My new coat

[Greger]

An alterations tailor should be able to get the coat to set properly on the shoulders. If this is custom (bespoke) this should have be done at the first fitting. When the shoulder slope is correct some of the other problems should fall away.

[Castle]

It is the work of a(n? is it read `Ell Ell' or `London Lounge') LL certified artisan. And I will be taking it back there. I'm a bit disappointed as this is the version after a previous alteration. Or is this normal for a first time commission? This thorn-proof donegal is probably not the easiest cloth to work with.

I attach two pictures: one buttoned and one unbuttoned, taken just one after the other to make them comparable.

r4.jpg

r5.jpg

[Greger]

It is a nice coat and the cloth looks excellent. If the person is a beginner in the coat business there is a lot to know and he may not have all of that sorted out yet. Many seasoned tailors are improving the coats into the third coat. People shoulders are at many different angles and some have more than one angle, and pre-made coats need adjustments for each individual as do tailored ones. Pre-made coats seem like a lot more work than custom. Custom usually has about 3 fittings per coat for a new customer. Depending on the price you paid and if you know of a good alterations tailor (for non-bespoke) your money maybe very well spent. Buying clothes is not like buying a car or tv or toater. Human bodies- none are the same. So only a few clothes fit. The rest need to be altered if the price is reasonable. Some places do the alterations for free. A new alterations tailor can't perform like a seasoned one. Some seasoned ones get away with slopy work. Good workers are hard to find sometimes no matter what kind of work it is. So lifes a gamble.

[Costi]

Greger, I fail to see the relevance of your comments regarding alterations tailors to the matter at hand. Let's not create unnecessary confusion.
Castle, the coat looks like it raises a bit when buttoned, pulling the collar away from the back of your neck. There may be a bit of a balance issue, but not much, because the fronts don't seem to pull open too much with the coat unbuttoned. The best thing to do is to pay the tailor a visit - you don't need a diagnostic in advance, you just need confirmation that there is a little room for improvement. The tailor who made the coat will know better what action needs to be taken. And don't worry too much about this, the first coat a tailor ever makes for you needn't be perfect the moment you walk out the door with it and the coat is not finished or unimprovable (like RTW) until you (and the tailor) are reasonably happy with it. The worst thing you could do is rush to conclusions about the tailor who made it, deprive him of the opportunity to improve on his work and take the coat somewhere else for "alterations". And any good tailor understands that and should take your returning to his shop to fix something after a while as a sign of confidence in him and desire to build a good relationship, rather than as a complaint.

[Castle]

Costi,

The least thing I wanted was to complain. So far it has been a pleasure to work with this tailor But as it takes some time to travel to him I wanted to make sure that there is still some work to be done and not an issue that will disappear by itself after some time.

[Costi]

Costi,

The least thing I wanted was to complain. So far it has been a pleasure to work with this tailor

Great, that's the most important thing - the coat looks handsome and you're supposed to be enjoying this My comment had a little to do with the disappointment you had expressed above and more to do with the advice to take it somewhere else to have it "altered". The coat is perfectly wearable until you have the time and opportunity to pay the tailor a visit. Don't worry, both you and the tailor are learning at the beginning of such a relationship.

[Greger]

I didn't know he said it was bespoke and thought he already said it had been altered, which suggest to me that it is rtw or mtm. Costi, do you think it is fine that the coat sets on the ends of the shoulders but not setting on the shoulders by the neck? This is elementary fitting of the bespoke world, not some secret that only a few bespoke makers know. The only legitimate bepsoke cutters that I can think of to excuss are those really new to fitting. Anybody else is don't visit again. Alterations "tailors", who knows what they know. This shoulder slope problem, which has nothing to do with balance, should have been spotted immeditately at first baste up fitting, and that is when it is easily corrected, now it is a lot of work, and should be done. Balance is, so to say, rotating the coat around the armholes. This is done by shortening the back and maybe adding to the front, the other type of balance is lenghtening the back and subtracting from the front (there are various ways of doing this, but the shoulder slope is the same). Shoulder slope is the same adjustment to both the front and back shoulders, which means if you subtract 3/8 inch from the back that same amount is subtracted form the front. Both balance and/or shoulder slope can set the collar away from the neck or ram the collar against the neck. There are many fitting errors that I think are fine walking out the door, but not this one, because it is to basic. Another excussable error is that maybe notes for a couple coats got mixed up, that is bound to happen now and then, so no blame there. I would certainly bring attention to the maker the fitting errors and see what he says.

[Costi]

Greger, as you admit yourself, many things may be misunderstood from a couple of forum posts. Neither I nor you are in that coat to know exactly how it sits on the shoulders and what the issue is: the shoulder slope, the backneck measure, a balance problem (when the front is too long, the front quarters tend to gap open and, when you button the coat, you bring them in, which can make the collar rise from the neck). The best we can do for Castle is acknowledge that there is indeed something going on with that collar and the best advice we can give him is to go to the tailor who made it, so he may diagnose it correctly and fix it.

[angelo]

Castle,
the two coats have all the typical features of neapolitan tailoring and ,forgive me if I am indiscreet ,the tailoring house seems just to be the London House of Mariano Rubinacci in Naples. Both of them look superb for fabric and cutting with the exception of the slight collar gaping. I think that You will have no problem in sending them back for fixing this imperfection with the aid of the pictures that are very clear in showing the gaping.

Angelo

[uppercase]

You wear it well, stylishly.

The rest is details.

[alden]

You wear it well, stylishly.

The rest is details.

UC,

You were reading my mind.

Michael

[Castle]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the compliment.
The blue one certainly is not from LH.
Did you know that Solito now has a website? http://www.sartoriasolito.it

Castle

[uppercase]

The Solito site is very interesting and embodies the Neapolitan philosophy of comfortable, soft and sober clothing which ages with its owner.

He speaks of his clothing as if a drug.

The photos nicely illustrate how Neapolitans classically put together their dress.

Any Solito clients here?

[Costi]

Lots of wisdom and truth in his presentation. And many of the ideas we have been tossing here for years.
One I liked in particular:

"Mi piace, spesso, raccontare che creo abiti imperfetti per persone imperfette. Questa è la perfezione della sartoria."

I often like to say that I create imperfect suits for imperfect men. This is the perfection of tailoring.