Peter Harvey's Coming to Town

He's come and gone actually, but Peter Harvey of tailors Fallan & Harvey brought a jacket with him for fitting and that always feels like a visit from Santa even though I pay for it.

I didn't bring anyone with me to take a photo this time so we laid the jacket on a sofa. It's an 18 ounce gun club tweed with crescent pockets and a two button front that will be ready in the summer. Peter makes quite a few crescent pocket jackets for Japanese clients who, like me, are looking for something that evokes the late Duke of Windsor.

The visit also provided the opportunity to start a flannel suit for Fall. It will be made from the London Lounge triple check cloth that's been written about here before, in a three button single breasted that rolls to the center button, with a shawl collared double breasted vest. All in all, a bit of holiday spirit in the midst of Spring.

Reader Questions

I get questions by email and by PMs on message boards in addition to the ones posted here. Whatever the source, some of them ask questions that are of general interest. Here are two.

From Williamson

I was very pleased to see your thread on overcoats. When I was much younger, someone whose opinions I still respect told me that the outer coat is in a sense part of the suit, not an extra solely for wear in cold or wet weather. Someone wrote in The Style Forum that he is seeking an overcoat not so much for warmth as for "feeling finished" when he leaves the house. If this strikes a chord with you, I'd be interested to have your opinion.

As I mentioned, many stylish men in Naples agree with you. The climate there is mild, with temperatures typically ranging from lows of 40 to highs of 85 degrees Farenheit (4 to 30 degrees Centigrade) during the year. Neopolitan tailors do a healthy business in topcoats made from 13 ounce cloth. That's just barely enough weight to drape and give a man a coat that finishes his look when it's as much as 55 degrees F. Living as I do in Northern California, I approve.

From David

As a suggestion for a future blog entry, you might talk about why you use two different tailors. Are you looking for a variety of styles? Do you prefer to go to one tailor over another for certain items? Does it cut against building a relationship if you spread out your orders between different houses?

Many men use more than one tailor. This year is the first time in my life that I'm trying two new ones at the same time, but I normally work with two or three. One of them makes country clothes for me, one specializes in "soft" tailoring, my preferred style, and I use another to make what the other two can't or won't.

For example, one of my Savile Row tailors prefers not to work with cloth lighter than ten ounces, and seems to have have little experience making minimally lined jackets for hot weather. They also make a straight cut jacket that looks great without a vest, but shows too many vest buttons. I'm trying Peter Harvey for a coat that will show just one button above the coat closing.

I don't think it hurts the relationship to use more than one tailor. Once your pattern is perfected, it's there to be used as long as you maintain your weight. And in the larger houses, you may remain loyal but your cutters now come and go faster than they once did. Each cutter has his own idiosyncracies within the broader outlines of the house style, so you can lose some consistency while remaining loyal to one house.

Bespoke Switching Costs

Bespoke clothing customers generally have it pretty good. The stuff usually fits, and most of the time will outlive its wearer. The suppliers are low pressure and polite, and ordering another pair of shoes or a batch of shirts is as easy as sending an email describing what you want. Several months later, your order arrives without further ado. But life is not all cashmere and vicuna.

There's an old saying that a bank will only lend you money when you don't need it. The corollary to that is that you should only begin a relationship with a new bespoke clothing artisan when you don't need new clothes.

Beginning a new relationship with an artisan feels like you're living life in slow motion, particularly if you don't get to the artisan's home city and have to wait for a semi-annual visit to see progress. For example, it was two years from the time I placed my first bespoke shoe order with George Cleverley & Co. until they would accept my order for a second pair. After measurement and payment of my deposit, they made my last. Then we had a fitting for the shoes, some adjustments, another fitting, and a few more adjustments before the shoes were delivered more than a year after the order. And then they had me wear the shoes for another six months to ensure that the fit was right.

Now, I'm not complaining about Cleverley. They get it right, and an order placed today takes only a couple of months. But if I then want a pair of shoes from, for example, Tony Gaziano (whose black bluchers are pictured to the left), the process starts all over.

Tailored clothing is the worst. It's prudent to begin a relationship with a new tailor with a single suit. Tailors being only human, it's rare that the first suit approaches perfection - usually it's OK, the second one is fine and the third is about good as you're ever going to get from that source.

In addition, most tailors visit my city twice a year. So unless I get to their home city in between their visits, the basted fitting occurs in six months and the second fitting in a year. If the suit is perfect, the buttonholes can be cut and the garment sent to its new owner, but more often than not it takes another fitting. Eighteen months from start to finish and only then can you order more clothes.

Despite the obstacles, circumstances caused me to venture into the unknown twice this year. After the professional demise of one tailor, I sought out Peter Harvey of Fallan & Harvey and commissioned a tan fresco odd jacket for summer with gold metal buttons. Peter makes a middle of the road coat with a higher button point that will be a new experience for me.

I also finally met with Thomas Mahon on his visit last month, and he has started a double breasted suit in a ten ounce mohair and wool blend. Thomas's style is the classic 1930's soft and unstructured drape, which I prefer.

I'm hoping I can enjoy long relationships with both men because it's a lot of trouble to switch.