Advice wanted: re-building a wardrobe

[aston]

I'm certainly not an apologist for GB, but if the cloth has the handle of a potato sack (!) then why choose that cloth? All my GB stuff is Lumbs, Lesser, or Bill, and they all have the handle of Lumbs, Lesser, or Bill.

And Soren, where did the machine padding point come from?

[soren]

I believe it says so in one of Crompton's early reviews, and seriously, for 1000 pound I doubt that there can be much time consuming handwork. My Danish tailor says it takes him around 40 hours to do just a jacket, so when one does the math (considering costs of cloth, canvas, thread, rent etc. etc.) the price of full bespoke is suddenly more reasonable.

Cheers,
Søren

[aston]

Soren you need to check your facts before coming to judgement. After all, you did say earlier you had never experienced GB.

[soren]

https://www.permanentstyle.com/2011/07/ ... -suit.html

Admittedly, some of his tailors do half of the chest by hand, others do it only on machine. Still, I'd say it's a far cry from full bespoke. But of course bespoke is not a protected trade mark, so anyone is free to respectfully disagree. To me it's just not what I would expect from a "b spoke" service.

[old henry]

Soren, your Danish tailors 40 hour jacket is Benchmade.
It's the only way he knows. I'll bet it's beautiful.
And as far as the article above goes - if henry Poole does not pad lapels by hand these days I am not one bit surprised.
But please don't kid yourselves that machine padding is comparable to the deft hands of a tailor. Please do not kid yourselves that there is one drop of truth in that nonsense.
its the sledgehammer of mediocrity smashing everything in its path.

[Frans]

Forgive me Belimad, I do not want to steal this thread, nor spoil your good experience
I just wanted to react upon B&B's suggestion that the outcome of the brown fresco suit is not representative for GB. I've had similar experiences.

GB certainly is bespoke. You chose the cloth, measurements are taken, a pattern is made for you, two fittings take place for the first commission etc.

True, there are gradations of bespoke and GB doesn't spend a lot of time on hand stitching Fittings usually take 15-20 minutes. The "potato sack feeling" of my jacket has nothing to do with the Donegal cloth, but with the lack (as it seems) of shaping, shrinkage&stretching of the cloth. I would not bother that much if the fit were right. It just rarely occurred. One would expect a cutter to see things like too short a sleeve, too wide or too narrow a pair of trousers himself. But Russell sent me home with pieces that upon closer inspection had to be put right again at a next visit.

Graham Browne do have a strong selling point. Dan, the other cutter, once said: "Why go to Savile Row if you can have a suit with us for one fourth of the price." There's 3 miles between GB and SR, but I found there to be many miles of difference as to service, attention to detail, honesty towards the customer and the finished product itself. Whenever price or lead times rather than quality are main selling points in bespoke discussions, customer be cautious.

But this is only my story, just my 2 cents. Aston seems to have had an almost reverse experience with a good result at GB.
Perhaps we're all just on a bespoke travel... and what works for me won't work for someone else.
Belimad, good luck

[old henry]

Franz, folks just don't know anymore. I read an article above where someone is quoting Poole as saying a machine padded lapel has more advantages that one done with a tailor's hand. Henry Poole ? Think of that. That this is even printed is absurd. It is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. But folks just do not know anymore.

And also, nothing takes the place of a hand assembled, hand padded canvas cut from the individual customer's pattern. The assembled canvas has to be held a certain way and manipulated with the tailors' hands and fingers with every stitch. Benchmade!

Ten years ago this conversation would be laughed off the LL.
Poole machine stitches lapels ?
And it's better than hand ?

A used Bentley salesmen at Poole I'd say.

[bond_and_beyond]

To each his own I say.

Like aston I've had good experiences from GB and they have made me many suits, overcoats, tweed jackets and even a dinner suit over the years. Photos of some of them are posted here on the LL.

The beige / brown horror suit Søren referred to has been discussed at length almost six years ago, I linked to the thread above. I discussed this suit once with Russel, and he said that the customer was from out of town (Scandinavian I believe, like me) and as such they only did a basted fitting and then straight to finished suit to save the customer visits to London. When the customer came for the final fitting Russel was not around but the customer insisted picking up the suit none the less, so Russel never saw it on the customer in final form. He would happily fix the suit if the customer came back. That's his side of the story at least.

At any rate, despite Frans' experiences I've had something like 13 trousers made by GB and they have all come out more or less identical, no deviations worth noting. And Frans when did your commissions take place? GB has improved their quality control in recent years in my experience, and for example the trousers are now exclusively made in the basement of the shop in their new, expanded workshop.

But to the OP my only advice would be to keep the boys by the ears a bit, and the result will likely be good.

BB

[belimad]

But to the OP my only advice would be to keep the boys by the ears a bit, and the result will likely be good.

BB

Thanks Bond, will do!

[Rob O]

I'm sorry to say that my recent suit from Whitcomb and Shaftesbury was disappointing too. While the trousers fit and hang beautifully, the jacket is very ill-fitting. The slightest raise of my arms and the 'fasten seatbelt sign' lights up as the collar spreads its wings for takeoff. I went back twice to get this corrected but to no avail. Admittedly I was using their (wait for it) 'classic bespoke' service, which entails cutting the suit in London (by a very experienced Row cutter), and then having it largely made in India (in a workshop run by a Row tailor). I want a couple more suits in Brisa, so debating the merit of persevering with them and collaboratively achieving a good fit. John's departure (mentioned above) conspires against a successful outcome - meaning I'd be two lengths of valuable LL cloth down with little to show for it. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go see Steven Hitchcock.

[Concordia]

One thing that might help at W&S is break-in on the chest. McCabe likes a fair bit of drape, and until the canvas folds over, the armholes can be a bit too big. Reach across your chest to grab and crumple the canvas, and you might see the armscye work its way up. Not a Hitchcock product, but can work very well. Admittedly, my pattern with them started at Dege 25 years ago, so there has been more time to let things settle in.

[soren]

To each his own I say.

Like aston I've had good experiences from GB and they have made me many suits, overcoats, tweed jackets and even a dinner suit over the years. Photos of some of
At any rate, despite Frans' experiences I've had something like 13 trousers made by GB and they have all come out more or less identical, no deviations worth noting.

BB

Excuse me, but if I remember correctly you once posted a photo of some very ill fitting trousers that your mother said made you look like an old man, and you didnøt know what to ask the tailor for - and in the end Frank/Old Henry offered to show you drawings in order to guide your tailor for adjusments? In case my memory serves me wrong kindly excuse me, it could of course be some one else.

Btw, your point about two sides to the story is a very valid one, and I think you did right to mention it here. It definitely nuances things a bit.

Cheers,
Søren

[bond_and_beyond]

Excuse me, but if I remember correctly you once posted a photo of some very ill fitting trousers that your mother said made you look like an old man, and you didnøt know what to ask the tailor for - and in the end Frank/Old Henry offered to show you drawings in order to guide your tailor for adjusments? In case my memory serves me wrong kindly excuse me, it could of course be some one else.

Those trousers had gotten "droopy" in the backside due to a significant weight loss (my backside almost disappeared). The trousers were fixed by Russel so that the "droopiness" disappeared and the pattern fixed so that for future commissions this was a non-issue. In fact I am wearing one of the trousers featured in the thread today.

And again this was almost 6 years ago, see the thread here viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10891 (the photos sadly do not work anymore and in hindsight I see was overly dramatic in my OP (I blame that on my mother, who is always dramatic )).

Those trousers, being droopy after weight loss, is hardly an indictment of GB.

BB

[old henry]

You poor guys are in a pickle. To blame a suit on the cloth is like saying my used Bentley won't start because of the paint. And should you really have to "take the boys by the ears" Why should you have to do that ?

AND....."made in India by a Savile Row tailor" ???? Seriously guys. You buy this stuff ? ""Cut in the basement" ? You guys have to learn what "a cutter" is. ( or was )

And drape has nothing to do with the armhole. Nothing. Drape just adds a 1/2" or so to the chest along with a soft canvas.

I still cannot get over once great grand Henry Poole padding by machine. For 6000£

The heat has been off in my shop and it makes it difficult to work but this post has opened my eyes and kept me entertained. As I say You guys are in a pickle. Somewhere on Facebook I posted what a " CUTTER" WAS. Has nothing to do with scissors. I'll try to repost it.

[soren]

Frank: