Ive posted this on another board, but hve made some edits to the following and thought I would share the process with the esteemed members here if you are interested.
I am an Australian expatriate living in Vietnam and having a suit made here by a local tailor at the moment.
Hope it makes for a good read, and I look forward to your thoughts on the work and the process
Matt
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Well last night was definitely an interesting evening.
Chuong (my tailor) came around returning an alteration job, and to measure me up.
I had previously contemplated a high button point 2 button suit, but decided to add a third button underneath to somewhat avoid the "my tie sticks out the bottom" thing by buttoning what would have essentially been the top button only on a high-point 2 button.
It will of course be full canvas, horn buttons, working sleeves, heavy reliance on handwork all over and all that good stuff.
I have three lenghts of cloth that I purchased from an eBay seller based in Leeds - 1 length of Holland and Sherry from its English Oak collection, one length of unbranded, Huddersfield made 97% Super 150s 3% cashmere blend and one length of 97% Super 130s 3% cashmere. Highly recommend this eBay seller, I believe he is selling mill off cuts, each of these lenghts (all 3.5 meters) cost under 50GBP.
I have a pic from a Hackett suit that I decided to match with this piece of 97% Super 130s, 3% Cashmere. Very delicate I know, but a gorgeous piece of cloth with a subtle sheen and a lilac pinstripe. Here it is:
Chuong looked over the Hackett pic I showed and recommended being less pronounced with the shape. He correctly noted that my weight jumps around t and that this heavy waist suppression would pull and stretch and basically not look right.
Option A give up beer.
Option B reduce waist suppression.
No contest.
So he measured me up - I counted 22 measurements give or take around my entire body.
Sat down and talked through the options, and he agreed with my selection of the cloths.
I asked if I could come and watch him cut it and he said "sure, we do right now" - not exactly what i had in mind, but what the hell.
Jumped on the back of his motorscooter and winding through the back streets of Saigon until we found the 12 square meter room that is both his home and his workshop. One of those neighbourhoods where I may be the only white person ever not on TV, so the neighbourhood kids kept peeking in on me to see if it was really true, and another asked me to autograph a picture of Brad Pitt - yup, seriously!
Moving right along...these are Chuong's shears. They were a gift to him from his uncle, under whom he apprenticed. Chuong is only 30 years old, however moved down from his hometown of Hue when he was only 12 or 13 as his parents basically couldnt afford to keep him there. He started his apprenticeship immediately, sewing for his uncle, so at age 30 he has almost 20 years tailoring experience. His uncle emigrated to Canada in 2001 and gave Chuong these shears as a gift. He has managed to teach himself quite functional English, and now runs a tailoring business that employs 8 full time staff. Impressive.
The first thing to note was that he did not make a pattern at all. I asked him and he said no point, he never does it. I shrugged and moved on. He knows what he is doing I guess (read: hope). He just measured and drew directly on the cloth.
I remember reading on Tom Mahon's blog, in answer to a question from Manton I believe, that there is nothing wrong with this method other than the fact that you cant keep it on record for future, so be it.
And then to the cutting. First pants, then jacket back, then jacket front, then sleeves.
And so...as it stands....here is my suit:
There are a few more pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/ellroy1976 click on tailoring.
Was a truly great night, and I really appreciate Chuong letting me peek into his world and share it with everyone here.
Basted fitting in 7-10 days
Matt