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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Which bespoke tailor?

  
 
Ganesh
15:03 / 20.10.03
Inspired by Sax's 'Suits' thread wherein various chaps (and possibly chapesses) are extolling the virtues of bespoke clothing.

I'm interested in this. My own experience of hand-made clobber is pretty much confined to one-offs in India or Singapore - perhaps best characterised as the tailoring equivalent of the semi-disposable holiday romance. I've never regretted the suits I've had made abroad, but I've never exactly worn them threadbare either. Either they succumb to 'moisture-cloud shrinkage' (ahem) or languish in a cupboard somewhere, forgotten novelties.

I've read plenty of 'gentleman's relish' articles on The Perfect Bespoke Suit, and am fascinated by the arcane language of cuffs, vents, linings, etc. - but I've never gone for bespoke myself (not non-fetish clothing, anyway). It just doesn't seem like something one would do in this country.

So tell me about your experiences of bespoke. Who's your tailor? Would you recommend him/her?
 
 
Sax
11:53 / 21.10.03
It has long been my ambition to have a bespoke suit tailored for me, but as the day when I have a spare grand lying about is yet to be entered on my calendar, it remains something of a dream.

But the thought of spending a day in a musty old tailor's shop being measured by well-spoken, polite, ageing gentlemen, choosing cloth from huge rolls and seeing the chalk marks on the fabric is something that gets my juices running. And apparently, no suit will ever fit you as magnificently as a tailored one.

Karl to Homer: You! Let it all hang out!

Karl to tailor: You! Hide it!

Oh, and I didn't start the suit thread, though I wish I had. It was seth.
 
 
p_uk
23:16 / 29.11.03
I make trips to Hong Kong every so often to stock up on suits. Quality has been going downhill as more and more of the 'back office' work is pushed into mainland China, however there are still places that offer good quality and service at a price that includes a holiday to HK! I usually ask friends who live out there for the best place to go.
 
  
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