Part of our business is making made-to-measure clothing. We have a library of patterns to which almost two hundred alterations can be done to account for size, posture, preference, etc. The alterations are pretty comprehensive but there are limitations and parameters. The pattern can only be stretched so far before you have to draft something from scratch, not something that is generally done in the industry because of the amount of time involved in gettingRead More
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April is a month full of film screenings, it seems. The first up is a documentary called I Colori di Antonio, about the Italian tailor Antonio Liverano. The screening is being hosted by our friends at The Armoury New York and will take place in Chelsea on April 3 at 7 pm; it will be followed by a Q&A with Antonio Liverano and Gianluca Migilarotti, moderated by Bruce Boyer. Details and tickets can be foundRead More
Kim has asked several times about it, so here goes… The sewing machine I use at home is an industrial Brother high speed single needle straight lock stitch machine. What a mouthful. I used to have an industrial overlock as well, but those suckers take up a lot of room so I got rid of it in favor of a domestic Husqvarna overlock/coverstitch machine. Industrial machines are typically cheaper than the fancy domestic ones thatRead More
I had an accident over a year ago which affected my ability to sew, among other things. But my visit to the company’s archives last week made me want to try to start again. We have a lot of old frock coats that are very fitted through the back, most with a type of princess seam and a waist seam, both details which I chose to incorporate. Also, the seams are being raised with aRead More
I’ve been thinking a lot about heritage lately. I work for a company that has been in business since 1887. It’s occasionally humbling to think of the generations of people who have held my position in this company over the many years, but yesterday I was able to put my hands on some of the tangible evidence of that history. We have a collection of about 75 garments, some of which date all the wayRead More
Reposting some tailoring porn that I enjoyed, in case readers missed it elsewhere. They’re well-filmed and fun to watch. Andrew Yamato has been producing a series of videos highlighting the work of Rory Duffy, a Henry-Poole trained cutter and winner of the Golden Shears award. I’ll post only the videos here, but if you would like some insight into the filmmaker’s point of view, you can find it at A Suitable Wardbrobe. Sadly, one ofRead More
Three weeks ago I was contacted by a retailer. They had a photoshoot planned for this week with one of their vendors, but that vendor had abruptly and unexpectedly pulled out of their stores leaving them with nobody to dress the model. Three weeks is tough when we haven’t yet fit the person, but is doable. Then they dropped a bomb on me. Two, actually. Retailer-He’s a basketball player- he’s 6″11″. Me-Yikes. So how soonRead More
The job sometimes comes with fun little perks. I spent the weekend in New York, fitting the commentators for NBC’s football coverage. They now share studio space with Saturday Night Live so when we were done we got to tour the set, which was really cool. Next week I will be going back, to fit the guys from the EPL and NHL, and also to outfit the Olympics commentators.
Shoulder padding is a fairly controversial subject, but the consensus in the US seems to be “less is more”. There is also a misconception that all RTW makes use way too much padding; this is occasionally true- this is a pad from a well-known and loved brand I prefer something softer and lighter. This is the thickest of the pads that I use in my RTW clothing. You don’t have to go all the wayRead More
Several people have asked for an update on my hand, and I thank you for your concern. Back in September I had a cooking accident with a knife that severed a number of things in my left hand, requiring surgery to correct. The one question mark was whether the nerve repair would work or not. Five months later I have regained most of my mobility but lost about 1 1/2″ in my hand span (badRead More