The London Lounge

JScott broke the ice with his hypothetical question about MTM which has emboldened me to ask a hypothetical question of my own that coincidentally occurred to me yesterday...

So far I've had no issues with cloth selection for my first two bespoke commissions although I've gone on the same journey both times. I start with selecting a cloth from the swatches at a tailor and leaving the premises happy with my selection. In the intervening few weeks before the first fitting I have on both occasions become slightly nervous as to whether my selection will look as I imagine once I see the whole jacket. When I have seen the cloth made up at the first fittings I have on both occasions found that it has exceeded the initial expectations that I had after first selecting it from the swatches.

Come to think of it my question itself isn't hypothetical but, at least for me, it is the circumstance that it relates to that is hypothetical.

My question is: Has anyone had a cloth selection disaster of such a magnitude that, when seeing the cloth "full size" for the first time at the initial fitting, found that it is so far from expectation that he or she has thought "I'm never going to like this garment when it is completed and will probably never feel happy wearing it"?

In such a circumstance I would have thought that the appropriate action would be to choose another cloth right away and write-off the cost of the original cloth and the labour in getting to the first fitting (which if it is a basted fitting is presumably under half of the total hours or work involved) rather than continuing on to complete a garment that will never be worn.

- Julian

Julian wrote: My question is: Has anyone had a cloth selection disaster of such a magnitude that, when seeing the cloth "full size" for the first time at the initial fitting, found that it is so far from expectation that he or she has thought "I'm never going to like this garment when it is completed and will probably never feel happy wearing it"?

Dear Julian,

no cloth selection disaster ever. There are just two suits I'm not very happy with, because the cloth does not correspond to the quality I am otherwise used to. I had two fresco lengths of unknown origin, purchased almost 20 years ago somewhere, and decided to make them up last year. The tailor suffered because the cloth was challenging to work with, and I am not so happy with the way the suits are wearing. I had them finished, because the investment was not so big and hardly anybody - except a few people from the LL would see the limitations of the cloth.

Julian wrote: In such a circumstance I would have thought that the appropriate action would be to choose another cloth right away and write-off the cost of the original cloth and the labour in getting to the first fitting (which if it is a basted fitting is presumably under half of the total hours or work involved) rather than continuing on to complete a garment that will never be worn.

- Julian

There are ways to prevent this from happening. Always discuss your cloth selection with your tailor, especially if you feel unsecure. Tell him what you are going to use it for, and where (a wedding in Stockholm requires different cloth than the same thing in Honolulu). Avoid cloth making too much of a statement before having made up the basics.

But if it would happen anyway, I would stop the work, pay what was done so far and tell the tailor that I want to think over it for a while before completing the suit. I would either leave the unfinished garment with the tailor, or take it with me. After a year or so, I would have a second look

Cheers, David