Steven Hitchcock Wabi Sabi

[Scot]

I have rarely met a tailor who works on the basis than they know what is better for their client than their client does.

Oh, I think you have probably met them more than you realize, they just haven't told you

[Concordia]

Dear Scot,

"In the end they all do what they think is right" hits the nail. A tailor is a craftsman, and he knows what he is doing. Imposing something they are not comfortable with is a recipe for disaster. So I usually let them do what they think they do well...

Cheers, David

I have had a few good examples of this. Once, back in college, I had a tailor on Regent St affiliated with one of those horrible cloth discounters make some trousers for me. I started to ask for on-seam side pockets (very preppy), and he just looked at me and asked if I might not prefer normal pockets. I took the hint.

My first visit to A&S, I asked a few questions about their plans for lapel width, etc., and the cutter put down his pencil and said that I might need to re-think whether I wanted to have them make a suit. They had their way, and didn't want the client messing around with it.

As it happens, the resulting SB suit they made was not a good fit, but I also had a DB blazer in the order-- which I still wear 25 years later. That started a run of DB suits, and I eventually had them make 3b jackets for me as well. So there was a bit of good luck to go with taking their advice.

[jhwilliams]

Steven is a master of the Scholte English Drape Cut. It is not for everyone. He was thrilled when I asked for “full drape”.

Every tailor has their own vision and house style. You have to find the one that works best for you.

Is it mostly jacket length balance you are having issues with?

Steven’s work always sits beautifully on the neck.

[davidhuh]

Dear Alex,

two things I'm wondering about...

I did reach out to Steven over email and say that I would like to have a good relationship with him and that if I caused offense in any way, I apologize.

Why use electronic communication for raising such an issue? I would never ever do that... In my world, your situation requires a respectful, thoughtful conversation you can only have in person. You will likely see him again very soon anyway.

For me the best tailoring experience hands down is working with Michael Browne. His style is stronger but he is technically a master and tailoring is really a conversation and collaboration.

I'm sorry if I'm puzzled to read this. You have the best tailoring experience with a tailor in London, but you shop around to another one, and then you wonder running into problems? And you managed getting very good results from some other tailor in London, after having them fix things as you wanted them? What's the point going to yet another tailor?

In my experience, many tailors are sensitive about dealing with customers who come for a suit or two and then move on, especially when they are small operations like Mr Hitchcock. They prefer having customers they can work with over some time. This could be something to discuss with Mr. Hitchcock..

I am working with several tailors in different countries - but I have never stopped working with any of them, except with one who moved away to another house, and a second because he turned 85 and stopped his activities.

Cheers, David

[Anikolov1]

Dear David,

Actually it’s relatively hard for me to reach Steven given that I am not based in London anymore and for me email seemed as a perfectly polite way to address someone. To be honest it is as formal as it gets with “my generation” of 90s millennials (a crude generalization but I believe there’s something in it).

“Shopping around” was never the story about my tailoring history. I started with W&S when I was quite young as this was the only tailor I could (barely) afford but I was very passionate for tailoring. I had two suits made with them both with very heavy modifications but led to a generally satisfactory result in the end.

I then reached out to Steven but Covid hit and my life was completely shifted in about as many aspects as possible and I continued with him at the first occasion I could which was August 2021. Steven’s style is impeccable, very elegant and understated and it is what I intend to wear to work. I had the intention that he would be my primary tailor.

Michael Browne is absolutely not suitable to be a primary tailor on the basis of 1)cost (double what Steven charges) and more importantly 2) style. Michael is a tailor for an occasional piece which you wear to the theater or out to dinner. I would not wear the suit at work because it’s distinctive and I don’t feel comfortable to wear it to work.

I do not believe there is any issue using the two tailors for two very different uses of the clothes. With Steven I would like to do 10+ suits/coats in the next 3 years, with Michael perhaps 1-2 more. I have not shopped around and if I change after Steven it is not out of desire to shop around but rather out of not building a good balance between style, quality and relationship.

In retrospect perhaps the process I had with Michael and the generational gap may have made communication less than perfect. With Michael every aspect of the suit was up for discussion and we took more than 2h to do a fitting and it’s a total of 4-5 fittings. I genuinely could not imagine going to a tailor and him just telling me what he is going to do without any discussion. And I am not an unreasonable man as the only things that I would afford myself to discuss is length, collar height at the back and the fastening button positioning. I certainly did not try to alter his style or the way he cuts/makes, etc. I do believe the way of interacting was the key problem. I would ask him of his opinion of shoulder width just to see what he thinks is suitable to my body, and he would ask if something’s wrong with the shoulder width. It is not but someone not being open to discuss is rather frustrating.

[aston]

I have rarely met a tailor who works on the basis than they know what is better for their client than their client does.

Oh, I think you have probably met them more than you realize, they just haven't told you

But that in itself doesn't make them right......................

[jhwilliams]

Dear David,

Actually it’s relatively hard for me to reach Steven given that I am not based in London anymore and for me email seemed as a perfectly polite way to address someone. To be honest it is as formal as it gets with “my generation” of 90s millennials (a crude generalization but I believe there’s something in it).

“Shopping around” was never the story about my tailoring history. I started with W&S when I was quite young as this was the only tailor I could (barely) afford but I was very passionate for tailoring. I had two suits made with them both with very heavy modifications but led to a generally satisfactory result in the end.

I then reached out to Steven but Covid hit and my life was completely shifted in about as many aspects as possible and I continued with him at the first occasion I could which was August 2021. Steven’s style is impeccable, very elegant and understated and it is what I intend to wear to work. I had the intention that he would be my primary tailor.

Michael Browne is absolutely not suitable to be a primary tailor on the basis of 1)cost (double what Steven charges) and more importantly 2) style. Michael is a tailor for an occasional piece which you wear to the theater or out to dinner. I would not wear the suit at work because it’s distinctive and I don’t feel comfortable to wear it to work.

I do not believe there is any issue using the two tailors for two very different uses of the clothes. With Steven I would like to do 10+ suits/coats in the next 3 years, with Michael perhaps 1-2 more. I have not shopped around and if I change after Steven it is not out of desire to shop around but rather out of not building a good balance between style, quality and relationship.

In retrospect perhaps the process I had with Michael and the generational gap may have made communication less than perfect. With Michael every aspect of the suit was up for discussion and we took more than 2h to do a fitting and it’s a total of 4-5 fittings. I genuinely could not imagine going to a tailor and him just telling me what he is going to do without any discussion. And I am not an unreasonable man as the only things that I would afford myself to discuss is length, collar height at the back and the fastening button positioning. I certainly did not try to alter his style or the way he cuts/makes, etc. I do believe the way of interacting was the key problem. I would ask him of his opinion of shoulder width just to see what he thinks is suitable to my body, and he would ask if something’s wrong with the shoulder width. It is not but someone not being open to discuss is rather frustrating.

Michael Browne’s house style appears to be very modern (fitted with very little drape). I can see why there would need to be multiple fittings taking a decent amount of time. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Steven’s house style is in the complete opposite direction of Michael Browne. Trained in the Scholte method while putting his own spin on things. You either love this house style or you hate it. I think it is the perfect balance of comfort, drape, and classic English soft tailoring.

Michael Browne’s work appears to be 10 x more structured than Steven’s. It appears that you are going from one extreme of house style to another.

Steven is always responsive to emails and Instagram messages. You need to decide if soft tailoring is for you. If not, save your money and work with more structured tailors.

[Anikolov1]

I had a fitting yesterday on the Light gray Wabi Sabi suit. I personally really like how it looks and feels, so the quality is top notch! Yet to see if a stable positive relationship can be developed because something there isn’t great but the basis may be on the vast differences on basis of age, background, nationality, customs, etc.

https://ibb.co/hy37WJ2

https://ibb.co/0K0sCCW

https://ibb.co/jv6F2ZR

https://ibb.co/PZCCKB8

Best,
A

[Screaminmarlon]

You’ll have a great suit! It’s not that easy nowadays

[jhwilliams]

Looks fantastic !!! Can’t wait to see it finished

[alden]

Steven H's hand and LL WS cloth: I can't see how it could be anything but amazing. And, in fact, it looks great. That's a suit I'd love to wear.

Cheers

[Anikolov1]

Dear all,

The finished garment is ready. I am yet to try it on hopefully this Thursday but I am satisfied how it looks. As a first garment it is a very good result.

https://ibb.co/kc09R5Q
https://ibb.co/rfVbZVH
https://ibb.co/7kkZ05F

Will share results later!
Best,
A

[jhwilliams]

Wabi Sabi Cloth with Steven Hitchcock. It doesn’t get any better than this. Five stars !!!!

[alden]

+1

Stunning

[Anikolov1]

I took delivery of the jacket yesterday and it looks really good and it’s immensely comfortable. What really stands out is how soft the jacket is. It really feels like a cardigan. With this construction of jacket, the cloth is so important as the drape and look comes to a large extent from the cloth. Everyone has been complimenting the light gray wabi Sabi, even Douglas Cordeaux of Fox Brothers whom I saw yesterday briefly.

A great suit thanks to Steven and no less to Michael!