Bespoke driving jackets designed by Dege & Skinner, Henry Poole, Gieves & Hawkes and Huntsman. 

Which is your favourite?

(Worth expanding to full screen)

 
This Caliendo hopsack blazer was completed earlier in the year and is now fast becoming the most useful item in my wardrobe.

Just like the Solito cashmere blazer I had made for Autumn/Winter last year, it is thrown on with everything: with a shirt and silk tie for more formal occasions, with a polo shirt as here for less formal ones, and with a thin crew-neck sweater when the temperature drops. (Anderson & Sheppard for cashmere, John Smedley for harder-finished merino.)

I’d recommend this type of blazer for anyone – bespoke or ready-to-wear – as a staple of a modern wardrobe that needs to look smart, but rarely makes use of a suit.

Lightweight hopsack is particularly nice for a jacket like this because it is so breathable, due its loose weave (see image below!). Yet it retains enough body to not lose its shape, unlike most other summer cloths. (It is usually not hard-wearing enough for trousers, which is why fresco is preferred.)

  
I have worn the jacket regularly for the past two months and – although it has been conscientiously hung and brushed – it has not been pressed. It has done well under those conditions: a few wrinkles here and there, but fewer than most other lightweights. 

(As a side note, I generally prefer to show clothes in such a state, rather than pressed and primmed to within an inch of their life. Clothes just don’t look like that.)

Elia Caliendo is probably my favourite Neapolitan tailor – he has previously made me a tan summer jacket, my Permanent Style tweed, and my Harris tweed. Together with the Solito cashmere, it’s a nice little capsule wardrobe of jackets.

Elia has done a good job here, with fine finishing on the seams, lining and swelled edges. The buttonholes aren’t as delicate as any other tailor outside Naples, but they’re good for a Neapolitan.

The only area Elia sometimes has issues is the vents, which can be cut a little short and without enough overlap, allowing them to open completely at the bottom. This is an issue here as well, and one we’ll correct later in the year. I do like his tendency towards narrow, straight lapels on DBs however.
 

Brown horn buttons, Simonnot-Godard handkerchief and my green cotton trousers from Calvo de Mora. The hopsack is a Loro Piana jacketing, 230g. 

The polo shirt is from Luca Avitabile – a collaboration that we’ll have more news on soon. 

 
My apologies to readers that have been waiting for these shots of the Edward Sexton suit. Books, corrupted photos and other things seemed to consistently get in the way. 

I’ve always wanted a double-breasted mid-grey flannel. I had one made years ago in Hong Kong, and although it was poorly made, I loved the cloth and its classicism. 

This is one shade darker than a real mid-grey. (It is an 11oz flannel from the Smith’s Luxury Flannels bunch.) The advantage of this is that it can easily be worn with both black and brown shoes. Any paler, such as my Anderson & Sheppard SB (pictured in this post next to Pat Murphy) and other things have to help the suit towards formality – in general, a white shirt and dark tie. 

In the shots here – from the Margaret Howell store in Florence – I’m wearing the suit with a grey shirt and burgundy tie. As mentioned previously, I like a grey shirt for its ability to soften an outfit and remove any ‘business’ associations. Burgundy goes particularly nicely with it.  
 

The style of an Edward Sexton suit can best be described as super-structured. The shoulder padding is substantial – heavier than anything I’ve had elsewhere. If there were a ranking for such padding, by the way, Chittleborough & Morgan would be next on the list, then Huntsman, and then Gieves & Hawkes. Poole and Richard Anderson come some way further down. 

The roping of the shoulder is also heavy, which gives the suit breadth and quickly draws the eye up and out. It is probably the element that most drives the style of the overall suit. 

The lapel is wide, but not as much as one might suspect for such a 1960s influence. Perhaps more significantly, it also has little less belly than Chittleborough & Morgan, which makes it slightly more modern and the lapel not appear as broad.
 

 
Elsewhere, Edward is keen on a long jacket but not at the expense of a long leg. The jacket always ends at or before the fork of the trouser, therefore, so the maximum amount of light is seen through the legs. 

The trousers have two-inch cuffs and side tabs on the waistband. As with most first commissions, by the way, I opted for the house style in pretty much every respect. I had the trousers a half inch shorter than Edward would normally cut, but that was about it. 
 

 
At our Tailoring Symposium next week in Florence, we have six of the greatest tailors in the world presenting their styles to the audience of press and buyers: Panico, Cifonelli, Edward Sexton, Richard Anderson, Liverano & Liverano, and Anderson & Sheppard.

The six have been picked for their quality, but also for their variation in style. On the night, the head cutter of each house will use a suit being worn by a younger member of the team to describe and demonstrate their style. We want to show the wider media – coming from the bright colours and flashy models of Pitti – how subtle differences in shoulder, chest and waist create such beautifully varying effects. 
  

  
Each tailor is also making a unique piece to display at the party afterwards, so the guests can see the styles for themselves, up close. These pieces are all being made in Vitale Barberis Canonico cloth, and the photos here are of some of them being made. (Flannel, blues and double breasts proved to be very popular.)

The chosen styles and cloths are:

• Panico: Blue chalk-stripe flannel suit (Antonio cutting it, above)
• Cifonelli: Royal-blue double-breasted flannel jacket (Lorenzo, with his Father Christmas beard, shown top)
• Edward Sexton: Cream flannel jacket
• Richard Anderson: Dark-blue 4-ply worsted suit with red stripes
• Liverano & Liverano: Midnight-blue barathea tuxedo
• Anderson & Sheppard: Double-breasted navy flannel suit
   

Anderson & Sheppard

Cifonelli

Edward Sexton

Panico 

Liverano

 
  
“Edward, Edward,” said Antonio Panico, in a conspiratorial whisper. “What was it like to fit Mick Jagger?”

Just like the Shoemakers Symposium we ran in January, the biggest pleasure of our Tailors Symposium at Pitti this week was bringing together wonderful, talented people. 

In the case of this conversation, Panico – a legendary figure of Neapolitan tailoring – was asking Edward Sexton about cutting suits for Mick Jagger in the seventies. Edward was extremely polite, showing no sign that he gets that question a lot. “His timekeeping was terrible,” Edward replied. “And he wouldn’t keep still.”

The format for the Symposium was again similar to January. An audience of our favourite buyers, brands and friends, and six of the greats on high stools, answering my (almost) deliberately naive questions. 

The difference was that before we went to general questions about the industry, I introduced each tailor’s style, and they then explained it in detail to the audience, using a young colleague or customer as an example. 

We deliberately picked the six tailors because of their mastery of six distinct styles: the drape of Anderson & Sheppard, the structure of Richard Anderson, the seventies flair of Edward Sexton, the rope of Cifonelli, the clean curve of Liverano, and the eternal lightness of Panico. 
 

 
First up was John Hitchcock of Anderson & Sheppard (now retired, but still working on projects like this) who demonstrated the drape style on trouser cutter Oliver, who was wearing a peak-lapelled single-breasted A&S suit. 

Oliver did his job manfully, and Mr Hitchcock similarly, even if the microphone was a bit of a struggle.
 

  
Richard Anderson walked us through his structured cut, derived from the old English hunting jacket, using Krishan as his model. 

One of the nice things about the tailors was that I could introduce each personally with my experiences and reflections on the cut, in this case the dinner jacket Richard made for me a few years ago. 
 

 
Lorenzo Cifonelli explained the house rope shoulder and lightweight canvas, clean chest and typical Parisian finishing, with Romain and Alexander Kraft both taking turns as models. 

I was interested to hear many people – often from tailoring houses themselves – saying the nicest thing about the evening was seeing such styles demonstrated, rather than just talked about. Others from the industry – cloth merchants, retailers, manufacturers – said the same thing. 
 

 
Edward Sexton was fantastic in his explanation of his style. “It’s all about shoulders, collar and lapels – that’s what hits you when someone walks in the room,” he said.

Interestingly, Edward also noted (while pointing things out on Dominic) that he was inspired by 1940s suits when he first started. “We used to watch all the old films, Fred Astaire and so on, and then try and recreate the suits but with our own touches or styles.” Interesting to know if anyone is looking at Edward’s today and putting their own tweaks on the style he established. 
 

 
Antonio Panico was wonderfully expressive in his slot, declaring that he preferred people to see and wear the Neapolitan cut rather than try and explain it in words.

So he showed it to us, scrunching up the DB jacket and then undoing it to show the lightness of the construction.
 

 
And lastly Taka stepped in for Antonio Liverano, who wasn’t feeling well after the hours of coverage we had already done, and demonstrated the Liverano style on Alan See.

Amid calls of “where can people buy it Alan?” from the Armoury guys in the audience, Taka talked about the broad Liverano lapel, the shorter length and the rounded, open foreparts. 

Those hours of coverage earlier, by the way, were for a feature The Rake is putting together on our symposium, and a video they are producing. So don’t worry, there will be some video coverage – if not of this discussion itself. 

Many thanks to Stefano Bemer and Vitale Barberis Canonico for making the whole thing possible. And to everyone for coming.

  
These are the six pieces that our six greats of bespoke tailoring made for the Symposium last week in Florence.

As expected, each has a very distinctive style, most clearly seen in the shoulders but also in small things like the opening of the jacket below the button (the foreparts). As always, I’m interested to hear any opinions on your favourite submissions or styles.
 

 
The Anderson & Sheppard suit in navy flannel (above and top) has the house’s distinctive belly to the lapel, although as a keen-eyed reader noted, also less drape than commonly.

The trousers have the side fastener on the seam rather than waistband, as I’ve previously noted I prefer, and the mother-of-pearl button that A&S always uses on its rear trouser pockets.
 

  
Cifonelli‘s royal-blue DB is very different. By buttoning at the last row and cutting the cloth to open more across the chest, Lorenzo creates room for the shirt and tie akin to most single-breasteds.

The effect is accentuated by having the jacket slightly shorter; this is usually only employed on jackets not suits.
 

 
Edward Sexton‘s cream-flannel jacket has the biggest shoulders of the lot, with a slight curve up towards the sleevehead. For a more casual summer jacket like this he also prefers a 4×2 configuration for the buttons (four showing; two buttoned) and jetted pockets.

Striped knitwear from Anderson & Sheppard.
 

 
Antonio Panico’s chalk-stripe DB is immediately identifiable by its soft shoulder and ‘shirt’ sleeve. Unlike most English tailors he also runs his front dart all the way to the bottom of the jacket, in this case hiding it cunningly along the line of a stripe.

All shoes suggested for the outfits are from Stefano Bemer.
 

 
Richard Anderson‘s suit jacket has perhaps the squarest shoulders of the bunch, with considerable padding and a structured chest. He also cuts a high notch to the lapel and uses a characteristic one-button stance, with relatively open foreparts.
  

  
The Liverano tuxedo has the most open foreparts of the lot, however, with a definite sweep away from the waist button that is mirrored in the broad peaked lapels.

The jacket is also cut with a generous chest and is matched with a U-shaped waistcoat.

  
My final jacket from Ferdinando Caraceni in Milan is superb in many ways, including fit, make and finish. The style, however, is interesting and not necessarily what I expected.

I started this project last year with Nicoletta Caraceni, the daughter of Ferdinando Caraceni who now runs the outfit in Milan. For those that don’t know the lineage, Ferdinando was no relation to the Caraceni that started the famous bespoke tailoring dynasty – Domenico – but was, more importantly, the cutter for Domenico and then Augusto for 29 years.

Nicoletta is not a cutter, but she has a passion for perfection that I would liken to Lorenzo Cifonelli or Joe Morgan. It is this that attracted me to her workshop, and made my decision to commission a jacket from her rather than another of the Milanese tailors.

The fit of the final result is great. Particular attention was paid to the collar where it hugs the neck – as it should be – and then the smooth run of the lapels down the body. Those lapels are slightly wider than average (3.75 inches) but still balanced to the chest width.
 

  
The waist has a nice suppression but it’s not as slim as some. Indeed, at the final fitting it was really only the waist that we needed to change. Nicoletta has a slight bias towards a clean chest and back, rather than one that is closer to the body but risks pulling (particularly with movement).

This balance between a clean finish and close fit is a fine one, and most tailors err one way or the other. Modern tailors I have tried tend towards being as slim as possible, for example (Timothy Everest, Thom Sweeney) while more traditional ones (Henry Poole, Terry Haste) give slightly more room. It’s not consistent a rule though – both Anderson & Sheppard and Richard Anderson ran quite tight.

The sleeve is fairly full, but I like it. I would warn against sleeves that are too slim, both for reasons of comfort and style. A slim sleeve can often look rather mean, and counteract the masculine size of the chest and shoulder.
  

  
There is a slight pull across the shoulder blades which could be loosened up, but given the lightness and softness of the cloth (9.5-ounce cashmere) the back is very clean. Nicoletta ran the shoulder padding a little further down into the blades than is normal to help with this, which few people do.

Another interesting point is that like most other Milanese and Neapolitans, the seams on the jacket are top stitched. So it looks like one side is overlapping the other, rather than both turning together into the seam.

This is almost invisible on this jacket, as it’s grey stitching on a grey cloth, but the effect on the shoulder line is striking. It makes the transition from shoulder into sleeve head very clean – the line is almost uninterrupted, and creates a look that is perhaps halfway between a classic suit shoulder and a Neapolitan ‘shirt shoulder’.
 

 
The overall style, however, is a long way from the casualness of a Neapolitan jacket, and it is this that was the element that surprised me.

When I began the process with Nicoletta, I expected the jacket to feel more informal – perhaps suitable for wearing with chinos or denim. But although the construction is very light, and it has that clean shoulder I referred to, it is too formal for that. Beautiful here with formal trousers, and it would be great in a suit, but nothing approaching the Neapolitan softness.

The cloth, by the way, is from Dugdale’s – the Luxury Flannel and Cashmere Jacketing bunch made by Cerruti, number 6910. I highly recommend it. There aren’t many good lightweight cashmeres out there – the English ones are heavier and the Italians (Loro Piana, Zegna, Caccioppoli) vary hugely from season to season. This is a more solid range you can return to year after year.

Jackets at Ferdinando Caraceni start at €4200 (suits from €5500). Obviously very expensive; but with the current euro exchange rate, cheaper than a lot of Savile Row.
 

Edward Sexton

  
Before the public part of Tailoring Symposium in June, we all gathered next to the pool at the Four Seasons to have a chat about tailoring and its future, with The Rake busily making a video of the event in the background. 

This was perhaps the most pleasant part of the day, with myself and Wei posing questions to these greats of bespoke tailoring – gathered together for the first time. As expected, everyone had similar stories to tell, about difficult customers, about the benefits and dangers of having a house style, and about new blood coming into the craft. 

John Hitchcock, Simon Crompton and Richard Anderson

Antonio Panico and Antonio Liverano

  
Our two Italians, Antonio Liverano and Antonio Panico, didn’t speak enough English to interact directly with, say, John Hitchcock of Anderson & Sheppard, but with the kind aid of Tommaso Melani of Stefano Bemer, it became clear that the three of them were saying exactly the same thing about the rigidity of house styles. Just with different mannerisms and anecdotes. 

As I say, it’s what you’d expect – similar experiences, similar headaches – yet it was a pleasant surprise to see it play out before our eyes. 

I’m sure we’ll organise something similar next year. Here’s hoping it is equally as productive and as enjoyable. 

The event was kindly supported by Stefano Bemer and Vitale Barberis Canonico, with The Rake as official magazine. Check out Tom’s great article on the event in the current issue of The Rake.

Posts on the public part of the Symposium here, and analysis of the styles of the different tailors here.
 

Lorenzo Cifonelli

John Hitchcock

Simon Crompton

Richard Anderson

Tommaso Melani of Stefano Bemer

Simone Ubertino Rosso of Vitale Barberis Canonico

  
Some of my best, certainly my most original bespoke projects have been undertaken with Davide Taub, head cutter at Gieves & Hawkes. Regular readers will remember the bespoke leather jacket we made together in 2013, and the pea coat in 2014. 

If I learnt one thing from those projects, it was to keep things simple. Reduce the number of variables and you’ll be more certain of success. The same goes for collaborations – stay with what the manufacturer does best, but change one thing that they either didn’t think of, or didn’t think was commercially viable. 

For our next project together, therefore, I took a part of Davide’s innovative driving jacket he made for the Bentley exhibition, and adapted to my own uses. 

That driving jacket included a quilted panel that buttoned into the front, zipping up the centre and giving the impression of a gilet worn underneath it (below, left).

The whole thing was nothing more than one long, vertical panel of cotton and straps that fastened around the neck and waist. But the effect was striking.
 

  
It’s a look that many fashion brands, such as Brunello Cucinelli, try to affect with actual gilets worn underneath tailoring – but the gilets are inevitably too bulky.

This fake-gilet look that Davide created is also not new – Corneliani have done it successfully for many years by zipping in front panels to their ID jackets (above, right). But doing it bespoke is special, and has many advantages. 

The biggest one is that this gilet can be adapted to fit many jackets. As long as they are roughly the same style, the buttons that it attaches to can be sewn into any jacket, inserted precisely into each one so that front piece lies perfectly down the chest. 

I decided to have the gilet cut to fit into my Neapolitan jackets from Elia Caliendo. I have three: a grey Permanent Style tweed (shown in this post), a tan lightweight jacket and a brown Harris tweed. The gilet probably wouldn’t work with the summer jacket, but it would be great with the other two – as well as a caramel-coloured cashmere that I am having made for winter. 
  

  
So the next question was, what colour should the gilet be? In order to work with as many jackets as possible, brown was the obvious choice. Initially I thought about dark brown, but looking at the cotton bunch, a biscuit-coloured mid-brown was actually more interesting and worked with all the jackets.

In the images here you can see our first fitting, with the brown cotton twill up the front and the canvas around the neck (which will eventually also be covered with the cotton).

There will be a discrete zip down the middle (thinner than on the driving jacket) and quilting across the front. Unlike the driving jacket, the zip will reach right up to the chin, rather than having a flap across the top. (And the quilting lines will definitely match across the front!)

There are many other issues to talk about – including the nature of the quilting and the necessity of a waist and neck strap. But I’ll leave those for another post. 
  

  
I return to the drape style with recognisable regularity. For those without a big chest – and not that bothered about big, wide shoulders – it is a very flattering shape. Many also forget how slim it is usually cut through the waist, enhancing the contrast with the chest.

But I wasn’t going to talk about drape. I was going to use this excuse of a fitting with Steven Hitchcock on a new jacket – in a beautiful grey from the W Bill Lamlana bunch, which mixes lambswool and angora – to talk about the customer’s interaction with his tailor. 
  

  
Men that are new to bespoke are often thrown by the number of options: width of trouser, length of sleeve, number of buttons. Unfortunately, some react by trying to learn about every single aspect of the suit, and then dictate to the tailor. 

This is rarely a good idea. Almost every man I know that has suits from multiple tailors ends up coming to the same conclusion: just let the tailor cut their style. 

Don’t get an English tailor to cut a Neapolitan jacket. Distrust any tailor that says they can cut in every style. And don’t start moving around buttoning points, lapel rolls and pockets. 

I’ve made all these mistakes in the past – the English/Neapolitan one, the tailor in any style one, removing structure from a structured jacket, removing drape from a draped jacket, perhaps worst of all trying to make a traditional jacket ‘younger’. 

Just because there are so many variables in bespoke, it doesn’t mean you should change them. You may get 8 out of 10 right, but not 10. The Florentine tailor, on the other hand, would have cut a perfect Florentine jacket. 
  

   
This same lesson goes for behaviour in a fitting room. For a start, leave the basted fitting to the tailor; it’s about balance, not style; just stand there and answer if asked. Then, at the forward fitting, only consider the options that are obviously questions of personal taste. The obvious ones are sleeve length, trouser length and perhaps trouser width. 

Some bespoke customers seem to be under the bizarre impression that tailors are trying to deceive them. That if they don’t come in armed with requirements for every aspect of the suit, the tailor will screw them over. 

They won’t. The tailor will simply cut to his style and taste. And if you don’t like his style and taste, you shouldn’t be using this tailor. 

Others seem to be under the impression that they know more than their tailor. You may know more about international styles, but you don’t know more about how to cut his style that he does. And again, if you know more than your tailor, you shouldn’t be using him.*

I mention all this, of course, because it occurred to me how few choices I made with this jacket from Steven. We have made a jacket before of course, so that helps. But all I really had to do was select cloth and buttons, the number of breasts and buttons, and confirm Steven’s assumptions about my sleeve length. 

Steven cuts a damn good jacket. I know his style and I came to him because I like his style. That’s it. 

It’s also nice to see Steven and Celia settling into the premises on George Street. As soon as you walk in you can see them working away at the back, with Steven often preparing his own bastes (as he usually prefers to do). There are other tailors in the building, of course, but the downstairs area feels like Steven’s pad, and it suits him to have one.
  

  
Steven is, by the way, in the US in a couple of weeks, and will be in Boston for the first time. Do give him a warm welcome. 

Details: 

• New York: Sunday 4th to Tuesday 6th October (until noon), The Benjamin Hotel
• Boston: Wednesday 7th to Thursday 8th October, The Eliot Hotel
• Contact +0207 287 2492 and steven@stevenhitchcock.co.uk 

*The only possible exception is a very limited access to tailors, which means you’re stuck with him. 

Photos: Jack Lawson

If you’re looking for a good bespoke suit in London, there aren’t many English options between £1000 and £3000 or so. Most are closer to the £1000 make and finish, but simply charge twice as much.

An interesting option is to have the bespoke cut and finish, but with some parts of the work done abroad. Having one or two of the fittings done in China or India makes a huge difference to the cost, even with the distances the suit will travel.

Kilgour tried this several years ago, but suffered rather from the PR of making in China. That was a shame, because the results were good. Recently a few others have started using a single workshop in China, which also seems to be going well.

I will be trying out some of these over the next few months, as I hope they could offer a good option for someone trying to step up to high-end bespoke, but afraid of the tripling in price. For clarity and consistency, I will refer to this service as ‘foreign bespoke’.

In this post we will be looking at Whitcomb & Shaftesbury. Despite the name, W&S is run by two Indian brothers, Suresh (above) and Mahesh Ramakrishnan. They have a nice room on the top of 11 St George St (the same building as Steven Hitchcock, on the ground floor).

Their cutter is John McCabe (pictured top), who has been cutting around Savile Row for 40 years – at J. Dege & Sons and at Kilgour from 1993 to 2010.

Suresh manages most of the operations in London, and is effectively front of house. Importantly, he offers two services – both with John cutting, but one where the suit is entirely made in London with standard tailors, and the other where most is made in the brothers’ workshop in India.

In my experience this is important because over time it brings the two offerings closer together. The same cutting is going into each, and you expect the same coat-making to come back. At every stage, John is comparing the work of both local and foreign makers and bringing them to the same standard.

The two offerings are referred to as Savile Row Bespoke and Classic Bespoke, and cost £3040 and £1360 respectively (both exclusive of VAT). It’s quite a cost saving; and given that I’ve always said the fit is the most important thing, it makes the latter a great introductory option.

I try to be cold and objective about these things, but it might also matter that Suresh and Mahesh’s workshop was set up in the wake of the 2004 tsunami, in order to offer training and work to fishermen that had lost their livelihoods. Since 2009, it has turned to helping abused and deprived women. Around 300 people have been trained in that time, of which 70 work there today.

From what I’ve seen so far, the craftsmanship is on the same level as London. Indeed, the women in India are often able to take on things that some coatmakers would not, such as lapped seams and embroidery.

One jacket (below) features two strips of leather embedded down the front of a jacket. It’s not really my taste, and the work wasn’t perfect, but that kind of range enables Suresh to offer unusual details and very low prices.

I was going to have one suit made in the Classic Bespoke, but Suresh offered to make me the Savile Row level as well, in order to compare the workmanship in each. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.

 
My apologies to Philip, who wrote recently that he’s been waiting for my review of this Camps de Luca suit. And to anyone else. 

The suit was completed a few months ago and we managed to take some photographs last month. But books, polos and events have conspired to get in the way since then.

This, then, my 13oz grey worsted single-breasted suit from Camps de Luca, Paris.

For anyone that’s not familiar with the French tailors, Camps shares many of the attributes of fellow Parisians Cifonelli and Smalto: lightweight canvas and shoulder padding; clean chest (cut close, no drape); pronounced shoulder roping; and absolutely superb finishing. 
  

  
Camps is also known for its fish-mouth lapels. As you can see in the top image, the lapel is angled up slightly after it meets the collar, closing off that space and creating quite a strong horizontal line.

After the shoulders, this meeting of collar and lapel (the gorge) is one of the most important aspects in the style of a suit, and makes a distinct impact. So what do I think of it on my first Camps suit? I like the way it adds subtle personality, without resorting to the silliness of multi-angled pockets or horizontal stripes. But it also hasn’t won me over; I’m not about to ask any other tailor to cut my lapel in a similar way. 
  

  
Looking at those shoulders, it is interesting how far around the sleevehead Camps puts it wadding to rope the shoulder. Most only put in roping at the top, creating that focal point at the end of the shoulder that gives width to the physique. 

But Camps continues the roping further round, front and back, emphasising the work and leading to an impression of the shoulder almost being separated from the rest of the jacket. 
  

  
Elsewhere on the style, the jacket is a touch shorter than I would normally have in a suit, and the foreparts (the jacket below the fastened waist button) are relatively open. I like the style of the latter, but may have altered the former. (As with most commissions, I start by asking the tailor to cut their house style, with minimal changes from me.)

Another distinctive aspect of a Camps suit is the folding of the cloth inside the vents. The normally hard line of the side vent is softened by having both sides butting up against each other. I like this principally because it prevents any chance of the seat being exposed when you put your hands in your pockets (which I do a lot). 

On that point, there are several making aspects of the suit that I found fascinating – and hadn’t realised before. For example, the pocket bag in the trouser is attached to the fly on the inside. This stops the pocket bagging out too much, as it is constrained by that attachment to the fly. It is no less comfortable to use, but means the pocket keeps its shape. 

It is also striking that the front of the trouser is perfectly flat and smooth – yet the fastening is one of the simplest you will find. There are merely two fastening points on the waistband, one on the left and one on the right. It rather undermines the point of complicated fastenings used by the Neapolitans (and Cifonelli). 

I’ll post some pictures of these making aspects in a separate post, which will make them easier to illustrate and explain. 
  

  
As we would expect, the finishing on the suit is first class. The cloth runs all the way around each in-breast pocket, with the lining being hand-sewn down first, then top stitched for decoration. The lapel buttonhole is a small but absolutely perfect Milanese.

And we have the distinctive tear-shaped pocket on the inside hip of the jacket (shown above) with the Camps de Luca name above it. Although the initials under the cuff, which again is a house trade mark, aren’t quite as fine as the work elsewhere.

Those in-breast pockets, by the way, are noticeably high and angled. Only Anderson & Sheppard does them quite as high, and I do like it. Wallets and phones remain in the chest area, and don’t encroach at all on the closely fitting waist. That’s one thing I would certainly ask every other tailor to replicate. 
  

Worn with a burgundy silk tie from Loro Piana, with small and refreshingly widely spaced motifs in white and blue. Deep red works with a mid-grey like this better than any other colour of suit. 

Handkerchief from Drake’s. The matte texture of the wool is of course a nice balance to the silk of the tie, and green is a classic colour to pair with red in such accessories, given they are complimentary colours. 

Previous posts in this series, with other details on Camps and their work, can be found here:

• Introduction to Camps
• Commissioning of my first suit
• Second fitting (of four) on the suit

Photography by Jamie Fergusson @jkf_man
  

  
Apparently people are becoming more casual. There are now such things as luxury jogging bottoms.

But I’ll put my money on the fact that – even as the fashion wheel turns – the suit will remain the formal attire of choice. There are just no other contenders. 

For those that understand – hopefully, those that read this blog – there are also grades of formality to the suit. At one end of the spectrum are Neapolitan linens. In the middle are Milanese and drape cuts. And at the other end are super-sharp English suits like this, from Edward Sexton.

When do you wear the different things on that spectrum? It is a consideration of people and place.

In the office most days, I wear a Neapolitan jacket and trousers. But when I’m on show, it’s more than often a suit. And when I really want to feel put together, it’s a structured, roped piece of double-breasted flannel.
  

  
Here, I was on TV. Being interviewed by a German television station about my latest book Best of British: The Stories Behind Britain’s Iconic Brands.    

I’m on display. I am representing myself and even British menswear – with all its history, craft and tradition – for this German audience. 

Clothing for people and for place. 

So a double-breasted grey flannel suit, with Edward’s broad lapels and fantastic roped shoulders, his long legs and slim sleeves.

White shirt (most formal colour) with double cuffs (most formal style). Muted grey/green tie. White linen hank.

And beautiful GJ Cleverley bespoke city shoes. With their thin uppers, thin sole and waist that disappears under the foot. Lending delicacy to the tread.

Dressing up makes you feel good. It makes you feel pointed, ready, prepared. Which is exactly what you need when someone puts a camera in your face.
  

   
I recently had the basted fitting for my two suits from Whitcomb & Shaftesbury – the tailor that runs a workshop in India but has all the suits cut by the same person London. 

They had offered to make me two suits – one put together in Chennai and one in Savile Row – in order to be able to compare them. There is a big price difference: £1360 for the former and £3040 for the latter (ex-VAT).

Of course, as soon as you know there are differences, you seek them out. You notice that the waistband of the trousers on the Indian suit is just canvas at the baste, where the London one has cloth over the top. It makes no difference at all to the final suit, but you focus on the differences rather than the similarities.
  

  
And there were a lot of similarities – pretty much everything was the same. The same hand-padding of the chest, the same canvas and horsehair, the same hand-sewn buttonholes.

This is no coincidence, as Whitcomb & Shaftesbury’s coatmaker – Bob Bigg – has been going back and forth to India for years, slowly training the local women to sew in the same way he does.

“The biggest challenge was consistency and clean finishing,” he told me over dinner that evening (with owner Suresh and cutter John McCabe, pictured here). “Their hand-speed was excellent, but they weren’t used to having to sew with such precision. It had been more about volume, in the absence of any machinery.”
  

  
Bob, who has been a coatmaker on and around Savile Row for decades, wasn’t sure he’d like India to start with, but has slowly taken to it.

“I just had to get used to the heat – and then the food,” he recalled. “A lot of the locals found it surprising how I’d wear my jacket all the time, even when it was scorching hot, but I always find it cooler.”

A lot of Bob’s stories echoed things tailors have been telling me for years – in the UK, Italy or anywhere. How the hand holding the cloth is more important than the one sewing, as it sets up the cloth and maintains the tension. How it’s always surprising how many ways there are to do the same thing, and usually one is no better than the other, just easier.

It’s the same challenges, whether you’re training an ex-fisherman in Chennai or a graduate in London.

It’s still early days for the two suit, but signs are good that the Indian suit in particular (Whitcomb & Shaftesbury called it Classic Bespoke) will be a great value option for anyone looking to try bespoke for the first time.

Photography: Jack Lawson

More on Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, such as John’s background at Kilgour, in the first post here
  

  
*London trunk show details:
February 18-20
info@sartoriadalcuore.com
+393458404232
32 Royal Crescent, London W11, UK*

It’s been interesting to watch in recent years how more and more small tailors have come to prominence, getting coverage and an international reputation with remarkable speed. Everyone loves a new name, and social media spread it faster than ever.

Of course, bespoke tailoring is a long game. It has awful margins, requires large fixed costs, and these days involves a lot of travelling. The reward, if there is one, is in the long term. The stability of a loyal clientele with a large disposable income; the ability to pass that clientele onto the next generation.

I really hope, then, that being the latest ‘internet sensation’ does not prove to be more of a curse than a blessing for anyone. That any of those sensations flare up and fade away, perhaps even damaging some of the reputation of bespoke along the way.
  

  
Sartoria Dalcuore is one of those recent growth stories. Although they’ve been working with people like George Wang at Brio for a few years (on both RTW and bespoke), the team has only recently begun travelling, seeking out the big markets in London and New York.

Dalcuore, like many Italian tailors, was founded after World War II – in this case a little later than some, in 1966. Luigi (Gigi, pictured top) was an apprentice at Del Duca, as well as working at his aunt’s dressmakers. 

Gigi founded his own shop at the age of 26. That could be reassuring to any new cutter deciding to start out on his own, until you realise he started apprenticing at 16. Ten years is still really the absolute minimum of training and experience.
  

  
I took the opportunity to try out Dalcuore during their first trip to London back in December (they’re here again from the 18th of February, and in New York from the 24th). We then had a fitting in Florence during Pitti (pictured here).

The signs were good. The trousers were too tight around the seat and a little short, but the jacket was very good for a first fitting, and the pitch of the sleeve absolutely spot on.
  

  
The cloth helped – a high-twist summer cloth from Holland & Sherry in dark brown. I’ve wanted a summer suit in this shade for a while, and it will look amazing with a white shirt, monochrome tie and polished black oxfords.

In terms of cost, Dalcuore sit between Solito and Caliendo – the other two Neapolitan tailors I regularly use. Their suits start at 3000, 2500 and 3500 euros respectively. On first sight, that looks like very good value. One tailor you hope will flare up and stay there.
  

  
Photography: Luke Carby. Pictured above: Damiano Annunziato

  
Back in October there was a lot of interest around my post on the bespoke service at Whitcomb & Shaftesbury. Their ‘classic bespoke’ service, which involves cutting the suit in London (by a very experienced Row cutter), and then having it largely made in India (in a workshop run by a Row tailor) promised fantastic value at £1350 + VAT for a suit.

I’m glad to say that this promise is fulfilled. I have received and worn the suit, and can highly recommend it. It is as good in cut as most other Savile Row suits, and almost as good in make.
  

  
Whitcomb actually offers two services – one partially made by this Indian workshop (wholly owned by them) and one by a normal Row tailor. I had suits made in both, in order to compare them.

I’ll post pictures of the second one later, but there are so few differences that it’s barely worth pointing them out. The chest, lapel and collar are still hand-padded; the buttonholes are finely hand-stitched; every other area of finishing you’d expect from Savile Row bespoke (eg hand-stitching the lining of the waistband) is there.
  

This shouldn’t really be surprising. The same cutter and coatmaker (John McCabe and Bob Bigg) managed the making of both. The only thing you’d be looking for is a difference in execution – and there are some tiny points there.

The finishing on the lining isn’t quite as neat – but as you can see on the images above, it’s still good. And the buttonholes have had a machine stitch on the back as a guide, before being finished by hand. This is something most tailors don’t do, but you do occasionally see it used on particularly soft or lightweight cloths.

There are also things the Indian workshop can do that you wouldn’t give to most Row tailors. Like the lap seam down the back of the jacket (an idea I shamelessly copied across from my Chittleborough & Morgan suit). And although some of these details weren’t perfect on the examples I saw in the Whitcomb & Shaftesbury workrooms, this lap seam was very nicely done.
  

  
The cut is lovely and lean, with the suppression of the waist accentuating the sharp style we were going for – single button, more open foreparts, unflapped pockets, plus that lap seam of course.

The shoulders are quite soft and natural, although the team can certainly do more roping if requested. Interestingly, there is also quite a lot of drape to the chest – something I like on my Anderson & Sheppard suits both for their comfort and impression of a bigger upper body.

Back in the day, Kilgour French and Stanbury cut with a good bit of drape. That’s where John worked until 2010, and it is still his style.

This is a proper Savile Row suit. It is made to the same standards, by people with the same training, with most of it (pattern, cutting, fitting, alteration) still done in London and the heavy-lifting done in India.
  

  
I can understand why some people don’t want a suit where any of it is made abroad. People even complain when they find out some of the work is being done just off Carnaby Street, rather than in a basement off Savile Row.

If those people want that product, they now know exactly what they need to pay for it – £3,050 (the price of the Savile Row Bespoke product) rather than £1,350 (the Classic Bespoke). Location makes no difference to me, but if you want it you can pay £1,700 for the privilege.

I’ll reflect more on the overall style of Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, and where it sits relative to other tailors I have tried, when I publish the pictures of the Savile Row Bespoke suit.

Cloth: Holland & Sherry, Classic Worsteds, 12/13oz

Worn with:

• Lime-green silk print tie, Drake’s
• Blue spread-collar shirt, D’Avino
• White linen handkerchief, Simonnot-Godard via Mes Chaussettes Rouges
• Deco whole-cut shoes, Gaziano & Girling
    

  
Images: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

  
Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, the fabulously good value tailor I have written about recently, visit the US 5-6 times a year. 

They will be there next in a couple of weeks – in New York for three days and then Los Angeles for one. 

The details are:

• New York: 18, 19, 20 April. Plaza Athenee Hotel
• Los Angeles:  21 April. The Peninsula, Beverly Hills

Email karen@whitcombshaftesbury.com for appointments. Prices start at $2100 for a 2-piece suit under the Classic Bespoke process I have written about, and $250 for shirts (both ex-VAT). 

Classic Bespoke involves the suit being cut and finished by ex-Kilgour cutter John McCabe (pictured above) in London, but made by a team in India trained by Savile Row coatmaker Bob Bigg. Hence the value. 

Read my review of the resulting suit here. 

  
Earlier this year I started a bespoke summer suit with tailors Manning & Manning. They are a small operation comprising old Row cutter Bryan Manning (above) and his son, with the making outsourced to various coatmakers and trouser makers. 

Rather like other tailors covered recently, such as Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, I was interested whether Manning & Manning could provide an entry-level bespoke experience, given their low costs but experienced cutting. 
  

  
Bryan has an interesting background, having worked for many film and TV operations making period suits. He won an Emmy in 1985 for his work on the suits for ‘Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story’ starring Richard Chamberlain. 

Bryan came from a family of tailors, apprenticed at Kilgour French & Stanbury and became a trainee cutter there a few years later, in 1959. In 1970 he opened his first shop on his own, and had outfits on St Christopher’s Place, Savile Row and Maddox Street. 

In the early 1990s Bryan shifted to being a travelling tailor, and was joined by his son in 1997. He sees clients in the Holland & Sherry showrooms on Savile Row. 
  

  
In yet another twist on the standard Row model, Bryan offers two services: Semi-Bespoke and Full Bespoke. 

Both are cut by Bryan to a fully bespoke paper pattern, but the former has a fused chest piece and the latter a floating, hand-padded one.

Semi-Bespoke with a fused interlining costs £1000. It’s hard to recommend that, given that you can get a Graham Browne floating interlining for the same price. But the Full Bespoke costs only £1350 (both inclusive of VAT). 
  

  
For the commission, I went for a summer-weight wool – the Cape Horn bunch from Holland & Sherry. (Number 1323, 8.5 ounce.)

It’s a high-twist fabric, so like Fresco it can have a slightly open weave and wears cool in the heat. It is also pretty crease-resistant, making it good for travelling. Hard creases will need to be pressed out, but that’s the same with most high-twists. 

It isn’t as coarse as Fresco, which makes it nicer against the skin, although not as hard wearing (not much of a concern for me as it’s unlikely to be an everyday suit). 

I liked the colour as it is a muted tan, with a touch of olive. Not too classic and colonial, but definitely a summer suit.
  

  
The photographs here are of the second fitting. Bryan likes ready-made fitting jackets alongside measurememts, which some people sniff at but several high-end tailors (including Camps de Luca) also use.

He makes use of that system to go straight to a forward fitting, with no baste. This works well if fundamental things like balance are correct straight from the off, but involve more work if they are not. In my case, the front-to-back balance did need some alteration. 

The second fitting was good. Just a few minor things to clear up here and it should be ready.  

Bryan’s style is solidly English military, with a built-up shoulder, structured chest and longer jacket. (By comparison to the French and Italian tailors, rather than others around the Row). 

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man
  

  
Shirt: Luca Avitabile
Shoes: Bespoke, Stefano Bemer
Tie: Green cashmere, Howard’s 
  

  
A couple of years ago the Royal Academy asked Bryan to comment on Moroni’s well-known painting of a tailor. There are a few nice points in the video create, here:

  
Before the public part of Tailoring Symposium in June, we all gathered next to the pool at the Four Seasons to have a chat about tailoring and its future, with The Rake busily making a video of the event in the background. 

This was perhaps the most pleasant part of the day, with myself and Wei posing questions to these greats of bespoke tailoring – gathered together for the first time. As expected, everyone had similar stories to tell, about difficult customers, about the benefits and dangers of having a house style, and about new blood coming into the craft. 

  
Our two Italians, Antonio Liverano and Antonio Panico, didn’t speak enough English to interact directly with, say, John Hitchcock of Anderson & Sheppard, but with the kind aid of Tommaso Melani of Stefano Bemer, it became clear that the three of them were saying exactly the same thing about the rigidity of house styles. Just with different mannerisms and anecdotes. 

As I say, it’s what you’d expect – similar experiences, similar headaches – yet it was a pleasant surprise to see it play out before our eyes. 

I’m sure we’ll organise something similar next year. Here’s hoping it is equally as productive and as enjoyable. 

The event was kindly supported by Stefano Bemer and Vitale Barberis Canonico, with The Rake as official magazine. Check out Tom’s great article on the event in the current issue of The Rake.

Posts on the public part of the Symposium here, and analysis of the styles of the different tailors here.
 

  
Before the public part of Tailoring Symposium in June, we all gathered next to the pool at the Four Seasons to have a chat about tailoring and its future, with The Rake busily making a video of the event in the background. 

This was perhaps the most pleasant part of the day, with myself and Wei posing questions to these greats of bespoke tailoring – gathered together for the first time. As expected, everyone had similar stories to tell, about difficult customers, about the benefits and dangers of having a house style, and about new blood coming into the craft. 

  
Our two Italians, Antonio Liverano and Antonio Panico, didn’t speak enough English to interact directly with, say, John Hitchcock of Anderson & Sheppard, but with the kind aid of Tommaso Melani of Stefano Bemer, it became clear that the three of them were saying exactly the same thing about the rigidity of house styles. Just with different mannerisms and anecdotes. 

As I say, it’s what you’d expect – similar experiences, similar headaches – yet it was a pleasant surprise to see it play out before our eyes. 

I’m sure we’ll organise something similar next year. Here’s hoping it is equally as productive and as enjoyable. 

The event was kindly supported by Stefano Bemer and Vitale Barberis Canonico, with The Rake as official magazine. Check out Tom’s great article on the event in the current issue of The Rake.

Posts on the public part of the Symposium here, and analysis of the styles of the different tailors here.