As requested, here is my Anderson & Sheppard suit. A 13-ounce, grey Prince of Wales cloth with pale blue overcheck, made up into three-piece suit with outer right ticket pocket.
The two things I noticed immediately were the high armholes and gentler shoulder. The former gives you greater freedom of movement but – owing to the large armhole – a smooth top to the sleeve. The latter is more of a style issue, and you could argue one that suits me less given I have sloping shoulders already. But I have jackets with even less padding and I think it’s just a question of the look.
I deliberately had this commissioned in a cloth that means I can wear the jacket separately on its own. I was also impressed with the pattern matching – something highlighted by the detailed check. On the jacket the matching across the front piece, welt and then pocket flaps is nice, particularly across both the main and ticket pocket.
And I noticed that the trousers are fastened with a button inside the waist, one more above the fly and then a metal hook at the end. I’ve never seen a button in the middle like this – usually it’s a hook in the middle and button on the end, or hook in both places. Mr Hitchcock says it is their classic fastening for a single breasted and I can certainly see that it makes sense – there is more freedom of movement in the middle, above the fly, as the buttonhole is horizontal.
I had two fittings, a forward and then a final. At the second fitting the only changes were a narrowing of the skirt and a slight shortening of one sleeve. The accuracy of the fit at the first fitting was impressive, particularly given that it involved only a quick set of measurements by Mr Hitchcock. The cloth here looks a little ruffled – but then it has yet to settle to my shape.
Shirt from Emma Willis, tie from Hermes and handkerchief from Sciarpa.