Made by Hand- the great Sartorial Debate

O'Mast

2012-01-18T06:23:00.001-08:00

My copy came in the mail this week.

One of the few pleasures that I have derived from working in tailored clothing factories, as opposed to working in a tailor shop, is that there are invariably a sizable group of old guys from the old world who like nothing better than to sit around, shooting the breeze and talking about what life was like back in the day. Back in the day meaning, of course, back in Italy. I could almost write a book. In fact, maybe someday I will.

O'Mast, a documentary by Gianluca Migliarotti, is an intimate portrait of some of the last remaining Neapolitan tailors and their clients. Perhaps lacking in a definite story or arc, it was exactly like sitting around on a coffee or lunch break with the guys. Only missing was coffee. While the stories had an immediate appeal for me because they were so familiar, one thing jumped out at me for the first time, if only because of the context of some of the recent political discourse.

(If you're interested, and if you are a regular reader of this blog I should think you will be interested, the DVD is only about $25 and cad be had at the Armoury's website. The Armoury is in Hong Kong but shipping was super fast.)

It's a story I have heard a thousand times if I have heard it once. At age 11 or 12, a young boy would be sent to the tailor shop to apprentice. Maybe after school. Maybe afternoons. Maybe he would drop out of school entirely. His pay, if he were lucky enough to get any, might be 100 to 150 lire a week. He would ride his bike from his village several miles to the nearest bus or train, where he would spend his weekly salary on train fare into the city. The lucky ones might have enough left at the end of the week to buy a cup of coffee, though not likely. At Christmas the master expected a gift or tribute of some sort to thank him for the time he spent training the young apprentice. The system produced some of the best tailors in the world, and helped drive the eventual cachet of the "Made in Italy" brand.

Perhaps I have become desensitized to the story, having heard it so many times. More likely I can relate in a sense since, like so many other pursuits, it is generally agreed that one must start early in life in order to gain a proper mastery; piano lessons, ballet lessons, gymnastics... those who become successful at these pursuits are more likely to have started lessons at age six than at age 20. Something to do with the 10,000 hour rule.

Those readers who are fortunate enough to be insulated from the Republican primary season here in the U.S. will have missed Newt Gingrich's recent assertion that poor children should be made to work as janitors in school. My initial reaction was, naturally, one of shock and indignation. He did, suggest, however, that they be paid some sort of wage, which is more than can be said for the tailor's apprentice. So what was a charming story about learning the craft of tailoring now has the taint of child labor. How do I reconcile the two?

I'm not sure that I can.

It's one thing to say that it was an economic necessity and a part of the harsh reality of post-war Europe that children had to be sent out at a young age to work, essentially, for free, with the only benefit being that they were learning a marketable skill. But the same logic could be applied to Newt's argument and I'm not sure that's a good thing. It also highlights the question of whether such a training regimen was really necessary in order to create the generation of craftsmen that is currently disappearing and is not likely to be replaced without such a draconian system of apprenticeship.

While I am certain that each of the tailors interviewed in the film would tell you that they were entirely thrilled to have had the chance to apprentice as they did, I am equally convinced that not one of them would send his own child out to repeat the process.

I don't really have a point here. I'm just thinking out loud. In print. Whatever.

More experimentation with drape...

2012-01-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

Wow. It’s been a while. Let me start by wishing everyone a happy new year!
In the past six weeks I had been home all of five days, and non-consecutive ones at that so I’m way behind in all of my projects. The Ariston coat is long-finished but I need to photograph it and now I have a small pile of cloth to cut.

J&J Minnis was having a sale- the Crown Classics bunch was being offered at twenty pounds a meter plus VAT. So it’s time for another experiment.

Some time ago I experimented with drape, referencing a draft manipulation published by Whife in the Modern Tailor, Outfitter and Clothier. I had seen a number of published texts on the construction of a drape coat but had never handled the real thing so I kind of made things up as I went along, in terms of construction. The finished result was this.

Some of the details were goofy but the silhouette wasn’t bad.

Then I bought this vintage Anderson & Sheppard coat and learned a few things.

Most particularly, about how the drape in the chest is achieved by cutting the haircloth away from the armhole.

So this experiment is two-fold. First, the piece that I bought from Minnis is dark brown with a chalk stripe. I have never owned a brown suit and I’m not sure if I will like it or not. One way to find out, right?

Second, I will try this drape thing out again, but this time with an eye on the A&S coat. I like the shape and the flare to the skirt, though it’s perhaps verging on costume. The one thing I’m not really sure about is the chest. While I agree that the chest emphasis flatters me, as in the first attempt, I don’t think I can stomach a proper drape, with the haircloth cut away from the armhole, on a suit. I think I’m just too stuck in my ways for that. So I may keep the full haircloth in the chest. At which point it begins to resemble a Tom Ford cut.

Hmm.

We know that he was a customer of A&S before starting his own men’s line. So it’s very possible he went through the same thought process- extend the shoulder a bit and emphasize the chest to create the illusion of more waist suppression but build the chest up with a good amount of haircloth so that it’s clean and not sloppy. I’ve heard people moan about the fact that he was just copying this one or that one, but really, who isn’t inspired by somebody else? A&S was “inspired” by Scholte who was “inspired” by military uniforms…

One last question mark that remains in my head. Normally when underpressing the fronts, we keep the stripes closest to the armhole completely straight from the waist up to the top, working the chest forward toward center front. Since the objective of the traditional drape cut was to have a fold of cloth near the armscye, I figured that working the chest forward would negate that fullness near the scye and on the last coat I didn’t straighten them out. It seemed to work, but this time I think I’ll stick to the rules about stripes and see what happens.

So in all a lot of risks and a good chance I’ll end up not liking the suit. But at twenty pounds a meter at least it’s not an expensive risk, and worth the investment for whatever I might learn out of the process.

EDIT

My bad- I should have been more clear about what I mean by "drape". I'm not referring to the drape of the cloth or the patternmaking technique of draping, but to a style of coat that was created at the turn of the last century, was very popular in the thirties and virtually disappeared in the fifties. A primer, as well as the draft manipulation used for the last garment can be found here.

EDIT

In response to a question about underpressing the fronts, the stripes act as a guide for the correct pressing, and this is a critical step before basting the canvas. The stripes nearest the scye must run absolutely straight from the shoulder down to the waist line (this will cause a distortion in the stripes forward of the dart- this is normal). The stripes closest to center front must run straight from the waist down to the hem. This has the effect of crookening the shoulder point a tiny bit during pressing, but is separate from the issue of whether it is a straight-cut or crooked-cut coat. Hope this is a bit clearer now.

Been busy lately

2011-12-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

There have been a lot of questions lately which I promise to get to at some point, but I'm on the road these days so it's a bit nuts.

So in the meantime, some buttonholes.

The Brees Blazer again

2011-11-18T09:07:00.001-08:00

Remember this?

I made this jacket last year, just before leaving Canada. Ellen Degeneres saw it and liked it so Drew had one made for her (not by me- my contacts within that camp don't know where to find me these days) and will be presenting it to her on Monday's show. I saw a post on facebook which is how I found out about this coat-

Prepping the back

2011-11-14T06:35:00.001-08:00

Roll

2011-11-11T07:07:00.001-08:00

Ariston Napoli

2011-11-10T14:03:00.001-08:00

Just because.

Ariston Napoli

2011-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Fans of the bold, colourful cloth typical of many Italian merchants (especially Isaia) will love Ariston Napoli. This latest piece- a blue and brown check- comes from them, and is surprisingly robust for an Italian cloth. They are represented in the U.S. by Kemp and Hewitt.

Silliness with scraps

2011-11-04T06:09:00.001-07:00

Far from random, some careful planning is required, the sort that only another patternmaker can really appreciate.

The very last of the vendon

2011-10-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

This time I mean it.

So I had some scraps. And maybe a bit too much coffee.

I don't like most of what Thom Browne does, but I understand why he does it. And all those guys who you see in the Sartorialist's Pitti photos. It's not that we're trying to get photographed (ok maybe some are). It's just that those of us who are surrounded by grey and navy suits day in, and day out, who deal with them all day at work, who already have a closet full of grey and navy suits and when it is time to make something new for this season the thought of making yet another grey or navy suit, well, just yyyaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnn. It takes something a little more unusual to excite me these days. I mean, how many professional musicians walk around with the Four Seasons or Pachelbel's canon in their iPods? They're more likely to have Arvo Part or Meredith Monk, or something most non-musicians won't get because I-IV-V-I has become as mind-numbing to them as the charcoal suit is to me.

Or maybe I've just had too much coffee.

The Last of the Vendon

2011-10-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

I bought these four pieces of Vendon by Holland and Sherry back in February and I am just now getting the last of them finished. It's a great cloth- a robust weave which is normally quite dry but this has a roundness to it and even a nice soft finish. If memory serves, there a few other colors; I may go and see if there are any left to pick from. At the same time I am going to have a browse through the Ariston bunches- a Neapolitan merchant who makes just the sort of horseblanket and FU checks that I love for sportsjackets (some of the louder cloths that Isaia and Oxxford use are from Ariston).

You'll notice that the shirt sleeves are far too long- the shirt is new and has only been washed once so I expect they will shrink some more. I had three of them made from a very opaque white cotton from Thomas Mason, I believe (I don't remember the name of it, but Joe from MyTailor tells me bought a whole lot of it) and I have actually had people stop me in the street to ask about my shirt so if you are in the market for white shirts and go see Mytailor, ask Joe about- he'll know what you're talking about.

In other news, I closed on the condo last week so I'll be moving again, hopefully for the last time in a long while!

Couture Sewing Techniques

2011-09-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up we had a book in the house that I considered the sewing bible. If ever I was was stumped on a particular application I would pull out the old Vogue Sewing Book and it would have clear, well-illustrated instructions on how to insert an invisible zipper or chain-weighted hems. While informative, it was not terribly inspiring.

Back in 1995, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art staged a stunning exhibition on Haute Couture. The beautiful catalog of that exhibit joined the Vogue Sewing Book as one of my go-to books, this one providing the source of inspiration which the other was lacking.

I don't do much sewing other than tailoring these days, but when I do, I have been using a new reference, Claire Shaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques. Not only does her book provide the type of technical detail that I found in the old Vogue Book, but stunning examples of real-life couture garments and the application of those techniques, as well as a chapter on the history of haute couture, including the maniacal attention to detail, like matching the stripes on bound buttonholes, for example.

Claire recently sent me a copy of her newly revised and updated Couture Sewing Techniques, which includes a new chapter on designing with special fabrics, and tons of fantastic and inspiring photos taken from her countless visits to ateliers, museums, and from her own extensive collection of couture garments. If you don't already have a copy, I can highly recommend it, and even if you do, you may want to consider the upgrade. As I flip through the pages I am already planning my niece's wardrobe. Is four years old too young to be wearing couture?

Mmm, no.

Men of the Cloth

2011-08-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

This has been some time in the making but it's in the final push to finish it. The film maker has made an appeal for donations to help her finish. If you liked the trailer and want to see the rest of it completed, you can go here to make a donation. I did.

MEN OF THE CLOTH IndieGoGo Video from Vicki Vasilopoulos on Vimeo.

Quarters

2011-08-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

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", the internet usage has people referring to "open quarters" and "closed quarters". Which sounds more like an architectural term to me, but whatever. I never understood where the term might have originated, suspecting one of the forum stars may have coined it and it become an iTailor meme.

Well, I think I know where it comes from now.

An illustration from the book I referenced in my last post, showing the "forequarter" of the coat, something more commonly called the forepart, particularly since coats have generally been cut in six pieces since the 1930s, not four. So while it is not completely without precedent to refer to the "quarters" of a coat, it's something you might more readily find at "ye olde taylor shoppe". But then, the iGentry seem to fond of anachronisms, and so it is perhaps appropriate.

Men's Factory-Made Clothing

2011-08-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

A few book reviews to do.

The first will appeal only to the super-geeks like myself. Published in 1916, The Men's Factory-Made Clothing Industry is a report on the cost of producing men's clothing produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and can be found on Google Books.

Buried within a lot of dry financial statistics is an interesting history of ready-to-wear clothing in the U.S., as well as some very interesting descriptions of the manufacturing process, some of the machines already in use at that time, and some startling passages such as the following:

"The imports of clothing into the United States are almost negligible and are generally English overcoats, novelty garments like the Balmacaan, and golfing and motoring clothes. No sack suits are imported.

...

English ready-made clothing is not comparable with the American. The English hand tailoring is poor, except in the finest custom work. Very conservative styles of men's clothing are worn in England; the models do not change from one season to another as they do in this country. High-salaried designers [ahem] are employed by the larger clothing factories in the United States, who are constantly introducing attractive styles.

...

American people believe not only that the styles of clothing for men that are originated in the United States are superior to those that come from other countries, but also that the workmanship of the domestic product is superior to the workmanship on ready-made clothing produced in foreign countries. This belief accounts, in a measure, for the tremendous increase in the production of factory-made clothing in the United States during the last 20 years.

While the manufacture of ready-made clothing is one of the large industries in the United States, this industry is of comparatively small importance in other countries. The completeness of the factory equipment, the thoroughness of the factory organization, and the efficiency of the working force, which are noticeable in many establishments for making men's clothing in this country, are not even approached in other countries. Nearly all the ready-made clothing manufactured in Europe is of low-grade, cheap varieties, and is almost invariably manufactured in small factories, in shops, or in the homes of the workers."

I knew that the method of manufacturing by breaking down the process into minute operations had originated in the U.S. and had been exported to Europe, but was a bit startled by the assertions about the level of quality, mainly because the reverse is often true today. In retrospect, however, it makes perfect sense. But taking it into a larger context, we can trace the progression of the source of quality goods from the U.S., then to Italy who has held the crown since Brioni started to push the "Made in Italy" brand back in the fifties, and now it's moving to China. Many people still associate Chinese-made product with inferior quality, just as Japanese electronics were once considered junk, but those of us who have actually visited facilities in China know that they are not far off from the potential of eclipsing Italy in terms of production of quality garments.

I hope I'm still around in 50 years so I can witness for myself how the manufacturing landscape will have evolved.

America's Mad As Hell Moment

2011-08-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

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 agree with the idea that social networking-driven grassroots movements are a new and interesting force in politics and society, I am, personally, a little tired of all the anger and instead offer a bit of constructive musing.

I am currently contemplating the purchase of a home (and am lucky enough to be able to get the credit to do it) but the state of the economy gives me pause; while I am hesitating I realize that it is this very lack of confidence that is one of the greatest threats to the current state of affairs. I am no economist so I may be way off base on this, but it seems to me that in a consumer-driven economy (I believe that the U.S. is 70% consumer-driven), if people aren’t spending money then business aren’t selling things and thus do not need to employ people in order to create and sell these things. My hesitation is perpetuating our economic problems. Of course, I think it is a very good thing that people are scaling back on extravagant spending and living within their means rather than within the means of their Mastercards, but I also think that it is very obvious that we can’t wait around for the turkeys in Washington to fix this mess- they won’t- and that we the people can do something simply by having a bit of nerve, and instead of hiding all of our cash under the mattress, that we responsibly spread some of it around (leave the credit card at home, please). That is, after what drives the economy and the jobs machine and maybe we can fix the economy ourselves, or at least give it a hearty push.

So it may be a stretch to suggest that buying a home despite worries about the stock market, or even just a buying pair of shoes can be seen as an act of patriotism, but in my perhaps twisted world view, that is exactly what it is at this moment in time.

So excuse me while I call my realtor, and then we can get back to the subject of clothing.

EDIT- The very day I wrote this post I got an email from my realtor- the place I am interested in has been on the market forever but that very day they got an offer on it and if I am interested I need to move NOW. So I am looking at a potential bidding war. The irony.

Gieves & Hawkes

2011-06-22T06:49:00.001-07:00

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 busy so I'm a bit behind in it, but I realize that I think I'm also running out of interesting things to say; it's getting to the point where there's not so much that's new and interesting to show you- we've seen it all before. (Right at that point I got a message notification about a comment from a reader which read "NEW POSTS PLEASE!!!" Talk about timing)

Well, one things we haven't seen, and which people have asked for several times, is an image of one of the dissection victims on a form or a body, to get an idea of the cut or silhouette. Until now the dimensions of most of the garments were such that I wouldn't have been able to, even if I wanted, and I have to caution that it's not a good idea to put a garment which was cut for one specific body onto another because you don't get an accurate picture, but this one was cut for someone very close to my build, though quite a bit taller than I, judging by the sleeve length. So, for a change, we can have a look at the cut of a garment.

It's a proper 3-button garment with a decent amount of waist and a bit of flare to the skirt. The chest feels fairly firm, but this is not surprising as G&H have a history of military tailoring.

I had heard that G&H use blindstitch machines to pad their lapels so I expected to see that; instead, they were done by hand. There is a liberal sprinkling of fusible in various parts of the garments, but nothing we haven't seen already on other garments from Savile Row so I won't go over them again.

What was a bit surprising was that the chest was padded by zig-zag machine, in a similar fashion to the Saint Andrews garment I cut up, but with a smaller, tighter stitch, which is what gives the firmness to the chest. It would take too long to unpick the whole thing to show you what's inside, but I did just enough to know that the entire chest (the size of the felt) is one big piece of haircloth, with another smaller one in the shoulder. Again, no surprises there.

Another thing I found interesting was that the seam joining the side body to the front is shoved way back, making a very narrow side body. This probably makes the shaping of the waist easier- I will have to try it out. I don't know if you can make the seams out in the photo, but FWIW,

As for the rest, it's all stuff that we would expect to see, and have seen, on other Savile Row garments (newer readers are invited to peruse the archives), so I will blame my writer's block on the clothing.

I'm sure that's a first.

Holland and Sherry- Vendon

2011-05-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Remember this stuff?

I normally prefer smooth finishes or at least a fine, tight weave; coarser weaves seem, rightly or not, somewhat outmoded and more difficult to work with because they fray easily and don't always take shaping as well. When I first came across this cloth from Holland and Sherry I was a bit skeptical, but it came highly recommended by someone I trust, and had been favorably compared to Minnis' Fresco by others (another cloth I am tepid toward) so I decided to give it a go.

I'm glad I did.

I struggled a bit with the fullness in the sleeves on the first coat I cut and I wasn't happy with the finished results so I ripped out the sleeves, cut them down, and set them back in shirt-sleeve style and was very happy with it so I cut another coat with this kind of shoulder expression in mind. I have to say that I'm really pleased with the way this cloth is making up- it is sturdy and can take a bit of a beating (good for travel) but is soft and fluid enough and breathes fairly well.

Sometimes it's good to step outside of your comfort zone.

When it's done I'll try to get better shot with better lighting because this doesn't do the coat justice. (See a tutorial on lighting clothing shots here which was helpfully submitted by its author. I will try not take that as a way of saying "dude- your photos suck" LOL)

DIY chalk sharpener

2011-05-18T06:19:00.001-07:00

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 € 2.50
4 packs of 10 blades € 1.00 each total € 4
various bolts € 1

Total € 7.50!!

Grazie, Franca!

L'Asola Lucida, part two

2011-04-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

I think the Asolsa Lucida, or glossy buttonhole (the example above being from a Tom Ford garment), originated in the Abruzzi region of Italy as it is most commonly seen on garments made in this area. It is also very common in Paris, where it is known as the boutonnière Milanaise, though likely for the brand of gimp that was commonly used and not the city; it is worth noting that most of the grand tailoring houses of Paris also trace their lineage back to Italy. The gimp itself, which is a key element of the buttonhole, I believe is now only available from Guterman and is known as Agreman; I will be in Italy in June and will dig around to see if there are any other manufacturers still producing the stuff and will report back if I find any (and if anybody else will be at Pitti and feels like meeting up for a drink, drop me a line).

A while back, Matthew was kind enough to share a method he learned at Cifonelli for making these buttonholes, his with a purl underneath the gimp. The ones made by what I shall call the Abruzzi method, for want of a better term, do not have this purl under the gimp and the stitch is made differently- I will attempt to explain it now that I have figured it out.

In addition to the previously mentioned gimp (and do not be tempted to use what most other companies sell as gimp but is really intended for machine-made buttonholes) you will need some fine silk twist- to get a really smooth, glossy finish, a thread finer than the 40 size typically used now, and much finer than the U size that some still use, is needed, and unlike ordinary buttonholes, the twist should not be waxed.

Because this buttonholes is more fragile than the regular knotted one, it is typically only seen on the lapel, not on the lower buttonholes.

I start by running two rows of machine stitching to hold everything in place while I overcast the edges- it might also be a good idea to stitch even closer to the cut line than I have done and instead of ripping them after overcasting, just work the buttonhole over the stitching. A very narrow bite is required and this helps keep things from shifting, but also means that cloth that frays very easily is unsuitable.

The mechanics of the stitch are actually quite simple but may take some getting used to if you have done lots of traditional buttonholes.

Working from the underside, pass the needle up through the hole- I find it easiest to poke the eye end through to avoid catching anything with the sharp end. I come up through the hole and then work the twist under the gimp, but for the sake of clarity I have shown the needle passing directly under the gimp. Do whatever is easiest for you.

Come up and over the gimp, then insert the needle a millimeter from the edge- tight, close stitching is the key to a smooth appearance. You want the gimp to sit right on top of the stitch to conceal it, and by tightly spacing the stitches you will completely encase the gimp.

I've pushed everything to one side so you can get an idea of how the stitches are forming.

Pinch the gimp before working around the end of it the continue down the other side.

The completed buttonhole. You can see some of the stitches poking through beyond the gimp where my bite was a little too wide- I need to practice some more (and really have to think more seriously about a macro lens...)

And thanks again to Matthew and Franca for inspiring this post.

EDIT- In response to a question, I made a few phone calls. In the U.S. Agreman gimp can be bought from B. Black and Sons (1-800-433-1546), Oshman Brothers (1-212-226-7448) and Ely Yawitz (1-800-325-7915) It is not listed on their websites so you have to call and ask for it.

In the U.K. it can be bought from Richard James Weldon 44 208 300 7878. I know there is at least one store in Paris which stocks it (ask for milanaise), though the name of it now escapes me. It is also available all over Italy (ask for vergolina).

Gilbert Feruch

2011-03-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

Custom shirtmaker CEGO's Carl Goldberg shared a few garments from his father's wardrobe with us, one of which is a DB jacket (pants long lost) made by Gilbert Feruch, some time in the seventies, I think.

I gather he was something of a futurist, and the V&A museum has a Nehru suit that he made on display. Other than that, I know practically nothing about him. What I find most interesting about this garment is that had he removed the label, I would have sworn it was a Smalto, the garment we recently looked at. There are so many details which are virtually identical that it is impossible that the two were not somehow linked at some point in their careers. I won't speculate on that link but if someone has more information I would love to hear it.

While I was surprised to have seen a two-piece top collar on a piece of bespoke work, here is another one.

The buttonholes are fairly good, though they may have seen better days, particularly the Milanaise which looks to have had a flower or two through it.

This is how buttons should be sewn on.

Like the Smalto, the pocket jets have been stitched by hand. The breast welt and its facing have also been constructed by hand, and sewn through the chest piece.

While the interior finishing on many of the coats we have looked at has seemed like an afterthought, Feruch is clearly making a statement here.

Again, pocket jets done by hand

The lining has been inserted by hand and stitched up in an identical fashion to the Smalto.

Even this diagonal tack is identical.

While the Smalto had wiggan in the vents, this one has silesia, but cut and inserted identically to the Smalto

The real differentiator between the two is that the Smalto had been padstitched by machine, and this one has been done by hand.

Note how the direction of the stitching was reversed to help with the peak of the lapel

The collar has been padded by hand with a piece of silesia on each end.

The chest and shoulder pad have also been done by hand, and the same kind of cut and reversal of the direction of the grain as I found in the Smalto.

The final detail was that the facings had been drawn on entirely by hand, while the Smalto (like so many others) had been done by machine. And for those who still care, the sleeve was set by machine and the shoulder seam sewn by machine. Absolutely everything else on this coat had been done by hand so clearly they were not looking to save time or cut corners- if they thought there was any benefit to doing these steps by hand they would have been done by hand. But they were not.

Other than the few steps which had been done by machine on the Smalto coat, steps which may have come later to help bring costs down as the Smalto is much more recent than the Feruch, these two coats are so close that they could have been made in the very same workshop.

Intriguing, no? Thoughts, anyone?

And thank you, Carl.

Boutonnière milanaise, méthode Cifonelli

2011-03-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

The image above is the wrapper for an old spool of gimp, "vergolina" being the Italian word for gimp, and La Milanese being the brand name. I am guessing that this is how the French came to know gimp as "Milanaise", and thus the Milanese buttonhole would have found its name. Conjecture, but likely.

I've discussed this buttonhole a few times, mainly because I didn't know how to do it and that was driving me crazy. The example above is from a coat by Smalto and I had a good look under a magnifying glass and finally figured that stitch out- it is a fairly simple figure-of-eight stitch with no knot or purl. More on that soon. A reader was kind enough to reach out with another method of making them.

Matthew Reed did the CAP Tailleur Homme in Paris (a training program in tailoring) and did his internship at Cifonelli, a famous Parisian house. (If you read French you can find a recent interview with Lorenzo Cifonelli here) Matthew was kind enough to photograph a high-contrast buttonhole sample that he learned at Cifonelli, and the steps involved in making it- you will notice that in this version there is a knot underneath the gimp, which I rather like because it raises the buttonhole higher off the surface and makes it a bit more pronounced (subtletly be damned). So thank you, Matthew.

The gimp has been knotted and inserted between the layers of cloth- it must be lifted out of the way when taking the stitch.

Wrap the tail of the twist around the head of the needle.

Pull through

Pull tight

I've been mumbling about buying a macro lense since my close-ups leave much to be desired, but seeing Matthew's photos I'm leaning toward a point-and-shoot instead, which would be cheaper and more versatile. So double inspiration, thanks to Matthew.

EDIT-

Franca made some interesting observations in the comments section. She has discovered what many have found, namely that many old tailors guard their secrets jealously... She compares the buttonhole above to the buttonholes she sees in her region (Abruzzo) but the buttonhole above has a knot, and the ones made in Abruzzo, particularly Brioni, do not have a knot- it is slightly simpler in certain respects, but require more precision. She has discovered that cloth that frays easily is not suitable, or at least will be difficult to make a stitch that is small enough even though she has overcast before stitching. I will suggest running a machine stitch 1/16" away from the cut location on each side (before cutting) which will help stabilize the area. As for the stitch itself, once I get my macro photography sorted out I will post a series of photos like the ones Matthew submitted, showing the Asola Lucida, al modo di Brioni. And yes, Franca, the only thing to do is to practice and practice some more.

FRANCESCO SMALTO HAUTE COUTURE

2011-03-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

I've linked this video before, but here it is again.

Sometimes promotional material can push the envelope a bit in order to look good, and I admit that a few moments during this video I found myself thinking "Oh, really?"

Well, yes. Really.

Thanks go out to Des Esseintes for donating this coat from Francesco Smalto.

A few posts back I remember lamenting the fact that certain houses get way overhyped and others don't have anywhere near the recognition they deserve. Well, this is another of the latter. Perhaps because they have fallen to the all-too-common over-licensing of their name that they are more known for their scents; one is also tempted to think that the quality may not be the same as it was when this coat was made back in '91, but the video was posted in 2008 and shows identical techniques.

You can find a bit of background info on Smalto here

Men's tailoring is often focused on the understated, the invisible, but in this garment the details call attention to themselves; in this sense it is very influenced by haute couture whose finishing and execution are often shows of virtuosity rather than self-effacement. The main label, as shown above, has been incorporated in a clever pocket which would be just about impossible to replicate in a mass-production setting, and is just one of the many indications that this is a very special garment. That said, most of those clues are on the inside, not the outside.

Something less obvious, but which should be pointed out, is that this garment had spent several weeks crammed into a shipping box. It is not a heavy, sturdy cloth but rather something more delicate, and yet this is how it looks straight out of the box, no pressing or steaming-

The shape of the lapel and collar is rarely seen outside of France.

Readers are, by now, aware of my thing for buttonholes and these are very good, worked using finer thread than I have ever been able to find; note the pickstitching along the vent and the little bar tack. Note also that the gimp ends have been worked inside the cloth rather than being concealed under the ends like I do.

This buttonhole on the front is as close to perfection as I have ever seen

and oddly, the second buttonhole is straight rather than keyhole, an acknowledgement of the fact that this button must never be fastened.

The lapel is sporting the "milanese" buttonhole, the mechanics of which I have finally figured out (it came to me while driving home, of all places).

The pocket jets have been sewn by hand, something that is almost never seen anymore.

The inside pockets (there are four of them) have also been bound by hand. Notice the hand pick stitching along the edges of the lining and flap, and the hand-made buttonhole on the flap.

The lining has been inserted entirely by hand. While most English tailors prefer a small, invisible stitch to fell the lining, it is more common in Italy to use a decorative top stitch, like this one, however they are usually much wider in their spacing. These are very tight, another way of saying "we have spared no time nor effort in the creation of this garment". I, personally, prefer a neater, more discrete finishing stitch, but this is actually a more solid stitch.

The vents.

A few diagnol stitches

The pleat at center back has been finsihed with a big S for Smalto

I was astounded to see a two-piece top collar, something which is rarely, if ever, seen on bespoke work because it requires a bit of engineering in the pattern. The blurb I linked to did mention his visiting clothing factories in the U.S. so he may have borrowed a technique.

To the right of the personal label is the name Georges (I obscured the client's name). I imagine that this was either the cutter or the person who created the garment.

As I get the lining open, we see then vents have been reinforced with wiggan.

The large inlay has been pick stitched to one side

And the smaller seams in the body and sleeve have been lightly overcast by hand to prevent fraying, a detail I have never seen on a men's tailored garment but would be more common in ladies' couture. This is more commonly serged or pinked on men's garments.

Rather than a loose basting stitch, the facing and pockets have been secured with a cross-stitch.

The lapel's underside is heavily dimpled which would indicate hand pad-stitching. And since, until now, virtually everything has been done by hand, one has no reason to suspect otherwise. So I was quite surprised to find that the lapel and collar had been padstitched by machine.

It is perhaps not apparent in the photo, but the chest has been padstitched by hand the entire length of the felt.

Likewise, the shoulder pad is entirely hand made.

The edge tape has been sewn in by hand as well.

Considering the amount of work done by hand everywhere else on the garment, one can assume that they see no added value in padding the lapel and collar by hand. Liekwise the sleeve setting and shoulder seam have been done by machine (have we seen enough proof that this is really not necessary to do by hand yet?)

Here we can see the reverse of the pad stitching of the chest, as well as the seam that was taken to build some shape into the shoulder, instead of teh more common vees. Note the direction of the grain in the upper piece.

I could feel a nice amount of structure in the chest so was not at all surprised to find two layers of haircloth, one on a slight bias (refer back to my drape experiment) and the other cut out of the scye , à-la Anderson and Sheppard. Smalto had clearly seen a lot of things in his carreer.

I can honestly say that it's been a while since I saw a garment with such a personality. One might not agree with all the choices made, but it shows a definite point of view and I can certainly respect that, and find it refreshing for some reason. What was even more fascinating to me in discovering a lot of these very distinctive details was that, a few weeks later, I recieved a garment made by another French tailor which resembled the Smalto in many of them. There is certainly a strong link between the two and I am hoping that readers in Paris (or elsewhere) who may have more knowledge of the history of these two tailors will fill us in on them, once we have had a look at the second garment.

A la prochaine!

Festival des métiers- HERMES

2011-03-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

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-craft the bag. A cordwainer was on his lunch break when I was there.

A watchmaker and a jeweler show how they operate, then I stopped to watch a shirt being hand-finished. Armholes, collar and buttonholes are hand done- the hand stitching around the armholes is so fine as to be invisible from the right side. When I asked if this was perhaps too delicate to be machine-washed I earned a look of utter disgust, the likes of which only the French are capable. Hand wash only, s'il-vous-plait.

Also on hand was a tie-maker who was able to demonstrate the entire process. Then a print artist- the person who transforms a complete scarf design into the 30 to 40 colour plates required to screen-print each silk scarf. On average 400 hours and up to 1700 hours of work to hand-draw each screen. Then a demonstration of the screen-printing process which, by itself, was worth the price of admission. Which happened to be free. But still. I would happily have paid to see this.

It is also timely because I have, up until now, been focused almost entirely on English and Italian craftsmanship; the next few posts will instead focus on the French. Des Esseintes sent a surprising jacket made by Smalto, and CEGO's Carl Goldberg sent a trouser by Smalto and a jacket by Gilbert Feruch whose workmanship bears a striking resemblance to that of the Smalto. He also sent a shirt which had been custom-made for his father by Lanvin and whose workmanship is exceedingly fine. Alors pendant quelques semaines nous assisterons à un festival des métiers et de l'artisanat français.

In the meantime, a few images from my visit today.

À bientot!

Maurice Sedwell

2011-03-10T16:34:00.000-08:00

The latest sample I purchased on ebay thanks to a tip from RJMan.

Maurice Sedwell enjoys an excellent reputation and its proprietor, Andrew Ramroop, is very keen on explaining the many reasons why. Of course, one of the first things I look at when examining a garment are the buttonholes and buttons, and these are very good. The buttons have been beautifully shanked and stand up to attention like a row of horn soldiers.

I noticed some light grey thread peeking through the underside of the buttonholes which I found a bit puzzling.

I unpicked one of them and found that the buttonhole had been meticulously overcast prior to working it up. Why they did it with light coloured thread is anyone's guess, but at least it was carefully done and does not show on the right side.

The way he has matched the flap to the coat is somewhat curious. Darts often distort the pattern above the pocket so it is most common to match the flap to the lower part of the coat. In this instance he has matched to the top part, behind the flap. I'm not a fan.

Inside the pocket, he has created a pleat which should help prevent the pocket gaping open when the owner shoves things in it.

The inside lining has marks that indicate the the garment has been altered so there may be a few question marks.

The lining itself has been inserted by hand, something which few West End tailors do anymore. It's been reasonably neatly done, far better than the Fallan and Harvey coat.

A piece of linen holland has been used to turn the edge of the undervent, however this was completely concealed by the lining.

The back hem has been reinforced with weft-insertion fusing.

Since the front hem has been done with linen holland, I think it is safe to assume that this was done by the alterations tailor.

It is no surprise that the chest, lapel and collar have all been padstitched by hand, and a piece of silesia has been laid over the lapel canvas prior to padstitching. The edges have been stayed with linen holland in a method that looks to me like the one used by canvas garment factories.

The facing has been applied by machine, and the linen is caught in that seam. I will have to unpick the tape to know for sure if he has done what factories now do.

And yes, there it is, the gap between canvas and seam.

In order to reduce bulk in the edges, we trim away more canvas than is traditionally done. Once the front has been shaped (the excess cut away to the proper shape, leaving only the seam allowance of 3/16" or 1/4") we trim away the canvas not to the seam line as used to be the method, but double the value of the seam. For example, if the seam allowance is 1/4" we will trim 1/2" of canvas away. We sew at 1/4" then turn the seam allowance inside to fill the gap between edge and canvas. The tape is caught in the seam which will prevent the canvas from moving. This technique is most useful on very fine cloth where the added thickness of the canvas at the very edge is not to be desired.

Back to Savile Row.

There is needle-punch foam in the sleevehead, similar to what is used by manufacturers, and the shoulder pad is prefab. The sleeves have been set by machine, and the shoulder seam has been sewn by machine. It's becoming increasingly clear that the number of people who think that it is necessary to do these steps by hand are a distinct minority.

When I got to the chest I could tell that there is only one layer of wrapped hair hymo in the chest, rather than proper haircloth so I didn't go to the trouble of unpicking it all. I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it is much softer than haircloth and if the customer wanted something very soft, then it's not a bad choice. However I would still have put a haircloth (or even hymo) reinforcement in the shoulder, and there is none. There may be a reason for this as well, which we will never know.

So is Maurice Sedwell the best on Savile Row? Inconclusive. This is certainly the best Savile Row garment that I have handled but one can't make sweeping generalizations based on a handful of garments. Were I in the market for a tailor in London's west end, I would certainly call on Mr. Ramroop to have a chat.

Vintage Fallan & Harvey

2011-03-05T08:20:00.001-08:00

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-picking we are about to do would never have bothered him. (On the other hand, when you are being charged for the best, one can reasonably assume that one will receive the best.)

The finishing is sloppy and rather amateurish, but to their credit, the lining has been inserted by hand which is a step that few houses do anymore.

The buttonholes aren't much better.

It is interesting to note that the vent has been fused which will be a sign of either forward-thinking or corner-cutting, depending on which side of the traditionalism fence you sit. Personally, on this weight of tweed, I don't think a bit of fusible will hurt the garment, other than if it were to eventually fail.

The edge tape is also fusible, but as on the Welsh and Jeffries garment we looked at, it has also been sewn on by hand. So I am leaning toward "forward-thinking".

Interestingly, the lapel has three different types of tape. The bridle has been stayed with linen holland, the top edge has been stayed with fusible, and the lapel edge has a non-woven which may at one point have been fusible but if it was, the resin has failed. In any case, it was sewn on by hand so it doesn't matter.

The undercollar has been machined. This is another instance where I don't think hand-padding adds anything of value but traditionalists will squawk.

The back of the scye has been padded, likely to help with some very prominent blades.

Under the padding we find a linen holland stay tape which shows that the sleeves have been set by machine. Though they see no value in hand-setting the sleeves, the shoulder seam has been sewn by hand.

The chest has been made with one large piece of haircloth and one bias-cut piece of wrapped hair.

Malwae was asking about canvas qualities and here is an example of a bad quality haircloth. The weave is such that the hair slips right through- I was able to easily pull a strand right through-

This kind of thing is trouble for migration as the hair will start poking right through and bother the wearer. When selecting haircloth you want to pinch the edge and give it a good tug. If the weave grins, as it has in the photo below, avoid it. The hair should be crimped so that the weave is stable and the hair won't move.

This is not the first garment from that time period which was a little dodgy-looking; maybe in the boom that was the 1980s, Savile Row had to pump garments out at such high volume that quality slipped for a while. Maybe this was just a fluke. Who knows. In any case, I am hoping that the quality level has improved in the nearly 30 years that have passed since this garment was made and I will keep my eye out for a more recent example that would show it.

Developments

2011-02-26T17:27:00.001-08:00

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 of Holland and Sherry suiting on which I will be testing a new drafting system.

Lots of work to do.

IRONWORK, or Why I Hate Steamers

2011-02-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

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 the jacket before a single stitch is sewn; the trousers get worked up as well, which I alluded to in a previous post somewhere. The pages are nicked from an old textbook entitled (somewhat pompously) Il Sarto Architetto (The Tailor as Architect) and those who can't read Italian will still be able to get an idea of what's going on here. Namely, that a lot of shaping is being done which can be ruined with the aid of a jiffy steamer. You wouldn't notice anything jumping out at you, but the garment just wouldn't have the same shape or fit as before; very fitted or shapely (men's) garments are impossible to achieve without a good deal of this ironwork- something looser or more boxy will have less of it.

Cross-hatch lines indicate stretching and curved lines indicate shrinking.

Decisions

2011-02-19T06:56:00.000-08:00

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 even reminded of one garment in the YSL couture exhibit on which the finisher had even changed thread mid-buttonhole because the buttonhole straddled two areas of great contrast (yellow and black, IIRC).

The best way to know what will look best is to plan the buttonhole placement to find out where they will sit on the check, and then do a few test buttonholes on a scrap of cloth using different shades of twist. Fortunately I have that stash of vintage twist so I have a number of colours to choose from.

Despos

2011-02-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

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 Manhattan area, you can find him in his Oak Street studio.

Many thanks to Chris for donating this suit to science.

One of the first things that sets my bells ringing is this shoulder.

Though currently out of favor but perhaps enjoying a return of sorts, one of the reason that this type of pagoda-shaped shoulder is not so commonly seen is that it represents the pinnacle in terms of difficulty of execution. In other words, it may look odd to many people because they are not used to seeing it because so few can do it right. This kind of shoulder goes beyond just aesthetics- it is actually made to conform more naturally to the actual shape and forward pitch of the human shoulder, and there is a great 3-dimensionality to it. In movie terms, this shoulder is the Avatar to so many Creatures From The Blue Lagoon. You'll be able to see what I mean a bit later in the post.

This suit was made back in 1992 but as we saw in a previous post, has held up really well despite its being made in a super 150s cloth. Chris will be annoyed with me when he sees that the coat has been sitting in a heap since my last post and is thus in need of a pressing, but another annoyed reader commented that they wanted to see more of the garments than just the guts.

Some buttonhole porn, for those who are into that. These buttonholes are gimped with a single strand of buttonhole twist, instead of the type of gimp I use, so readers who are experimenting with buttonholes and don't have access to the Agreman gimp, here is proof that you can get perfectly good results without it.

Here's something we don't see all that often anymore; the outlets and cut edges have all been pinked (cut in a zig-zag edge). This prevent the edges from fraying, especially the lining which can get really messy, and may also help to prevent seam impressions.

The sleeve head wadding is of the Kotex type, but this has not disintegrated at all. In addition, a single, bias-cut piece of canvas reinforces the front of the sleeve.

The back of the scye has been stayed with a piece of lining which has been backstitched by hand.

An extra strip of self cloth has been inserted at the cap of the sleeve for smoother pressing.

Though it doesn't show in photography, it is worth noting that the sleeves (which are very large, thank you) have been sewn into the (very small) armhole BY MACHINE. The shoulder seam has likewise been sewn BY MACHINE. I don't think that these two steps need to be done by hand, and here is an indication that neither does Despos (nor does Henry Poole, for that matter). His opinion on the matter may since have changed and if it has, I am sure he will share it with us.

A full view of the coat front shows that his chest piece is of a moderate size, and has been worked up by hand.

A closer look shows some of the cuts required to shape the shoulder.

And now for a better look at what I mean about this shoulder shaping.

The pocket that has been created for the shoulder bone is very obvious here. This room is very important to the comfort of the garment- garments whose weight sits on the shoulder point are uncomfortable and don't move as well with the wearer. For this reason, shoulder seams which angle backward (and thus make it more difficult to get this forward pitch of the shoulder) are counter-productive, in my opinion.

Even after 20 years, this shoulder has maintained its shape.

Inside the chest we see the various cuts in the haircloth which build shape, and a strip of beige silesia covering the roll portion to prevent the hair sticking through.

A bias-cut shoulder piece is found, as expected, but somewhat unexpected is the hairline; I am more accustomed to seeing it running up toward the outside of the shoulder, but whatever works...

A piece of weft-insertion fusible is used to stabilize the bias grain of the peak lapel.

The lapel itself feels a little meatier than I expected so I rip some of the padstitching to have a look underneath. Sure enough, more weft-insertion under the lapel to give more volume to the roll.

I won't dwell too long on the pants, other than to say their execution is some of the neatest I've seen from the many examples of bespoke work. A few details of note, though, are the buttonhole-stitch bartacks at the end of the pockets,

Waistband extensions are more commonly square, as they are much easier to finish than the rounded type, as this one which requires much more work and precision.

My general impression is that this garment is neater than the majority of examples I have seen from Saville Row houses, and in many instances, more care has been given in its execution. More work went into this garment than the Caraceni that we saw, and the house is legendary. So while the name may not carry the same appeal or cachet than some of the other, more famous houses, the level of workmanship takes a backseat to none of them.

EDIT- disambiguation. There are a number of different results when googling Despos, so to be clear, this is Chris Despos, who is located at 34 East Oak Street, Chicago, Illinois- contact me for the phone number or email address if you need it.

Sartorial Mythbusting

2011-02-06T07:31:00.001-08:00

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, this will give me an idea of how well this particular cloth performed.

THe hem of the trouser is in almost perfect condition

even on the inside

The sleeve hem shows almost no signs of wear

and neither does the seat of the trouser.

It is quite safe to assume that this is a sturdy, English cloth. But what is surprising about this particular cloth is how fine it is.

That's right, Super 150s.

One of the common myths among the iGentry is that cloths of high super-numbers (which is an indication of how fine the fibers that were used to weave the cloth are, measured in microns) are too fragile and won't hold up to wear. While some cloths (notably Italian cloth) are made up with the intent of being very fine, soft and lightweight, and thus are more fragile, it is not necessarily true that all cloths bearing high super-numbers will be fragile. This garment being a fine example (in every respect).

So when evaluating the merits of a particular cloth, please do not fall into the ill-informed trap of dismissing a cloth merely because it is made up from super-fine yarns and must, therefore, be too fragile; let your tailor, who knows how various types of cloth handle and perform, guide you instead.

Chester Barrie

2011-01-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

As promised, a vintage Chester Barrie coat courtesy of RSS. Thank you.

In the previous dissection we looked at a garment made in Italy by D'Avenza, a shop that was set up by Chester Barrie and thus has certain similarities in make. They are not the same age so some of the differences might be attributed to changes in production methods, but it is interesting (to me) nonetheless.

Right off the bat, the un-jetted pocket flap which, to date, we have seen only on Oxxford, D'Avenza, and now CB, though a reader pointed out that their father's suits from Hart Schaffner Marx were also done like this, though they date from a period in which the buttonholes were also done by hand, which is going back a fair bit.

Another similarity between the two shops is that the top buttonhole (the one which is meant to be buttoned on a 2-button coat) has been worked, by hand, on both sides, while the lower one has been done only on the right side, which is the usual practice. Here is the back of the upper buttonhole-

And the back of the lower one

Really need to get proper lighting and a macro lens.

Normally I love cutting open these garments to have a look at the internal workings, but for the first time, I was really hesitant, because the finishing work on this garment is the absolute best I have ever seen. Ever. While the D'Avenza coat's vent and hem had been finished with a felling machine, the lining of this coat has been entirely finished by hand, and the stitching is invisible. Normally little pricks of silk thread can be seen along the edge of the lining, which is the easiest way of spotting whether the lining has been done by hand or by lockstitch machine, but the work is so fine that no stitches are visible along the lining edge

The hem has been done by hand as well

The armhole is equally neat, though these photos really don't do it justice.

It really pained me to cut apart such fine handwork, but it had to be done.

I doesn't show up in photos, but the undercollar has been set by hand, and the top collar was hand-drawn as well.

The hem and vents have been taped and felled in the same was as the D'Avenza coat, but the facing and inside breast pocket have been felled to the canvas by hand rather than blindstitch machine which is more typical. Even Kiton, who claim to do everything by hand, do this step by machine.

The sleeve head wadding is made with two pieces of bias-cut canvas, front and back, which have been folded over to reverse the direction of the hairline, and there is a piece of needle-punch felt in the top. Of all the types of felt made for sleeve wadding, I feel that this is the best since it is stable and won't disintegrate like the cotton kotex wadding, and the scrim (the white threads running through the back of it) make this far lighter and softer than the foam-backed needle-punch which is cheaper and thus more commonly found.

The chest felt is fairly meaty, and we can see that the lapel has been padded with a manually-operated machine, not the automated type, which would produce neat, even rows of stitching. The coat front has been pad-stitched using the jump-baste machine, which is my preferred method, instead of a zig-zag or blindstitch machine.

We can see that the armhole was taped before joining the forepart and the side body; it's now more common to join those two pieces and then tape the armhole in one go.

Rather than having haircloth all the way down the chest, the softer and less-expensive wrapped hair canvas has been used. Note the additional cut is the side of the chest which adds a bit more shape.

A small strip of canvas has been added to the scye to stabilize it.

A piece of rather nice haircloth in the shoulder has cuts on either side to help build in the natural, forward-pitch of the shoulder and a bit of a concave line.

This is certainly one of the best ready-made garments I have seen to date, particularly in the bang-for-your-buck equation. While Oxxford does far more by hand, a lot of those steps, in my opinion, add no value and you are paying a lot of extra money for something which could be done, with the same or better results, by machine. It's just a shame that the quality level today, while still high, is not quite to this standard anymore.

I'm almost tempted to put this coat back together again.

Almost.

Canvas quality

2011-01-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

A brief heads-up for the tailors out there.

I've been seeing some of what I consider to be inferior quality canvas cropping up and if you're not accustomed to looking for this, you may not notice it. So next time you are shopping canvas, bring a loupe or a magnifying glass.

The canvas is woven from yarns which are twisted; the animal hair will be mixed with wool, cotton, and maybe other fibers and twisted to make a yarn. The springiness of the animal hair, when twisted, will cause the yarn, and thus the canvas, to want to curl. To counter this, quality canvas is woven using what we call S and Z yarns (the shape of the letters gives you an idea of what this means); the yarn is twisted in one direction to create the S yarn, and the Z yarn is made by twisting in the opposite direction. This balances the canvas, but is more expensive than making, stocking, and using only one kind of yarn so certain weavers, mainly located in parts of the world which are new to weaving canvas (ahem) are cheating by only using one type of yarn. If you look at the photo above you can see a bit of the chevron which indicates that the weave is balanced.

If you're making up some heavy tweed or English flannel it probably won't matter, but if you're cutting something softer or lighter I would definitely take a closer look at the canvas you are buying.

D'Avenza Roma

2011-01-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

The next two coats for study were donated by styleforum's RSS, whom I thank, and they have an interesting connection. The first one we will look at was made by the Italian firm D'Avenza followed by a coat made by the English firm Chester Barrie.

Backing up a bit in time, Chester Barrie was considered by many to be the best manufacturer of ready-to-wear tailored clothing in the world. According to a friend who worked for them at the time, they were importing a lot of Italian tailors to work in the UK; so many that they decided it would be far more cost-effective to set up a shop in Italy, and that shop was called D'Avenza (Paul was then sent to work at this factory in Italy). Both companies are now owned by different owners and are not as well-known as they once were, but both these coats are fairly old so we get an idea of what the factories were like in their heyday.

This coat was made by D'Avenza, for Gieves and Hawkes.

The row of machine-stitching on either side of the pocket is an indication that this pocket was done manually, as opposed to by automated machine- a very good sign.

The outer pockets were also done manually- note the lack of pocket jet. The pick stitching was also done by hand.

There is a single 3/8" pocket jet under the flap. The only other RTW maker that I know of who does this is Oxxford (another bit of trivia- one of the last designers to have worked at D'Avenza had previously worked at Oxxford in Chicago).

The buttonholes have been made by hand, and the top one was worked from both sides (another similarity to Oxxford).

These little cross-stitches on the side vent were done by hand

Although it is not immediately apparent when we look at the vent finishing,

when I peel back the lining I see the little double-threaded felling

which, while done by machine, is another indication that this was a very well-made garment.

Getting into the coat, we see that the vent inlays and the hems were felled by hand, and that the vent has been stayed with a bias-cut strip of silesia.

The sleeve head consists of what I call the "kotex" wadding plus two pieces of bias-cut canvas which have ben folded in half to reverse the direction of the hairline. The sleeve head has been inserted by hand, and the armhole has been tacked into the canvas by hand.

The front of the armhole seam allowance has been pressed open

but the back has not.

Note the bias-cut silesia stay that extends from the front of the armhole toward the back. The front of the shoulder has also been stayed with bias-cut silesia. In both cases it is not a true bias of 45 degrees but a partial, 15 degree bias, which holds the area better but still is elastic.

The large part of the chest piece has been cut from wool canvas instead of haircloth, which is interesting as this means the chest of this garment is softer than that of the A&S which I looked at. Note that the canvas has been cut away in the shoulder area.

A first piece of straight-cut haircloth is found in the shoulder, with a 1" spread.

A second, bias-cut piece of haircloth is beneath the first.

As is typical, the dart has been sewn using an extra piece of cloth to make pressing it cleanly much easier, and that extra piece of cloth is basted into the canvas after the first row of basting has been done to join the front to the canvas.

Next post we'll look at the Chester Barrie- it will be interesting to see how they differ and in what ways they are similar.

A clever alteration

2010-12-31T06:26:00.000-08:00

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 which was evidence of an alteration. Not uncommon. But then I saw a few little stitches near the buttonhole on the back of the lapel. Hmm.

There was a slit next to the buttonhole that had been carefully closed up, as if the lapel had been narrowed by a tailor, but there was no visible evidence of any alteration from the other side of the lapel.

How did he do it?

The right was narrowed by simply trimming the edge, but the left had a dart taken out of the facing which narrowed it and maintained the position of the original slit. The buttonhole could then be reworked.

Of course, the collar had to be removed and narrowed as well, the edges of the lapel had to be sewn up by hand, and the collar redrawn by hand, and a perfect match of silk thread had to be found for the buttonhole and pick stitching. Not an easy (or cheap) alteration, but when well done, as it was in this case, would be virtually impossible to spot by the casual observer.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Stu Bloom on Garment Maintenance

2010-11-25T12:55:00.000-08:00

I've almost finished packing my boxes and will be moving in the next few days so things will be quiet for a bit. In the meantime, a guest posting from Stu Bloom from Rave FabriCare on garment maintenance. If you ever had questions about maintenance, garment shine, or those nasty double-creases down your trousers, this may interest you.

I'll be back once I've unpacked in the U.S.

Hi Jeffery:

There are 26,000 dry cleaners in the USA and almost every single one will tell you that they "focus on the details" and "deliver top quality cleaning".

This is, of course, utter nonsense.

Regarding the claim that they "focus on the details", here's the problem: true quality cleaning is not about a few details. It's about hundreds of details. And more specifically, it's the combination of those hundreds of details that produces true quality dry cleaning and true quality shirt laundry.

What I want to know is how can a cleaner claim that he "focuses on the details" when his entire operation is geared to same or next day service? How can a cleaner claim that he "focuses on the details" when your garments are picked up on day 1 and delivered on day 3? And how can a cleaner claim that he "focuses on the details" when he charges $12.50 or $20.00 for a two piece suit and $2.25 or $3.00 for a laundered shirt?

Regarding the claim that they "deliver top quality cleaning", how is that possible when their entire focus is on pushing more and more garments (quantity) faster and faster (speed) through their "production system"? And how is that possible when they have "production standards" that dictate that each of their pressers produce a targeted number of pieces per hour and when their pressers are paid by the piece?

True quality cleaning involves the right combination of skills, equipment and specialization, and pricing and turnaround that's correspondingly appropriate. Dry cleaning consultant Kenny Slatten said it best in a 2002 article in the Western Cleaner & Launderer: Every cleaner thinks that he produces quality work. But most don't have a clue what true quality cleaning is all about.

That having been said, what are some of the hallmarks of true quality cleaning?

Technical skills, equipment and specialization

True quality cleaning is a highly skilled endeavor. Most of my cleaners and pressers (aka finishers) have been with me for 10+ years and were hired for their TECHNIQUE, not for their EXPERIENCE. One of my best pressers, for example, had less than a year's experience when she joined RAVE FabriCARE.

Jeffery, that's where most cleaners fail: They believe (and they're encouraged by equipment manufacturers to believe) that fancy equipment will compensate for the lack of skill (by the way, we have plenty of that fancy equipment in our 7,500 square foot, state of the art facility). This problem is particularly acute when it comes to pressing. The overwhelming majority of pressers have many years of experience doing the wrong things over and over again. It's almost impossible to retrain an "experienced presser." Bad habits die hard.

On the other hand, when you have someone with great technique you can guide that individual into producing "near perfect" work over a period of years. I'm sure it's much like guiding a tailoring apprentice over the years to the point that you can trust their skills. Tedious but worth it over the long run.

But skilled technicians alone without the right tools and equipment won't be able to get the job done.

At RAVE FabriCARE, we have different finishing stations, equipped with different types of finishing pads, adjusted to different pressures, equipped with hand irons set at different temperatures, and staffed by pressers with different skills, to accommodate different categories of garments and even different types of fabrics within a specific category of garments.

To understand this departure from the industry norm, you must first recognize that ordinary cleaners typically employ only two types of presses in their dry clean operations: pant presses (slacks, trousers and shorts) and utility presses (blouses, shirts, blazers, sport coats, dresses, skirts, sweaters, etc.).

Finally, the right technical skills coupled with the right equipment permits you to specialize. At RAVE FabriCARE, for example, we follow a specialization regimen that's rare in the dry cleaning industry.

At the vast majority of ordinary cleaners almost everyone is a "jack of all trades". The "dry cleaner" presses pants when he's not loading/unloading the dry clean machine. Other pressers interchange constantly between trousers/slacks, sweaters, jackets/blazers, shirts/blouses, ties, formal dresses, etc. etc. The battlecry is loud and constant: get the stuff out the door and pitch in to get the work done, even if you have no idea what you're doing.

By contrast, a true quality cleaner would NEVER permit such cross utilization.

At RAVE FabriCARE, for example, a garment finisher who specializes in slacks, trousers and shorts would never be assigned a sport coat or a dress.

Why?

Because skilled finishing is all about technique. And few finishers -- even highly skilled finishers -- have developed their technique to the point that would allow them to move seamlessly between different categories of garments. (As I've said before: “technique” does not equate to “experience”. Most pressers with many years of experience have zero technique.)

Not only that, but a true quality cleaner has different finishing stations to accommodate different fabrics within a specific category of garments. For example, a garment finisher who specializes in cotton/linen slacks, trousers and shorts would never be assigned a wool, silk, poly, acetate or rayon slacks, trousers or shorts.

Why?

Because cotton/linen pant presses are equipped with a “harder” pad, are adjusted to a higher pressure, are equipped with hand irons set at higher temperatures, and requires a hand finisher with a “stronger arm”. By contrast, wool, silk, poly, acetate and rayon pant presses are equipped with a “soft” pad, are adjusted to a negligible pressure, are equipped with hand irons set at lower temperatures, and requires a hand finisher with a “delicate touch”.

At a true quality cleaner anything less is simply unacceptable:

Here are some more examples of specialization at RAVE FabriCARE.

• One dry cleaner for cotton and linen garments: one dry cleaner for all other fabrics.

• One presser for cotton and linen trousers/slacks; one presser for trousers/slacks comprising other fabrics.

• One presser is responsible for steaming and blocking all sweaters and knits. That's all she does all day.

• Three pressers hand press all cotton/linen blouses and shirts (that have not been assigned to our shirt laundry).

• One presser presses all sport coats, suit jackets, blazers and coats.

• All formals and wedding gowns go to one presser. She also does all ties.

• One presser presses all bespoke garments and made to measure garments (other than bespoke and MTM trousers and slacks)

At a true quality cleaner, you won't find those common "bang and hang" machine pressing practices typically found at ordinary cleaners: shine; seam, flap and button impressions; moire-like press pad impressions; double creases; wrinkled seams and linings; and other "crimes of fashion".

Instead, your fine garments will be delicately finished. By a skilled garment finisher. The old-fashioned way. By hand. Using a hand iron. Both inside and out. No matter how long it might take.

“Pressing”, as practiced by ordinary cleaners, is such a poor descriptor of the art of finishing. Of course, a skilled finisher must know how to apply pressure to achieve a smooth finish on a linen or cotton. But a smooth, soft, hand-finish, that minimizes the possibility of shine or seam, flap or button impressions, best defines the finest professional finishing.

When you consider the difficulty involved in aligning technical skills, equipment and specialization, I know why your blood pressure rises every time you think "dry cleaner"!

Dry cleaning machine operations

I’ll go out on a limb here: you probably wouldn’t operate your home washer the way ordinary cleaners operate their dry cleaning machines!

That statement may sound harsh but it’s not. Especially when you consider that the vast majority of ordinary cleaners

• mix dark and intermediate colored garments

• mix light and intermediate colored garments

• mix red, black and other dark colored garments

• mix regular and fragile garments

• load their machines to full capacity

• add or inject moisture into their dry cleaning system

• reduce the length of their “wash” cycles

• increase the temperature of their “dry” cycles.

This produces the fastest and cheapest -- and worst -- dry cleaning. What I call “ordinary cleaning.” And what ordinary cleaners call “exceptional” or “award winning” cleaning.

A true quality cleaner will run their dry cleaning machines quite differently from ordinary cleaners.

At RAVE FabriCARE, for example, we always scrupulously sort our garments into at least 5 like-color classifications, and at least 2 fragility classifications. We never add moisture to our dry cleaning fluid to control any possibility of shrinkage. We always under load our machines to ensure maximum soil removal and reduce pilling. We always extend the length of our wash cycles for maximum soil removal. And we always dry at lower temperatures to further control any possibility of shrinkage.

What’s more our dry cleaning machines even have completely separate filter systems for light/intermediate colored loads and dark colored loads.

By contrast, the dry cleaning machines at many ordinary cleaners have a single filter system. This means that the dry cleaning solvent or fluid from both their light/intermediate colored loads and their dark colored loads flows through the same set of filters. As a result, some of the dye residue from their dark garments that accumulates in their filters will eventually find its way onto your light/intermediate garments.

The result?

Whites, creams and pastels that are grey and dingy.

Pricing and turnaround

Is there's a strong correlation between the quality of the product your cleaner delivers and the price they charge for that product?

You bet there is.

So if your competitively priced cleaner that tells you that they consistently "focus on the details" and deliver "top quality cleaning" they're being disingenuous. I would call it lying.

RAVE FabriCARE, for example, is not a "competitively priced" or "value-priced" cleaner. We do not offer discounts, specials, coupons or deals. Nor do we offer a two tier pricing system, one price for your "regular" garments and one price for your "fancier" garments.

At RAVE FabriCARE, we deliver extraordinary care for fine garments and household textiles. And we price our services accordingly. This means that we set our prices at a level which affords us the opportunity to concentrate solely on the quality of our work.

As you can probably appreciate from my prior comments about skills, equipment and specialization, setting prices is the easy part. Consistently delivering on our commitment to extraordinary care -- every item, every order -- now that's the complicated part. And that's the difference between true quality cleaning and ordinary cleaning.

Turnaround is one of those topics that really gets my blood boiling.

While every other cleaner is proud -- yes, proud -- of their same and next day service and three day pickup and delivery service, we offer one week service. It's been that way ever since we opened our doors in April 1988.

Why? Because we don't -- and won't -- produce "bang and hang" or "ordinary cleaning".

Bang and hang cleaning or ordinary cleaning essentially involves tossing your garments into a machine, banging them out on a press, hanging them on a wire or wood hanger, stuffing them in a bag with or without tissue, and cramming them on a holding rack or shuttling them out the back door. Believe it or not, this is standard operating procedure at the vast majority of ordinary cleaners, including many who profess to be high-end cleaners.

Every cleaner is faced with the same strategic dilemma: They can either focus all their resources on consistently producing the finest garment care possible or they can deliver the same bang and hang work offered by 26,000 other cleaners in the U.S.A.

A quick turnaround means that they've made a strategic decision to focus on the latter. I'd go out on another limb here: no true quality cleaner would offer same or next day service or three day pickup and delivery service.

That, Jeffery, is my quick attempt to convey our philosophy on garment care.

Questions, please!

Additional reading

Caring for bespoke garments (part one)

http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/6/23/caring-for-bespoke-garments-(part-one).aspx

Caring for bespoke garments (part two)

http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/6/24/caring-for-bespoke-garments-(part-two).aspx

Your dry cleaning bill of rights

http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/4/13/your-drycleaning-bill-of-rights.aspx

A true quality cleaner's dry cleaning standards.

http://ravefabricare.com/true-quality-cleaning/2010/6/28/a-true-quality-cleaner's-drycleaning-standards.aspx

Brees' Blazer

2010-11-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's done.

I hope it fits.

A different kind of Sport Coat

2010-11-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

Usually the dissections performed for this blog are of a destructive but educational nature. This time, I am called to tear something apart only to make something new again.

This project has been in the pipes for quite some time now, but my imminent departure has mean that it must be completed in the next few days. But let's back up a bit.

I got a call from a retailer who was looking for a favor; he had a call from an agent whose client had an idea- he had seen someone on tv flashing the inside of his blazer which was lined in jersey and the logo of his team, and client wanted one of those to commemorate a recent game. I was having a bit of trouble following so I asked them to just send me the jersey so I could have a look at it and have a better idea of what I could do with it.

A week went by and I had no news of the jersey so I called the retailer back. "Yeah, yeah", he said, "it had to go to the dry cleaners first". Heh. Well, the thing finally came. There wasn't enough of the jersey material itself to line an entire coat so I did a few sketches of what I thought could be done, which were sent off to the agent. Not approved. We went back and forth a few times until I hit on exactly what he wanted, but there was not enough jersey to do it. So time to get creative.

I figured these things had to be available on the internet, so I went surfing. Bingo. Found them. Authentic jerseys. I'll just buy a couple of these and I'll have enough, as long as they are a perfect match. But wait. Screen printed logos. Um, no, these are embroidered patches. Made in Thailand. No, this is made in, uh, Berlin, WI. So not a match. Damn.

Call the store back and get them to call Reebok who makes these things and see if we can get some cloth or some practice jerseys. Back and forth again.

Meanwhile I figured I should start taking the pieces apart to get them ready for when I have all the jersey I need. This is kind of like the couture technique I sometimes use for wedding gowns where I take a piece of lace, select certain motifs within the piece, carefully trim them out, then rearrange the pieces over the garment to be re-embroidered by hand. In this case, instead of lace, it is sports crests. Well, these jerseys are made to withstand nuclear attack. Sewn down with very thick and durable thread, and glued on for good measure, I sat with a seam ripper to slowly unpick them. In certain cases they numbers were double-stitched so it twice the amount of time. To get three crests and the name off took me a whole evening of work, but at least I could sit in front of the TV and do it.

I rarely watch TV except for times when I am doing mindless work like this, and since I can only half-watch I don't put on anything that requires too much attention. Antiques Roadshow is one of those shows- I can have it on and just listen only to glance up at it every once in a while. My grandparents were hard-core antiques collectors so I know all about patina and provenance and preserving original finishes, and at one point I was starting to feel a bit guilty about what I was doing to this poor jersey, thinking that maybe it should have been preserved intact, but who am I to tell this guy what he should or should not do with his used clothing? Anyway, as I look over the bits and pieces with my AR hat on, I find that there is a hologram on the back of one of the crests- could there really be a black-market trade in fake super bowl crests that they need to identify them in such a manner? And the numbers inside the jersey are puzzling- I wonder what they stand for?

OK So now I've got most of the bits I need, time to cut the coat and get sewing. As is often the case with celebrity clients, I only get a set of questionable measurements from an assistant or an agent- rarely do I get more than that to work with so the fit is not always optimal. You might imagine that they would want to get a good fit, especially since they are having something custom-made, but not everybody cares about sleeve pitch and to be fair, they probably don't have the time for fittings, either. So if you happen to see this guy on TV and his collar doesn't sit right, I'm not entirely to blame.

I cut the lining pattern out of jersey, made two breast pockets, then laid out the pieces according to the design we agreed on. The large numbers were easy enough to baste into place, but when I got to the crests I started bending and breaking all my needles- they were just too thick to baste. They didn't take to being pinned either, so for the small ones I just had to carefully eyeball it at the machine, which is easier said than done, having to pivot around tight curves on a zig-zag machine.

I will have to make up the jacket and press it before inserting the lining since the bulk from the crests will prove challenging. I will have to put a few layers of padding on the press table to "absorb" the thickness of the crests when doing the final touch-up pressing.

So from this,

came this

then this

then this

Now, looking at the photo I realize that I reversed the position of the captain's crest and the super bowl logo. Damn. Have to undo it and fix it.

I'll have the coat finished in the next few days, at which point I'll post a photo of it finished. And since I don't watch much TV, if anyone should ever see him wearing it, I would appreciate hearing about it (because yes, this jacket is for Drew Brees and yes, it is his super bowl jersey). Just so I can check the fit of the collar, of course.

Lining a jacket with Hermes scarves? meh. That's so 2009.

Garment maintenance

2010-11-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

Most tailors have a tenuous relationship, at best, with dry cleaners, because of the things many do, in the name of expediency. I won't get into the details because my blood pressure is plenty high these days, but I want to share what was, until now, a hidden treasure trove of information about garment maintenance. Hidden to me, anyway.

I had heard of Rave FabriCare and about some of the extraordinary lengths to which they go to care for garments, both cleaning and pressing, but a recent exchange on StyleForum brought their blog, True Quality Cleaning to my attention, something which I had never seen before, probably because it's not all that easy to find on their website (are you reading this, Stu?)

I have never used them, but reading through the site, they say all the right things to lead me to believe that they really are the best place to consign one's clothing. I'm not talking about your 3-for-1 specials, but if you have been investing in quality clothing, it's worth investing in its maintenance. I'm frequently amazed at the number of people who will spend ages bulling their shoes to a perfect shine but who don't want to spend a few extra minutes on clothing maintenance, or a few extra dollars on proper cleaning and pressing. Sure, a hand-held steamer may appear to get the wrinkles out, much the same way a good coating of shellack will give your shoes a quick and easy shine. You don't varnish your shoes, do you? So why not care for your clothing properly? For those who are wondering about maintaining garments at home, between wearing and cleaning, all I can do is say that no tailor that I know of owns a steamer- we use an iron to PRESS out the wrinkles.

They do mail delivery cleaning for all over the US, Canada and Mexico, so if I weren't moving I would give them a try right away. Once I get settled I will send a suit in (incognito, of course) and report on how it comes back to me.

Anyway, anyone interested in clothing maintenance should have a browse through their blog- it's wonderful to find someone who seems to care as much about maintaining clothing as I care about making it.

Fitting Challenges

2010-11-06T06:10:00.001-07:00

Every so often I will get a call from a store who is having a hard time fitting a customer. We do our best to work with a stock garment, taking as many photos as possible so that I know how to adjust the pattern for a MTM garment, but sometimes it's not enough so we will do a basted try-on, and again, lots of photos. Normally I prefer to do a video-conference using skype so that I can guide the fitting in the store, but that is not always possible.

A few years ago I got such a call- the store was having a difficult time knowing what to do for a particular customer so they sent me some photos. They were going to use an expensive cloth so once I saw the photos, I decided that not only was a bated try-on going to be necessary, I thought it wise to do it in scrap cotton first, especially since they had no video capabilities. They took measurements as well as they could, I drafted a pattern, not having actually seen the customer in person, then we cut some cotton for a first fitting shell. One thing I determined we were going to need was what I call a "hammer dart", which is actually the point of this post; a colleague asked me a question about it and I figured I would share what little I know about with everyone.

I learned the technique from an Italian tailor who called it a "cuneo martello" and which I translate as hammer dart, because of the shape of it. Until I examined a Caraceni suit (danke, VLV), I had never seen it done by anyone else, but then I found reference to a similar technique in a french manual.

Here is the Caraceni version

And here is the French version

Back to my customer.

I sent the cotton fitting shell to the store and saw that we had a lot of work to do. The customer was, fortunately, aware that there are limitations to what we can achieve with MTM, particularly when I am not there to see him in person, but you could fit a large grapefruit between the lapels and his chest, so bad was the gaping due to his very prominent chest, the shoulders were massive, the fronts a mess, and the sleeve just atrocious.

I had hoped to be able to have a second fitting, this time in the actual cloth with the canvas in place, but he was suddenly in a rush to get his suit so I had to go to a straight finish.

Armed only with the low-quality Iphone photos you see here I made certain adjustments to the pattern and finished the coat. I didn't expect perfection from it, nor did we get it. I asked for photos of the finished garment so that I could make further adjustments to the next suit, should there be one (there usually is). One side is still gaping badly, though not nearly as it would have done without that hammer dart, and there are still a number of things to improve for the next one, but it's a far cry from the mess he would have had off the rack. The trousers he is wearing are not the ones we made him, BTW.

So if you are a difficult fit but can't afford bespoke, know that if you find the right salesman in the right store who has a good relationship with the right manufacturer, there can still be hope for a better fit than you would get straight off the rack.

We do care.

A nice visit

2010-10-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

I had a visitor at the office today. Someone else who enjoys buying expensive clothes and taking them apart; she may be familiar to some readers.

Claire Shaeffer is the author of a number of books on couture sewing techniques, and whose book "Behind The Seams- Chanel" I reviewed in this post. There were a number of interesting details in her book that I wanted to have a closer look at so when she told me she was coming I asked her to bring a few garments along. Fortunately for me she had room in her suitcase!

I have talked about the shaping that can be done in a tailored suit by stretching and shrinking using heat and steam on wool cloth, instead of using darts and seams, and that this shaping can be sensitive to humidity. We see inside this Chanel jacket that the craftsperson made provisions for this; the back was shaped as described, without the use of a dart, and to preserve the shape, a darted piece of organza has been carefully pad stitched to the shell fabric. Brilliant. The gold lines are bits of lining left over from when the lining was removed without removing the quilting- Chanel quilted the linings to the shell fabric, which was the inspiration for the quilt-pattern handbags that are now so famous. Another design element of those handbags is the gold chain- Chanel would sew chains onto the hems of jackets to give them weight so they wouldn't flop all over the place.

Another brilliant little couture detail can be seen on the belt of another Chanel jacket she brought. It's not immediately obvious, but the blue edging around the belt is really just the stripe in the tweed- when the belt was cut, an additional length of just the blue stripe was cut, and this was worked around the ends of the belt and slip stitched by hand to give the impression of a braid trim.

Then there was this jacket from Yves Saint Laurent, one of my favorite couturiers.

It was interesting to find that the canvas had been laid in on the bias, and that every single panel was canvassed from top to bottom. This jacket would be just beautiful when worn.

And, of course, my favorite shoulder treatment.

That pagoda shape is probably the most difficult of all to achieve- there are a series of cuts in the canvas, similar to what I do in mine, but whereas I put one cut in the shoulder, this tailor has put two. Then the cloth has to stretched and shaped properly to fit over the canvas.

Just a brief taste of what we looked at this morning- my camera has been acting up- but these are garments that have been fully and beautifully documented in her books which can all be found on Amazon and which I heartily recommend.

Oh, and I almost forgot.

This label looks familiar.

Where have I seen something like it before? :)

TOM FORD

2010-10-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

I must be out of my mind.

I've seen a few Tom Ford suits around which made me curious. We've seen them on celebrities, whom I assume had been fitted by people who knew what they were doing. But then I started seeing them on "regular" people and the shape had me intrigued. I noticed a shape and a cleanliness to the chest that I'm not used to seeing in RTW. IN fact, a degree of shaping in the whole garment that I'm not used to seeing in RTW. I was in Milan a few weeks ago so I stopped in to the shop there are tried some stuff on. First I tried their Base A, which is quite fitted, but I was told it was the larger of the two basic fits. ORLY? Then they showed me the Base B which, if you're not built like Cristiano Ronaldo, you can just forget. But then, if you are built like Ronaldo, I don't know of another suit being offered off-the-rack which is shaped quite like this.

Some people like their tailoring to look a little rumpled. I prefer mine to look clean. I like Brioni because it is a clean garment. Others prefer Kiton because it looks a little soft, a little easy. Well, these garments definitely fall into the clean category. Very clean. Made by the Zegna Couture factory, whose work we examined in a previous post there are some similarities and some differences. And for those who think that TF is just rebranded mainline Zegna, you are quite wrong. I see nothing inspiring in mainline Zegna. I was, however, moved to want to get my hands on one of these TF suits to have a better look.

A SF poster announced that there were some TF suits at Century 21 so I asked him to give me a call if he went back to the store. Which he promptly did. His instructions were this- get me a suit in a check so I can study how they shape it. Got it. And he did. So there I was Paypaling far more money than I had ever imagined I would spend on something I was about to tear apart and I wondered if maybe this habit of mine was getting out of hand. Oh well. So a few days later a parcel came, and then out came the scissors. And thanks to Angelicboris for making the trip to C21.

Before I started cutting, I wanted to get the draft down. I measured the check in the cloth and then drew a grid on paper in the same dimensions. Panel by panel I used the grid to reproduce the pattern pieces as they were before sewing; if I were merely to measure the dimensions of the seams and the panels, I would not get an accurate representation because of the stretching and shrinking going on during the shaping of the garment. By getting an accurate draft down, I can then measure seams and compare them to the paper- the shoulder seam, for example, measured 6 5/8" on paper but the garment was 7", telling me that they stretched the shoulder 3/8" to hinge it forward. Stuff like that. Do I hear snoring? Sorry.

The cloth is a fantastic wool/cashmere blend which has the stoutness of an English cloth and the refined finish of an Italian cloth. I would be happy to spend my life sewing cloth like this.

Some of the cosmetics that stand out.

These "milanese" buttonholes baffle me. They are worked, by hand, around a length of gimp with no visible knot on top. A real work of art which I haven't the first clue how to reproduce. Next time I am in Italy I will find someone to teach me. Unless someone reading would care to enlighten me?

The barchetta breast pocket is not only curved and blunted, as in the southern Italian style, but the corner is rounded right off.

It is also distinctly Italian, the only such detail in a garment which otherwise looks very much inspired by Savile Row.

The undercollar is made from self-cloth, and has been felled and finished by hand.

The trouser has side adjusters rather than belt loops (though the loops are included in the pocket)

And this kind of waistband finishing is very reminiscent of Savile Row tailoring

The shoulder on a TF is usually pretty imposing so I was surprised to find a very thin amount of wadding in the sleeve and a pad which is not very thick.

No surprises here- pad stitching by automated machine.

Then I got into the coat front itself- the layers of canvas down the front and in the chest and shoulder. It's a rather complex configuration which I will get into more detail about later. Of particular interest, though, was that the main haircloth piece extends right down to the waist level, and a second piece stops four inches above, with a rather deep chest dart. This is what is giving the polished-marble appearance to the chest. A number of other pieces of different types of canvas are staggered through the chest and shoulder and are going to require further study. Another point of interest to tailors is that the haircloth is trimmed out of the seam allowance in the top 4 or 5 inches of the shoulder so rather than supporting the rope, it is soft and collapses a little. The whole top of the sleeve, though clean, is very soft to the touch.

My one quibble about this suit is that despite all the work that went into it, and despite the magnificent hand-made buttonhole on the lapel, the buttonholes on the front are done by machine! Not saying that machine buttonholes are bad, but it's just so in comprehensible when the one on the lapel is so lovely! And Zegna Couture makes one of the nicest hand-made buttonholes on the RTW market on their own production so why not on the TF? I think everyone else at this price point has hand-made buttonholes so why these machine-made ones? I remember hearing something about problems with capacity- they didn't have enough skilled people to make enough buttonholes, but come on. Train them. Go get a few in the south, where they are all over the place. I don't know. Anything other than these machine-made ones!

Breathe, Jeffery.

What is it about buttonholes that makes me hyperventilate?

Tom Ford's styling is not for everyone. His fit even less so. But if you like the bold styling, are looking for a suit with gobs of shaping (and are slim enough to fit into it) without going bespoke, there is nothing else, that I know of, on the market like it so go try one on. But be prepared. They are not cheap.

EDIT

I just noticed this is post number 100. Cool.

ANOTHER EDIT

I am reposting a comment left in the comments section:

Daniel said:
I could not tell from the photo, but I have a question about the trousers. I am a theatrical tailor, and worked on an opera Tom Ford designed a year or so ago. One detail he had us do is to bring the side seam forward on the back part, into what would be the pocket facing on a slightly slanted pocket. At the hip, the side seam would appear below the pocket, but would be flat through the pocket. He claimed it made a better line when sitting around that part of the hip. Did you notice this on his trousers in the store, or do other makers use this detail as well?

Well, as a matter of fact, I did notice this, and my first thought about it was that it was, indeed a way to get the pocket to lie more flat, but I thought it was more to do with standing than sitting. You can see a pronounced forward slant here

This is not to say that the theory actually works.

The shoulder seam is also slanted backward, like A&S and many Neapolitan tailors do. My (partially unsubstantiated) opinion is that this does not, actually, help, and I do feel some pressure on the shoulder points when wearing the coat, however I can not definitively state that this pressure is due to the slant of the shoulder seam and not some other element.

But back to the trousers. It is an intriguing idea, one which has the consequence of skewing the plaid matching toward the top, but if it works,I would be willing to forgive it. I'm not sure if anybody else does this, though I saw a few trousers in Italy which make me suspect that they are not alone, but I did not look close enough to say for sure. I will definitely be paying more attention in the future; anyone with pictures of the side seam on checked trousers from Mabitex or Incotex would be kind to point them out.

The importance of hangers

2010-10-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

Bear with me while I rant a little bit.

Nothing makes me crazier than those stupid little wishbone hangers that some stores use to hang their garments. I really, really hate them. The way that you store your garment has such an impact on it, the same way a shoe tree is so important to the life of a good shoe. Two of the most delicate parts of a coat are the top of the sleeve and the collar, and they are shaped to contour your body; it would make sense, then, to hang a garment on something that closely resembles the body, no? Then why do department stores insist on those skinny little wishbone hangers which in no way resemble the body, are usually too wide so they poke out the sleeves, do not support the top of the sleeve so the sleeve buckles, and do not support the collar?

Take a look at the way this coat sits on this hanger. The ends are poking into the sleeve and the sop of the sleeve buckles; there is a piece of canvas in the sleeve head which is meant to support it because, over time, the rippling you see can become semi-permanent, requiring a skilled pressing to remove. If the garments are stored too closely together on these hangers, the creasing can actually become very difficult to get out, even by an experienced hand. Worse, if you expose the garment to humidity while on this hanger, like hanging it in a steamy bathroom to remove other creases (not something I recommend doing, by the way), the damage can be even worse. Maybe you've never observed this before but I hope now you will.

See how the collar sits away from the hanger with nothing to support it? It can get crushed or stretched out like this, again requiring a good pressing to fix.

Better makers know that hangers are important so the garments are placed on hangers with a very wide shoulder that supports the sleeve and collar. Not only are these hangers, themselves, much more expensive than standard EQ14-type hangers, but they are also more expensive for shipping. But we consider it important to the garment. Some stores choose to switch these hangers at their distribution center for the smaller ones, others don't. The ones who don't, I thank you. The ones who do, well, grrr.

Why do the stores use these awful little hangers, then, if they are so bad? Well, space. And space is money. Space in the distribution center, space in the trucks which ship the product to the stores, and space on the selling floors. They can cram more garments into less space using these little hangers, which saves them money. Grrr.

You probably know where I'm going with this.

I got a message from Kirby Allison, asking if I would mind putting an ad for his products on my blog.

He offered to send me some hangers for review, but accusations of shilling are rife on the internet, and not having seen his hangers yet, I wanted to feel free to say they were not up to par, if that were the case. So let me be clear here- I did not accept any free hangers, I paid for them, though he gave me free shipping. This is not a review in exchange for free stuff. This is me ranting about something I feel very strongly about.

Here is the same coat again, on the wishbone hanger, and then on one of Kirby's hangers. See the difference in the sleeves and collar? The hanger is the proper width, since he offers 4 widths, and it supports the shoulder and the collar. For me, it's a no-brainer.

I am fortunate to have access to good hangers at work, otherwise I would have to buy them somewhere. I guess Kirby was faced with the same dilemma when he started his hanger project- I'm not sure where else you can get good suit hangers. They're not cheap, but then, compared to the price of a good suit, it's a worthwhile investment. And compared to the price of a lasted shoe tree (I pay $160 for mine- ouch!) they're a bargain! So if you are currently hanging good quality suits on crappy little hangers, I strongly recommend thinking about investing in a few better ones.

Your clothes will thank you for it.

The Mother Lode

2010-10-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

The granddaughter of a tailor was selling vintage bolts of cloth and buttons on the internet recently and I noticed she had some thread. Regular readers are familiar with the difficulty I sometimes have in getting silk buttonhole twist, particularly good stuff, so I told her I would take everything she had. And she had a fair amount. Some of it is from Belding Corticelli, who used to make a really excellent silk buttonhole twist. But not anymore- the spools are stamped State Tailors 1950.

Am I really getting excited over some old thread?

Really?

Well, yes.

I need to get out more.

Another DB

2010-09-17T15:37:00.001-07:00

It got really chilly this week. I leave the house around 7 am and it's particularly nippy at that hour (especially on a Vespa) so I decided to break out some flannel- something I had made this summer and was just waiting for the right weather for it.

The cloth is from Minnis, number 0300.

EDIT

Thanks for all your wonderful comments.

JC- I'll post trouser shots next time I wear it, which might not be for a while if the weather starts cooperating again.

Jeff- It will only wrinkle if I fall off, which I don't :)

Detlef- not just in a photo, but also in a very light colour, which shows up all the little defects, much more than a dark suit

Jordan, you may be right, but I already have this (but in a vastly softer, lighter 9 1/2 ounce Italian flannel!)

So it was an about-face from that. Not that I disliked that- not at all. My dog, apparently did, though. She ate the flower when she was a puppy.

Anonymous- I have been sewing for about 30 years now.

More softness

2010-09-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

Readers may remember my last soft coat which was the first prototype for a model which became very popular. So when it was recently suggested that I might want to attend a certain event in Atlanta in the next few weeks, I decided it was as good an excuse as any to make another soft coat- they are particularly fond of soft, rounded shoulders in the deep south and I don't have much clothing for that kind of weather.

The coat has a self-cloth facing, and I used cotton pocketing for the yoke and trimming. Bemberg in the sleeve.

There is no haircloth or chest piece and no shoulder pad- only the front canvas and some light felt to cover it.

This is how thick the shoulder construction is, which has been done in the "spalla camicia" style

which gives this soft, round, slouchy look.

I'm sure somebody knows the name for this kind of jigger shank- I don't know how to call it. Anyone?

Since I won't make many coats in this colour, I ordered the small 10m spools of silk buttonhole thread from Tristan, in BC, Canada. As far as I know it is the only source in Canada for buttonhole silk in small quantities, and they are the exclusive North American distributor for Tre Stelle's Bozzolo silk. It has a nice sheen to it and is worth trying out.

EDIT- I got the following message on another post- We are a sister company to Tristan Italian threads. We are the US importers of Cucirini Tre Stelle thread from Milan, Itay. The Seta Bozollo silk is a 24 wt thread that comes on a 11 yd spool. Our shopping cart is www.carmenwarehouse.com or catalog is www.GilbreathThreads.com

Oxxford Clothes - Made in the USA

2010-08-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mark for pointing this one out.

Discuss.

Summer

2010-08-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

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 everyone had a great summer. I did.

On stripes and lapels

2010-06-16T15:28:00.001-07:00

I noticed some discussion on Noveporte about the positioning of stripes on the edge of a lapel and thought I would give my opinion on the matter here.

Because of the way I was trained, things like this just jump out at me, and strike me as being a bit careless. I understand that to others it may not be important. Notice the stripe line vis-a-vis the edge of the lapel.

People will point out that the edge of the lapel is not straight, and that DB lapels in particular benefit from a pronounced curve to the edge, and they are correct. The curve is quite noticeable in the photo above. Also very noticeable is the concave curve at the tip of the lapel which I find particularly objectionable. This curve also causes stripes to be cut off toward the top or the bottom of the lapel, another thing which I don't particularly like. You will see the stripes cutting off at the bottom of factory-made garments because it is not practical in an assembly line to do otherwise; sartorial, or bench-made garments, can be done differently.

I was taught that the edge of the facing should be worked up with the iron, stretching and shrinking the facing so that a nice belly can be cut, but that the stripe will still follow the shape. Notice in this photo that there is a pronounced belly (the yardstick is used to show the shape); notice also that the stripe, rather than running parallel to the yardstick (which is straight) follows the curve of the edge of the lapel.

The facing has been worked up so that the line will run straight, parallel, and won't be chopped off by the curved edge of the lapel. The result is that the shape draws much less attention to itself and is more subtle and harmonious. In my eye, anyway. And this is, of course, a matter of personal preference and as such is open to debate.

I much prefer this

To this

but I have, after all, been brainwashed into thinking that.

Thoughts?

EDIT

there was a question about stripes cutting off. Here is an example of what I mean. You may have never noticed these things before, but once you start looking at them they can drive you a little crazy. Or maybe it's just me. But those sleeves are just dreamy.....

The stripe on the lapel on the right (wearer's left) has been highlighted to show (I hope I'm being more clear now) how the stripe is cut off by the shape of the lapel- the stripe is straight but the lapel is curved so the stripe stops 3/4 of the way down. On the left I have shown how the stripe would run if the facing had been worked up in the manner shown above- the stripe would run parallel to the edge all the way down the lapel despite the curve in its shape.

rnssnc is correct- this is a Tom Ford suit. I haven't examined one closely- I had a quick look when they first came out and my first impressions were quite good but I know they have made some changes since so I would rather not comment ( I would very much like to get my hands on one to have a good look but they are rather expensive, even on ebay). Certainly the "hanger appeal" as we call it in the trade is exemplary.

Chris Despos on Caraceni

2010-05-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

For those who may have missed it, Chris Despos left an interesting comment on the Caraceni post that I am going to reprint. Those outside the U.S. may not know that Despos is considered one of the top bespoke tailors over here, so his input is greatly appreciated. Even more appreciated is his direct insight on the subject which is why I am reposting his comment here.

Jeffery,
Interesting post. I worked 3 years with a tailor from this shop. We would blunt the corners on sleeves and vents even for the basted try on. The process after the try on was to make the lower pockets then turn the front edges, sew them down then baste on the facings. After the lapels were done we would position and make the breast pocket, cutting thru the canvass, haircloth and flannel. This is a nice method and accommodates a pocket square quite well. Because the pocket is put thru the canvass to the inside, the bulk of the square is between the canvass and the lining rather than between the canvass and the cloth. We would cut the haircloth for the chest in two pieces. from midpoint of the chest up it was cut in the normal way. We would cut the bottom piece on the bias and attach it to the other piece. This gave a firm shoulder and a soft chest. This was the last 3 years of 9 years apprenticing. Great experience and opportunity to make clothes in this way. Most of these techniques have been abandoned.

Cutting the breast welt through the canvas is pretty old-school. Frank Shattuck was telling me last week that he still does it this way as well. Caraceni's method seems to have changed slightly in the meantime, from what Chris described.

Here is a view of the inside of the breast welt, which is more often now made before applying the canvas and as such is sandwiched between the cloth and the canvas. Chris is right to point out that it makes a cleaner chest to cut it through the canvas. I'm not a fan of cutting through the haircloth, but we will see that in this coat, that was not done. Nor was it sewn through the felt, which, in this case, has been applied by hand and trimmed around the pocket.

With the felt gone, we can see that the chest piece was split just below the breast line, and another piece of wool canvas butted to it. The breast welt was sewn through two layers of wool canvas, rather than canvas and haircloth. We can see that an additional piece of wool canvas, on the bias, was added to the shoulder for additional support, and the whole is heavily padded by blindstitch machine.

Oh and Chris' thoughts on the mezzaluna tacks:

Mezzaluna tacks hold the interior pipes in place and help support the stress on the pocket pipes. It binds the pipes to the cloth. Much stronger than a hand bar tack that is more decorative than functional. Actually I do bar tacks with a buttonhole stitch on trouser pockets.
Despos

Thanks, Chris.

Twice in one week

2010-05-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I hear about things being done that I find a little hard to fathom; pad stitching a chest with a blindstitch machine is one of those things. I had heard rumors of it, but I had never seen it before. Until now.

And twice in one week.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against the idea of machining a chest- with the right equipment you can do a great job of it. A blindstitch machine, however, does not afford the kind of control necessary to get a good shape, and I was afraid that you couldn't handle the layers properly without it shifting too much during sewing.

So when I opened up the Caraceni I was rather dismayed to see that they had done the chest with a blindstitch machine, and the sort of thing that I was worried about is, in fact, a problem. This is the side that sits toward the cloth- it has been stitched from the inside. The canvas has shifted during sewing and there are little bubbles of fullness, just as I had expected there to be; these are much more obvious when you handle the chest than in the photo.

Then this weekend I saw a vintage garment that Dominik Kufner has in his collection.
This, too has been done with the blinstitch machine, but from the outside of the chest. Not good for shaping the shoulder, IMO.

Anyways, something to think about. I am not a fan, and am even less of a fan now that I have seen it up close and personal.

A. Caraceni

2010-05-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

It finally came!!

SF member Vaux le Vicompte kindly donated our latest specimen, a DB he had made by A. Caraceni in Milan- you can see images from some of his sartorial adventures at his lovely blog here- legrimod.blogspot.com. (merci, Monsieur le Vicompte!) The following is excerpted from Wikipedia;

Caraceni was founded in Rome in 1913 by the father of Italian tailoring, Domenico Caraceni. At one point in the 1930s, Domenico and his family operated ateliers in Rome, Milan and Paris. The Paris atelier was operated by Domenico's brother, Augusto, who closed his atelier when Mussolini declared war on France.
Today, there are several businesses going by the name "Caraceni" in operation. The original shop operates out of a small location in Rome with a very small workforce. This is run by Tommy and Giulio Caraceni, nephews of Domenico. There are three branches in Milan, all founded by offshoots of the clan, one even claiming to be the "real Caraceni." However, the cognoscenti consider A. Caraceni, currently operated by Mario Caraceni (son of Augusto) to be the best of the Milan branches. These suits are what is known as "bench bespoke," meaning they are made one at a time, by hand, to a pattern specifically drawn for each individual customer.
The various Caraceni "sartorias" have crafted handmade suits for various celebrities over the years, including Tyrone Power, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianni Agnelli, Sophia Loren and fashion designer Valentino Garavani. The Caraceni label is also famous for dressing generations of The Kings of Greece and Italy, The Prince of Wales, Prince Rainier of Monaco, Italian Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi and Aristotle Onassis.

It is worth noting that Domenico Caraceni regularly obtained King Edward VII’s castoffs (which had been made by Henry Poole) which he dissected and studied, so in a sense he is the spiritual grandfather of this blog. Or parts of it, anyway. He also wrote an essay in 1933, compiling his thoughts on the trade which I have yet to find; if anyone knows of a copy of Orientamenti nuovi nella tecnica e nell'arte del sarto, I would very much appreciate knowing about it.

From the outside are all the hallmarks of a very well-made bespoke suit- entirely respectable hand-made buttonholes, hand pick stitching, hand-sewn besom pockets with mezzaluna tacks, and a very nice curved, hand-made barchetta breast pocket.

Under the lapel is the “cugno Martello” (I don’t know how to call it in English) a type of dart we don’t see much anymore.

The lining has been inserted entirely by hand, and it looks as though the facings may have been applied by hand, though I will have to get it open to know for sure.

Gorges which have been drawn on by hand can usually be spotted from ten meters away, but this one has been done so neatly and expertly that I almost believed it had been done by machine, even on very close inspection it was hard to tell. Easily the best finishing work I have ever seen.

One notable feature is the blunting of the corners; I was taught to do this but it is hardly ever seen anymore. The points of the collar, the pocket , the vents, the sleeve vent, the bottom of the front edge have all been blunted with a few well-placed hand stitches. A subtle distinction of the hand-made suit.

Vent

Sleeve vent

Breast welt

The lapel has been padded rather exuberantly by machine, which is a bit surprising considering the amount of handwork everywhere else. In fact, now that I have it open, I am able to say for sure that the facings were applied by hand, a step which Frank Shattuck tells me takes him a full day to do. One wonders why, then, they would choose to pad the lapels by machine- perhaps they do not see any added value to it. Similarly, the collar has been padded by machine.

It doesn’t show up very well in photos due to the dark colour, but the shoulder seam has been sewn by hand and the sleeves have been set by hand.

Shoulder seam

Armhole

There is a monstrous amount of padding in the shoulder, but this may have been a personal preference or a way of concealing overly sloping or hunched shoulders.

The suit was made in a slightly softer cloth than I have seen coming from some of the English tailors, and it gives the garment a bit of fluidity which is typically Italian. Despite the more challenging cloth, it has been made up very neatly, and expertly- it really is a tremendous garment which I will be continuing to study so there will likely be some updates to this post shortly.

Sleeves on an overcoat

2010-05-01T11:22:00.001-07:00

I didn't get a chance to photograph the blazer before shipping it, sorry. To make it up to some of you (well, at least to Kim who has been begging for this for a while) some thoughts on setting sleeves. Not a full tutorial, but just a few pointers, this time a woman's overcoat. (Cheating, she says- those sleeves are easy!) This will appeal mostly to homesewers, so if that's not you, check back soon when I will be opening up a Caraceni that is somewhere in the postal system (I hope it's not lost!)

The first thing I will mention is the importance of stabilizing your armhole- if you distort it by even 1/8" in some areas you can have sleeve trouble and will have to adjust the pattern. The most common way of doing it is to stay the armhole with 1/8" cotton india tape, drawing in slightly in the sharply curved area of the lower part of the armhole. By drawing in, I mean to pull slightly on the tape to shrink that area a bit.

With very full sleeves or difficult cloth I will pre-shir (gather) the sleeve. In the factory we have programmable machines that will shir different amounts around the sleeve cap; at home I will just use a long stitch on the plain machine, run two rows, and draw them, easing the cap into a nice shape. Make sure that the shirring is smooth and that there are no areas that are puckery or lumpy- also, no easing for about 3/4" on either side of the shoulder seam notch.

If you haven't altered the armhole and are working from a commercial pattern, then you are good to go, matching notches- if you have eased the cap you shouldn't have much trouble basting it in; any puckering that shows up should be redistributed. Don't be tempted to fill in a puckery sleeve with a bunch of wadding- it may hide the puckers now, but they will come back. The wadding is just to help the sleeve, not to cover bad sleeve setting. But let's say you HAVE changed the armhole a bit during fittings, or, like this one, it's a new pattern that hasn't been tested yet. Then you may have to adjust a little.

There should generally be more fullness toward the front of the sleeve, near the front of the shoulder bone, than in the back. I have basted my sleeve in, and the back looks good,

But the front is too full- I don't want that much of a rope. Maybe you have puckering because the sleeve is too full or the cloth is difficult.

I take the sleeve out, remove the shirring stitches, and rip the elbow seam. Then I trim the top sleeve a bit (or a lot, in this case) like this

Then I re-sew the elbow seam, redo the shirring, re-baste the sleeve, and hope for the best. Lather, rinse, repeat, if necessary. The result is much better.

Then I will cut some wadding and canvas for the sleeve head, which will look like this-

The two pieces of canvas go on the front, with the smaller piece underneath- note how the hairline reverses on the pieces- very important. At some point I wrote an article on designing sleeve heads so I will try to dig that up rather than going into too much detail now.

EDIT

Here's the post

ot about shoulders in tailored clothing. One important element in defining the look of the shoulder is the sleeve treatment; first, the seam can be put toward the sleeve for a rope, it can be opened for a continental shoulder (one with a defined crown but no rope) or a natural shoulder, or it can be put toward the coat for a neapolitan shoulder.

Second element is the type of wadding used. The traditional wadding was usually a piece of lambswool with a bias-cut cotton folded over it (see photo, item on top of crappy iphone photo). The disadvantages are that this can be a bit lumpy, it is limiting in the style of shoulder you can achieve (it tends to be ropy) and it tends to break down over time. We hear a lot about traditionally-made coats “settling” over time; I, personally, would rather deliver a garment which will keep its shape over time, rather than one that changes. But that’s me.

The wadding shown in the lower part of the photo is more common in RTW garments now because it affords more control to the designer and will keep its shape. It also helps with the dreaded “hanger appeal”, which bespoke tailors don’t have to worry about.

Two types of felt are commonly used- one is a basic needle-punch felt with a foam backing which is quite lofty and good for rope-style shoulders, the other is a needle-punch felt with a scrim (net) backing which is lighter and softer. I, personally, prefer the scrim felt for all applications over the foam but the foam keeps its shape better.

The canvas used is a special weave designed especially for, and only for, sleeve heads. It is a broken twill weave and is denser and has more roll to it than regular canvas. It is easy to tell the difference when you look at the back of the canvas. The canvas helps support the sleeve not only on a hanger, but on the wearer, and prevents disasters happening if the wearer should inadvisedly steam his suit

The pattern for the sleeve head will depend on the type of shoulder you want. It starts with the sleeve pattern; start shaping the sleeve head as shown in figure 1. The degree of curve from this point will determine how much bulk you introduce into the sleeve cap- for a rope shoulder or one with a very defined crown, make a straighter shape, as in figure 2. For a natural shoulder (and by this I mean of the J Press/Southwick/Paul Stuart type) make a much more curved shape (figure 3), which will make a flatter profile with less bulk. From this basic shape you can develop your pieces.

For the felt piece, I don’t run it all the way down the front, though some do- it’s up to you. The first piece of canvas that you make will support the sleeve and define the crown (or not)- for a rope or continental shoulder, start the canvas about 2” down from the shoulder point. Be very careful to observe the HAIRLINE indicated on figure 1. I indicate the hairline and not the grainline because the canvas is streaky in the direction of the hair line and is easy to identify visually (the hairline is the crosswise grain). The large piece must be cut on the bias with the hairline RUNNING DOWN or you will get a dimple on the cap. A second, smaller piece is usual, as shown in green on figure 2. The hairline is also bias but the opposite to the large piece- this will ensure a nice forward roll on the front of the sleeve. A third piece can be cut, as shown in orange, on figure 2. Note the direction of the hairline.

A natural shoulder requires less canvas. The scye seam should be opened as much as 4” to either side of the shoulder point, and there should be no canvas in this area. It’s not as clean on a hanger, but is nice on the wearer. Start the canvas 4” down from the shoulder point as shown in figure 3. There should be no canvas in the top of the sleeve, and a third (sometimes fourth) piece is added to the back, as shown in orange.

A certain amount of experimentation will help you develop a sense of how the shape and size of each piece affects the final contour of the sleeve cap.

Now back to watching my mail box for that Caraceni....

Welsh & Jefferies

2010-03-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

Another donation came this week; thank you, Justin.

In previous posts we have looked at the construction methods of some of the best-known makers on Savile Row and elsewhere, this time we look at one of the less well-known though no less highly-respected SR houses, Welsh and Jefferies. I, myself, know little of them other than the fact that they have been in business a little over 100 years, and recently acquired the firm Lesley & Roberts. They have the beginnings of a very attractive website, one which has inspired me to try to make this blog more interesting to look at. I also know that their cutter, Malcolm Plews, is one of the most highly regarded members of the trade and is considered one of the best working cutters by his customers and by his colleagues. We can learn little about Mr. Plews by examining a garment without its owner inside it but we can learn a bit about the firm, and perhaps learn something new about garment construction in general.

The label inside the pocket indicates that the coat was cut in 2006 and bears Mr. Plews' initials; I have obscured the name of the owner.

It was cut in a proper 3 button style, with three working buttonholes on each sleeve; as I unfasten them I notice the same gummy substance as was used on Steed's buttonholes so it is clearly more widespread a technique than I thought. I'm still a little ambivalent about it, though, as it was a little messy-looking on the dinner suit; here you see it as I try to open the lapel buttonhole.

The shoulder has a good, strong rope to it, as one might expect from military tailors. Not to everyone's tastes, but certainly to mine.

There is a dart under the lapel, which we will pause to discuss for a moment.

Without getting into too much detail about the position of the shoulder point, one of the most hotly debated subjects among cutters, a shoulder can be said to be cut "straight" or "crooked", which have nothing to do with the shape of the shoulder but the position of the shoulder point. A shoulder which is cut crooked has a shoulder point which is further away from the center front than a straight shoulder, the crooked shoulder giving a cleaner, leaner chest than a straight one. It also causes the bridle to lengthen, which can sometimes cause gapping along the roll line or for the coat to swing away at the hem. There are two principal methods of dealing with this extra length- a chest dart which crosses the roll line, as is seen here, or a bridle tape which is drawn tight in order to shrink the excess length onto it. Both methods will help the roll line to conform snugly to the chest without "popping"- most (perhaps all) RTW makers draw the bridle tape, but in MTM orders where the customer has a prominent chest and the lapel still gapes, we will then apply a "full chest" alteration which includes the chest dart so he gets a double-dose of the shortening effects.

In the case of this garment, there is a chest dart so we don't necessarily expect to see a bridle tape inside.

Some garments come right apart in my hands; this one was quite a bit more work to get open, which is a good thing- it speaks to how solidly-constructed it was, as might be expected from a military tailor, and is a good indicator that the coat will last a very long time.

The shoulder wadding is a little unusual in that it extends quite a bit down the back of the scye- not unusual to pad the back of the scye, as the Huntsman example we looked at in a previous post, but just that the pad should be shaped this way. I think this will give a smoother shape and more support and is a good idea for those whose strong blades or poor posture make for a potentially messy back. There are more layers of dense wadding than any other SR garment I have looked at and can be dubbed the strongest shoulder to date.

The canvas has been constructed in the same manner as the Hunstman suit, the dart having been closed by machine onto a silesia tape, closing all layers of canvas, haircloth and felt at once. Notice the very large area covered by the felt- this conceals a large piece of haircloth (the firmest type of canvas available) just slightly smaller than the felt itself, which extends almost all the way down to the waist. This is helped by a generous dose of pad stitching (by hand, of course) and the first of the curiosities- a piece of straight-cut fusible in the armscye are.

A closer look at the fusible, which seems a bit like the Kufner B872 article and was applied after the pad stitching was done

I have no idea what purpose this might serve other than to stabilize the scye, prevent stretching, or perhaps prevent unsightly folds developing (just teasing the drapists). I'll have to sit on this one for a while....

Again, a curiosity. The edge tape is fusible, but has been basted on by hand.

I have seen, from time to time, a piece of silesia inserted underneath the canvas in the lapel, meant to give a bit more bulk and support to the roll, since the more layers worked together, the more stable the shape- I will certainly always put a small piece in the gorge area to stabilize. This is the fist time I have seen the silesia placed on TOP of the canvas before being pad stitched (again, by hand).

The collar has also been padded by hand

A view of the extra pieces of canvas in the shoulder. Where I might use an extra piece or two of haircloth for a very structured shoulder, they have used three pieces of wool canvas. Note, however, that two of the pieces have the hairline running straight up and down, which is not something I have seen before.

The shoulder seam, if you can see it, has been sewn by machine, as has the sleeve. There seems to be a lack of consensus on Savile Row about the best way of doing these operations.

The front of the coat has been stabilized with a piece of black fusible in the pocket area, and the pocket jets have been fused with a white fusible. More on this in a moment.

The fabulous rope has been wadded with a commercially-prepared sleeve roll; a layer of needle-punch felt folded over a layer of canvas.

Now, going back a bit to the presence of fusibles in this coat, as I can already hear the gnashing of teeth. The pocket has been stayed with linen holland in the traditional manner, as well as the piece of fusible so rather than replacing one thing with something more expedient they have rather added another level of construction. The front tape may be fusible but no time has been saved in its hand-sewn application so it is clearly not a time- or cost-saving thing. There were a number of other areas stabilized with fusible tapes in addition to the traditional methods of staying. I think that some of the surprising elements show a bit of forward-thinking which is refreshing for the Row (even if I do not understand them), and may be a sort of double-bagging to ensure the longevity of the garment and in no way represent a cheapening or lowering of standards despite our general aversion to all things fusible and modern.

The owner may not be going into the trenches with this coat on, but I am reasonably certain that he could.

EDIT- little message for Libermann, since I can't remember how to type in Russian. Have a good look at that video you posted....

Hand Made Buttonholes, the video

2010-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

I've been asked about my buttonholes a few times, mainly by people wanting to know how to do them. There's a good set of printed instructions here but I have a few things to add to it.

The type of cloth will dictate how narrow a bite you can take- loose cloth requires a wider bite, tight cloth you can get away with a narrower bite. It makes a difference in the appearance. Consider the buttonholes at the top of the post- they have a raised appearance like the Milanese buttonhole. The buttonholes below appear much flatter.

What is the difference? They were all made with the same size silk twist, the same gimp, using the same stitch type, and by the same person (me). To get the flat buttonhole, I take a fairly wide stitch so that the gimp sits under the leg of the stitch and the knot sits to the side of it. For the raised buttonhole, I take a much narrower stitch and pull straight up when making the knot in order to place the knot directly on top of the gimp. This gives the volume. I filmed the making of the grey sleeve shown above; I'm not sure if anything will be visible in the internet-friendly version, but let's give it a shot.

EDIT- Apparently some browsers only display half the video screen, so by clicking on the title of the video (Hand Made Buttonholes) you can go to the vimeo site where you should be able to see it complete. In the meantime I will try to figure this thing out..... still more technical problems. If you get jagged lines, try clicking through the full res version on Vimeo- I think that works better.

Those who are interested in the materials used can check out this blog post where I discussed the various threads http://tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com/2009/12/hand-made-buttonholes.html

Unfortunately, I don't know where to get the Agreman gimp online. Richard James Weldon stocks it in London, Lafayette Saltiel Drapiers stocks it in Paris and sells the black by the meter rather than by the spool, you could try calling Bergen Tailor Supply, B. Black or Ely Yawitz- they may stock it even if it's not on their websites. Next time I see my Gutermann rep I will ask if he knows of anybody who stocks it, but I doubt he will know.

Hand Made Buttonholes from Jeffery D on Vimeo.

Henry Poole.... Again

2010-02-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

If you missed the first Henry Poole dissection, check it out here There were a few curious details which raised several questions about the make which couldn't be answered since there was no customer label; we were therefore not sure if this were a bespoke garment or a sample or something.

To help clear the air a bit, StyleForum member Ohm was kind enough to donate a bespoke Henry Poole coat for dissection and comparison to the other coat. Thank you, Ohm.

It's a two-button in a heavy brown herringbone tweed with suede elbow patches.

The date and customer name have been crossed out on the label so we are not sure of when it was made, but the address stated of 15 Savile Row means it was made after they moved from their Cork Street premises into their current location in 1986.

One of the first things I noticed was that the lining of this garment has been sewn to the facing by machine, unlike the previous Poole coat which was done by hand, and the pockets were made directly on the lining, the same as the A&S suit that was recently dissected.

Some people maintain that the lining should be inserted by hand, for a number of reasons. These two coats show that, at least at some point in their history, both Henry Poole and Anderson & Sheppard, two of Savile Row's most prominent houses, disagreed.

Another interesting detail about this coat is that there is a pre-fab commercial shoulder pad. A thin one, but pre-fab nonetheless.

Again, many maintain that the shoulder pad should be made by hand, and I know of at least one reader who will be brandishing torch and pitchfork when he sees this, but in a tweed of this weight, not even the most experienced tailor would be able to tell the difference between a hand made pad and a pre-fab one without opening the lining.

As a company, Pooles have been known to be the most forward-thinking of all the Row houses and they have always been trying new things, and trying to stay abreast of new technologies. This is only to be commended. While I don't like their choice of haircloth in this garment, one which incorporates a synthetic core wrapped in hair and which is very common in modern, factory-produced garments, I also have the benefit of hindsight on that one. I have also tried it and decided that it wasn't for me, so I can't fault them for trying it, I just hope they have gone back to the real stuff.

The biggest surprise on the last Poole garment was the pad stitching of the lapel and collar- it was done by machine. While it is generally assumed that everybody on the Row still does this by hand, I have it from one of Gieves and Hawkes' clients that they have done this by machine for many years. Since we weren't sure whether the last Poole coat was bespoke or not, we reserved judgement about the padding. But here again, this time in a coat which we know to be bespoke, the lapel has been done by machine

and so has the collar

So it was not just a fluke.

Discuss.

I should add that this is not done with a regular flat-bed blindstitch machine, but one designed to allow the lapel to roll as it is being blindstitched. I'll see if I can find a photo somewhere. This is the industrial equivalent- the lapel gets rolled by orange bar as it is being stitched. A pair of these (one left, one right) is in the 60 to 80 thousand dollar range. Ouch!

Steed Savile Row

2010-01-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

The name of Steed may be new to you. Currently run by Edwin De Boise, it was originally a partnership between two men. Edwin, who comes from a family of tailors and who had worked under the legendary Edward Sexton, met Thomas Mahon when he worked at Savile Row's Anderson and Sheppard as a cutter. The two of them struck off on their own to start Steed, and when Mahon left to pursue other things, including, eventually, his own firm and blog, English Cut, Edwin stayed on and is now training his son, Matthew, in the craft. The dinner suit which comes to me from London dates from the year 2000, a time when the two cutters were still together.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to find on opening the parcel, but given that I have been underwhelmed at best by what I have been looking at lately, my expectations were not high. Granted, the Steed garments I have seen in photos on the internet appear to fit well, however, photos of any sort are not always the best indicator of either fit or quality. In any case, we are starting to have an interesting sampling of garments- we have looked at a moderately-priced dinner suit from Samuelsohn, a more expensive dinner jacket from Brioni, and now a Dinner suit from a Savile Row craftsman. We also have garments from the 3 biggest names on Savile Row and now one of the smaller guys.

This suit is a one-button, peak lapel with grosgrain facing and side vents, and a double-pleated trouser with side adjusters. There is no separate side body, no front dart, and only a small underarm dart. Despite this, there is a decent amount of shape. The lining colour is actually the purple shown in the scan of the label- my lights turn the lining a pinkish shade when photographing. The trouser and the coat were let out by an alteration tailor who did a crummy job, so a few details will have to be ignored- I think it's safe to assume that, instead of sending the suit back to Cumbria for alterations, the owner had someone local do it.

One of the first thing I noticed (and have noticed on Steed's suits before) was the buttonholes. Not only are they individually well-executed, but getting them all lined up evenly is sometimes a challenge. Readers may recall the Huntsman suit which was nowhere near as well done. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the buttonholes had been sealed with some sort of gummy substance; it is common to seal them after cutting and before working them with beeswax- this helps prevent fraying and gives a more solid edge to work with, though it doesn't always work. Instead of using wax, it appears some sort of rubber cement has been used; whatever the case, if this is the result, I am all for it.

Another thing that is immediately apparent is the neatness of the trousers. Remember these, from legendary Anderson & Sheppard?

How much neater are Steed's trousers....

There is no knee lining in the trouser, like the A&S suit; the finishing of the inside is much neater. The pocketing could stop bullets, but if you lived in a high-crime area that might be a good thing. On the whole, I am impressed wit the trousers, the alteration job notwithstanding.

Oddly, the jacket seems to have taken more wear than the trousers; the cloth is showing some signs of pilling, which is one of the hazards of milled-finish cloths (the ones with a slightly fuzzy texture). While softer to wear and more resistant to shine from pressing than clear-finished cloth. I don't think it would be noticeable to any but the most observant or anal (are you reading this, Louche?) but it's something to consider when selecting cloth if you intend to get many years of wear out of your suit.

The interior pockets are constructed differently than the ones we are used to seeing from Row tailors, and they are neater. They are not anchored on a cloth extension, but this is to be expected when using grosgrain, which is too bulky for it. It's also the first time I have seen a tab closure on an inside pocket from Row tailors.

I won't bore you with all the details of it, but the facing construction is clever. Flannel is required on dinner suits to prevent the interior construction leaving impressions on the delicate silk and there are several ways to attach it. In this case, the flannel was assembled with the lining and machined onto the front as though it were a facing, which can make for a smoother edge, the flannel was basted onto the canvas with a few rows of stitches so it wouldn't shift, and then the silk was felled by hand over top of the flannel.

The finishing of the inside of the jacket is generally as neat as the trouser; comparable, I would say, to the Poole coat, and far better than the A&S.

The canvas, of course, is constructed by hand, using a fine hair canvas. The chest has a full piece of haircloth, but a softer one than we often find in more constructed garments. Since both cutters were A&S alumni, I expected a chest construction like the A&S, in which the haircloth was cut away from the armhole, allowing the draped fold to form, but the canvas goes right into the armhole. With Edwin's varied experience, one can imagine he is able to give his customers what they want whether it is very soft and drapy or slightly more structured. The proportions of the garment do not suggest any great amount of drape either.

The sleeve has two layers of the same flannel as is used on the chest and to face the grosgrain (readers will remember than Huntsman uses four layers) and the shoulder has one small layer of wadding finished with lining, in the same manner as A&S, giving a very soft shoulder.

On the hand-sewing debate, the shoulder seam and sleeve setting were done by machine. Not that I think this is a minus, in fact, recent experiments have debunked some of the claims about hand-sewn seams. One thing I think we are mostly in agreement about, though, is that the armhole should be hand-finished, if not hand-sewn. This means the wadding, canvas and lining are all affixed by hand. In this case, however, the sleeve lining was affixed to the body lining by machine and was loose in the armhole; not only is this very curious, it is also not typical- the photos of recent Steed garments clearly show hand-finished armholes.

Though we might reasonably expect the general quality level to be lower from smaller firms than from the big Savile Row names, especially given the lower prices, this, clearly, is not the case. Maybe they feel they have to work that much harder in order to gain respect and recognition.

Whatever the reason is, it's good.

Perkins Tailoring Instruments

2010-01-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to an impassioned entreaty from Natalie (of the CTDA, I am guessing), I managed to track down the elusive source of the Perkins Tailoring Devices.

The concept behind these devices are not new- this shoulder incline device dates to 1934

and this one was developed in Russia in the 70s

These, however, only measure the slope of the shoulder. The full; kit of Perkins devices also include in incline device to measure the prominence of the shoulder blades, a rise device to measure for trouser rise, a sleeve device to measure from the pit of the arm to the wrist or the tip of the thumb, a device known as a trouser length/low shoulder device which is intended to also capture the estimated 15-20% of people whose shoulder is low at the collar edge and not merely at the shoulder point.

I haven't used most of the devices so I can't say much about them other than that they could make standardization simpler, particularly where stores are communicating measurements to factories for MTM programs.

Philip Perkins admits to not using computers at all so he can not be contacted by email; this also explains why there is precious little information about these devices on the internet. If you are interested in learning more about them (he will fax you a 3 page instruction document) contact Philip Perkins at 210-684-6233 (Texas so Central Time Zone)

Padstitching

2010-01-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Don't mind me. Just trying out some new video settings.

Padstitching from Jeffery D on Vimeo.

Vintage Anderson and Sheppard

2010-01-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Dropping the name Anderson and Sheppard into any serious sartorial conversation is like dropping a bomb; in the words of their former managing director, “You either swear by our coats or you swear at them”. For some reason, they inspire a lot of swearing.

Founded in 1906 by Frederick Scholte’s undercutter, Per Anderson, the house has been fairly faithful to their house cut of a soft, draped coat. Depending on which sources you consult, this can mean all sorts of things. I admit that I am not a fan of what I have seen from them, namely overly wide, droopy shoulders and lumpy, messy chests, not to mention the backs and the sleeves which I think could be improved a lot. I also admit that their managing director, while credited with having brought them back from the brink, will occasionally say the darndest things which make my head spin and I immediately shut off and dismiss him. I suppose that is human, but it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, perhaps. But there is so much mystique and lore surrounding them that I was, of course, insanely curious about their garment. So when a reader offered to donate a garment to science, I was thrilled.

Thank you, Simon.

They have a beautiful web page which is worth visiting, and an SF member blogs about the A&S's visit to New York here.

This coat was made in 1987 but the trouser in 1992- we can assume that the owner wore out the first pair and was fortunate enough that they had the cloth to make another pair five years later. The only information (other than the client name and date) on the label is an order number and the initial C. Often this represents the cutter’s name but we can’t assume anything yet (anyone know anything that they care to share?)

I have to say that this was a tough one. A very tough one. I try to be as objective as I can when examining a garment, especially one from which I can learn things. But his garment is a mess. Not just because of its age, which is showing. In fact, we can lay to rest another myth, namely that bespoke lasts a lifetime. It can, if well cared for. But it is not the rule; this garment has been repaired a number of times, and not well at all. It is also falling apart at the (hand-sewn) seams. Looking past the age and the repairs, the sewing is a mess. It is truly not worthy of any decent tailoring house, much less one that claims to be one of the best. I was having a very hard time preparing an objective, fair and balanced look when all I was tempted to do was tear it to shreds, literally and figuratively, and launch into a tirade, even though the garment is over 20 years and one can assume they have cleaned up their act since otherwise they would surely be out of business by now.

But then I put it on a dummy.

And paused.

A&S has a possibly unwarranted reputation for cutting shapeless sacks. Certainly the ones I have seen were ugly things. But not this one; instead of wide, droopy shoulders, it has a moderately wide, softly padded shoulder which is in balance with the rest of the garment. And there is a shape. The most shapely garment I have ever examined. A huge drape allowance on the back, and ugly, bizarre sleeves. But shape- good shape. So, curious, I tried it on. It’s not my size, but I know about putting garments on my body which are not my size.

And then I paused again.

I think I stood looking in the mirror for a full fifteen minutes. Looking past the awful sewing, and some of the stylistic things that bug me, this silhouette did not look bad at all. I even caught myself thinking that if the cloth were not in such rough shape I could cut it down and wear it myself. Then I started moving around, and thought, damn, this thing IS comfortable. Then I had another look at the chest and the drape there. It was not the lumpy chest I was used to seeing, but a nicer fold, a real drape, not just bulk, and I can honestly say that at that moment I got it. I understood it. I also understood the bias canvas business, I think, but we’ll get to that.

The thing is, though, I suspect this is the work of Colin Harvey. The skirt has a flare that reminds me of the Prince of Wales’ garments, which were cut by Mr. Harvey. The C on the label would bear it out. So either there was once a maverick cutter at A&S whose work I can appreciate, or there was once a house style infinitely more palatable than what is being done now, which is possibly lost in time. Whatever the case is, keep in mind that the following is, after all, a review of a 20-year old garment and can’t be taken for a reflection of the house today since there have been a number of changes of staff. We hope there were changes in the level of quality as well.

A DB three by two and a single forward pleated trouser with side tab closures; I understand that it is unusual that this coat had a front dart and a separate side body which helps to give it shape.

Here we see the massive back drape

And a sleeve which I find atrocious but which I have actually concluded will give you more movement than a cleaner one. More on that in another post.

I won’t bore you with all the gory details, just some of them. And you may think I’m being nitpicky about silly things like pattern matching. But pattern matching is a sort of signpost. There are so many details in a garment that you can’t see, that we pay special attention to certain details like pattern matching as a sign of the level of attention to detail. If the things you can see are not done well, you can assume that the things that you CAN’T see are also not done well. So while I can see the rest and judge it, you may not be able to. That’s why pattern matching and things like that are important.

A&S is one of the few that bother to match the pocket jets, as a sign of their attention to detail. It is sad, then to see one pocket so madly mismatched.

The other pocket is much better; maybe it was the tailor’s excitement in doing a much better job on this pocket that led him to forget to pick stitch it. I am joking in part, but not about the forgetting to finish it part.

The collar is another spot- the collar should match the back. Like the pockets, they got one side right, just not both.

Their much-vaunted hand-sewn armhole seam is coming apart

as is the gorge.

The tab closures are sloppy

And the breast welt has sagged so much that the facing seam shows.

In a previous post I remarked that, while scrounging on ebay I was surprised by the lining, thinking that they had taken the step of cutting the inside pockets directly onto the lining, which is not only weak, but makes lining changes difficult. When I put my hands on the Huntsman and Poole garments I found I was wrong and they had been carefully crafted by hand to resemble the cheaper way of doing it, but the pocket was actually mounted on concealed cloth and in a way which made changing the lining easy when it wore out.

Imagine my surprise to find that not only has the lining been inserted by machine, but the pockets are cut directly onto it, the way I initially feared they would be. And they are absolutely sloppy pockets.

And this is what happens over time when we make sloppy pockets, only now it is a big job to change the lining because of the way it was initially made.

The hem is sloppy

And the neck is worse

The trouser finishing is no better, and to add insult to injury, they have used black thread on red lining. In several spots of the trouser and the coat.

Then things get more interesting. The linen canvas, which was expected, is cut on the straight grain, which was not. They are known for cutting their canvas on the bias.

Their MD has explained that bias-cut canvas has the benefit of stretching in the length, to which I say “So what?” The coat does not stretch so why should the canvas stretch? There is no vertical tension on the coat, it does not button up under your crotch or get hooked onto your plus-fours, so why the need to stretch? It makes no sense at all.

BUT the merits of bias-cut cloth have long been known because of its unique ability drape. Ah. Vionnet was a genius with bias-cut cloth and was a huge influence on my dress-making days. Aside from stretching, the bias allows cloth to roll in a way that the straight grain does not. So if the drape in the chest were allowed to roll, a bias-cut canvas would help it. THIS would make total sense. So maybe old John is ad-libbing instead of sticking to the script. In any case, it will only roll if it is not impeded by the chest canvas which usually extends into the armhole.

We see here that the chest canvas is cut well clear of the armhole; this will allow the excess cloth cut for the drape style to fold near the scye instead of puffing out like a swelled chest would do. Taking off the domette we can see that there is haircloth underneath, just a smaller, carefully positioned piece.

Unfortunately, the haircloth is of a very bad quality and is migrating- you can see the hairs jutting into the armhole

And the fact that I can pull it out easily shows there is no crimp to the hair which would have prevent this migration. It would also have prevent the vee from coming apart at the shoulder as it did. When you feel prickly, plastic-like things poking your chest, it is probably bad haircloth that is migrating like this one.

The shoulder has one little piece of wadding supported by a piece of linen and covered by a layer of lining. Just a whisper, but it is enough since the shoulders are not exaggeratedly wide. The shoulders they cut today need much more support to keep them up, and yet they sag.

What do I conclude from this? Well, I know a few things about drape that I didn't before and see what I did wrong on my previous drape experiment. I also know that it's worth a second look. So stay tuned, as we will be making some more drape.

(I hear the sound of Sator weeping....)

UPADTE

Some comments from Mr. Seitelman which are valid and deserve a response (thank you, Mark)

Dissection is an interesting exercise, and I have followed your blog.

Indeed, Mike Cohen, former president of Oxxford, used to dissect competitors' suits. he knew how to do it so as to put the suit back together.
We follow in Domenico Caraceni's great tradition of examining other people's clothes.

the examination of the this suit is not necessarily a fair example of A & S workmanship either back in 1987 or today.
I was quite clear that it is not a reflection of their work today.

For example,

1. It is a 22 year old suit which has been worn to death in probably rain, snow, etc.
I have taken this into consideration and not shown the parts which have worn out due to age and been repaired; the repair work is truly disgraceful and while it would be normal for A&S to do their own repair work it is not a given. What has been shown is, in my opinion, the result of sloppy work or faulty trimmings (with one exception).

MS-2. Due to its age, it is to be expected that a much of the hand sewing would be coming apart especially if it were worn regularly. Similarly, the canvases would age. Does not a brick building require repointing every 20 years? I would say that if the suit had been relined, some of the issues with the canvas would have been corrected.
I agree with you, however one of the arguments that many use as a justification for hand sewing is that it is supposed to be stronger and last longer, which is often not the case, just the opposite. I merely intend to illustrate that point. The canvas would have to be replaced to correct the hair migration and I doubt they would have done that in the course of a reline. It's a problem with the material they used which caused it to fall apart.

3. Due to age and perhaps poor maintainence there would be sagging of certain parts, such as the outside chest pocket.
The breast welt is usually made in such a manner such as the facing seam will never show, even if the pocket should sag. This pocket was badly made.

4. We do not know if this suit were made for a customer or for one of the cutters or tailors. If it were made for an A & S employee, then certain shortcuts might have been taken to get the suit done quickly.
This suit was not made for an employee, it was made for a person who is known to the public. I have obscured his name on the label for privacy.

Saint Andrews

2010-01-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

A busy post box this week. A parcel came yesterday and today a notice that the post office is holding one; I'm hoping it's the A&S I've been waiting for. In the meantime, I give you Saint Andrews. Thanks to HRoi for getting it here so quickly!

Also known as Saint Andrews, Sartoria Santandrea produces garments for a number of better doors but is not so well known in North America except perhaps by fans of Ralph Lauren's Purple Label, as Santandrea produces some of their tailored clothing (perhaps all? at one point Cantarelli also did some).

There's not a lot to learn from this garment but for the sake of those who are trying themselves who makes a better garment, let's have a look at some of the details.

The buttonholes are very nice (naturally, they are done by hand) and the top buttonhole (the one that is meant to be buttoned, not the boutonniere) has been worked on both sides.

The back of the buttonhole

Something interesting.

If you go to their site and go to "lavorazione", then "asole" you see someone making a buttonhole by hand. If you look closely you can see that the buttonhole has been whip stitched before making it (which is typical), but the stitches are very close together, which raised a flag. I have mentioned before that certain well-known Neapolitan makers make their buttonholes by machine with fine thread first then work them again by hand. A friend of mine who worked for a company which does it told me about this, saying it was much easier to get consistency in the cutting of the hole, and because it was all stitched up first, which is stronger than a hand stitch. It made the buttonholes much easier to make. We were talking about this because I was looking for gimp alternatives and he told me that by doing this, no gimp is necessary. As open-minded as I like to think I am about machines, this was one line I was not willing to cross.

Anyway, back to Santandrea. Having seen that photo on their site I got curious so I ripped one of the (admittedly beautiful) buttonholes and found one little strand of silk twist, which is usually not nearly enough to gimp a buttonhole. Under my big magnifying glass, though, I could just make out an extremely fine thread and a distinct machine stitch (a tiny zig-zag which maybe you can make out in the photo). They had been worked and cut by machine before being remade by hand over top. My mind still rebels, but it does make sense for the longevity (no slippage in loose cloth, which is sometimes a problem) and it does make a nice buttonhole. Something to think about......

Anyway, back to the garment.

Shamholes done by hand on the sleeve

However the inside of the sleeve has been finished for functional buttonholes.

The underside of the flap shows that the pick stitching was done by hand in a slightly heavier silk thread than the English use- the English use a very fine thread so that it is very discreet whereas the Italians like it to be a little more showy. But not much. The little prick marks about 1/4" form the edge are from an edge baster- instead os basting edges by hand which is actually a little uneven and can produce a slightly wobbly looking edge, we use a single-thread chainstitch machine to baste the edges during production. The chainstitch is very easy to remove before final pressing.

The neck has all been finished by hand and the top collar has been drawn on completely by hand.

The collar itself has been constructed by hand (though padded by machine) note that there is no turnback at the end of the collar.

The breast pocket is the curved "barchetta" type and is done by hand, the same way I learned to do them, as opposed to the way I recently learned to do them thanks to Huntsman and Jukes.

Notice there is no exposed seam allowance inside the breast pocket and it has been felled by hand, not by machine.

A moderate amount of wadding in the sleeve head and a moderate pad- more than Poole, about the same as Huntsman, a little less than Brioni.

The canvas holds no surprises, though it has been made with a zig-zag machine as opposed to the twin-needle jumpstitch machine that I prefer.

Removing the felt, we can see that instead of haircloth, which is firm and expensive, there is another piece of the same type of canvas as is used on the front. It's been machine padded to within an inch of its life, which makes it a bit firmer but still softer than haircloth, so I'm not going to bother ripping the stitches to open it up.

Instead, I hold it up to a strong light to see what's inside. There is a haircloth shoulder reinforcement and you can see the series of vees, or cuts, to give the shoulder some shape.

Finally, a look at the shoulder seam, which is machine-sewn and stayed with a piece of bias-cut silesia. If you read the Poole dissection you will remember that Poole stayed the shoulder with a straight-cut piece of lining which had no give- this silesia will stabilize the shoulder but still give. I will soon be conducting some experiments concerning elasticity in the shoulder so stay tuned......

In response to Jordan's questions and comments about the curved barchetta pocket, I agree, when well done it can be quite nice, though sometimes it is overdone and looks affected. It is the default shape in southern Italy and is catching on in the North too, so I doubt any of them would think it would clash with a straight-cut lower pocket, so long as it was subtle.

The pocket welt itself is curved, not straight cut and bent into shape, and therein lies a bit of the difficulty in making the pocket (and why some curve it a lot more in order to show off a bit) so it's not an issue where stripes and plaids are concerned.

Henry Poole & Co.

2009-12-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

Reputed to be the founders of Savile Row as well as the creators of the tuxedo, Henry Poole has a long and proud history of tailoring. Their website has a good amount of information about them so I won't get into it much, except to say that they have also been known to be among the more flexible and progressive on the Row. They even had a female cutter as early as the sixties, IIRC.

My most recent purchase has two front buttons with hacking pockets, side vents, and the long front dart we have now seen on a number of garments, and no separate side panel.

Sometimes these dissections can provide more questions than answers, and this garment is no exception. Because of their willingness to adapt to customer's wishes, to be innovative in the craft, and to not be too adherent to any particular "house style", it is difficult to make generalizations based on one garment. I suppose that can be said of all of them, but in this case in particular, I am stumped about a few things. More knowledgeable readers are encouraged to let us all know what we may be missing here.

To start, there is no label inside the pocket with a date or customer name on it. One instantly wonders if this may be ready to wear but I have found no information to the effect that they ever offered RTW; the garment has also clearly been fitted to somebody's shape and not a stock size, and alterations have been done by very skilled hands, likely ones that were involved with the initial construction of the coat.

The buttonholes are fairly neat, though it is quite obvious that only two of the four sleeve buttonholes function and two are shamholes.

The inside pockets are neatly finished in what I now guess is the Row's manner of finishing. The hand felling is neatly done, if not quite as tightly spaced as the Huntsman.

The hand felling is more obvious around the neck and shoulder.

Another surprise, which is not so easy to see in the photo, is that the back was not cut so as to be able to match the collar. Notice the spacing of the blue lines on the back compared to the collar. We hear a lot about the importance of pattern matching, but this is not the first time that we see a back cut so as not to match the collar, and I recently saw a photo of a number of sleeves (from another Row maker) whose checks were off by a mile. I guess it's not as important as we have been led to believe.

The front canvas is linen only, no hair, which is another surprise. I expected this from a soft A&S-type garment, but not from Poole. The chest feels fairly firm and the hand padding is also fairly dense so I'm not sure of the reasoning behind using linen and no hair. It's possible that the cloth is so bulky that the cutter felt that hair canvas was not necessary for the front. The roll of the lapel would not be as rich, but again, that is a personal preference that they may not share.

Let's look again at the canvas, only closer.

The lapel and the collar have been padded by machine.

Wow.

I've explained my feelings about hand padding the collar before, namely that I don't feel that it's necessary, but I do prefer a hand-padded lapel. I've been told that Gieves has padded their lapels by machines for a long time now; I'm wondering if this is normal for Poole or was done especially for this garment for some reason. In their forward-thinking they may have determined that the slight added benefit of hand padding may be offset by using bulky cloth and linen canvas and that there is not enough benefit to merit the significant cost. Mere speculation on my part. I really don't know.

Ripping away the felt which covers the haircloth in the chest, we find a large piece of haircloth with a linen support piece in the scye and another haircloth support piece in the shoulder. So this coat is actually ever-so-slightly more structured than the Huntsman, which is supposed to be firmer. Fascinating.

The shoulder vees in the canvas have been stitched down with canvas, the way I would expect them to be (the Huntsman vees were left free, for reasons I have yet to figure out)

There is a fairly minimal amount of wadding in the shoulder but also a piece of pukh (for want of an english word)

Here is the pad once it has been removed

The sleeve head is the "on roll" type, which I don't like for reasons which are obvious here. They tend to disintegrate and get lumpy over time, whereas a shaped sleeve head conforms better to the shoulder and won't fall apart like this. On a sport coat it's not really an issue, but on fine worsteds it looks bad.

Which brings me to the greatest surprise of all. For me.

IN the photo of the sleeve wadding, you can see there is a piece of gray lining around the bottom of the armhole. Looking closely, we see that the sleeve has been set by machine. Many houses insist this seam and the shoulder seam must be done by hand to allow for flexibility and to be able to fit the fullness of the sleeve in, but not only has this been done by machine, the initial thought of "cost saving measure?" is instantly dashed by the fact that the lining sewn onto the armhole is straight cut. This prompts a look at the shoulder seam.

Not only is it also done by machine, but there is also a straight-cut piece of lining staying the seam.

What does this mean?

It means that the tailor at Henry Poole not only disagrees with the idea that the scye and shoulder seams should stretch, he has inserted a straight-cut stay to PREVENT the seams giving any.

WOW. Double WOW. This is potential bespoke heresy. But is there anything to it?

I'm now, more than ever, tempted to take a trip over to London to have a series of chats with people, especially now that I would like to understand the tailor's reasoning behind this complete about-face from tradition.

In the meantime, however, a series of experiments testing the validity of the theory of elasticity in these seams are in order. Maybe Poole has already quietly done their testing. I will also measure the size of the sleeve compared to the armhole and the amount of fullness they have worked in to test the theory of the necessity of hand-sewing the fullness.

And since Santa Claus brought me a camcorder for Christmas it will be that much easier to illustrate the results. Thanks, Santa.

UPDATE

A few interesting suggestions have been made.

I don't think that this garment was a licensed garment for several reasons; first, I acquired it from a vendor in London, not the far east where the licenses are held, but more importantly, I believe the label of licensed product reads Henry Poole of Savile Row wheres this garment bears the full Henry Poole and Co. 15 Savile Row etc. This is also an indication that the garment was made after 1982 when they moved form their premises on Cork to their current address. The garment, in almost all respects, has all of the hallmarks of a London-made suit. It is also of a size which would surprise me to see sold in Asia.

I think the most likely answer is that this was a made-to-measure garment rather than full bespoke. The cost of such garments, being lower than bespoke, could explain the machine padding, even though, as I am told, Gieves and Hawkes has been doing their bespoke in this way for years. It could also explain the lack of a customer label. I might contact Poole for comment, though their reluctance to do so would be understandable, in which case I will have to try to put my hands on a garment which we know to be bespoke, for comparison. Perhaps one of Mark's friends have worn out one of theirs and would be willing to let it go for a small price?

I should also add that I have never heard anything other than the highest praise for Poole, which can not be said of all the houses.

ANOTHER UPDATE
There was a coat on ebay, made in 2007, cut by Simon Cundey himself, which would have made a perfect comparison garment but I was outdone in a last-minute bidding frenzy. To whomever outbid me I say "grrrr". But I will keep trying. And Kiton is definitely next on my list, particularly since they made some pretty dubious claims in print recently. We shall see about that.....

Getting into Huntsman's trousers

2009-12-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

A notice came today indicating that the post office is holding a parcel for me. That must be the Henry Poole coat so I had better get the Huntsman finished!

This suit was cut for a very short man, but in typical English fashion, the trouser is cut with a very high rise and a fishtail back. Intended to be worn only with suspenders (or braces, as they would refer to them), the waist is cut very high, there are no belt loops, and the fly closes with buttons. It looks just like a page out of a tailoring manual from the turn of the last century. It's actually charming!

Here you can see just how long the rise was cut, even for this very short man the square extends only to the bottom of the fly- not all the way to the inseam, which is a few inches further.

Notice how the back is cut very high, without a separate waistband, in order to accommodate the suspenders.

The front has been cut with a waistband to allow for two forward pleats and the pick stitching of the pocket is barely visible.

Instead of a bulky seam, the pocket edge has been turned under, having been reinforced by a piece of linen, and finished by hand.

The pocket inside has been finished by hand, as has all the curtain and facings. The facing has been felled to the pocketing by hand, and you can see the enormous inlays left at the outseam. The trouser had been altered, probably at the final fitting as a previous seam line is evident. but even the original inlays were pretty big, allowing for considerable weight gain.

A bigger view of the outseam. Generous inlays have also been allowed at the inseam.

The waistband has been finished by hand, using a large piece of lining folded over three times.

The back of the trouser is finished with the same lining, leaving ample pleats in the curtain to allow for future alterations.

Here you can see how the back was reinforced with linen prior to finishing. A lot of extra cloth has to be folded in to allow to rebuild the points if the trouser has to be let out or taken in (one of the minor drawbacks to this style is the amount of work required to do what is otherwise a simple alteration.

The front of the waistband was done in a smart way which will deserve a post of its own to explain how it was done, as I think this will interest home sewers. The banroll was attached to a piece of linen and the two were attached to the double width waistband cloth in such a way as to make it very stable and prevent shifting, and the edges of the cloth meet up neatly to create a smooth, even finish. Notice the inlays left at the waist to allow the waist to be raised even further.

The seat seam has been sewn by hand, which brings me to a point I keep trying to make.

ON RECEIVED WISDOM

As we can see in this trouser, a lot of the craft of tailoring has changed little in the last hundred years. More. A lot of the basic truths have also been repeated, without changing, over that period of time. It's almost religious. One of the maxims is about the hand-sewn seam and its flexibility-

A hand-sewn seam has give and a machine-sewn seam does not, therefore a hand-sewn seam is superior to a machine-sewn seam.

Let's put that in context. A hundred years ago, the only machine available to tailors was the plain machine, more correctly known as the lock stitch machine, because two threads interlock to form a stitch, and a series of those stitches for a seam. It is strong and has very little give, so in an area subject to strain, such as the seat of the trouser, a lock-stitch seam could break easily. A tailor, however, could sew the seam using a back-stitch, a stitch which loops back over itself, which allow the seam to stretch a fair bit. In this context, the above statement is entirely true- a hand-sewn seam is better than a lockstitch seam. We hear this in reference to seat seams, shoulder seams, sleeve seams, and more.....

Though many things have not changed, and tailors are justly proud of the tradition we have maintained, technology HAS changed since then. There are now machines which not only replicate that looping hand stitch but better it, creating complex looping chainstitches with one or several threads which are far more flexible and strong than any hand-sewn backstitch. Those machines can be expensive, though, so most tailor shops will not bother with the expense of such a machine which is only good for 3 or 4 of the hundreds of operations involved in making a suit. My guess is that many of the tailors who chant the mantra of the hand stitch have never seen a lot of the equipment available today. And even though you will hear it repeated often that hand-sewn seams are superior, if you look inside what you thought was a very well-made pant and see that the seat seam has been done by some sort of machine, do not feel that you been been short-changed because the seam was not done by hand. In fact, it is likely that the seam is much stronger than a hand-sewn seam.

So before you go blindly repeating the received wisdom about the hand-sewn seam, know that while it was once quite true, and that it is still true in certain contexts (like that of a small tailor shop, equipped only with lock-stitch machines), it is certainly no longer entirely true. It is nice to know your garment was crafted entirely by hand, but is no longer strictly necessary in order to achieve the same degree of quality, or better, in this instance.

Rant over.

Breast pockets, Huntsman-style

2009-12-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

This one's for the tailors. Tiny little details that I obsess over.....

I have always operated under the assumption that there were two basic methods of setting the breast welt pocket (with many variations on the methods, but two global methods).

The first being the hand-made method, in which the welt is constructed (usually by hand), sewn to the front, then the ends felled or slip-stitched in place by hand. This is how I have always made my breast welts.

The other method is the factory method, in which the welt ends are machine-stitched on top, either by micro zig-zag (which is the common technique)or, horrors, by plain machine. The zig-zag method looks like this; you have to look very closely at some garments, but it is there and it is visible.

Every once in a while I would come across a garment whose welt ends looked cleaner, more solid and better executed than the ones felled by hand, but there was no visible stitching on top, leaving one to assume they had to have been done by hand, but with some very talented hands. I knew there was something that I was missing, something I had yet to figure out. The breast welt on this Huntsman coat was one of those types. I have removed some of the pickstitching, but you can see how the ends are done- cleanly, with no visible stitching, yet they are solidly affixed.

That's what's fun about studying other people's garments. We learn. We can improve.

Looking inside, we can see that the breast welt has been tacked by machine, but from the inside. At first it seems obvious, until one sits down to try to do it. Hmph.

I finally managed to figure it out. The welt has to be constructed in a totally different way than I am used to, but I got it.

This suit has just about paid for itself now. Now I have to practice this, oh, about a hundred times or so before I do it on somebody's garment....

EDIT

This blogging thing's cool. I got an email from someone who trained at Henry Poole, saying that this was how he learned to do welts there, and then proceeded to send me an explanation of his method. Most of it was pretty much what I had figured out, but there is nothing like experience. When you have done it a hundred times you come up with little tricks to make it easier or better, things that did not immediately occur to me. So he saved me a whole bunch of trouble; in the interest of sharing, I'll put together a tutorial showing the method.

Thanks R!

Huntsman, Ripped and smoothed, part two

2009-12-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, a reader emailed me to tell me that the initials of the cutter would be found on the label, those initials being "TH". I assume this must mean Terry Haste, former MD of Huntsman, but was he there in 2000? I'll have to go back and read the book again. Or do some more homework. But in any case, we're not evaluating the cutting here, only the sewing. It's just fun to know a bit about the suit.

Another thing I have been thinking about; there was a mass exodus from Huntsman during that period so anything not quite up to par may be a result of them losing their best people. Or it may not. More to think about. Meanwhile, let's get ripping.

The finishing inside is quite neat; the felling is so neatly done that you have to look close to see it in spots. There is no pleat in the bottom of the lining and to tell the truth, I'm not sure one is really needed, looking at this suit. Hmm.

The neck is neatly done as well. The facing/collar seam has actually been opened and drawn on the whole way, rather than clipping and working the facing over the top collar around the neck which creates some bulk. Extra work, but I like it and will use it.

Two pockets on the left, one on the right, neither with any kind of closure.

While I was surfing Ebay listings I found the pockets odd, as they seemed to have been worked onto the lining, the way manufactured suits are done, and like this one-

I prefer to set the pockets onto a cloth facing which will carry the weight better. It also makes relining much easier- if the pocket has been cut through the lining and goes onto the facing, as in the picture, it's a bit of a beast to reline neatly since you have to work the new pocket exactly over the hole in the facing- margins of error no more than 1/32" or so. Not a job for your average alterations tailor. Well, I should have known better. I didn't notice that the lining was a bit crooked at the pocket- this would have given it away. The pocket is not actually worked through the lining (though the smaller one just below it is)- the pocket is worked through a cloth facing and the lining is felled to conceal the work. It is common for most Italian tailors to leave this facing exposed in a bit of a decorative manner, like in this shot from a Zegna Couture coat (notice also the hand-felled lining with a backstitch instead of a felling stitch- we also saw this on the Brioni dinner jacket I dissected)

but Huntsman has chosen to conceal it entirely; naturally, it has all been done by hand.

Now on to some of what gives the suit its shape.

The bridle has been taped with lining instead of the cotton tape which is more common, and the lapel has been sparingly pad stitched. Remember that a lot of the stitching poked through- it is probable that the padding was done by an apprentice. I personally feel that denser pad stitching on the lapel will give a richer roll, and the results that I get would seem to support that theory, but I haven't properly tested it yet so I can't state it as fact, only as received wisdom. Which can sometimes be false. The undercollar (not shown) has been padded by hand, something that I HAVE tested extensively and found that it is not necessary to do by hand- the machine does just as adequate a job, in my opinion.

The canvas front is a lovely, dense hair canvas which has not been singed. I need to find out where this canvas comes from. Huntsman has a reputation for being a firm coat so I expected to find more in the chest. Instead, there is only one piece of haircloth, on a partial bias, and a rather thick piece of chest felt.

The direction of the hairline is surprising since this won't support the upper shoulder as well and there is no additional shoulder support piece.

The "vees" or shoulder cuts are left open rather than being fixed. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Readers who survived my pagoda shoulders will remember that these vees are opened and fixed in place to provide the shape to the shoulder and without them being fixed in place they can shift around so the shoulder shape will not be constant. This could possibly be a good thing since there is perhaps more movement allowed, but I think this would be very dangerous in lighter cloth- the hollow created by the open vees would make a very visible dent in the shoulder which would be very obvious in light cloth- the only thing covering them is the piece of striped lining on the top and bottom. I need to think about this for a while.

There is a moderate amount of wadding in the shoulder and two small pieces of collar linen. This is certainly a lot less than either Oxxford or Brioni put in their shoulders, again a surprise, since I expected a firmer shoulder from Huntsman.

Here is the pad removed

In the sleeve head, FOUR layers of heavy felt. This is a lot, even for me who likes a good, healthy rope. The effect is not bad, but its a bit chunky and lumpy since it's put in straight rather than shaped, which is now the norm (sometimes tradition should give way to innovation).

The back of the scye (as well as the underarm) has been padded with cotton and chest felt. This was common in the days of body coats (Sator will love it) but I haven't seen much of it lately; I'm not sure if this is common practice for them or if this gentleman had very hunched shoulders which needed some help. Judging by the, um, proportions of the suit, I am guessing the latter.

EDIT
I went plowing along without mentioning that the shoulder seam was sewn by hand and that the sleeve has been sewn in by hand. More on that later.

So far so good, the only major surprises being how LITTLE stuff there was inside. I was expecting much more. As some of my other garments begin to arrive, we'll have a better basis of comparison, though. Need to find an A&S......... But before that, the trousers, which seem to have changed little in the last 100 years.

Hunstman, Ripped and Smoothed

2009-12-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Richard Anderson's recent book, Bespoke: Savile Row Ripped and Smoothed. It tells of his apprenticeship and work as a cutter at H. Huntsman, widely regarded as the Row's best and most expensive tailor, and how a change of ownership and some questionable practices led him to leave and start his own bespoke house, Richard Anderson, Ltd. I rather enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Savile Row and the business of tailoring.

Having read the book, I thought it only fitting that my next dissection should be a Huntsman bespoke garment dated 2000, right around the time of his departure from the house. I don't think we'll ever know who cut it or if it was off an earlier pattern, but that's not really relevant to us right now.

There's a lot to show so I will do this in several installments. I also now realize that I need some better lighting and a macro lens (thanks NOBD); I hate what flash does to these shots and daylight is in short supply these days......

To see bigger versions of the photos, click on them which will bring you to my Flickr site. Click on "All sizes" above the photo, which should give you the full size, or the ability to select it.
The coat is their typical one button, with a notch (or step) lapel.

Functional sleeves buttonholes (the quality of which are just ok) are a little close to the hem, suggesting alterations. Strangely, one sleeve has four functioning buttonholes, the other has three functioning buttonholes and one sham hole.

Here's a shot of another coat. This was made for Voxsartoria by Steed Bespoke Tailors.

Now a trick question. If I hadn't told you which was which, but instead told you one was from the house reputed to be the absolute best and most expensive, and the other was from a much less-expensive off-Row tailor, would you have guessed right? If you guessed wrong, go get Edwin to make you a suit. Not that we should judge the merits of a suit on buttonholes alone, but Edwin's seem just a little neater, and it should be the other way around.

Back to Huntsman.

Now notice the two-hole buttons and the fold-up hem. Most RTW and MTM is not done like this as it is quite bulky BUT it allows alterations to the sleeve length after the holes have been cut. Ebay scroungers take note.

The front buttonhole. Notice the off-coloured pad stitching peeking through under the lapel.

Underside of the lapel, where you see more of the padstitching peeking through.

Notice the font configuration- unlike most modern garments there is no separate side body so the underarm seam stops at the pocket. The front dart, however, extends to the hem, a detail often associated with drape cuts.

And finally, for today, the side vent, with an extra-wide underlay. Notice how the finishing of the lining is done.

Check back soon for more, as there are more interesting details in the coat, and tons in the trouser. There's also a Henry Poole sportcoat coming so SR fans stay tuned.

Hand Made Buttonholes- UPDATE

2009-12-05T10:36:00.001-08:00

I got an email from my Gutermann rep; Germany, it seems, has relented and will now allow me to order my gimp by the spool instead of by the box per colour- a box containing 5 spools of 100m of gimp which would make, I guess, about thirteen thousand buttonholes. That's too much. Now if only they would relent on the silk twist as well.

UPDATE If you are located in North America and are interested in the Agreman gimp, a group buy is being organized on the C&T forum. Or you can contact me directly at jeffery_d at ymail dot com for more info.

In the photo above, on the far left, the large spool is my gimp of choice. I have always used this type of gimp but when Gutermann made it hard to get I tried a few different varieties and none even came close. Made in Spain, the article is called Agreman and is a wrapped core gimp which comes in spools of 100 meters. Richard James Weldon stocks this but shipping gimp from London to North America can be very expensive.

To the right of the gimp is my buttonhole twist of choice, Gutermann's silk R753, which is a size 40/3 long staple thread. More on this in a bit. It comes in 400m spools (like the one with the orange cob) and can be found at Ely Yawitz or Bergen Tailor Supply in the US. The box standing behind it is the same thread but in small cobs of 10m each; this is the retail format which is available from RJW (they told me they didn't have the bigger format) and is not really worth the money; a cone of 400m from Bergen is about $15 US, while the box of 10 cobs of 10m costs around $20 from RJW. Yawitz sells the individual cobs for about $2 or $3 so if you have a weird colour to do and don't want 400m of it, then the individual cobs are good for a two piece suit.

Second from the right is a one ounce spool of size F (Mara 30) long staple thread that I got from Bergen for about the same price a the 400m of R753. To far right is Gutermann's S1003 wihch is the same size but is a spun thread. Again, more on this in a second. This cone came from Dugdale and I haven't seen any of it in North America but is fairly common in Europe and comes in 300m spools; it is also available in size 40/3 (like the R753 but Dugdlae does not have it. Despite its being spun, it is about the same price as the long filament thread.

Not pictured is some continuous filament thread from Amann which Schneidergott sent me- it is the same size (40/3) but a shade more lustrous than the R753. He says it's hard to find over there (it's impossible to find over here). Maybe someone knows of a good source?

So which one to use?

First the difference between the spun thread and the long staple. When the silk cocoons are soaked to separate the fibers, the beginning and ends are shorter in length and are spun together to create the thread. Because they are shorter, the are more fiber ends which makes a fuzzier, duller texture. The long staple threads are made from the longer silk fibers from the middle part of the cocoon- the longer fiber means less ends and thus a shinier, stronger, and more lustrous thread.

The advantage of using a heavier thread, like the size F or the S1003 is that less stitches are required to cover the buttonhole, meaning less time and less thread. It is also easier to do a neat job using heavier thread. The buttonholes look a bit chunky compared to those using finer thread, so I prefer the finer. This is personal preference and one is not better than the other.

Examples of both size can be seen below; in each case I used the Agreman gimp.

This is the Gutermann S1003- the heavy spun silk. The size F thread would look the same, only shinier. This is a small buttonhole for a 24L button on a vest.

This is Gutermann R753 with the contrast punched up a bit so you can see some detail. This is also a small buttonhole for a 24L button on a vest.

And finally, the Amann 40/3 thread.

For details on how to make hand made buttonholes, see this thread

Different shoulder types

2009-11-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

Since my next suit will have a softer shoulder than I usually wear, Lynn has asked for some details.

The drafting of the shoulder seam itself will depend on the amount of padding, if any, used. I have sloping shoulders so I will use some padding and structure, but it will be a much more commercial shoulder than the usual pagoda and rope.

For a pagoda shoulder I will start with a straighter line and work the shape in with the iron. For a softer shoulder, I draw a straight line for the front seam, then divide that line into thirds. The third closest to the neck will have a concave curve of about 2mm below the line, then I curve upward about 2mm above the line, and finish with a slight downward dip to ward the end of the line. The shape will be adjusted in the fitting so I don't get too crazy when drafting. More important is the sleeve draft.

One of the first calculations I make when drafting the sleeve is the cap height. To get this, I measure the shoulder height on the pattern from the breast line- right to the tip of both shoulder seams where they join the armhole. I measure both, add them, then divide by two to get an average height. From this I will subtract a variable amount to get the cap height- for a rope shoulder with moderate padding I will subtract 7/8", for a softer shoulder I will subtract 1 1/8", for a shirt-type shoulder I will subtract up to 1 3/8". The cap height is absolutely crucial to a good fit- too long and you will get dimples or divots, too short and you will get vertical drag lines. Fortunately it is easy to fix in the fitting so I would err on the long side and adjust during the fitting- it's easier to remove than to add.

The following image shows what a rope draft might look like and a softer shoulder in red. Not only is the cap height lower but the top sleeve is narrower by about 3/8" as well. A soft shoulder requires less fullness and a smaller sleeve. If I wanted the Neapolitan "waterfall" effect I would shorten the cap without narrowing it- the extra width gets worked in as the fluting or pleating.

The dark pencil line in the draft will give this kind of rope sleeve, which is very full

while the red line will give a much flatter appearance, not only in height, but also in the crown of the sleeve. The few inches forward of the shoulder seam are pressed open and flat, whereas there is a prominent ridge formed in the rope shoulder. I've started pulling the basting to give a better idea, but the coat has not been finished or pressed yet.

Ok- here it is after having been worn and travelled in but not repressed yet so you can see how the cloth performs.

ABOUT THE CLOTH
The grey is from Dugdale Brothers' English & Town Classics book, number 9437.

Dugdale Brothers

2009-11-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

A parcel came this morning.

I decided to try out another English cloth merchant, Dugdale Brothers. From what I gather they are a smallish, private cloth merchant in Huddersfield who will deal directly with tailors selling cut lengths. Their prices are very good (for English cloth, mind you) and they stock a range of trimmings as well, trimmings which are getting very hard to find over here. They have an attractive website here

I initiated discussions with them and had the samples I requested very quickly so I placed a little order last week to try them out. They were nice to deal with and quick to respond, and the order arrived within days so full marks on service. One thing that surprised me was that the Gutermann S1003 silk thread I ordered is quite a bit heavier than the R753 that I usually use for buttonholes, though that may be a good thing; it's not quite as heavy as the F size thread that's more readily available over here but that I find just too thick and clumsy looking. It's only available in 7 colours but they are the standard menswear colours.

Now I have to decide what to make first. Life is full of tough decisions.

EDIT

Decision made. I have a meeting coming up with one of our retail accounts in the US. If I showed up in one of my severe, rope-pagoda shouldered numbers they would probably vomit (the US is all about soft shoulders) so I'll have to make something much more demure and soft-shouldered for this meeting. In the light grey, I think.

Two cloth merchants, two drafting systems

2009-11-08T10:31:00.001-08:00

OK so here are the finished garments. The navy is Harrisons and the charcoal is J&J Minnis. Aside from the differences in lapel, the Minnis was drafted using Whife, with no side body (which I think contributes to that wobbliness on the front) and the Harrisons was drafted using the Mitchell system. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses, but I definitely vote for separate side body- it's far easier to get a good fit with it. I used my own sleeve system adapted to each draft, which worked out better on the Mitchell system than on Whife.

Thoughts?

Thank you, all, for your comments.

Karen, here is a partial backview of the Harrisons, taken before it was finished. I'll get better shots of both of them soon.

And you are quite right, a donlon wedge at the level of the pocket would have fixed the front or the Minnis, but a separate side body is required for that, which was why I expressed that preference. That's the thing about experiments; sometimes they don't turn out the way you would have wanted them to. That's why I make so many suits for myself- I wouldn't want to experiment on a client's suit and the best way to learn is to try new things out and make mistakes. So it's all good

Superfluidity? You have taught me a new term, Jordan. But what do you mean by it? They are both pickstitched by hand, ever so discretely, to keep the edge crisp and flat. Perhaps you would have liked a swelled edge or a more decorative stitch?

Regarding the drafts, Whife was the editor of the Modern Tailor, Outfitter and Clothier, a massive 3-volume encyclopedia of tailoring last published, I think, in 1951. It's now something of a collector's item.

The Mitchell System was published by Frank C. Doblin in the 1950s as the New Mitchell System, and then in the 70s as the Modern Mitchell system- I believe that they are still available, and a few pages of the New Mitchell System are available oon the Cutter and Tailor forum. I originally learned a system very close to this, and later studied this system, but abandoned them for what I thought were systems which made more sense to me, since the drafts need to be "straightened" after cutting them out- that is to say, the main construction lines are not parallel to the grain lines, which is a pain when grading or trying to cut directly to cloth. I was speaking recently with a tailor who uses and speaks highly of the system so I decided to give it another go. He likes the sleeve draft, so long as you don't change the scye- I am particular about the scye fit and so used my own sleeve system for this draft. It should also be noted that neither of these garments fit like this "out of the box" (from the first draft) several fittings were necessary, as usualy, to get them to a point where I was somewhat satisfied with the fit so anyone using these systems should not feel discouraged if their first attempt at a draft does not fit as well as they expect. It should also reinforce the notion that fitting skills are more important than drafting systems- there is no magical system which is always perfect, and so long as your fitting skills are strong, you will get decent results no matter the system used.

A last note about these systems- they were published as guides for trained cutters and not as a step-by-step manual to teach how to cut patterns; it was assumed that one already had a firm understanding of drafting or was under the guidance of someone who did. If you are just starting out it is very easy to make all sorts of mistakes, and very hard to spot those mistakes; I would advise anyone who is just learning drafting to find someone who is familiar with the systems to give them some guidance for their first few drafts or to be prepared for a bit of frustration at first.

Rundschau trousers

2009-10-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

On this latest suit, I decided to try a German draft that Schneidergott translated for me from the Rundschau. I made a few minor changes to the draft itself, had quite a bit of fitting in the seat to do, but otherwise a rather painless fitting process. The balance of the rear of the leg is different from my usual draft and I find it hangs straighter with less fuss and manipulation. Observe the stripes along the side seam between this trouser and the previous one- you will notice some of the difference in the cut. But this is draft definitely a keeper. Thanks SG!

A little clarification- by draft, I do not mean a pre-made pattern, but a set of instructions for drafting according to one's measurements. It is understood that the cutter will adjust the instructions according to the customer's posture and stylistic choices.

At Jordan's suggestion (IIRC) I did away with the rear pockets, but I'm not crazy about the look of it, even though it saves me time.

Tomorrow I'll try to find buttons, press the vest and coat, and get some more photos up.

Rundschau side seam

"My" side seam

Now to answer a few questions-

Dukemati- Thank you! Actually, the draft dates to 1954. So recent More recent than some but less recent than others.....

Karen-

And thank you, as well. The knee is a little fuller than my usual draft, in the back only (about 3/4") but that's it. It's the way the seat angle is pitched relative to the rest of the leg that is a little different, as evidenced by the stripes being more straight down the outside of the leg but continuing to taper to the hem. I cut this knee more tapered than the original Rundschau draft, which is quite straight- the draft provides an almost straight line from fork to hem; I prefer to taper from the fork to the knee and then almost straight from the knee to the hem but that requires more ironwork than the original draft would.

In response to Jem's questions, I am pleased that you enjoy the blog and you can find a tutorial on making the flannel flower here. Unfortunately my schedule does not permit me to take on new clients right now, however the occasional flower is not out of the question :)

A tale of two cloth merchants

2009-10-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Fun thing about blogging- I get to rant every once in a while. Well, rant and praise.

I have been flirting with English cloth for a little while, with some interesting results. Since I don't buy significant quantities of it (I buy Italian usually) I am going through an agent who represents a number of English mills. I bought a piece of flannel from his own stock- a charcoal flannel from J & J Minnis; Minnis is one of the stable of mills, including John Hardy, which come under the umbrella of Huddersfield Fine Worsteds, and has a very good reputation, as well as a few royal warrants. The suit made up nicely and I should really get around to posting some photos. Before cutting I asked Andrew (the agent) about sponging and he asked the mill; the mill had previously given a rather snarky answer to another person on the same subject but I let that one go. However the mill never did answer me.

Encouraged by the results of the suit (but not the service), I found another lovely swatch from John Hardy (HFW again) and placed an order. Temporarily out of stock. Well, these things happen. Since this is a winter-only swatch, I asked when they though the cloth might be back in stock- if it were only to come available in January or February, I would pick something else. A week went by with no response from the mill. I would have liked a simple- we are a little busy moving or getting our nails done or whatever and we will answer you shortly, but nothing.

So I picked another swatch from another English mill, Harrisons of Edinburgh. The navy suit with the pink stripe and the pagoda shoulder is Harrisons cloth. A Sunday afternoon I picked the swatch, with a few trouser lengths as well, and put an email in to Andrew. Monday I had a response that one of the numbers was out of stock so I gave them instructions on what to do. This would have been Monday afternoon in the UK. An hour later I had a tracking number but they could have just taken the number off a shipping label so I didn't think much of it. But no, Wednesday I got a parcel with my cloth (I remind readers that I am in Canada). Within an hour of receiving instructions my parcel was shipped, and HFW still hasn't answered any of my questions.

I have to say that the Minnis flannel makes up better than the Harrisons flannel. So next time I am in the market for some flannel will I buy Minnis or Hardy? NO WAY. It's Harrisons for me. I would even pay a premium for it, just for the service.

Sadly, Andrew is stopping his business soon so if you are interested in some nice, sturdy English cloth, I STRONGLY recommend you look through his stuff. And buy Harrisons, not HFW.

Rant over.

Soon the next suit will be finished and I will get some photos of both of them up. Doing a last fitting on the Harrisons flannel and I don't have good mirrors at home so I resort to taking photos from different angles- I wasn't able to spot the pulling at the waist until I took a photo. I'll fix that before finishing completely.

Modern suit factory

2009-10-08T17:07:00.001-07:00

One of the members of the Cutter & Tailor forum posted a link to his company's website, a modern suit factory in Turkey, which had this video as well as some photos of their factory. It might be interesting for those who have never seen a modular engineered suit factory at work (and this is a well-equipped one), but since most operation may look unfamiliar, I'll give a play-by-play below.

Cruzzo Fabrika 2 from hubego on Vimeo.

1.Pick stitch machine
2. Lining pockets. The operator places the lining front on the machine, an arm comes forward on which she places a flat piece of lining and a stay, which the machine folds into jets, stitches and cuts the pocket all in one shot. Homesewers will scream when they see this.
3.Flap jig. Specially-shaped jig molds clamp two pieces of cloth together in order to give fullness to the outer piece, then they are sewn and cut in one shot.
4. Flap press. The flaps are turned and stretched over a form which is then inserted into the press.
5. Welt tacking. The breast welt is zig-zagged in place.
6. Side seam. This is the side seam with a side vent being closed.
7. Shoulder seam. A top-feed machine is programmed to feed the fullness onto the shoulder automatically.
8. Sleeve setting. Again, home sewers will scream. A computerized fullness-feeding machine to set sleeves with the sleeve head already attached. The machine can be fully automated for the amount of fullness in the various parts of the sleeve cap or the operator can control the fullness with a foot pedal and knee lever.
9. Sleeve buttons. Self explanatory.
10. Joining sleeve head. The elbow seam has been joined and the sleeve head is attached before closing the inseam. Most machines of this sort will also shirr (full or ease) the sleeve cap at the same time, making setting the sleeve easier.
11. Buttonholes. Sew and cut buttonholes.
12. Shoulder press
13. Sleeve outseam (elbow seam) press
14. Front panel press. This machine has a shape for the chest and shoulder which is not visible from this angle. The suit designer usually designs the shape of the buck with the press manufacturer.
15. Lapel press
16. Touch up. Don't try this at home, kids.
17. Final examination.

Tommy Nutter's Edward Sexton

2009-10-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, Savile Row had a bit of street cred. Edward Sexton was the technical half of Tommy Nutter, the envelope-pushing, rock and roll side of the row, and in this video he brings Tom Stubbs (of Finch's Quarterly Review) back to the sixties.....

Pagoda shoulders- putting the pieces together

2009-10-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

We’ve seen the shaping that goes into the canvas. We’ve seen the shaping that goes into the pad. Everything that was done to these bits has to be done to the cloth too, but we don’t have the luxury of cuts or darts to impart the shape. This is the part that freaks out some novices, and the thing that makes this kind of shoulder really bad news for factories.

To get the kind of forward pitch and concavity, the neck area has to be stretched (think about the little wedge inserted in the perk) and the scye has to be stretched. How much? Well, that’s a tough one to answer. Enough. Not too much. Start by stretching the neck area, about ¼ to 3/8”, then do the same at the scye area. This should give two distinct ripples of length and a hollow area near the center. Look familiar? It should. Once they have been stretched with the iron, work the fullness toward the shoulder and give the neck another press to set it; the shape must match that of the canvas.

The thing is, when you are stretching all this, you are lengthening the front a bit and thus throwing the balance slightly which will be adjusted during a fitting; you are also changing the scye measurement so the sleeve has to be adjusted accordingly, and refitted by basting, checking, adjusting, rebasting…… just the sort of thing that is anathema to a factory. That’s why you almost never see this type of shoulder except on the highest-end RTW.

So once you are ready to baste the front to the canvas, the first line of basting starts with a little pinch of fullness at the top- it is crucial that there be enough length for the cloth to be worked over the shoulder- if it is tight, the shoulder will kick backwards a bit.

Once the front is basted to the canvas, place the pad in position, flat on a table, lining up the shoulder seams. Baste in a semi-circle along the outer edge of the pad.

Now reach under and give the pad a yank- this will open up the cut we made in the chest piece, and give the concavity we want. Holding this shape, pad stitch through all layers from the outer edge of the pad toward the top of the shoulder. Keep this shape carefully because by pad stitching we are permanently setting the shape, the same was the lapel is rolled using the pad stitch.

When it’s finished, you will have the concavity of the pagoda shape and the natural forward pitch of the shoulder.

Still with us, Karen?

Pagoda shoulders- making the pad

2009-10-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

In this step we will make the shoulder pad for our pagoda shoulder, and this is where we start to see the beauty of the contours of this shoulder come to life.

Shoulder pads are another controversial subject mainly due to the excesses of the eighties but they can play an important role. The high, square-shouldered figure should avoid them, while the sloping-shouldered figure will benefit from a bit of enhancement (the wonder-bra for the male shoulder). Whether you choose to wad the pad or not is up to you, but a cover at least should always be inserted; if nothing else, it protects the back of the shoulder from stretching while it is on a hanger.

My choice, for my body, is to pad the back of the shoulder, since the slope is considerable, and there is a hollow produced as the shoulder curves forward, away from the blade. A lot of manipulation goes into creating a pocket for the blade and to shortening the back scye, but the area could usually benefit from a little wadding to clean it up; most customers are unaware of the appearance of the back of the scye, not being in the habit of checking 3-way mirrors regularly, but most people could use at least a little bit. Keep in mind that the space we are creating in the front of the shoulder is for comfort and should not be stuffed full of cotton either.

The easiest way to make a good pad is to take apart a commercial one, which is usually pretty straight. There are often holes or notches on the pad to help you locate the approximate shoulder seam location, but you can also tell from the shape- the front being smaller than the back. Take the pad apart completely, then along the center of the pad, draw an arc from one end to the other, approximating the forward curve of the shoulder; one third from the neck on this line, draw up a line ¼” long- this can be longer or shorter, depending on the amount of shape you want. ¼” is usually plenty. Cut the top of the pad part along these lines (if there is a canvas piece under the cover and about the wadding, cut this piece as well).

Using a feather stitch (some call it a baseball stitch), join the two cover pieces (if there was a canvas piece, baste it to the underside of the cover and stitch all layers together).

Cut a bias strip of pocketing and pad stitch it through all layers to cover the seam, cross stitch the edges flat.

Separate all the wadding that was in the pad.

Build up the wadding with thin layers, according to the amount that you want; do not feel the need to use all the wadding- a little goes a long way. Note that the wadding for my pad is concentrated at the back.

Place the cover over the wadding and baste down the center with a long, loose running stitch

Now the shaping.

Keep the shape of the shoulder in mind as you pad stitch with fairly loose stitches to prevent lumpiness. There should be an upward curve when looked at from head on, but there should also be a concave curve in the front (curving toward the front) and a convex curve in the back, following the shape of the shoulder. You may need to give a little tug to the front edge, stretching the curve a bit, to get the right amount of concavity. If you do not hold the shape in like this as you are pad stitching the result will not be satisfactory; as you take each stitch make sure you are molding the pad into the desired shape. If at the end the shape does not look right, take it apart and do it again. It will be worth the effort.

EDIT

Jordan makes a good point which I should have mentioned. If you are dealing with a low shoulder (and we usually are) and are making pads, it is far better to pad the low shoulder more than the higher one; it will make matching checks a little easier but, more importantly, will even out the appearance of the customer. Perkins devices were common for measuring shoulder inclination, but they are all but impossible to find now. Instead, grab one of the clinometer apps for the Iphone and turn your phone into a Perkins device.