New suit progress!

[Alias]

Just had another suit made. It's wool/mohair, a bit late for the summer but it should do well next year. I went to the third fitting earlier today, and will probably pay a fourth visit to get the sleeve length just right (it's important to be picky about that!) but otherwise it's a really, really good suit.

There's shoulder padding and then there's shoulder padding. The former is industrially-produced garbage made of foam sandwiched between polyester filling. The latter is awesomely fluffy cotton stitched between two pieces of some kind of gauzy material. The jacket sits on my shoulders like a dream.

For some reason my tailor made the lapels a bit thin. I like how it looks but I was worried that it might compromise the longevity of the suit's style. Then I figured, if it's for the warmer months, I might as well get all my summer suits cut in the same style. No need for all that extra lapel, anyways! Plus I think it exudes more of a sense of "cool." I'll have to start finding some 3" ties...

I'll post pictures in the Photojournal as soon as I can.

[Lookingtoimprove]

Just had another suit made.

I'll post pictures in the Photojournal as soon as I can.

Can't wait to see those!

Mark

[Guest]

yes, post the pictures!

[Alias]

It'll be a bit before I'm able to. If he's going to have to correct the sleeve length it'll be about another week.

I just got a bunch of fabric in the other day. One of the lengths I bought is a wonderful 450 gm navy blue from Holland & Sherry. The weather here got cold really quickly, so I'm looking to get this turned into my first DB suit for the winter!

Are extra trousers advisable for this heavy weight cloth, or will it be durable enough?

[T4phage]

I second the call for a pic! Great work on the past suit Alias!

[Alias]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I wanted to visit him this past Monday but was unable to do so. I'm going to try visiting on Saturday instead.

I also got a hold of some great fabrics recently, one of which is a wonderful 450gm navy blue from Holland & Sherry. I plan on turning this into my first DB suit ever!

[Alias]

Got the suit. It looks GREAT. The worksmanship is even better than the first one. I'll post pictures as soon as I can!

[Alias]

Unfortunately this update won't include pictures because I soon found out that the sleeves were a bit too long. The sleeves are getting shortened now (at the shoulder) and I should be able to pick up the jacket next Saturday.

I had an old navy blue suit jacket that I decided to turn into a blazer. I found some wonderful brass four-hole buttons on eBay for this project. Since this jacket is from an old tailor I used to go to, the armholes are a bit big but just right for a sweater arm to fit through.

I also had the first fitting of my first double-breasted suit today. It looks WONDERFUL. The 450 g/m Holland & Sherry is perfect. The cut is wonderful; looks like all my LL research will pay off big time. Second fitting is also next Saturday; I'll pick up the suit jacket and the blazer on the same day.

[Alias]

Pics of the suit are finally up in the Photojournal!

[RWS]

A good-looking suit, Alias; do tell Mr. Min that the Lounge appreciate his work.

The tailor's stitching appears to be excellent. The buttonholes in particular are laudable. And I like the treatment of the part-lining (binding the raw edges with the lining fabric is a nice touch, which, I'm told, is a hallmark of Oriental tailoring).

Your stylistic preferences and mine differ (I prefer three-button SBs, for example), so other comments may be ascribed to that alone. To my eye, though, your buttoning point seems a bit high (buttoning at the natural waist looks best to me); I prefer my trousers just a little longer, with the slightest of breaks; and I like the gorge, the angle of meeting between collar and lapel, to be a little more open. But these are more stylistic differences than anything, quibbles about a very nice suit.

[manton]

The fit of that coat looks excellent. Is this a second (or third) suit with the same tailor?

[Alias]

It's the second. The third will be the navy double-breasted (which is looking absolutely terrific.)

Thanks for the observations and comments! I think the lapel gorge height and button stance look a bit high because of the camera angle... basically I put the camera on a bookshelf and hit the timer button. The shelf I used was kind of low because I wanted to capture more than just my head and shoulders.

Now t4phage and Jona can look at these pictures and be happy! I'm horribly late with these.

[T4phage]

NICE WORK ALIAS!!!

Lovely suit indeed. The buttonholes a very well finished, as is the taping of the seams (as RWS mentioned). The coat length is perfect. As you said that you are quite slim, the shoulders look like they just have enough padding to give you some structure there.

Personally, I would like the buttoning point about 1-1.5 inches lower, but I can see why you had made it that high, to strenghten the illusion of height.

The trousers are a great impovement to the first one your tailor made. It has a nicer drape and cut. Did he increase the fullness compared to the previous?

Jan

[Alias]

Thanks, Jan!

We didn't increase the fullness so much as decreased the taper. The cuff is a bit larger. Also I tried forward pleats instead of reverse to help. Seems to have worked!

[T4phage]

You are more than welcome Alias! I like the way you and your tailor are collaborating and each suit is turning out better and better!

One thing.... have you considered a slight belly to the lapel? I think you can pull it off with your build.

Jan