bond_and_beyond wrote:
That suit and GB was discussed ad nauseum on this rather amusing thread almost six years ago
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10916
I wouldn’t say it is representative for their work and I’ve discussed it with Russel in the past and he has his own side of the story.
BB
Forgive me, but I've had issues with almost all garments by the Graham Browne tailoring company. One pair of trousers was cut much too wide. "Wear it for some time", was cutter Russell's comment and sent me home. Only at my next visit he accepted to redo it.
A next pair of trousers was cut too narrow. Same procedure. Unfortunately there was not enough inlay for a perfect fit.
Another two pairs of trousers were executed okay though, I wear them regularly. After those mistakes I thought Russell had every detail of my pattern in place.
Nope. A next pair of trousers proved too narrow again. It was a checked cloth. The red overcheck in the pattern is supposed to go vertically down, but it doesn't, it's askew. The thing is: only a trained eye will notice. "It 's been cut wrong", another tailor told me. Why? Probably in order to save cloth.
One jacket by Graham Browne is okay, but the pockets are done sloppy. One sleeve proved to be half an inch shorter than the other. I had to show and tell Russell, otherwise he would have let me go home with that piece
Just for your info, I tried GB at the same time with two other London tailors, one off SR and one on SR. Neither as far as the process (i.e. the fittings, the customer service, the after service), nor as far as the fit and finishing of the garment is concerned can GB be compared with the other tailors. Little or no effort is put in shaping, in shrinking cloth at essential places, nor in finishing. The jackets are rather stiff and the cloth has the hand of - forgive me - a potato sack, that's what the feeling reminds me of.
To be fair, at Graham Browne's price point of little more than £ 1000,- one cannot expect perfect fit, perfect execution, nor big consistency in the heart of London. Price and speed are their most important parameters, therefore an almost industrial (machine-made) approach. A big production must be more important in that model than precision.
There is certainly a market for machine made, rapid bespoke like Graham Browne. People that are in a hurry or need a suit for the wedding of a cousin. I do respect that not everyone has the time, the means nor the interest to pay the full price for an old fashioned, artisanal product made with sweat and which takes many weeks, months to produce. Fair enough. At some point in my life I didn't have that either. If only GB were open and honest about their product! In my experience Dan and Russell are not. They present their totally different product as if it can stand the proof with other bespoke. Newcomers and untrained eyes are made believe that they make a very, very good deal. That's a very sweet melody.
I respect of course if other members have had other experiences with GB.
I can also see that some of the GB jackets/suits look fairly good on pictures.
This is just my story, just my 2 cents.
Perhaps I have just been unlucky
(PS Soren, I may be wrong but I think I have seen that blog post about the brown suit in an English version as well?)
On a side note, S. Crompton is not an objective voice in this matter. His blog only became as big as it is today thanks to his review of Graham Browne. Until that moment he didn't have the means for bespoke. After the review Crompton went on to other tailors and presented his publicity and set up of blogs (e.g. Anderson Sheppard's Notebook, Timothy Everest's blog on their former site) in exchange for a suit. It was win-win for Crompton and the tailoring houses. I do enjoy Crompton's blog, though, as I have written elsewhere, it's a source of news and inspiration, but I do not regard him as a truth finding journalist (if truth exists
)
Belimad, I wish you all good luck with your two suits!
As you were presented by good friends of his, Russell will certainly do an extra effort to make things turn out properly
