Choppin & Lodge?

[Badden]

What Graham Browne (and Choppin & Lodge I believe, though I have never used them) offer are bespoke cut suits (individual patterns etc) that are made in London (in GB's case they now have a work room in the basement, in addition to using independent makers), for a little less than GBP 1000.

Bespoke suits made in London for under GBP 1000?
It sounds too good to be true.
For around that price I had my good share of tailors who used to cut my own patterns and then put the suit together in obscure basements with the help of assistants and using a combination of hand work (lining, buttonholes, inner canvases) and machine work (mostly long seams), but all this was in other corners of the world. In London, the figures (cloth?, London tailor wages?, shop lease? fittings? some profit?) just don't add up. Or if they do, then the short cuts in manufacture would have to be so tremendous that the quality of the garment should surely reflect it.
I'd approach this option very cautiously.

To be clear, the sub-1,000 GBP price applies to American customers (i.e. excl. VAT) who supply their own cloth (i.e. a CMT service).

[aston]

Not so.

I just collected two suits from GB, a Lesser at £1100, and a Dugdale at £950.

[Luca]

How are the suits, Aston? ?

[Frederic Leighton]

How are the suits, Aston? ?

A review of Graham Browne's tailoring in The Journal of Style: HERE.

[aston]

I have several GB suits, and am very particular about fit. Russell has listened and understood and makes clothes which I am very happy with. For the price, I consider them to be very good value.

I have suits from 2 SR houses. The make is probably of a higher standard, there is no difference in the quality of the cloth, and the fit is hardly any better.

It makes sense for me to mix and match in the way I do.

[bond_and_beyond]

I have several GB suits, and am very particular about fit. Russell has listened and understood and makes clothes which I am very happy with. For the price, I consider them to be very good value.

I have suits from 2 SR houses. The make is probably of a higher standard, there is no difference in the quality of the cloth, and the fit is hardly any better.

It makes sense for me to mix and match in the way I do.

I have the same experience. I've had 6 suits and 2 overcoats made by Russell and I am very happy with them. If there is anything I am not happy with or I for any reason want to change down the line, he is very accomodating in altering the garments.

GB makes all their garments in London, by using independent workers and increasingly also their basement workroom.

Like Aston I feel that GB offers a good value service.

BB

[Luca]

"Last week I had my first fitting At C&L for a suit they're making. My first time having a fitting with an unfinished garment (trying shoulder padding, deciding exact button height, that sort of thing).

I had harboured, prior to that, some concerns about how busy they have been and how busy the chap who took my measurements had appeared. Certainly the garment as it was will need significant adjustment but I suppose that's what fittings are for. In terms of attitude, I have found Mr Wainwright 'forthcoming' with advice but not unyielding to client preferences. I am glad I didn't do this when I was a young whippersnapper (that's just me, though), but rather a seasoned adult. The timekeeping has been rather 'slippy' but that tended to happen even with MtM elsewhere... I guess custom clothing is not for people in a hurry.

Overall, looking forward to the next fitting. As an aside, I want to thank this forum for familiarising me with a vast range of fabric types I previously knew nothing about. Mr Wainwright recommended from the start (it's a summer business suit) Fresco/Finmeresco but if it had been my first exposure to that type of fabric, as a former ignorant fan of gossamer-impalpable-buttery fabrics I would have dismissed it out of hand. The colour (mid- to light-grey chalk stripe) is also lighter than what I would have gone for, pre-LL. It looks great, made up. So, thanks, gents.

[Luca]

I thought I'd post an update on the C&L suit project. It was ready for the "final fitting" 2-3 weeks ago but I was on hols and picked it up last week. The trousers, which at the first fitting needed narrowing at the waist and ankles, fit very well, having a relatively full fit from waist to knee (they are pleated) but not too baggy from the knee down (pictures soon). C&L offered, at the time, a great deal of an extra pair of trousers at their regular price, which is a very nice saving. We had one pair done with belt loops and the other with side adjusters.

The jacket fit seemed rather constrictive and pulled in several places but I agreed to wear it once or twice to get a better feel for it. I did, last Saturday (I can tell you that there aren't very many people in mid-to-light grey pinstripe suit, spectators and a straw hat in London on a Saturday evening...). The Jacket will definitely have to go back for further work, which the "guv'nor" at C&L said from the start they are always happy to do until the client is satisfied. This is reassuring, of course. If this job works well, I've got a rather nice brown birdseye in mind...

[Frederic Leighton]

I thought I'd post an update on the C&L suit project. [...] The Jacket will definitely have to go back for further work [...]

Congratulations for the new suit, Luca! ..and thank you for sharing your experience. Looking forward to reading about the final tweaks and your impressions.

I want to thank this forum for familiarising me with a vast range of fabric types I previously knew nothing about. [...]

[...] I can tell you that there aren't very many people in mid-to-light grey pinstripe suit, spectators and a straw hat in London on a Saturday evening...

Platform 6 at London Bridge Rail Station, evening rush hour, is also a good school. What I didn't learn through my Father's advice and example, from my own mistakes and from the London Lounge, I learn it through observation. Colours and patterns, how these interact and respond to the light in different moments of the day, what stands out and what goes unnoticed, what is common and what is rare, what is practical and what is not, what people of different age wear... No goal other than a higher awareness of the social environment. After collecting and processing the information, you can still decide how much you want to fit in. Few examples:

Unnoticeable outfit 1:
- colourful trainers,
- RAF blue or black&pinstripes suit with 1 button missing,
- no tie,
- top-two buttons of the shirt undone,
- ankle socks,
- rucksack.

Unnoticeable outfit 2:
- monk shoes,
- PoW peak lapel suit,
- pink silk neck-tie with lose knot,
- first button of the shirt undone,
- pocket-square,
- Fred Perry barrel bag.

Very distinguishable outfit:
- all as above, but with cuff button undone.

Sartorial terrorist:
(any outfit including at least one of the following)
- brown suit,
- shirt with all buttons done up,
- neck-tie with tight knot and snug fit,
- mid/light grey suit with chalk stripes,
- boater hat

[medusala]

Given my office is very nearby I thought I would give Choppin and Lodge on Cornhill a try. I was very pleased. Maybe not the same standard as the tailor I use on Sackville St but value for money wise I thought it extremely good.

[hectorm]

Sartorial terrorist:
(any outfit including at least one of the following):
- brown suit,
- ....

Dear Federico,
you just included me in the "most wanted" terrorist list. I own and regularly wear many brown suits. Please do not send the dresstapo.

[Frederic Leighton]

Sartorial terrorist:
(any outfit including at least one of the following):
- brown suit,
- ....

Dear Federico,
you just included me in the "most wanted" terrorist list. I own and regularly wear many brown suits. Please do not send the dresstapo.

Dear Hectorm, glad I'm not the only one! My partner says brown is the colour that suits me the best. Let's see if she will still say the same in few years time; I've started noticing some grey whiskers in my beard... I might have to move from brown worsted pinstripes to brown donegal tweed. Definitely hope in more people happily wearing brown.

[hectorm]

A young PoW in brown (and in town).

[Frederic Leighton]

Great! thank you, Hectorm! ..and the even younger ones, on the right, all in brown too!

[arch]

I wonder if he wore the brown deliberately that day because he was meeting the Brownies?