The London Lounge

There is a branch of G&H in Chester. When I have the means (and I hope it won't be too long) and am looking to move up a notch from the £300-£400 RTW bracket that I currently inhabit where my suits are concerned, am I going to be getting a good suit from here? I have noticed some sneers from the LL population about this company, but I have seen their work worn by one or two of my more sartorially discerning colleagues; to my relatively inexperienced eyes, they do good work.

The ability to specify some of the features that I would prefer (e.g. lining colour, material, cut, lapel type etc) is attractive; the sort of suits that I would like to buy are poorly represented on the high street. My preference would be towards the sort of thing that Hugh Laurie sports in Jeeves and Wooster; classically cut, unostentatious, in heavier fabrics (the SB navy-blue peak-lapelled number with a lapelled double-breasted waistcoat, for example, is stunning IMO). This sort of thing is near-impossible to find off the peg.

I know that, in the great spectrum of tailoring, G&H may not be in the Premier League anymore (if my impression of the Lounge's assessment is correct) - but for a suit around the £1k mark, how do they rank? Thoughts?

I have a simple suggestion; if you want to spend that type of money on a really good quality suit, go to Cheshire Bespoke in Crewe.

I challenge anybody to find a better quality for the price.

G & H offer two 'layers' of MTM. For the money you are looking to spend you are at the entry level which means that your suit will be made by Wensum Tailoring in Mauritius. If you could stump up another £500 your could go up to the next level which would be a hand-cut, hand-finished garment made by Belvest in Italy. For £1000 you are going to get the same level of construction as if you were to pay £795 but you should get a better cloth rather than the Dugdale 'house cloth'.

The fit of the suit will depend very much on the salesperson who is measuring you and their ability to manipulate the block to suit you but there is only so much they can do - especially with Wensum. As long as you don't have major conformation issues you should be fine but ask the salesman how long he's been doing it - I would contend that the guys in Savile Row would probably have more experience than perhaps a store in the provinces.

There are other retailers who use Wensum to make their MTM suits and they won't charge you as much for the privilege. Thieves & Crooks, sorry, Gieves & Hawkes are at the top end of the scale.

Have you spoken to Beno Dorn, a local tailor? See http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(beno ... _67970.htm. One of their tailoresses, Kate, is a member here. She quoted me a starting price of £600 for a bespoke suit.

The other option is Steve Walley tailoring. He was the factory shop manager at Chester Barrie and uses his former CB tailors. See http://www.srwtailoring.co.uk/SRW%20Tailoring.htm. He charges around £650 - £800.

I have had 3 made varying from good to very poor. The problem is the measuring, the fit was completely different on all three. I took one back to Savile Row and they were far from pleased to adjust it.

Whilst their military chap is a verynice chap and does a great job I would never go back to them for a suit.

Bishop of Briggs wrote:Have you spoken to Beno Dorn, a local tailor? See http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(beno ... _67970.htm. One of their tailoresses, Kate, is a member here. She quoted me a starting price of £600 for a bespoke suit.

The other option is Steve Walley tailoring. He was the factory shop manager at Chester Barrie and uses his former CB tailors. See http://www.srwtailoring.co.uk/SRW%20Tailoring.htm. He charges around £650 - £800.

When I last spoke with Beno Dorn, he was only cutting suits for existing customers.

Regards

Jack Rabbit

Jack_Rabbit wrote:

Bishop of Briggs wrote:Have you spoken to Beno Dorn, a local tailor? See http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(beno ... _67970.htm. One of their tailoresses, Kate, is a member here. She quoted me a starting price of £600 for a bespoke suit.

The other option is Steve Walley tailoring. He was the factory shop manager at Chester Barrie and uses his former CB tailors. See http://www.srwtailoring.co.uk/SRW%20Tailoring.htm. He charges around £650 - £800.

When I last spoke with Beno Dorn, he was only cutting suits for existing customers.

Regards

Jack Rabbit

His old shop has closed as well.