John Hitchcock to retire from A&S

[andreyb]

From Hitchcock Jr's blog:

This summer my Father John Hitchcock is retiring from Anderson and Sheppard. He has worked there all his life, starting at the age of 15 years old! I am sure Anderson and Sheppard will miss his tailoring talent.

I wonder who is going to replace Mr Hitchcock as A&S' head cutter? Perhaps Lesley Haines (ex- Douglas Hayward's head cutter) who recently joined A&S?

Andrey

[gegarrenton]

From Hitchcock Jr's blog:

This summer my Father John Hitchcock is retiring from Anderson and Sheppard. He has worked there all his life, starting at the age of 15 years old! I am sure Anderson and Sheppard will miss his tailoring talent.

I wonder who is going to replace Mr Hitchcock as A&S' head cutter? Perhaps Lesley Haines (ex- Douglas Hayward's head cutter) who recently joined A&S?

Andrey

Wow, end of an era.

[loarbmhs]

Very sad. He's a superbly accomplished tailor, and more important, a very honorable man. Selfishly, I wish he'd stay there forever, but we all reach that stage in life where we're ready for the next chapter, and want to "write" it while we're still young enough and healthy enough. So I for one am going to rein myself in from feelings of "what does this mean for me," and wish him all the best when I see him in two weeks on his visit to the US. I'm sure A&S know the big shoes they have to fill, but finding someone with both the expertise and the character will be a tall order.

[Dr T]

I fully agree with your comments loarbmhs

[loarbmhs]

Just received a letter from Mr. Hitchcock saying that Danny Hall, who has been with A&S for 28+ years as a Coat Cutter and Maker, will take over as Head Cutter.

[pur_sang]

Just received a letter from Mr. Hitchcock saying that Danny Hall, who has been with A&S for 28+ years as a Coat Cutter and Maker, will take over as Head Cutter.

I imagine most newer customers to A&S probably has Mr. Hall as their cutter, including myself.

Is their any truth to Thomas Mahon teaching Mr. Hitchcock a few tricks of the trade before he left A&S. Well, at least that's what he said in one of his posts.

[DFR]

Just received a letter from Mr. Hitchcock saying that Danny Hall, who has been with A&S for 28+ years as a Coat Cutter and Maker, will take over as Head Cutter.

I imagine most newer customers to A&S probably has Mr. Hall as their cutter, including myself.

Is their any truth to Thomas Mahon teaching Mr. Hitchcock a few tricks of the trade before he left A&S. Well, at least that's what he said in one of his posts.

I doubt that!

How long has JH been Head Cutter/MD?

[pur_sang]

http://www.englishcut.com/2005/03/03/why-english-cut/

Well, that is what Mr. Mahon said in this post. (I followed his blog since the beginning, wow, it's been almost 10 years!) To read the comment, go to 'Credentials'.

[loarbmhs]

The week before last, I had my first contact with Danny Hall, Mr. Hitchcock's replacement at Anderson & Sheppard. (A&S were on one of their semi-annual trips to the United States.)

I was a big fan of Mr. Hitchcock and will always be one. But I found Mr. Hall to be a wonderful replacement. My appointment was a combination of trying on new garments, and fine tuning of some existing ones. Mr. Hall lived up to his reputation as an expert coat maker. Not only was he unfailingly polite and agreeable about the adjustments I thought I needed (and equally polite when he thought otherwise), but he went out of his way to suggest other subtle alterations that he believed would make the coats look even better. On top of it, he has a rather jovial disposition that eased some of the sobriety that can overhang a meeting between a tailor and his client.

I know I'm not alone in saying that we will ever forget John Hitchcock. With a half-century of service to A&S, he is a man for the ages. Happily, however, Danny Hall, with "only" 29 years under his belt at the firm, is already making his mark, and easing the transition both personally and sartorially for all of us.

[Concordia]

Here's hoping. One other wrinkle in all of this-- the coatmaker Hitchcock liked to use a lot (on my suits, anyway) also retired, and will only be making for the POW. I don't know how deep the bench is in that part of the firm.

[loarbmhs]

Here's an update on my November 2 posting, where I reviewed my initial meeting in the U.S. with Mr. Hitchcock's replacement, Mr. Danny Hall. When we met, Mr. Hall made suggestions/notations on the jackets that I brought to him for some alterations/fine-tuning.

I just received the jackets back and they look great. Mr. Hall and his team did all the alterations flawlessly and I'm very happy. Anyone who's familiar with bespoke knows that after wearing a garment and letting it settle onto your frame, that sometimes there are subtle tweaks necessary to get things just right. It's reassuring to know that Mr. Hall not only has a good sense of seeing what those changes should be (my prior post), but he also has the expertise and shows the care to make them happen (this post).

One sidebar you might find amusing: One of the alterations involved how the jacket collar fell across my shirt collar points. It seemed to be a pretty involved process, and when the jacket turned out so nicely, I sent a note asking Mr. Hall how he pulled it off. The gist of his response: I'd have to go through a four-year apprenticeship with A&S to completely understand it. (I decided to take him at his word and just enjoy how well the jacket fits.)

[andreyb]

loarbmhs, thanks for the report! -- very encouraging.

Andrey

[Gilles Deleuze]

I have an overcoat coming soon (waiting for email confirm any day now), and I'll be happy to report back here once it arrives. At the fitting, Mr. Hall (who I had met before) was confidently, pleasantly helpful and patient in explaining how he imagined making adjustments and how he saw the finished coat.

[Rob O]

I have an overcoat coming soon (waiting for email confirm any day now), and I'll be happy to report back here once it arrives. At the fitting, Mr. Hall (who I had met before) was confidently, pleasantly helpful and patient in explaining how he imagined making adjustments and how he saw the finished coat.

So Gilles: how did your new overcoat turn out please?

[Gilles Deleuze]

I have an overcoat coming soon (waiting for email confirm any day now), and I'll be happy to report back here once it arrives. At the fitting, Mr. Hall (who I had met before) was confidently, pleasantly helpful and patient in explaining how he imagined making adjustments and how he saw the finished coat.

So Gilles: how did your new overcoat turn out please?

It still hasn't arrived, unfortunately. I'm getting a bit antsy, but I don't want to rush things. There's not much I can do over the holiday period, anyway. I'll be sure to update when it is finished, though.