The (17) made-to-measure tailors I have known
Although I haven’t covered the same number of MTM tailors as bespoke ones, Permanent Style has steadily accumulated a good range - from Kiton to Gieves, P Johnson to the Armoury. And really good made-to-measure is increasingly what younger reader...
The (17) made-to-measure tailors I have known
Although I haven’t covered the same number of MTM tailors as bespoke ones, Permanent Style has steadily accumulated a good range - from Kiton to Gieves, P Johnson to the Armoury. And really good made-to-measure is increasingly what younger reader...
The (55) bespoke tailors I have known
This post was originally written in 2012: a breakdown of all the tailors I have tried personally (rather than just written about), split into different countries. It was updated in 2016, and I have updated it again now in 2020, adding a further 1...
The (55) bespoke tailors I have known
This post was originally written in 2012: a breakdown of all the tailors I have tried personally (rather than just written about), split into different countries. It was updated in 2016, and I have updated it again now in 2020, adding a further 1...
The (17) bespoke shoemakers I have known
This article was originally written back in 2014. Back then I had tried seven bespoke shoemakers, and nothing in Japan. Seven years later, the number has more than doubled, and the spread is wider - also encompassing some semi-bespoke and some remo...
The (17) bespoke shoemakers I have known
This article was originally written back in 2014. Back then I had tried seven bespoke shoemakers, and nothing in Japan. Seven years later, the number has more than doubled, and the spread is wider - also encompassing some semi-bespoke and some remo...
Who are my favourite tailors? (Part two)
Please read part one of this article, here, before this one. Without that context, setting out my priorities, this summary will likely be misleading. Everyone is different, wants different things from bespoke, and simply gets on with people differen...
Who are my favourite tailors? (Part two)
Please read part one of this article, here, before this one. Without that context, setting out my priorities, this summary will likely be misleading. Everyone is different, wants different things from bespoke, and simply gets on with people differen...
The (21) shirtmakers I have known
Three years ago, I wrote a post called ‘The tailors I have known'. The idea was to provide a single reference point for anyone to get a run down on everyone I had tried - and links to more detail. A reader recently commented that it would be nice...
The (21) shirtmakers I have known
Three years ago, I wrote a post called ‘The tailors I have known'. The idea was to provide a single reference point for anyone to get a run down on everyone I had tried - and links to more detail. A reader recently commented that it would be nice...
Who are my favourite tailors? (Part one)
This is the single question I get asked most, and when it is, I nearly always reply that it’s a complex area that really requires a full in-depth article. I think it actually takes two. In this first article, today, I'll explain my personal pri...
Who are my favourite tailors? (Part one)
This is the single question I get asked most, and when it is, I nearly always reply that it’s a complex area that really requires a full in-depth article. I think it actually takes two. In this first article, today, I'll explain my personal pri...
People to follow: Lesser-known Instagram accounts
The search function on Instagram can be a bit useless. No matter how many great, quality brands I engage with, most of what IG pushes at me is men in suits so tight they can barely breathe, and people doing silly stunts. Far more useful, often, is ...
People to follow: Lesser-known Instagram accounts
The search function on Instagram can be a bit useless. No matter how many great, quality brands I engage with, most of what IG pushes at me is men in suits so tight they can barely breathe, and people doing silly stunts. Far more useful, often, is ...
The Holland & Sherry cloths I have known
At the Young Tailors Symposium in a couple of weeks, we will have one floor of the Stefano Bemer atelier dedicated to my favourite Holland & Sherry cloths. Holland & Sherry have generously supported the event, and I thought the best way to r...
The Holland & Sherry cloths I have known
At the Young Tailors Symposium in a couple of weeks, we will have one floor of the Stefano Bemer atelier dedicated to my favourite Holland & Sherry cloths. Holland & Sherry have generously supported the event, and I thought the best way to r...
Reader question: Differences between bespoke tailors
CS, Los Angeles: I have been reading PS for the last few months in an effort to educate myself on various matters of style. First and foremost, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into your work in this area. I suspect that you have a...
Reader question: Differences between bespoke tailors
CS, Los Angeles: I have been reading PS for the last few months in an effort to educate myself on various matters of style. First and foremost, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into your work in this area. I suspect that you have a...
New York bespoke tailors - Updated
This is a fully updated version of our post from January on the bespoke tailors in and around New York. The contributions of readers were extremely helpful, particularly those that had used tailors personally, as this is an area with a lot of misin...
New York bespoke tailors - Updated
This is a fully updated version of our post from January on the bespoke tailors in and around New York. The contributions of readers were extremely helpful, particularly those that had used tailors personally, as this is an area with a lot of misin...
Japanese tailors: Anglofilo, Sartoria Domenica, Vick Tailor and Pecora Ginza
The Japanese tailoring tradition is relatively short. After all, until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, almost no western-style tailoring was worn in the country.The Restoration made western dress required for courtiers and bureaucrats, and increasingl...
Japanese tailors: Anglofilo, Sartoria Domenica, Vick Tailor and Pecora Ginza
The Japanese tailoring tradition is relatively short. After all, until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, almost no western-style tailoring was worn in the country.The Restoration made western dress required for courtiers and bureaucrats, and increasingl...
New book: Bespoke Style, the cuts of 25 of the world's finest tailors
Nothing is more satisfying than when long-grown projects come to fruition. Indeed, I'm not sure many media today could support a project that's taken this amount of work and time. It began in 2016, with the idea of trying to commission a suit or ja...
New book: Bespoke Style, the cuts of 25 of the world's finest tailors
Nothing is more satisfying than when long-grown projects come to fruition. Indeed, I'm not sure many media today could support a project that's taken this amount of work and time. It began in 2016, with the idea of trying to commission a suit or ja...
How bespoke tailors work
Henry Poole cutter Craig Featherstone marks out my Prince-of-Wales suitLast week a reader asked me who the various people were in a bespoke tailoring house, and it occurred to me that this is one area I have never offered a guide to. So here goes.The...
How bespoke tailors work
Henry Poole cutter Craig Featherstone marks out my Prince-of-Wales suitLast week a reader asked me who the various people were in a bespoke tailoring house, and it occurred to me that this is one area I have never offered a guide to. So here goes.The...
Ignore GQ and cold-beer tailors
This month’s GQ features an unfortunate example of how not to have a suit made in Hong Kong. The column in the Talk section features a description of a flying visit to the (in)famous Sam’s Tailor. Sam is famous for having walls decorated with fam...
Ignore GQ and cold-beer tailors
This month’s GQ features an unfortunate example of how not to have a suit made in Hong Kong. The column in the Talk section features a description of a flying visit to the (in)famous Sam’s Tailor. Sam is famous for having walls decorated with fam...
I have Gay Talese's hat
By Tom Mastronardi "The story I’m about to relate is true; it really happened, just a few short years ago, before Covid upended the simple everyday pleasure of running into someone you know on the street and having something marvellous happen. But ...
I have Gay Talese's hat
By Tom Mastronardi "The story I’m about to relate is true; it really happened, just a few short years ago, before Covid upended the simple everyday pleasure of running into someone you know on the street and having something marvellous happen. But ...
Bespoke commissions - What I should and shouldn't have
Thank you everyone that responded to my ‘You are the interviewer’ post a couple of weeks ago. The number of variety of questions was staggering, and I will try to answer as many as I can over the coming weeks. It may take time, but I would ra...
Bespoke commissions - What I should and shouldn't have
Thank you everyone that responded to my ‘You are the interviewer’ post a couple of weeks ago. The number of variety of questions was staggering, and I will try to answer as many as I can over the coming weeks. It may take time, but I would ra...
Going tieless; Hemingway Tailors suit
Without a tie, men lose the biggest opportunity to express themselves easily in colour and pattern. But I don’t like wearing a tie every day either. The key if you’re not going to wear a tie is to add accents elsewhere, such as in a pocket handke...
Going tieless; Hemingway Tailors suit
Without a tie, men lose the biggest opportunity to express themselves easily in colour and pattern. But I don’t like wearing a tie every day either. The key if you’re not going to wear a tie is to add accents elsewhere, such as in a pocket handke...
Video: The Young Tailors Symposium
Looking back on it, our summer 2016 edition of the Symposium series - which focused on young tailors - was particularly interesting. It's easy to forget until you see our film, shown here, how much the backgrounds of each tailor varied. Each was a...
Video: The Young Tailors Symposium
Looking back on it, our summer 2016 edition of the Symposium series - which focused on young tailors - was particularly interesting. It's easy to forget until you see our film, shown here, how much the backgrounds of each tailor varied. Each was a...
How many tailors do you need?
A few weeks ago, a reader made the point that all my adventures with bespoke tailors could give the impression that this is the optimum way to build a wardrobe. That's certainly not the case.The process of bespoke tailoring is about building a relati...
How many tailors do you need?
A few weeks ago, a reader made the point that all my adventures with bespoke tailors could give the impression that this is the optimum way to build a wardrobe. That's certainly not the case.The process of bespoke tailoring is about building a relati...
Dalcuore: Gigi on expansion, craft and young tailors
Gigi doesn’t normally talk much. The master cutter at Neapolitan tailors Dalcuore, he normally stands back, silently, as Damiano and Cristina do the talking. This is both his character and a result of speaking little English. It was nice to have a ...
Dalcuore: Gigi on expansion, craft and young tailors
Gigi doesn’t normally talk much. The master cutter at Neapolitan tailors Dalcuore, he normally stands back, silently, as Damiano and Cristina do the talking. This is both his character and a result of speaking little English. It was nice to have a ...
Spanish tailors
Over the past couple of years I have got to know several of Spain’s leading tailors fairly well, particularly Langa, Reillo and Calvo de Mora.Spanish tailors can be characterised as flexible and value for money, particularly given the amount of h...
Spanish tailors
Over the past couple of years I have got to know several of Spain’s leading tailors fairly well, particularly Langa, Reillo and Calvo de Mora.Spanish tailors can be characterised as flexible and value for money, particularly given the amount of h...
The Young Tailors Symposium at Pitti Uomo
Every Pitti Uomo for the past two years, we have held an event to bring people together with a unique group of the finest craftsmen in the world.For the next instalment, we will be returning to last summer's focus: bespoke tailoring. But whereas t...
The Young Tailors Symposium at Pitti Uomo
Every Pitti Uomo for the past two years, we have held an event to bring people together with a unique group of the finest craftsmen in the world.For the next instalment, we will be returning to last summer's focus: bespoke tailoring. But whereas t...
Summer dressing in Robb Report; tailors and SMN in How to Spend It
In recent weeks there have been several pieces in magazines such as Robb Report UK and the Financial Times's luxury supplement, How To Spend It. Regular readers will be aware that I write a monthly column for How to Spend It - probably the UK's le...
Summer dressing in Robb Report; tailors and SMN in How to Spend It
In recent weeks there have been several pieces in magazines such as Robb Report UK and the Financial Times's luxury supplement, How To Spend It. Regular readers will be aware that I write a monthly column for How to Spend It - probably the UK's le...
Reader question: Taking pictures to the tailors
Amrit: Simon, I am new to your blog but have read your experiences with your Hong Kong tailor with great interest. I really like the double-breated suit by E Tautz in a recent post as well and was wondering to what extent it is advisable to show suc...
Reader question: Taking pictures to the tailors
Amrit: Simon, I am new to your blog but have read your experiences with your Hong Kong tailor with great interest. I really like the double-breated suit by E Tautz in a recent post as well and was wondering to what extent it is advisable to show suc...
Local UK tailors: Controlled crowdsourcing
Readers have commented fairly regularly that it would be good to include more local UK tailors on Permanent Style. I’ve generally been resistant, largely because those tailors would be relevant to only a small number of people. As they tend not t...
Local UK tailors: Controlled crowdsourcing
Readers have commented fairly regularly that it would be good to include more local UK tailors on Permanent Style. I’ve generally been resistant, largely because those tailors would be relevant to only a small number of people. As they tend not t...