Dr. Muller, welcome!

I hope you will share stories regarding your bespoke experiences.

I think you will find the atmosphere here very congenial. We care about clothing but we don't take ourselves too seriously.


PB

Good to see you, Doc! What's your favorate decade or era of men's wear?

A quick hello from my hotel room in Italy again!

I promise you guy I'll talk more about my good and bad bespoke experiences once I'm back in my homeland.

Marc,

I too had  issues with Fallan and Harvey. In the end I rather wasted my 50% deposit on my suit because right at the second fitting I knew they f***** it up badly. Mind you, they aren't the only one, there are a lot more tailors around the world still have my unclaimed suits hanging in there shops.

The tailors I'm now using are John Coggin, who also makes for Mr. Roetzel, and Caraceni in Milano.

That's about it for this post and will write more during the week.

Be sure to show us the final product, regardless of how long it takes!

Another chance to talk about my bespoke experiences:

I just want to let out all the bad ones first so this time it's the turn of Jones, Chalk and Dawson.

Two years ago when I was in London I ordered a bespoke tweed jacket for 1400GBP. To be fair the fit is quite good, however when I inspected the lining inside the jacket it was all sewn by machine. Instinctively I confronted this matter head on with the cutter and all he said was it made not much difference. He then reluctantly said they'd redo it by hand and asked why I didn't mention it while placing the order.

Isn't it the standard practice for all bespoke tailors around the globe to hand stitch all linings?

I understand the cheaper bespoke tailors might use machine to stitch the linings but for an old firm such as Jones, Chalk and Dawson I have to say that's not acceptable - because they shouldn't cut any corner and because every suit they turn out has to be a piece of art.

Marc,

I totally agree with you. There's absolutely no point in telling incompetent tailors to fix or alter anything they're just incapable of. For me it's usually after the second fitting I'd make my mind up whether the suit worth the while to be collected. My philosophy is that I'd rather waste my deposit than having a fight with those inept tailors simply because I know they could never turn out the end products I envisaged.

The Huntsman cutter that cut my suit wasn't Richard Anderson. It was about 12 years ago and I don't have his name in my memory. The guy was quite young at that time. The other negative thing I want to point out about going into big tailor houses is that your suit might be cut and made by some teenager apprentices but you're still charged same price for that.

Welsh and Jeffries

When I was in London some years ago, I literally visited every firm on Savile Row, starting with Gieves and ending with Welsh and Jeffries, where the supposedly legendary Malcolm Plews worked.  Met with the late Francis Morris, a nice chap through whom I commissioned two suits.  Several weeks later, I met with Francis in New York for the fitting and what was clear to both of us was that the trousers were cutfor someone maybe 75 lbs heavier than myself, certainly with a waistline 5 inches wider than mine.  Pleats were the size of drapes.   Francis assured me the trousers would be corrected and the entire suit would be shipped to me with the properly-made trousers.  Several weeks later, I received the suit, but the trousers were never fixed, or if they were, not properly so as I was still swimming in them.   Contacted Francis about this, and he assured me the problem would be made right. I proceeded to ship the trousers back, weeks later they arrive again STILL too large, as if they never touched them.  At that point, I just threw up my hands and gave up.  I did get a decent tax deduction for them by donating to a local charity for the homeless, where some lucky bloke is resplendent in Savile Row suits.  And, if he has a pot belly, the trousers must look lovely.

Last edited by Marc Grayson (2007-02-22 04:13:21)