Visiting Artisans Calendar Update

Tailor Thomas Mahon has rescheduled his postponed Fall visit to Atlanta and New York for November 16-21. Details on the Visiting Artisans Calendar.

Final Adjustments

Tailor Thomas Mahon was in San Francisco a few days ago and that provided the opportunity to get what should be final adjustments to my first Mahon suit, an effort that we began a year ago. It was fitted for the first time this past Spring.

The suit is a half lined summer weight (ten ounce) mohair and wool blend cut as a 6x2 double breasted. There is a slight sheen to the mohair so I'll wear it on days when I might want to look a bit dressier than normal, and in the evening.


The suit had cleared customs a few days prior which gave me time to wear it for a day to see how it settled. It looked pretty darned good for a first effort with only one previous fitting.


Of course there were some nits. The trousers were a bit tight in the thighs when I sat, which Thomas picked up on before a word left my mouth, the coat needed a bit of shape and the jacket sleeve length was a bit off. I also asked for an eyeglass pocket in the jacket and an English back to the trousers instead of a straight waistband so the trousers will ride like my other suits and won't require me to adjust my braces each time I put it on.


If someone looks closely they may notice the turnback cuffs on the sleeves (click on the photo to see it full size), a subtle Edwardian touch. I think they add a little interest to an otherwise conservative double breasted. The jacket might have been a bit bolder if the lining was the paisley I'd requested, but it arrived navy blue and I elected not to make an issue of it. I've never received a bespoke suit that was exactly what I asked for, so why start now?

All that means this mission is mostly accomplished. In a couple of weeks I'll have a suit that I won't be able to wear until the end of March '08. I'd like to get delivery and season synchronized next time, so I'm planning to order a fresco next. With luck, both the suit and the appropriate season for it will arrive in the Spring.

A Season is Ending

Spring season is coming to an end, one of the two times each year when perhaps two dozen of the world's better tailors and shoemakers (and the occasional poseur) go on the road to meet their customers. Most days during the Spring and Fall, a few hotel suites in New York, Zurich, Chicago and other major cities are filled with men speaking quietly while they leaf through cloth swatches and leather samples, or cross the room to test how their new shoes, or new trousers, fit. London's Henry Poole has perhaps the most ambitious schedule, visiting the U.S., continental Europe, China and Japan.

It's a process that works well for men that value bespoke clothing but live in cities without world class makers of their own. Most visiting artisans come twice a year. A man orders during one visit and has a fitting on the next, so that the completed item can be completed, paid for and sent to the customer several weeks later. The downside is that if a man is very picky about small details, he had better be prepared to fly to the tailor's regular domicile, or wait a very long time for his clothes.

There are risks to this approach of course, but they can be minimized by dealing with makers that have been making the rounds for decades. And some relative bargains may be there to be had from new guys who are out to build their reputation. Thomas Mahon and Gaziano & Girling each began business with a series of trunk shows early on, and both they and their customers benefitted. Of course, G&G in particular had a reputation from the first day.

On the other hand, two years ago another tailor conducted a brilliant Internet visibility campaign and then delivered only a small number of acceptable suits before disappearing with the rest of the customers' money. But it's not hard to avoid the outright frauds if you insist on talking to references who have received completed clothes before you hand over your credit card.

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.

Thomas Mahon: A Basted Fitting

I had my first basted fitting with tailor Thomas Mahon of Cumbria England yesterday. Thomas and his assistant, Ms. Alice Early, were in San Francisco for two days between stops in Chicago and Atlanta.

From a technical standpoint, Thomas skips the basted stage and goes directly to a forward fitting, however I'm calling this one a basted fitting as it's his first try and the pieces require many more modifications than they would if we already had a perfected pattern.

So the suit's pattern has been made and the cloth cut, but the major parts are sewn together temporarily so the tailor can adjust the fit to the customer's body This garment will be a quarter lined ten ounce Scabal mohair and wool double breasted with turnback cuffs, and there's a lot of work still to be done. The adjustments identified were typical of every first effort I've been a part of, including trousers that were too tight in several critical places, shoulders with a lot of extra cloth, not enough drape in the chest, and a bit of an issue with the coat bottom in front.

In the photo below, Thomas is smiling because, while the jacket won't have much lining, he's noting that what there is is to be paisley.



Since Thomas will not be back to San Francisco until Fall, I'm planning another fitting while I'm in England in July. That way the suit may be completed in time for our Indian Summer. I hope that's not too optimistic - in the final photo I've decided on a 10 ounce Lesser glen check in gray with a red windowpane that I'd like to get started before they sell out of the cloth.

Double Breasted Suits

San Francisco's Four Seasons hotel restaurant is one of a handful of places in the City where men in suits still outnumber their counterparts in more casual garb. As I looked around the dining room the other day, I saw several very nice efforts, including a gentleman in a blue worsted three piece with vest lapels that fairly shouted Savile Row. And then I realized that I was the only man in a double breasted suit.

I'm not certain why we don't see more DBs in the United States. It may be that they are thought of as more formal than a two button single breasted. That might be true but they are less formal than a single breasted worn with a vest and I see those on the street as well as in the Four Seasons dining room. Other men may think that they are a pain because they must be unbuttoned to sit and buttoned again when standing, but that's a myth. A DB that fits can be worn buttoned while seated. Just look at any movie from the 1930's - those guys weren't unbuttoning and buttoning their jackets all the time.

Unlike single breasteds that descended from riding coats, double breasted suits evolved from military uniforms. That's probably why HRH Prince Charles wears them all the time (the suit pictured to the left was made by Thomas Mahon, who cut some of the Prince's suits when he worked at Anderson & Sheppard). About half of my wardrobe is double breasted. I like them in the winter particularly, as the cloth across my chest keeps me warm without a vest. I have the winter versions cut with six buttons, with the bottom two working, and my lighter-weight DBs have but four.

Double breasteds make up a good proportion of the suits I see on the street in London, but the Italians don't seem to wear them much more than the Americans do. The weather is warmer in Italy of course, so suits aren't obliged to perform as much temperature control duty. But mostly, I ascribe the scarcity of double breasted to the economics of ready to wear. Sticking with single breasteds means lower production costs and fewer overheads.

That may work for the manufacturers but it makes life a little less interesting for the customers.

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.