Reader Questions

From James

"I just bought a pair of very, very nice suede Italian slip ons and wonder whether it will be ok to wear them with a suit in September. I will be in Florida. Also do you know where i can order a couple of pairs of authentic silk socks?"

You couldn't choose a better venue for your shoes than Florida in September. Even HRH the Prince of Wales has been known to wear slip-ons with a suit in summer, and September means you can safely ignore those who claim that you should only wear suede this season or that, or who think that different colors are more appropriate in summer. It's all good.

I can't recommend silk socks for day wear as they tend to fall down unless you're wearing sock suspenders. High quality cotton is better, and there's a wider variety of patterns available. But if you must have silk, CustomShirt1 and Woods of Shropshire both carry a couple choices in high quality silk Pantherella socks.

From Krishan

"Thank you for the interesting and educational articles, and for the time you've taken to assemble the Visiting Artisans Calendar.

I was thinking of making some appointments with Huntsman and/or Anderson & Sheppard for their upcoming visits but am new to the bespoke process.

And for shoes it is between GJ Cleverley and Foster & Sons.

I am sure they are all very good, I was just wondering if you might have some tips and suggestions beyond those in your posts.

Plus I was hoping to get your thought on the production timeframes, what to expect from each producer, etc..."

The shoe part of your question is relatively easy. For bespoke shoes you're typically measured on the first visit, and fit on the second. The shoes are completed and shipped to you, and the maker has you wear them for a while. You bring them in to have them looked at on the third visit, and if all has gone well the maker will take another order from you at that point if you're so inclined.

Each shoemaker will provide any of the classic styles, but if you have your heart set on something unique to one of them you should get it from that maker as the others will be reluctant to copy it. Cleverley and Foster are both very high quality and, unless you get to London periodically and can continue the process there at your convenience, an important criteria should be the regularity of their visits. One that visits semi-annually is going to require nine months to a year for the initial delivery and as much as 18 months before signing off on the first pair.

Before choosing a tailor, you need to choose a silhouette. The two you've mentioned produce clothes that are about as different from each other as you can get on the Row. A&S makes a relatively unstructured jacket (the suits that I'm wearing on my web site are from A&S) that's popular with American customers. Huntsman, on the other hand, makes a very structured coat. You may also want to consider Poole, whose style is a bit more flexible than the other two and whose jackets fall somewhere in the middle. All three are good, but you should first decide what you think you want to look like and let that drive your choice.

If you don't get to London with any frequency, once you choose your silhouette (and that may require you to visit each of the candidates this time around before you make a selection), your next criteria should be the frequency of their visits. Your first suit will usually take one visit for measurement and two for fittings (usually only one fitting is required after the first suit, but sometimes it takes more).

A tailor like A&S who visits once a year is going to take longer to deliver completed suits unless you can meet them in another city during the year. I prefer men who visit two or three times, and I get to London for intermediate fittings in addition. The more frequency the better, in my opinion.

W S Foster & Son, Bespoke Shoemakers

At London's 83 Jermyn Street, the home of shoemaker W S Foster and Son and its sister company, bootmaker Henry Maxwell, the last of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts sits not far from those of former customers Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, Fred Astaire and Clark Gable.

Terry Moore, by repute the best lastmaker in England, supervises the making of Foster's shoes and boots and has personally trained the rest of the five person bespoke team. Moore began his career with Peal and Co., in its time perhaps London's most famous boot and shoemakers, moving to Foster after that venerable firm shut its doors in 1965.

The Foster shape is a soft chisel toe with a lovely waist. Other than the uppers, which are sewn by machine, the bespoke shoes are made entirely by hand. I was especially taken by the pictured cap toes with gray suede uppers - if I can get fitted in this lifetime I think that will be the model Foster shoe that I choose. They have the look of button boots but I'd be inclined to wear them much more often than I would the boots.


Foster showed me several other unique bespoke samples, such as the Thomas model second from the left, that are relatively well priced at £1,400 ex VAT (about $2,800). MD Sarah Adlam and a lastmaker have begun accompanying shirtmaker Harvie & Hudson on semi-annual visits to the United States. The next trip will be in October - watch the Visiting Artisans Calendar for a schedule.

Which is Bespoke?

One of the shoes above is a bespoke Corthay and the other is RTW from the same maker. Which is which? The point of the photo is that the differences between quality RTW and bespoke shoes are subtle unless you're so close that you probably are wearing the shoes. And then, of course, you'd already know the answer.

Corthay probably competes principally with Aubercy for Parisian customers who seek quality. Both make high quality and sometimes attention-getting shoes. Aubercy is a larger company but, to me, Corthay has more soul. His bespoke business is just three pair each week. The bespoke shoes are made in a small workroom next to the showroom.

Pierre Corthay created his signature shape in 1992, and began venturing into adventurous colors at the request of his bespoke customers. Despite all the attention that the colored shoes receive, 90% of his sales remain black and brown.

Oh yes, the brown shoes in the top photo are the bespoke pair.

Bespoke vs. Made To Measure

A good suit was once said to be 'well cut', and the fit of a bespoke garment depends on the skill of the man cutting the pattern. The cutter, as he is known, takes the instructions and measurements from the customer and feeds work to the tailors who sew. The measurements, up to twenty of them for a jacket and six more for trousers, are used to make a pattern with chalk on stiff brown paper, like the one Thomas Mahon is making in the photo to the left. The pattern is used to cut the cloth (some tailors chalk the cloth without making a pattern but this adds time to the second and subsequent suits).

This matters because properly constructed bespoke suits usually fit better. Made to measure suits are cut using standard block patterns with dimansions that fit a so-called average man. That works well for average men, and is less satisfactory for the many men with a sloped shoulder, well developed shoulders and a trim waist, or an unusually long or short torso relative to height.

If the pattern were the only difference between made to measure and bespoke suits, keeping them straight would be simple. But it's not, and it isn't, for there is no such thing as a standard construction. Just as we have machine made shoes on bespoke lasts and hand made shoes on standard lasts, so Kiton and Oxxford hand sew jackets to standard patterns while hundreds of individual tailors make custom patterns and then make bespoke jackets with sewing machines. Unfortunately, machine sewing makes a relatively lifeless coat. Hand sewn jackets look better in an almost indescribeable way, moving as if they are part of the wearer.

That said, the differing qualities of machine and hand sewing are for another essay. For now, suffice it to say that if you're trying to classify a suit as made to measure or bespoke, ask if a paper pattern is made before the cloth is cut. If the answer is yes, the jacket is bespoke and you can focus on the quality of construction knowing that the fit should be as good as it gets.

Artisan Made Clothing

It usually happens sometime in a man's thirties. He makes partner, gets the big job or realizes that his business is a success. His closet has the basics and the question becomes he goes from here with his clothes?

If the man cares about clothes, by this time he's probably already having some of them made for himself. Certainly his shirts, because everyone should have their shirts made. Maybe a made to measure suit or two from a quality maker like Kiton or Oxxford. But now he's ready to try the best. And the best is artisan made clothing.

What I call artisan made clothing may be made partly by people operating machines, but it can only come from an individual artisan who fits the customer personally and then leads a team that does the important parts of the work by hand. That's because both hand work and personalized fit is critical in the finest clothing. The graceful curve of the sole on a hand made shoe cannot be duplicated by shoe-making machinery. The collar, shoulders, and armholes of a jacket must be sewn by hand or it won't move fluidly with the wearer.

Hand fitting by the individual artisan is just as important. A shoe may need a bit more room in the toe, or a jacket may not fit closely at the neck on the first or second try (unlike the perfect fit of Jimmy Stewart's coat in the Hitchcock film Rope). Vass shoes are made by hand, but they are not individually lasted and may not fit a particular pair of feet. Fitting is also where the best efforts of the factory-based suppliers can break down. A local fitter often lacks the skill level of the craftsman at the factory.

If a choice has to be made between tailored clothing and bespoke shoes, the benefits of tailored clothing are normally considerably higher. Unless a man has unique feet that require a custom fit, bespoke shoes can be a periodic luxury. Few men will be happy with ready to wear, on the other hand, after wearing their first bespoke suit or odd jacket.

A personal relationship with a couple of artisans requires a considerable investment unless a man lives near a city such as Paris, Naples, London, or New York. Some artisans travel, but not everywhere and usually only twice a year at best. So the customers have to travel themselves, unless they are willing to wait a year or more from order to delivery. That's given rise to a new type of traveller, who combines holidays with fittings.

At a certain stage of life, artisan made clothing becomes worth the trouble.

Ghillie Collared Jackets

Unlike casual coats that are intended to be removed indoors, suit jackets provide us with useful advantages in all but the warmest weather. They help maintain body temperature, provide a variety of pockets so it's not necessary to carry a purse, and the long line of the coat is a better look for the majority of men due to our genetic propensity to pack poundage around the waistline. Other than cost, which is not trivial, the principal negative I hear about jacket wearing is that many men don't want to wear the associated necktie.

Now I would have no argument with tie-less men, except that they usually approach the thing without enough thought. The deep vee of the single breasted jacket is designed to display a strip of silk. Left unfilled, the observer is left to gaze at a row of shirt buttons, and that's, frankly, unattractive.

When a man doesn't care to wear a tie with his jacket, a turtleneck or other sweater looks better than a dress shirt. But a still better alternative is a jacket that closes at the neck, perhaps similar to the ghillie collared version from the Hardy Amies studio that's pictured to the left.

There is plenty of precedence for this. The single breasted jacket originally closed at the neck and if they were present the necktie's predecessors were worn outside of the jacket. The ghillie collared Deeside or Tweedside coat that appeared in the 1860's was a morning coat with the tails removed. As worn by King Edward VII, there was space for a bow tie or the knot of a four in hand when the lapels were open. A modern version in thirteen ounce brown flannel would be just the thing.

Reserve the Date

Reserve March 2 and 3, 2007 for the Third Annual "A Collection of Sartorial Excellence." at the Regency Hotel in New York. It's an opportunity to spend time with outstanding bespoke artisans from North America and Europe.

In addition to good conversation, the Collection offers attendees the opportunity to be fitted for men's tailored clothing, shoes, shirts and accessories.

A Suitable Wardrobe will be published from the Regency each day, accompanied by photographs of the work on exhibit.

Space is limited and preference will be given to existing clients of the artisans and members of Ask Andy About Clothes. Click to request an invitation.