first journey into bespoke

[hectorm]

I decided I will get something from Poole, Davies & son & Anderson Sheppard. I need to decide on which one of these I use for the overcoat.

Since you already decided you are going with A&S for one of your suits, I advise you have the other made at Henry Poole, maybe leaving the overcoat in the hands of Davies & son.
The reason for my advice is that since you are lucky enough to have this kind of first experimentation with the Row, you could take advantage of it and build a solid ground for future decisions. Poole and A&S cut significantly different styles and I believe you would want to try them both. I´m partial to Poole because of their more structured construction and because they are more accommodating in melting your stylistic choices with their own. Good luck trying to do that with A&S.

[Concordia]

If you're further trying to reduce risk, you might designate a DB to Anderson, and try a single-breasted suit at Davies. I don't have any fresh information about the difference between Davies and Poole, but I seem to remember liking a lot of what the former have done. And suits are more important to get exactly right than overcoats.

Still, all will become much clearer when you have a chance to walk around the Row and see what is in various windows. Try to be sure that your tailor's comfort zone overlaps with yours.

[graysonhenryrussell]

OK, let me see if I am getting this correct. You are telling me that A&S is a totally different animal than Poole & Davies. Could someone elaborate on the difference with A&S as the above post made me a little nervous concerning A&S. I will add that Mr Bennett with Davies & son has been more likeable over the phone. I know I am taking a chance having three items done at three different tailors but I have seen all threes work & liked the suits. I am also afraid I may get overwhelmed when I get there.

[Concordia]

A&S does soft shoulders, canas handled differently from most houses, and a few other things. It's a pretty well-defined way of making that gives them fewer options than you might see at another place. On the other hand, given the right cloth and the correct role, it's a beautiful cut. Pretty much any picture of Prince Charles in town clothing will feature their tailoring. And the look doesn't vary too much from client to client.

They do discuss a bit of that on their website. Also see englishcut.com, Tom Mahon's website, and Steven Hitchcock's site. (Both are alumni of Anderson, and use their training in slightly different ways.)

[C.Lee]

...You are listing different tailoring houses. They are well known establishments with a different house style. Inform yourself about the differences, and get an idea what you want for yourself and what works for you. Invest enough time, make appointments, go to see them, talk to them...

Grayson, David touched on differences in house styles. The suits you have seen, are these on people with a similar build to yours? What looks good on one person may not necessarily translate to the next.

As for getting overwhelmed, you'll be fine on the ground. It's time in the forums that may overwhelm you


Regards.

[graysonhenryrussell]

I have been overwhelmed just trying to decide which cloth to use & I can't imagine what will happen when I get there.

[Concordia]

It's like my first visit to a Hong Kong high-end restaurant, which had an absolutely inscrutable menu in no particular order that I could figure out. You call over the waiter, you tell him what sort of meal you're after, and you take advice. When the wine steward comes over, you tell him what you're eating, offer general guidelines of what you like, and see what he says. If you trust the staff, you'll get something good. If mistakes are made, you'll have learned something.

So-- what season do you want to cover? What time of day? Business or pleasure? Do you have oddities of fit, and what do you hate about RTW clothes? If they can't use that information to solve your problem, move on.

[davidhuh]

I have been overwhelmed just trying to decide which cloth to use & I can't imagine what will happen when I get there.

Dear Grayson,

I understand the challenge. You said that you have used MTM in the past. Fine.

Bespoke is different in the sense that the interaction between you and your tailor plays an important role. In the end, you should have the suit that works for your needs and not a suit that wears you. Concordia is referring to this.

It is helpful for you to know something about the house styles at Davies, Poole and A&S. It is helpful if you could figure out what could work best for you and your built. What I would advise against is jumping through three doors at Savile Row with the idea "to get this and that done within 10 days". A recipe for disaster I'm afraid, and wasting your money.

It could help to start with one suit and a tailor who is visiting a US city where you could also meet him on a regular basis. This could be a basis for the future. You could use your ten days in London to figure out with whom you want to work with and start with a commission, perhaps have one or even two fittings done while you are there. Finding your tailor is a little like dating ladies. A good tailor is for life (although splitting is easy).

I understand you live in North Carolina. The arrangement with a tailor living far away and visiting the US once or twice a year works for a lot of people here, but it has its limitations. An option I would really consider is not to go with an SR tailor to start with, but get somebody in the US. Despos is in Chicago and Dallas; there are a few good tailors left in New York like Leonard Logsdail and Frank Shattuck. It is a lot easier to arrange fittings with tailors you can see regularly and without complications. Personally, I would not want to work with a tailor who is in a city I'm not visiting every 2-3 months.

Cheers, David

[gegarrenton]

I have been overwhelmed just trying to decide which cloth to use & I can't imagine what will happen when I get there.

Things will actually become a lot clearer as right now you are trying to visualize the whole thing. Going through it is generally much easier and fun.

as mentioned, a walk down the Row looking in windows will be very informative in itself as you see the different stylings.

As for A&S, they are the softest cut there. Poole and Davies are both middle of the road structure wise, which is one reason I like to recommend them. They are versatile.

[hectorm]

I don't have any fresh information about the difference between Davies and Poole

From my own experience commissioning and (more recently just) visiting the Row I can say more about the similarities than about their differences.
The sure thing I can say -from the cut and construction styles point of view- is that both houses are what you would call "middle of the row" (no pun intended) between the extremes of the softer and understated A&S or Steed and the more structured and sharp Richard Anderson or G&H.
Notwithstanding I would think that Davies puts more emphasis in the quality of their tailoring than in a particular house style and therefore they are more accommodating of their client´s wishes. The Cundeys have always been a bit more custodians of their own silhouette (suppressed waist, little of roping at the sleeve heads, noticeable padding presence on the shoulders) but still with openness for the needs of each different client.

[Mark Seitelman]

If you do not mind making three trips to the USA cities when the tailors visit, then use all three at the same time.

If you would fit everything in one visit, use one tailor.

[Concordia]

Remember-- he's getting most of the fitting done in London and trying to figure out which one to keep going on-- so while three relationships may not be practical, he'll stand a better chance of re-upping with the right place.

Of course, he might decide that, say, the Davies store window has a look he would die for, and that will be that unless they screw it all up.

[aston]

I have always found it far more rewarding to work with tailors who start from a position of " how would you like your shoulder/chest/waist? etc" rather than those who have a particular style that you then have to navigate your way through until you get what approximates to what you had in mind.

Rare is the tailor who can really tell you what will suit you best; better to start with what you want the outcome to be, and then go through the process of getting there together. That is where the fun starts, and more importantly, where the most satisfaction will be.

I have never been able to understand why, if you are commissioning true bespoke, you would begin by saying "X" or "Y" suits me best.

If you don't really know what you want the outcome to be, better to look at styles/shapes/fits through photos etc that could approximate to a "self image". That can then become a starting point. And don't expect the first outing to be perfect.

I agree totally with those who have previously advised you to go slowly to begin with. Bon courage.

[davidhuh]

I have always found it far more rewarding to work with tailors who start from a position of " how would you like your shoulder/chest/waist? etc" rather than those who have a particular style that you then have to navigate your way through until you get what approximates to what you had in mind.

Rare is the tailor who can really tell you what will suit you best; better to start with what you want the outcome to be, and then go through the process of getting there together. That is where the fun starts, and more importantly, where the most satisfaction will be.

Dear Aston,
today and after many commissions, I can relate to this, good point.

I have never been able to understand why, if you are commissioning true bespoke, you would begin by saying "X" or "Y" suits me best.

If you don't really know what you want the outcome to be, better to look at styles/shapes/fits through photos etc that could approximate to a "self image". That can then become a starting point. And don't expect the first outing to be perfect.

It may sound funny, but when I started using no-name tailors in Latin America almost 30 years ago, I didn't care about cut or style. I simply went to whom I knew from friends, they did their job and made me happy. Then I didn't use tailors for a number of years, and before I went back to it, I did a lot of research. I wanted to know much more myself and went to see and speak with at least 5 tailors before taking a decision. By doing that, I realised that the A&S drape cut worked very well for me. And the first suit coming out of this research was a full success

Cheers, David

[aston]

Dear David

Thanks for the sentiment. I am on my second wife, and am hugely happy.

If only it was that easy to find a tailor you wanted to spend the rest of your life with!!

Best wishes.