The London Lounge

Hello.

I'm looking for a bespoke tailor who is comfortable cutting a soft suit. I'm rather new with the terminology here, so forgive me in advance... I suppose you could say I'm looking for a hybrid of A&S London drape cut stylized with a little Neapolitan flare: a little softer iteration of Matteo Marzotto's suits recently posted on A Suitable Wardrobe with the easiness and casualness of Montezemolo's. I hope this conveys the general idea of what I'm going for.

I'm familiar with Thomas Mahon, who visits San Francisco twice a year and seems to cut just that, but ideally I'd like to find a tailor closer to home. If I'm going to pay for the bespoke process, I really want to have a few fittings to get my pattern down, and doing that with a visiting tailor means waiting 18 mos or more to get a finished suit. I'm familiar with Enzo Caruso in Los Angeles and he seems to do superb work; however, I've never seen one of his finished suits on a client. Do any of the forum members have some insight as to Mr. Caruso's cutting style and quality of the finished product? Is there another tailor I should consult with?

Thanks in advance.

AY and Sleevehead have used him

I opted against him since he's 3 to 4 times the price of my current tailor

He's from Calabria and is familiar with the various Neopolitan jacket styles.

Just go to his place and he usually has about 8-12 jackets in the works at any time....let alone the plethora of alterations work that he does

Thanks AY329. I actually found Enzo through Sleevehead's blog.

It's hard to understand a tailor's style just looking at garments-in-progress on a hangar... He does seem to cut in a soft style, but I understand from my reading that he cuts a very slim jacket, which seems at odds with the softer style. He's done some alterations for me, and he's very detail oriented. You're right about his prices though!

Maybe AY or Sleevehead could chime in at their convenience?

Thanks for visiting my blog.

The key issue is selecting the right tailor and this is very much tied to understanding the type of look you're seeking. You do have a very specific vision with a number of moving parts (i.e. some A&S, some London drape, some Neapolitan). Specificity is usually helpful. However, it's not clear to me what such a English-Neapolitan composite, taken literally, would look like in the end and whether an A&S/Neapolitan trained tailor exists who could make exactly what you're describing. So to avoid disappointment on both ends (yours and the tailor's), I would suggest you simplify things a little and ask yourself what is the principal look I'm going for? If you like A&S and that this is the primary look you're going for, it doesn't make much sense to me to go an Italian tailor, however talented he may be.

The other issue is timing. By that I mean, to what extent should your first commission with a new tailor include all the bells and whistles? Rather than try to accomplish so many things simultaneously in the first garment, I personally would prioritize things a little differently. With any new tailor, I think your first concern should be fit. To that end, I believe it's better to minimize "distractions" from that task and focus on getting the fit as right as possible on the first garment. Once that is squared away, then I think it gets easier to do variations to get closer to the look you're seeking (assuming of course you've chosen a tailor who has the skills and mindset to experiment in the direction you'd like to go).

Also a quick point on "soft" style or tailoring. There is no necessary relationship between the softness of a jacket and how closely it rests and moves with your body. Again, if a "looser" jacket is a requirement, it does sound like A&S is more in your mold and hence Mahon would be the right choice. Having said all that, Enzo is a great, versatile tailor. He's one of the few tailors who's worked and trained in workshops from two very different sartorial worlds - the UK and Italy. However, he does not do London drape (i.e. vertical folds in the chest area) as far as I know. He's full of surprises though so if you manage to charm and win him over in taking a crack at A&S style drape, certainly let us know!