The London Lounge

Hello,

I am new to this forum.

I have always had a great love of the aesthetic of a good suit and have gradually increased the quality of my attire as my finances have allowed. I have also have the good fortune to have an friend who is a tailor, although he is mostly retired now.

I intend however to get married within the next year and as such would like a suit for the occasion. My thoughts are to go with a lounge suit as a morning suit would probably only be used once a decade.

The next question is to the tailor. Although I live in Yorkshire, I don't mind travelling to London. The only major tailor I have experience of is Edes and Ravencroft, though not with bespoke. I would love to go to Savile Row, but again their is so much choice and no experience or knowledge to make it. (I have heard good things about Henry Pooles)

I would prefer to keep it under £2500 but that could be stretched

thanks in advance for any advice

G

I believe Stephen Hitchcock can do a bespoke suit of some calibre at this price. He is A and S trained and indeed his Father is MD of A and S.

Go to his web site.

the cheaper Savile Row firms [none actually on the Row]: Benson & Clegg, AJHewitt, and Kent Haste & Lachter, are all around this price.

Lugano wrote:the cheaper Savile Row firms [none actually on the Row]: Benson & Clegg, AJHewitt, and Kent Haste & Lachter, are all around this price.

This is true and there is no extra magic in being exactly on Savile Row; some of the oldest firms, such as Davies & Son and Johns & Pegg started around Hanover Street and Wells & Co were in Mount Street, along with Douglas Hayward. Brummell's tailors were in Bond Street and Conduit Street and it was just by chance that Savile Row became the centre of the trade, as the residential properties fell vacant.
NJS

Gieves were on Bond Street...
Dege were on Conduit Street...
A&S now on Old Burlington Steet...
Even Henry Poole were on Cork Street...

And so on and so forth. I believe it is more proper to say "West End tailoring", or define "Savile Row" as including not only the row itself, but also many surrounding streets.

Andrey

^ I think that the Savile Row Association operates some kind of territorial definition for membership.
NJS

NJS, yep. You have to be on SR or within 100 yards of it to be included. Sometimes I wonder, what if A&S remained on old address -- would they still add this "100 yards" addition to the rule?

I guess one of the biggest winners of SRBA creation is Pollen Estate.

Andrey

100 yards seems a bit tight but there we are! However, it is a street association, as is the Jermyn Street Assoc. and the Guild, after all, is open to all applicants.
NJS

Thanks,

I wasn't intending on narrowing my choice to The Row, just naively using the street as a name for the area/ genre.

G

gcg wrote:Hello,

I am new to this forum.

I have always had a great love of the aesthetic of a good suit and have gradually increased the quality of my attire as my finances have allowed. I have also have the good fortune to have an friend who is a tailor, although he is mostly retired now.

I intend however to get married within the next year and as such would like a suit for the occasion. My thoughts are to go with a lounge suit as a morning suit would probably only be used once a decade.

The next question is to the tailor. Although I live in Yorkshire, I don't mind travelling to London.
G

Hello gcg, and welcome! Also congratulations on your approaching marriage,

I presume you'd like to broaden your selection a bit and perhaps your friend might be too busy/retired for new orders. However if you're in Yorkshire, which is pretty much in the middle of the rag trade in England with dozens of tailors listed in Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester & Bradford. I'd imagine that in any of the urban centres there you should be able to find a tailor to suit your requirements. If you've time you can go to Huddersfield and look up cloth merchants for vintage heavy fabrics?

andreyb wrote: Dege were on Conduit Street...

Most recently on Clifford Street before they moved onto the Row.

Hello gcg, and welcome! Also congratulations on your approaching marriage,

I presume you'd like to broaden your selection a bit and perhaps your friend might be too busy/retired for new orders. However if you're in Yorkshire, which is pretty much in the middle of the rag trade in England with dozens of tailors listed in Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester & Bradford. I'd imagine that in any of the urban centres there you should be able to find a tailor to suit your requirements. If you've time you can go to Huddersfield and look up cloth merchants for vintage heavy fabrics?[/quote]

gcg
Further to the above thoughts.
Looking at web sights, two tailors that you may want to consider, are closer to your home & will cost less than SR.
Desmond Merrion - North Lincolnshire & Michael James - Manchester. Have not had experience with either but worth considering.
Also, all the best with your upcoming marriage.

many thanks for the advice.

one problem I have noticed is that the definition of bespoke in the SR area is protected, elsewhere made to measure is called bespoke.

gcg wrote:many thanks for the advice.

one problem I have noticed is that the definition of bespoke in the SR area is protected, elsewhere made to measure is called bespoke.

The SR association have a definition of bespoke that they enforce on their members, but that depends on what you want from the suit and its construction. Personally I think the best thing is to visit or call before ordering and go through their methods of construction and possibly the house style. I think the adaptability of a tailor to your view and what you want from your cloth is more important than criteria of stitches per inch and so on. I know that for me a fully stitched canvass is a must, as fusibles will almost always fail in time, as the glue will detach given rain etc. Apart from that, I want there to be hand-finishing and hand-stitching where its needed for the look I want i.e. 'rope' on the shoulders, swelled edges/saddle-stitching, looser construction for a more relaxed look.

I encourage you to look around the forum and check which tailors are mentioned with praise both in London and outside London in the U.K. There are horror stories, as well, but perhaps one of the best lessons from a learning resource such as this is that quality does not increase with price, this can be seen with 'super' cloths, and also the making-up of those cloths. This is sadly true in all walks of life, who here would swop a Mercedes w124 chassis with their current make for example?

Caveat Emptor

.... but perhaps one of the best lessons from a learning resource such as this is that quality does not increase with price,....

You are right there. Better to go to someone who has a lifetime's experience and who takes a personal interest in your garment from inception through to after it has been worn. You could go to a very expensive and prestigious house who , on evaluating you to be a one-off customer ( or shopping tourist ), will use you as trainee fodder, and you will pay for it!