Visiting tailoring service: London

[YoungLawyer]

Has anyone used any visiting tailoring service in London, and if so, do you recommend them?
I noticed, for instance, this website (http://www.cheshiretailoring.com/#!pricesandoffers|cfvg), which seemed to offer superb value, and I wondered whether anyone had any experience of this, or a similar, company.
Thanks.

[davidhuh]

Dear Younglawyer,

to me, this "incredible value offer" looks like MTM parading as Savile Row bespoke. In case you need to save a little bit, you would very likely be better off with Mr. Graham Browne.

cheers, David

[aston]

Agree fully with Davidhuh.

It maybe the case they use Cheshire Bespoke to do their making, but I am pretty sure the service is MTM.

[Gruto]

In regards to Graham Browne, who David mentions, I keep reading good reviews about his suits on the web. But, let me share that I recently had a chance to inspect a suit IRL from him, and it didn't impress me. Balance of trousers and jacket was off, and the shoulder didn't seem to fit well. I don't think it had had any iron work whatsoever. Moreover, the chest was like a cardboard. The canvas must have been machine sewn or fused. I know, I know, I cannot conclude from one suit. There might be plenty of fine Graham Brown bespoke suits out there. But, it occurred to me that the suit was a victim of many short cuts, probably to keep costs down. In a way it has to be so. For my part, at least, I cannot understand the business in how you can sell a fine bespoke suit in London for a 1000 pounds.

[Scot]

I use a tailor in Glasgow called Antonia Brecht. She trained in London and was based at a City tailors. She still has clients in London and visits them in their offices there regularly. Her work is good and she will charge about £1100 for a 2 piece. This is bespoke - she will cut the pattern and make the garment herself, although sewing will not be done entirely by hand. However, I can't help thinking that if I were you I would stick with an off-row tailor in London; someone with whom you could build a relationship and go and visit when you needed to rather than waiting on their travel schedule.

[YoungLawyer]

I know, I know - it did look far too good to be true (and good bespoke). It seems as if the cost of low-budget tailoring is increasing rapidly. I had a couple of suits made at George, before he retired, and although they weren't wonderful, they were better than off-the-peg. The most affordable options seem to be Antoniou on Gray's Inn Road, or Simms and McDonald, and they are now about £1,200 a suit, where, about five years ago (if memory serves), they were less then £1,000. I wondered if there were still any more affordable options in London, but it seems as if visiting tailors aren't a good shortcut (although some of S & McD's overheads must go on maintaining what must be quite a fashionable shop - you can see easily that Antoniou's shop isn't a marketing luxury).

[Concordia]

Some of the SR shops have MTM programs that may be OK. One that sounds worth a look is Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, where the new head cutter is John McCabe. He did an excellent job at Dege back in the 80s, and then was a senior cutter at Kilgour.
You can get SR-priced bespoke there, but they also have a program where the hand work is done at a shop in India where they've trained the locals. All cutting & fitting done in London. Suit prices for that option start at about GBP 1,100.

[Scot]

Some of the SR shops have MTM programs that may be OK. One that sounds worth a look is Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, where the new head cutter is John McCabe. He did an excellent job at Dege back in the 80s, and then was a senior cutter at Kilgour.
You can get SR-priced bespoke there, but they also have a program where the hand work is done at a shop in India where they've trained the locals. All cutting & fitting done in London. Suit prices for that option start at about GBP 1,100.

A couple more to consider - Thomas Mahon MTM sounds very good value and a quality-controlled product. Also Benson & Clegg. The latter invloves a pattern individually made and perfected, and the cloth cut, at their London shop, then sent to China for making. It's not quite the "artisanal" approach we aspire to but its a half-way house. It's also a bit more expensive - around £1800 I think. I have never used either option so couldn't vouch for the end result.

[st.tully]

Some of the SR shops have MTM programs that may be OK. One that sounds worth a look is Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, where the new head cutter is John McCabe. He did an excellent job at Dege back in the 80s, and then was a senior cutter at Kilgour.
You can get SR-priced bespoke there, but they also have a program where the hand work is done at a shop in India where they've trained the locals. All cutting & fitting done in London. Suit prices for that option start at about GBP 1,100.

A couple more to consider - Thomas Mahon MTM sounds very good value and a quality-controlled product. Also Benson & Clegg. The latter invloves a pattern individually made and perfected, and the cloth cut, at their London shop, then sent to China for making. It's not quite the "artisanal" approach we aspire to but its a half-way house. It's also a bit more expensive - around £1800 I think. I have never used either option so couldn't vouch for the end result.

I think the Thomas Mahon and Whitcomb and Shaftsbury MTM programs are one in the same. The description about India is the same and they same premisis at 11 St. George Street.

Has anyone tried this MTM program?

[aston]

Are we not at risk of wondering a little off the thread here? The question seemed to be about what appears to be very favourable pricing, and whether one gets quality at that level. Once you get into the Tom Mahon's MTMs, and into the £1800 and up range, it feels as though it is not answering the question.

[YoungLawyer]

Thank you all for your replies. Well, I hadn't heard of any of these approaches, other than Mahon's MTM, before, so I'm very grateful for the small deviation. My question should have been clearer, 'Is it possible to get a good bespoke suit for about £1,000 or not much more by using a visiting tailor service (or other service) in London?'.

The Whitcomb and Shaftsbury 'bespoke', as opposed to 'S.R. Bespoke' service looks very attractive. Is this actually bespoke (but with out-sourced labour), or is this rather a very clever (and good) MTM service? (By the way, it is now £1250 + 20% VAT, so not exactly a budget option) Has anyone used it? Basically, (and for all the talk of wardrobe building by the slightly more well-established chaps here!) I now need, for the autumn, two three piece suits to replace my own two that have, by regular over-use, worn out, and have about £2,000 or a little more, to spend. It seemed as if the 'affordable' bespoke tailors like Simms & M. save on their costs by having only one fitting (which, I know, isn't necessarily the end of the world), and it alerted me to the fact that it was worth investigating tailors who cut their costs in another way, such as not having London shops. If another way is by having the making, not the cutting, out-sourced, then I'm interested in that option. For me, having a suit that fits is more important than a preponderence of hand-work; I couldn't afford full SR prices at the moment anyway.

I would still be interested if anyone had used a visiting tailor in town. The tailor, Antonia Brecht, that you mention sounds like just the sort of thing that I was interested in. It's clear how, by living away from London, it's possible to keep the cost down. Otherwise, I'll use Simms in about a month or so. The other thought that I had was Kashket, but they seem to have either closed their London shop, or moved elsewhere.

[st.tully]

Sims and MacDonald made a few things for me in the early 1990's that I was still wearing till about 2008 - the fit was great and they certainly stood the test of time. Comparing them to my Henry Poole suits, I'd say they lack a good bit of finish on the inside of the garmet and they didn't put much in the way of inlays (otherwise I'd have them let out and still be wearing them). I wouldn't think twice about wearing them again if a dropped a stone - they are quality garments.

Plus I believe Simms has an interest free payment plan which looks attractive.

[cathach]

Another tailor who visits London is http://www.cockofthewalkbespoke.co.uk/ based out of Manchester. Although I've no experience of this tailors service her blog is fascinating and very informative: http://cockofthewalk.posterous.com/

There's also Redmaynes where I believe Thomas Mahon started off working http://www.redmayne-tailors.co.uk/

There are many off-row tailors in London as well though for example George Dyer aka Threadneedleman in Elephant & Castle: http://www.threadneedlemantailors.co.uk ... lcome.html

I do think it would be possible to get two three-piece suits in London at that price (GBP1,000) but you'd have to get two suits from the same tailor and either provide your own cloth or ask if they have any cloth in stock that is on offer. For instance Threadneedleman above is offering trousers at GBP125 from a certain range of cloths according to his website.

There's also http://www.nortonandtownsend.co.uk/ who have a physical shop as well but make their suits in Leeds. At their price point its probably made-to-measure, but appears to be made in England with English cloth and with proper fittings.

If you wear your suits very hard as it appears, perhaps you might go for two or three semi-bespoke or made-to-measure suits and then next year or whenever getting a full bespoke to wear in a rotation.

[bjs]

Dear Young Lawyer,

I have tried a travelling tailor and, despite living in London, found it impractical and frustrating. As suggested above, building up a long term relationship with an off-row tailor is a better bet IMHO. I have tried Sims & MacDonald and wholeheartedly recommend them... nice people and a good product. Yes, you might not get the same handwork or finish as SR (or Italian MTM) but they won't let you out of the shop unless the fit is good. Give them a try.

BJS