Last week I was profiled in a video series for Harrod’s, giving insights into the construction of Kiton and Tom Ford suits, among others.
It should be available in a couple of weeks, coinciding with the launch of a new MTM/bespoke initiative at Harrod’s that will see those brands and eight others offer their form of custom service to visitors over three days. For anyone that likes the style of a particular brand but wants a touch of the bespoke experience, this will be a great opportunity to chat to the various visiting cutters/representatives, and compare and contrast.
Wearing Liverano jacket, Cleverley shoes, Caliendo trousers and Drake’s accessories
Wearing Liverano jacket, Cleverley shoes, Caliendo trousers and Drake’s accessories
The Liverano looks wonderful under the light.
Is that a Hermes briefcase?
Yes, my wonderful Sac a Depeche in the new brown matte finish.
Can’t wait for it. I, personally, love my dark grey Tom Ford suit. Knowing the construction made me love it more because it looked great and also made well. There’s a bit of a premium price, but his styling is very different.
And the photographer … a red-head I think?
No, it was taken by Grant, one of the Harrod’s team. I think the reflection you’re seeing is of one of the video media team
Hi Simon,
Which shoes were you wearing?
John
My dark brown Cleverleys. You need something that dark to go with charcoal trousers (from Caliendo)
Dear Simon
I have learnt a lot from your texts.
On personal level, can you help? My son is 6.6ft tall and wears 13 size shoes. It is very difficult to find a good tailored suits, shirts(size 17 long) and shoes. Can you help in giving us some information on how to find these and especially at good reasonable fees.
Yours sincerely
Theresa
I’m afraid not Theresa, my knowledge of RTW clothing is not broad enough to cover this. There are some specialist retailers, particularly in the US, but I have no experience of them
Simon
Hi Simon,
I’ve been wearing bespoke clothing for some time now and would like to learn a bit more about how suits are constructed. I understand the basics about canvas, linings etc. What I’m looking for is some education on the engineering of a jacket so I can have better discussions with my tailor and appreciate better the different construction techniques used by different houses. Do you have any suggestions on useful resources to improve my knowledge? (Apologies, if you’ve answered this previously and I didn’t notice).
Hi Alec. Good question, let me have a think. It’s not something we’ve ever covered exhaustively.
Out of interest, what specific things would you like to know about? There is a danger, particularly among online enthusiasts, that a little knowledge leads to customers trying to direct a tailor too much in what they try to do.
Hi Simon,
Being honest I’m coming from the point of view of a nerd who just wants to increase their nerdiness. Sometimes when I’m speaking with a tailor they will take sometime to explain how they’ve constructed a shoulder or how they’ve adjusted the shoulder in a certain way. I typically just smile and make appreciative noises while understanding 30% Like most of your readers I understand the basics of a suit; canvas, shoulder types, lapel types etc. Being a nerd I’d just like to study a bit more ‘what’s under the hood’, what is a tailor thinking about when they are doing a fitting that we lay people wouldn’t understand?
I see, OK Alec.
This series with Rory Duffy might be good:
https://vimeo.com/77006417
Thanks Simon. That looks spot on. Cruel though to send that video to an emigrant Irish man. Rory’s accent is killing me. I’ll be crying into a pint of Guinness tonight.