London tailor Edward Sexton gets little play on the blogs and fora that constitute the majority of the English-language discourse on the subject of bespoke tailoring. This may be because he spends little time worrying about PR. And the reason he’s able to ignore the world of PR, I’d suggest, is down to the fact that he’s one of the UK’s very best tailors.
As both a customer and a journalist I’ve been inside most of London’s tailors’ shops, and I’ve had suits from quite a few of them. None have exhibited the attention to detail, or put in the time and care, that Sexton did when he made me a suit (pictured above). From his insistence that his coat-maker attend my fittings, rather than rely on chalk marks to see what small nips and tucks were necessary, to the fact that he likes to service his suits after they’ve been worn a few times to make sure they’re absolutely right, he provides a different level of service from most tailors.
The cut, as you might guess given his pivotal role in developing Tommy Nutter’s famous aesthetic, is uncompromising, but it’s certainly not the zoot-suit caricature that his lesser rivals accuse him off. As a result his structured jackets (“We give you the shoulders that God forgot to give you,” he told me) are a far cry from the Neapolitan garments that conventional wisdom currently deems to be the ne plus ultra of tailoring styles. However, it’s also true that many women prefer the look of a man in a structured coat.
Sexton is further distinguished by his great taste. He is among the best-dressed tailors in London, and it may be no coincidence that the other one who comes to mind is Joe Morgan, who also used to work with Tommy Nutter. I still remember a rus-in-urbe outfit of Sexton’s that consisted of a pair of cords, brown loafers, a roll-neck and a double-breasted tweed jacket. Sexton appears to be conspicuously dressed up, even on the rare occasions when he’s seen in a shirt and V-neck sweater. He is superbly dressed as a result, and has good style advice to dispense.
Perhaps the fact that one of Britain’s best tailors doesn’t go-in for light-weight construction and a Neapolitan cut is simply too dissonant a piece of information for igents to absorb; they’re more comfortable arguing about the hairsbreadth that separates Marinella and Drake’s ties, or Rubinacci and Solito suits, than they are considering genuinely different approaches to style. And the fact that Sexton’s own impressive dress sense owes nothing to the principles of sprezzatura only compounds his outsider status. However, men willing to allow the fact that there’s more to style than simply going on a voyage of sartorial discovery that slowly, but inevitably, arrives at the city of Naples should pay him the attention he deserves.
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14 comments:
A little too sharp for my taste. But it's a reflection of the wearer's personality... As clothes should be.
It's great when one finds one's own style, (and tailor,) pleases oneself, and doesn't give a fig what others think. But I'll have a go anyway.
Just as one prefers sharply roped shoulders, others would eschew them. What I find indisputable is the need for visible shirt cuff. (Lack thereof may be a personal style 'statement,' but looks like something is missing.)
Am fully in accord, however, with DB 6x2 button configuration.
Re the visible shirt cuff, the photo was taken shooting down, and I know from experience that often hides the normally visible cuffs.
The angle seems to be from the normal viewing angle and from that angle I would say that there should be a little cuff showing. There isn't even a hint...
Americans show half an inch of shirt cuff, and that would be visible from this camera angle. The English however typically show a quarter inch and as I know from having my photos shot hundreds of time that will not show unless the camera is level with or below the sleeve end.
Sexton is irritatingly considered 'not a Savile Row' tailor now that his premises are not within the row's strict geographical specifications.
It doesn't seem to harm the general esteem in which people hold him. I recall that on the BBC documentary about Savile Row he was the only person shown dressing a woman (Marie Helvin) in great tailoring.
After further consideration, suit sleeves are too long. (It's not the angle.) As an American vulgarian, I would prefer 3/4" of shirt cuff.
After studying some pictures of Sexton, when he doesn't have his hands in his pockets he shows 1/2-1" of cuff. So I'm surprised he didn't tailor this suit with any shirt cuff showing. I don't think that picture was taken at any angle that would obscure the cuff showing.
"After further consideration, suit sleeves are too long."
They look well nigh perfect to me. Per Will the Brits do tend to show only 1/4" of cuff (my personal preference)and I can see in a photo shoot like this that that glimpse could easily disappear
Although shirt cuff is not showing, the cut overall is so good that it works. ie, I don't get the impression that he's wearing his big brother's suit.
forget the sleeve legnth .. more to the point looks like a very young man dressing older than his years, double breasted with a trilby? it may be out of apparal arts but the problem is people are going to think you are playing dress up in daddys closet with that outfit .. despite it being a nice suit cut by a genius like sexton or not. over 45 & you could poosible get away with it ..
A
"looks like a very young man dressing older than his years"
While you could argue there is a hint of affectation about the trilby this is a photo shoot (and for that matter one often sees younger men wearing them at venues like race meeting in the UK) but if we're going to declare DB suits (particularly one's as well cut as this) off limits to anyone under 30then the young are being deprived of a rather satisfying sartorial experience. I had mine when I was about 26 and I thought I was the cat's whisker.
One argument in favor of young men wearing a double-breasted suit is that young men tend to be thinner, so can have more of a nipped waist, thus accentuating the V and the peak lapels of the double breast. In other words, a young man can look very sharp in a double-breasted suit in a way that might not work for their elders.
Proper hats are always appropriate, as long as we remember to doff them indoors, and when greeting a lady.
hmm points taken .. but i would say its a combination of the double breasted & trilby together which is just affectation overload on a young man, on an older man its excused as people would assume youve been dressing like that for decades but on a young man its obviously been put together to recreate a certain look. however much fashions of yesteryear may look stylish and be practical, times have changed.
in addition, yes young guys wear trilbys at race meets and therefore it looks normal in this context .. but saying that is like saying young guys at a grouse shoot wear 3 piece tweed shooting suits .. but taken outside its usual habitat it would look odd.
I have noticed a lot more Trilbys being worn in London in the last few years generally by young and old as well as more frequent sightings of DB suits.
Mark
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