For the buttonholes on the cashmere jacket I settled on a taupy shade from my stash of vintage twist, in this case Rice’s. I prefer a finer thread, but it works. Things that are in the pipeline- dissections of Savile Row houses Fallan & Harvey and Maurice Sedwell, a vintage dinner jacket from a Havana tailor, and a very interesting coat from French house Smalto. Also on their way- I just bought four lengths ofRead More
Month: February 2011
I’ve ranted a few times about the many reasons I dislike the use of steamers on tailored clothing, but one of the reasons which I failed to fully explain was ironwork. Tailors use heat and steam to transform a flat piece of cloth into a 3-dimensional shape, only some of which occurs due to seams and darts, the rest is worked up with the iron (thus, ironwork). Here’s a look at what goes into theRead More
I’m nearing completion of a sportcoat made out of a somewhat unusual piece of cashmere from Johnstons of Elgin, so I am beginning to think about buttonhole thread. A check of this nature is sometimes challenging when the buttonholes sit on different area of colour; the normal practice of matching one colour of buttonhole thread might go out the window in favor of matching whatever stripe the buttonhole happens to sit on. I am evenRead More
In the world of tailored clothing, there are houses that are, in my opinion, seriously overhyped, and others who deserve a lot more attention than they get. Chris Despos falls into the latter category. Based now in Chicago, Chris once operated out of Dallas, a city he frequently travels to, in addition to others, so if you are looking for one of the country’s (perhaps one of the world’s) top tailors outside of the ManhattanRead More
The next suit to be dissected is an old bespoke number; made back in 1992, it has clearly been worn. Hard. There is evidence of the waist having been let out but more telling is this- the owner wore right through the knee lining. If I look at the areas of the garment which show the most stress, namely the hem of the trouser (including the inside), the sleeve hem and the seat area, thisRead More