The London Lounge

Have a look at the photograph of assembled SR tailors here:

http://www.savilerow-style.com/issue27/style04.htm

It gives quite an insight into the English tailors view of length - coat, sleeve and trouser!

A good note!

But this hardly translates to what they make for customers -- for example, my tailor prefers a good length on trousers and a lot of shirt cuff showing. My preferences (and what he makes for me) is [alsmot] exactly opposite.

Andrey

Sexton wins hands down in that lineup.

A few years ago I pitched the idea of an all-bespoke version of Pitti Uomo be held in London to the SR Association. I subtitled the event "A Return to the Origins of Men's Style."

Though this seems to be a water down equivalnent of the initiative, it is still warmly welcomed.

Cheers

But this hardly translates to what they make for customers

True, but it surely translates to what they would recommend. The coats and sleeves, to some extent, but certainly the trousers, are all longer than some would counsel. This is not to say that anyone is "right" but there should be no mistake about what English tailors generally prefer.

Sexton wins hands down in that lineup.

Agreed. He certainly conveys more "elegance", as discussed elsewhere, but he has a tendency towards flashiness. All in all, it's not terribly inspiring.

Though this seems to be a water down equivalnent of the initiative, it is still warmly welcomed

Possibly, but it wasn't the best organised of ventures - they were still putting up the banners etc on the afternoon of the event. And its a shame that it seemed to be exclusively pitched at the media - to the extent of excluding the interested public.

Scot

It probably is the light colored cloth worn well for day wear that gives Sexton the edge. weaar light colors if you can get away with it!

cheers

Agreed, but also the fact that he remains trim so that the suit silhouette displays an actual waist, which in the photo is accentuated by the hand-in-pocket pose. Then too, being less jowly, his higher collar sits more happily on his neck than most of the others, even if it might be a bit closer to Tom Wolfe territory than close inspection would warrant or most of us would look good in. But maybe the real secret is, as you have urged, Michael, that his clothing seems to express the essence of the man. He just looks natural and confident in his skin and his clothes.

I agree with the comments about trouser length. I was in Saville Row today and met several tailors with exquisitely cut trousers at a perfect length. Their secret- wearing braces and you could really see the difference, although being slim also helped! I suspect most people in the photo are not wearing braces. However for my money I prefer Richard Anderson's suit. Colour maybe playing a part here though as I always think dark blue looks magnificent. Generally I avoid lighter colours as I dont think they look as sharp. Regards

PS I should add that I think Sexton's choice of suit colour is very complimentary to his skin colouring. I have seen him in other brown suits as well - he certainly knows what suits him

Sexton would look "sharp" in a dark suit, too - that's easy, anyone does. As it is, though, he looks like he doesn't care much about looking sharp. He looks good and relaxed. And it's not about skin colouring (though he might easily look washed out with a different shirt and tie), it's about wearing the clothes well, I think...

I never found tailors to be particularly well dressed.

I wouldn't want to dress like a tailor.

The best dressed tailor I know is Mario Caraceni of A. Caraceni, Milano.

And he's not a working tailor…he's retired, dressing in the finest style of a retired businessman with access to exquisite Italian tailoring.

It's hard to toil and dress well.

John Hitchcock from Anderson and Shepherd surely?

uppercase wrote:I never found tailors to be particularly well dressed.

I wouldn't want to dress like a tailor.

The best dressed tailor I know is Mario Caraceni of A. Caraceni, Milano.

And he's not a working tailor…he's retired, dressing in the finest style of a retired businessman with access to exquisite Italian tailoring.

It's hard to toil and dress well.

Along with his father-in-law Mario, I find Carlo Andreacchio, the current head cutter for A. Caraceni, extremely well dressed. From what I've seen, the silhouette he cuts for himself is my absolute ideal (so much so that I have too many looms of cloth piled high in my apartment, waiting till I find someone in London or NYC who can cut me something similar to Sig Andreacchio's).

With regards to tailor's dress in general, I had often been confounded as to why their dress can be so uninspired, but have come to the conclusion that it is a rather charming way of expressing that the work for the client is more important than the tailor's own. This is truer with English than Italian tailors, I think.

alden wrote:Sexton wins hands down in that lineup.

MRJ wrote:However for my money I prefer Richard Anderson's suit.

I agree with this perception. Richard Anderson and Edward Sexton look by far the sharpest of the pool. And I dare to say that I believe this is fundamentally linked to the fact that they are entrepreneurs of their own firms. Beyond their jobs as cutters/tailors, they are obliged to sell an image and a specific style. Mr. Hitchcock might be wearing it but he´s not selling it. There is no need for that. Anderson and Sexton are wearing it and selling it. Fortunately they both believe in what they sell and look extremely comfortable in their clothes.