In this, the second of our films looking at the details of making a bespoke suit, we're focusing on lapels.
But not necessarily the hand padding - that most obvious sign of handwork, which you can see on the back of most bespoke lapels. We've covered that before and a lot of readers are familiar with it.
Frankly, it's also the kind of thing people can focus on at the expense of the more important things - like what you're actually doing with that stitching. How much are you shaping the chest and why? What other layers and pieces are going on there?
In this video, you'll see the tailor Jennie Adamson begin with an aspect of bespoke we've never even mentioned - using a strip of lining to control the break line (where the lapel folds over).
This is done with the lining on the straight, running counter to the bias (diagonal) of the main cloth. This is to help stop it stretching - and Jennie also draws in the material, tightening it with her thread before shrinking away that fullness with the iron. You can see more about how shrinking works in this previous video.
I hope you enjoy it and, as with the first video on pockets, it gives you some newfound appreciation of your bespoke garment. They really are marvels.
Jennie is a a coatmaker for Gieves & Hawkes, a pattern maker for brands like The Deck and Casablanca, and a cutter and maker of her own tailoring. More on her here. The location is Cockpit Arts in Bloomsbury, a wonderful home for craftspeople that's just behind Lamb's Conduit Street.
Thank you to Vitale Barberis Canonico for supporting this series. The cloth we used is my favourite VBC material, the four-ply high-twist wool in the Ascot bunch from Drapers. The suit being made is for Jennie, and I am wearing my suit from Assisi in the same material.
You can see the first video in the series here. Other similar videos are:
- Pressing: The unsung art of bespoke tailoring
- How to hem trousers like a Savile Row tailor
- How to sew on a button like a Savile Row tailor
- How to maintain and care for your suit
- How to hand wash knitwear
Thanks Simon.
This video really added to the value of the first one you did with Jenny. It’s so much easier now to appreciate how the lapel roll is crafted with painstaking stitching and the canvas is moulded into a natural contour.
Nice, lovely to hear Eric
Jennie is obviously one of the best in her trade. I often wonder how coat and trouser making standards, vary across Savile Row tailors and their alumni such as Stephen Hitchcock. Is it possible to judge such standards when selecting which tailor to use? A lot of Forum and blog tailoring discussions tend focus on issues such as house style, lapel widths, and structure, including drape.
Many bespoke tailors use outworkers around the country or outsource to other countries such as India. Like Jennie, outworkers can have several tailors or brands as clients. Quality control must be a challenge if consistency and high standards are to be maintained. How can customers assess quality over a period of time? Will there be significant differences between early and later commissions?
Hey Kent,
Good questions all, and something that perhaps merits a longer article at some point.
In my personal experience, this kind of quality doesn’t tend to vary that much among tailors in one place – eg Savile, Naples, Milan. Generally they all share a history, often suppliers, and the differences are mostly in skill in fitting, rather than making. Where there are differences they’re more the more obvious things like finishing, eg a Milanese buttonhole. There are differences in what someone demands of their coatmaker, but they’re a lot smaller and sometimes subjective as to whether they are good or bad.
My comment was inspired Jeffrey Diduch’s old blog Tutto Fatto A Mano where he dissected bespoke jackets and suits that were made by famous tailors on Savile Row and in Italian cities. The differences in the quality were considerable, especially the jackets.
I have also seen big variations in quality (cut, make and finish) from the same Savile Row tailor, e.g. A&S. Part of the problem may be due to the inexperience of the cutters and tailors in the big houses. Can you demand that the Head Cutter measures and fits you if you are paying over £5k for a Savile Row suit?
Unfortunately no, not really. If you have a longstanding relationship with the house then perhaps, but from their point of view they’d always present things as being the same – they have to really, otherwise it would be a very hard thing to manage
Jeffrey’s videos on this subject were quite a revelation. Some of the tailoring work (nothing to do with cutters, he was talking about the folk who sew) was very poor indeed, and some was exceptional (his words). Steed came out at or near the top, G&H at or near the bottom.
Well worth a look Simon.
Thanks Martin, yes I saw them at the time
My apologies, it was not G&H who got slated for the poor quality of make, but A&S.
Thanks for the correction. The reputation of G&H, i.e. before its recent troubles, was excellent when Jeffey was blogging. I was very impressed by Davide Taub’s work for Simon.
Simon has written several PS articles on his commissons from A&S and could comment on his personal experiences. His first suit, measured by head cutter John Hitchcock, look boxy to my eyes -https://www.permanentstyle.com/2010/06/that-delayed-anderson-sheppard.html. IIRC he changed cutters, probably after Mr Hitchcock’s retirement.
Hi Kent
Interesting comments, but please remember that Diduch’s reviews had nothing to do with fit, given that he did not see a garment being worn.
Rather, they were everything to do with the gubbins on the inside of a garment which were not visible, and the quality of those elements which were, eg buttonholes.
I think they exposed how, even on the garments of the most reputable houses, shoddy work and shortcuts were not uncommon.
I did not say that Diduch’s reviews had anything to do with fit. Quality control is obviously a big issue, even for reputable houses who make the entire garment in their own workshop(s). However, if a bespoke tailor’s make is poor, it’s hard to have full confidence in the cut and fit. That’s why Jeffrey’s blog was so useful.
A related issue is staff turnover. Cutters and tailors, especially on Savile Row, move on from one firm to its competitor(s) or set up on their own like Jennie. Recruiting skilled tailors or training replacements could have an effect on quality in the short to medium term. In Italy, reputable bespoke tailors are closing due to lack of staff. Bespoke tailoring is a tough business.
Sorry if I misunderstood. I linked it to your comments regarding the fit of suits from Gieves and A&S.
hi Kent – could you share the link to that quality assessment? Thanks!
Jeffrey Diduch’s blog is here – https://tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com. There is an index on the right hand side for the tailor reviews. You can find his interviews and other comments using search engines. IIRC he also posted (several years ago) on menswear forums which are best avoided due to the presence of poseurs, shills and trolls.
many thanks!
Another fascinating video, thank you. I hope you will have Jennie make a suit for you.