The internet has a way of expanding the English language and ever since discovering the tailored clothing forums I have also encountered a term that I had never heard used outside of the internet, and that was “quarters”. As in, a way of describing the shape of the front of the coat. Whereas in tailoring circles, or the ones I have always frequented, anyway, have generally referred to a “straight front” or a “cutaway front”,Read More
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Nothing to do with clothing for once. MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan recently went on an emotional rant worthy of Keith Olberman and the avalanche of response prompted a follow-up in which he expresses the collective rage of the American people toward Washington and the economy. He encourages the people to take to Twitter and Facebook and the blogosphere to express the fact that we are Mad as Hell and that we demand change. While I agreeRead More
A storm blew through town last night which took down some pretty big trees, and with them, the power. Mine finally came back on this morning but the office is still closed so I glanced over at “the pile”; various garments that have been collecting over the last few months waiting to be chopped up, photographed, and analyzed- maybe today I can dig in a bit and get some blogging done. I’ve been pretty busyRead More
Franca has shared her latest DIY project (or rather, her husband’s). Chalk sharpeners are not the easiest things to find and are certainly not cheap when you do so here is her version (if there is demand, perhaps we could encourage her husband to offer “bespoke” chalk sharpeners on Etsy 🙂 the box € 2.504 packs of 10 blades € 1.00 each total € 4various bolts € 1 Total € 7.50!! Grazie, Franca!
If you happen to be in Chicago, I highly recommend the Festival des métiers, or celebration of craftsmanship, going on at Hermès on Oak Street until Wednesday March 16 (right across the street from Despos *ahem*). A craftsperson representing each of the product categories is on hand, making their product, largely by hand. A leatherworker sits making a Kelly bag, whose handle alone requires 4 hours of work, and 18 hours in all to hand-craftRead More
I am beginning to wonder if the 1980’s were just dark years for West-End tailors. The latest dissection candidate, (donated by mack11211, thank you) is a piece by London’s Fallan and Harvey, dating to 1984 and it is, at best, underwhelming, coming from one of a group of tailors who are supposed to be the finest in the world. Let’s assume, however, that the garment fit and the customer was pleased and that the nit-pickingRead More
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
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
Well, I’m back. The furniture has arrived, the boxes are unpacked, the holidays are almost behind us and so I’m just about ready to start dissecting again. RSS was kind enough to donate an interesting pair of coats (thank you, RSS) but before we get into those, I wanted to point something out. When I flipped the collar on one of them, something was not right- the was some curious stitching around the collar whichRead More
I got called out for neglecting my blog. And it’s true. I’ve been a bit lazy lately. But in my defense, I moved, and then went on vacation for 3 weeks, so the forensics have fallen behind. However, I am now in discussions about acquiring several pieces to chop up, and it will be time to think about some fall clothes soon, so I’ll be back in the swing of things soon. I hope everyoneRead More