If you want one of the world's best trouser makers, such as Naples' Salvatore Ambrosi, to make for you, you have to provide the cloth. Unlike most of the suppliers to bespoke tailors and high end ready to wear clothing manufacturers, royal warrant holders J & J Minnis - John G. Hardy sell some of the best cloth of their types directly to retail customers.
Minnis and Hardy are the two trading names for English cloth merchants Hunt & Winterbotham of Huddersfield, England. Though they have many other offerings, Minnis is particularly known for its flannels and frescos (the term fresco was patented and trademarked by the company in 1907), and Hardy holds up its end with a range of 12 ounce Venetian, Gaberdine, Whipcord, Bedford Cord and Cavalry Twill fabrics. The two also offer good quality tweeds and worsteds.
Retail pricing for this stuff is steep. A pair of my high waisted trousers requires two meters of cloth starting at £30.00 per meter for cottons and £60.00 per meter for gabardine and fresco (including VAT that is deducted from the price paid by buyers from outside the UK). Customers can order directly off the web site, which has photos of all the cloth.
On the negative side, the photos are dark and don't show detail. A 3% surcharge is added for credit cards, which I believe violates the Visa and Mastercard merchant agreements. The company doesn't respond to emails (I had an answer to one inquiry out of four). And what I dislike most is the company's insistance on sending parcels to the States by UPS. Unlike the Postal Service, UPS adds to the shipping charge an exorbitant fee for clearing the parcel through customs. But the flannel, in particular, is probably worth dealing with those irritations.
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