back when you patronized it? Why you stopped to go there? Is there a point in time when it changed for worse (if, of course, it changed)?

Andrey

[uppercase]

Brioni was decades ago and is still in my memory as a wonderful bespoke experience.

Caraceni Roma most closely duplicates that experience: perhaps it is the Roman silhouette or simply a sense of common cause, old world craftsmanship, to seduce, to create beautiful bespoke clothing which Brioni, then, and Caraceni, today, share.

I don't think that Brioni even had a retail store at that time, perhaps only selling ties or
knitwear in a small attached store, much like A. Caraceni in Milan today. They were primarily a bespoke shop then. Not by any means what they have expanded to today.

I cannot remember the names of the Brioni tailor nor director who supervised my fittings at Brioni.
And tragically, I don't know where the suits are today.
Perhaps in an unopened steamer trunk in an attic somewhere.
I doubt that I'll ever rediscover them.

But those were the best suits I've ever had, they were superb, they were like the photos we look back on in nostalgia today.

And it's why I say...they just don't make them like they use to.

I only stopped going there because I moved away and my clothing interests and needs shifted to....um, RTW. For a very long time!! It's been a journey.

I've never been back to Brioni bespoke since those days for no particular reason other than that they just did not appear on the internet radar when I decided to recently become re-involved in bespoke again.

And to me, Caraceni Roma is my new Brioni, in spirit, perhaps a fantasy, perhaps a mirage, for their ability to transform, to transport, and their ability to make clothes as I remember them.

[andreyb]

Uppercase, thanks for the story! -- very interesting.

Andrey