The London Lounge

Dear LL,

I have been lurking silently in the lounge for well over a month now, lapping up the articles, discussions and examples. Thank you all for this remarkable effort, and for letting me come here and learn. Here’s a small contribution, a tale of my fledgeling efforts to sartorialize for my upcoming wedding.

I came upon the LL looking for inspiration for daytime wedding attire. It will be an Australian midday summer ceremony in a country church, followed by a reception in a nearby historic winery. Over the last two years, I have had two suits, several shirts and a pair of odd pants made by a tailor in Singapore. These have elicited plenty of compliments, and I was looking forward to a reason to make more. My fiancée and I had a lot of fun researching her off-white dress, and we agreed I could have a parallel suit-making venture.

When I started out I wanted to bespeak a suit that I could use again after the wedding. This ruled out the ultra-formal morning suit. Most “strollers” seemed to be plain grey suits with a little extra length from rental outlets. But I kept googling and found an example of a formal suit that offered some creative freedom, printed it out, and went to see my tailor. From what I’ve read elsewhere I expect apprehension in some quarters, but humour me if you can.

My tailor is Tony Tang, of Anson Tailor in Singapore. I enjoy working with Tony very much, and I recommend him to others. He does the cutting and outsources the tailoring. He has clients in Japan and Indonesia, and Americans have dropped in too. That might explain why Tony’s style is quite flexible, but he does like British styling. My first two suits were under SGD 2,000 each, in S120 Vitales Barberis Canonico cloth. I’m happy to try chasing answers to any questions regarding Anson Tailor.

My first visit began with brainstorming. Tony had ideas in dark blues, but I was stuck on pseudo-traditional grey. Tony suggested a longer look (extra 2½“) could later be modified to a regular business suit, which offered some room for experimenting although limiting button options and pocket placement. Tony was not keen on peaked lapels, and I had no preference. The odd trousers I’d bought earlier were deliciously comfortable, but I wondered if a sleeker look was possible. Tony suggested I try a single pleat. We then looked through several bunches for inspiration, before I spotted what seemed to me to be a cure for everything – grey shadow stripes with a blonde pinstripe from Dormeuil’s Amadeus range. Having little understanding of price or quality, I saw instead a cloth that hinted at the stripes of morning trousers, had pinstripes for a business setting, and was morning-suit grey. It was the nexus of all the things in my head. Of course, if you mix every colour of plasticine you also get grey.

I left to shop for waistcoat material around the cloth merchants of Arab Street. Tony rejected outright my first purchase, a silver Chinese silk brocade with a little bit of cream embroidery in it. Patterns were okay, but Tony didn’t like the cream – it made the pattern busy, and the suit was already complex enough. He was right, and good to stand up for it. On a subsequent visit to Singapore I found a silver-grey Japanese silk. It was slightly on the underweight side, but after adding a lining both Tony and my fiancée were happy. It is lighter and shinier than I’d imagined, but I think it will grow on me quickly once it is finished.

Tony sourced the Dormeuil cloth and put together the suit for my first fitting a few weeks later. The cloth is spectacular – the coat appears smooth pinstriped grey under a bright light, while the pants demonstrate the shadow stripes. My one-pleat trousers still puzzled my eye, but were very sleek. Unfortunately the coat was boxy and loose. Tony seemed to spot that immediately, pinned in several adjustments and quickly scheduled another fitting. The extra fitting left me feeling confident that it would still work out.

The second fitting was much better – here are some (campily posed) pictures. Pardon the turned-up polo shirt. The suit makes me look very tall, and I have fallen in love with the trousers. I had food poisoning that morning which made me forget half of the questions that LL had inspired me to ask. I don’t know if Tony has Saville Row experience, and I don’t remember what pockets we planned. But the collar will be notched and there are no vents. Tony recalled a lovely Dunhill tie that matches the tint of my fiancée’s dress, and he will make a white winged collar shirt with a slightly tighter than usual chest to wear smoothly beneath the vest. The suit will be decorated with an apricot (theme) boutonierre and a white pocket square.

My third and possibly final fitting is at the end of this month. I am hoping LL’s readers might have some timely ideas as my wedding approaches, or else suggestions for when the suit is shortened for business wear. For instance, could it take more waist suppression (the photographer was sitting down, so angles might not be true)? Or are there bleedingly obvious faux pas I’ve committed? Aside from having my photos on their side?

Prenuptially,
Tampan

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First of all welcome to London Lounge Sir:

From what I have read and seen in your post you are doing very well. As for the length of the jacket, if you are having three buttons on it (three exposed and the top not rolled over) I would leave it be. Be sure to have a nice pair of well shinned black cap toes on with your wedding suit. Also will you be wearing a nice set of cuff links?

The very best of luck to you on your wedding plains, and please post some photos of your attire when it is done. Also, the winery reception sounds very nice. Which winery are you having the reception at?

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

May I join Cufflink in wishing you the very best both for your wedding day and for the years to come.
The lines of the coat look very clean. I might have liked the front quarters a bit more open. The sleeves seem to hang quite well; is that the final length? - there should be some linen showing.
The button stance and the pockets are pretty high, which adds to the elongating effect. I think it might look more balanced when you cut it to the usual length later on - but you wanted something that was in-between and different from a normal suit coat, and such it is with this length and buttons/pockets position.
Will you be wearing a tie or a bow-tie (you mentioned a wing collar shirt, but then a Dunhill tie). If it is a bow-tie, you'll have fun learning how to tie it - please practice in advance, lest you should be late on your own wedding!

Welcome to the Lounge! And best of luck with the wedding.

Costi did a fine job of hitting on all the points. I would be interested in seeing a clearer photo of the fabric if one is available.

Dear Cufflink, Costi and Jackson,

Thank from both of us for your best wishes! Here are some attempts to answer your excellent questions.

Regarding cufflinks, I have not settled on a pair yet. I would love to have rose gold cufflinks to match my ring (ooh) but there is not much choice here in Kuala Lumpur. Dunhill have a lovely pair that cost as much as the suit. There are rose gold and titanium ones that look okay, if a bit industrial. I’d have liked cables in rose gold on black. My fiancée’s name is just three letters long, nice for custom links. I will see what they can customize at Comyn (silverware branch of Selangor Pewter here in Malaysia). Other ideas greatly appreciated!

The winery is the Grange Cleveland Winery in Lancefield, Victoria. My great, great, great grandfather was a gardener nearby.

The sleeves are close to final length, a slight adjustment was made at the last fitting. I also like to have some sleeve showing, hopefully it will be clear at the next fitting. The three buttons do appear rather high in this compromise. Still worth it if I get to wear it more often

I am actually planning to wear a conventional tie with the winged collar. Ideally I’d have liked a cravat, but I had no luck searching for off-white. I will still need to practice tying my tie more. I’ve always used the Pratt or Shelby knot, which has the tie inside-out around the neck. Now I’m practicing the Windsor. The tie has a luxurious texture and is fairly thick.

I agree with having more open front quarters, if practical. That may be limited by the plan for future alterations. It may already be too late, but I will ask at the next fitting.

I didn’t get any close-up shots of the fabric, but this is at the original resolution. I’ll get a detailed picture at the next fitting.

Certainly a lot more food for thought, thank you all!

Cheers,
Tampan

Dear LL,

I have happily taken delivery of my Anson Tailors suit on my fourth visit. The third fitting was almost complete, save for some oyster buttons on the vest to be replaced with buttons wrapped in identical silk.

Pictures are in “Tampan’s album” in the Photojournal. Most striking is the considerable length of the suit. With the pocket flaps tucked in, it makes me look like a missile. As Alden rightly says elsewhere, an overlong suit is unspritely (pardon the paraphrase, I can’t find the post now) but nonetheless I am pleased with the effect. For connoisseurs of balance, I will post pictures of the suit in its post-wedding business configuration. Also, this eeediot forgot to bring his cuff-links, and Tony’s pair had just (accidentally) walked out the door. Nonetheless, all opinions are welcome!

The close-up of the cloth now decorates my computer’s desktop background. Even at this scale, it is hard to tell the pinstripes are parallel threads of gold and white. The directional reflectivity of the herringbone texture is enhanced by 10% silk in the wool. The fabric is extremely light and soft, and perhaps delicate, to be kept for very special occasions.

Many thanks to my tailor, Tony Tang. Someone far more aware of who’s who in Asia than myself told me Tony’s clients include one head of state. However the only client he would name is Jack Lord, whom Tony dressed for a Hawaii Five-O episode shot in Singapore in the 70’s. Tony dressed the entire cast, including a giant.

Tony has been my fiancée’s family tailor for over 20 years. I was not aware until now that I was joining a tradition going back two generations. So perhaps this suit is something of a wedding gift, at just USD 1,050 (vest 160, shirt 93). While almost apologizing for the low price, Tony explained that he was able to charge less as he has had considerable throughput of Dormeuil cloth in the last year. If he sells over 500 metres he gets a significant discount. For Zegna and “others”, it is 1000 metres. Tony regrets this financial constraint on his fabric sources, but he’d happily make a suit from a cloth I brought in. Just as tailors are squeezed by the mainstream, so too are the boutique cloth makers.

That many metres per year, and a career reaching the 70’s, is a lot of suits…

I would someday like to have a unique tweed overcoat, for occasional business trips to colder parts of Asia. Tony suggested I seek someone with overcoat experience to make it, and I should not get it made in Singapore. With so many ideas gleaned from the Lounge, I hope someday to find myself in repeated proximity to a suitable tailor.

Dear Tampan:

I was just looking at your photojournal and saw your new wedding suit. It looks very nice.

The long body and high gorge make the jacket look like a long tailed coat.

Without the vest the suit will serve you well for work, church, nice dinners, etc. That was a good idea you had to make it into a business suit as well.

Again, the very best of luck to you and your wife.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

Hello LL,

I've just returned from India, scene of the final chapter in my suit saga.

In late November I got married. While the bride stole the show in a gorgeous embroidered ivory dress with embroidered train, my grey stretched pinstripe suit held its own:



The ensemble being described previously, now festooned with an apricot boutonierre. It was a day I'll never forget.

Alas, the suit no longer exists. In its place is a shorter, far more nimble ensemble. With half an inch off the legs, a quarter inch from one sleeve, and three inches off the jacket hem, it presents a strikingly different silhouette. The lighting was poor for this photo, and brightening it to show more texture has washed out the background. But the purpose of this image is to show the structure:



I wore the suit to present a strategy paper at a conference in Delhi. It proved the highlight in an otherwise taxing day, and kept me smiling throughout. I think it still has the essence of my wedding embedded in it.

I rotated my other Anson suits during the conference, and they felt much more rugged and suited to daily use. But I am very happy with my special occasion suit. I hope I might get many more chances to use it. Any advice on the suit is welcome, however my tailor is sure to baulk at a seventh fitting. Thanks again to Tony, I cannot recommend him more highly. I am looking forward to three new shirts in a few weeks.

Regards,
Tampan

Tampan,
I think your tailor has got the re-cut bang on.
The suit looks good, really good, which is no easy task when re-cutting the jacket length.