My Experience With Perdells (An English Tailoring Company)

[andreyb]

Gentlemen,

Michael suggested me to write a story on my experience with Perdells. So, here it goes. Please be warned that my first order with Perdells is still incomplete, so this is in no way an approval or recommendation.

How did I get to know about Perdells? By blind chance. Someone on AskAndy forum mentioned an article on BBC web-site, I read it and noticed a comment made by Perdells’ managing director, Fred Cogdell. Among other things, he mentioned that nowadays they regularly visit Moscow. “Visit Moscow, huh?” – I asked myself. “Probably it would be good to drop them an e-mail with usual questions.” (Moscow is the city where I live.)

What are the usual questions? – you might ask. On price, traveling schedule, available cloth, willingness to work with customers’ own cloth, amount of hand-stitching in critical areas (canvas, shoulder seam, crotch seam, buttonholes, hand-picking), and last but not least preferred silhouette and level of “softness”. I believe that such a list of simple questions is one of the crucial first steps. What tailor answers is important, of course, but much more important is how he answers. It is difficult to explain, but when I see “muddy water” in his words, I understand that something is… not very clear here, and this is a worrying sign.

Perdells’ answers were excellent, with only one exception: Mr Cogdell (Perdells’ MD and, as it turned out, their sole cutter) presented himself as a “master tailor. One of only ten in the world.” To be honest, this phrase still bothers me.

You might ask – why to seek for a foreign tailor? Aren’t there any local tailoring companies in Moscow? Yes, there are. Moreover, I even put an order with one of these companies. Everything was OK, except for one thing – they used to make garments in “ Moscow style” (quite unattractive, in my opinion), and made a garment for me in exactly that style. All the words I said and all the pictures I showed were useless. Old truth was confirmed again – the cut is paramount. And by saying “cut” I mean physical and mental properties in equal degree. That is, “right” cut is right not only for customer’s body, but also for his state of mind. The problem is that at least the tailors from that particular company don’t understand the English cut, which I wanted.

Back to Perdells. I decided to put an order for a sports jacket, and started preparations. First, I asked Mr Cogdell what tweeds are available, and discussed them on the Lounge’s forum. Second, I tried to find and examine all the forum messages related to sports jackets and single-breasted coats in general. Michael’s description of coats in A&S’ window was especially helpful. Third, I searched Getty Images’ web-site for pictures of Duke in tweed coat, found them and printed them.

The date arrived, and I visited Mr Cogdell’s Moscow apartments for a first time. What stroked me is that there weren’t books from big companies (like “Holland & Sherry”, “Dormeuil”, etc.) but there were… “Hunters of Brora”, “John G. Hardy”, “Porter & Harding”, “W. Bill”. (Remember, I looked on tweeds, nothing else.)

I started to show the pictures I brought to Mr Cogdell, to explain what I want – high armholes, high gorge, high waist, soft shoulder. And I noticed that he is understanding me… Refreshing experience! Probably it was at this very moment I fully decided to give him a chance.

The rest of the story is still not written. I don’t know if there will be a happy end.

But I certainly hope for it!

Andrey

[alden]

The preparation and thought that went into your first commission are exemplary. First time "bespeakers" should pay close attention to what you have detailed in this post.

You researched the artisan fully, including doing background checks.

You studied and prepared the design of your coat taking pains to understand the most important details. So when you met with the artisan you were able to communicate clearly and receive feedback from him that gave you much needed confidence. It surely gave the tailor confidence as well.

You researched the kinds of cloth you wanted and went about the process of selection with a full understanding of the characteristics of the prime materials and how they would impact your project. This is very commendable indeed.

Many of us will imagine that Mr. Cogdell was very impressed by what he heard from you that day. Your generosity in preparing the above review of your first commission is greatly appreciated by the members of the LL.

Good luck on your first commission. The combined membership of the club is ready to help in any way, so do ask any questions that come to mind.

The next episode of your story will be equally instructive as the results looked very good.

M Alden

[tteplitzmd]

Andrey,

A very nice description of the process! I want to ask, out of curiousity, if you have something you like, made elsewhere, did you show or consider showing it as an example?

Alternatively, something you are very happy with, to have it copied or slightly modified (I am thinking in terms of cut/silhouette)?

I am asking because in the fall, I have several lengths of cloth that I plan to "try out" with 2 new tailors. I have several jackets I am very happy with, which I think speak better than my words, in terms of cut, style, and so forth. Where they may lack is in the details of hand finishing. My goal is to produce a hybrid of the current jackets with better detail or construction. My plan is to bring the jackets I really like to the new tailors.

I have been burned before ending up with someone else's vision despite my best efforts to convey what I want. I am very interested to see how you make out.

Terry Teplitz

[andreyb]

Michael,

Thank you for your kind comments.

Terry,

To be honest, there are no much coats in my wardrobe yet, let alone those that I'm happy with. I'm relatively young (26), my work don't require from me to dress in suits (I'm a software developer), so I have only started to build my wardrobe of tailored clothing.

Still, I had something to copy! It is the coat from pictrues of Duke I found on Getty Images web-site (see, for example, this one: http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source ... 8327&cdi=0 ). There are some changes (for example, I ordered three button roll on two instead of one button as on the picture), but more or less I ordered exactly same coat.

Andrey