W. W. Chan dinner suit commission - Page 2

Thanks to all. I'm seeing Patrick from WW Chan in New York on July 16 and I'll report then on what he talks me into (and out of).

Right now, I'm traveling so I only have the suit I'm wearing with me. But I'll be home this weekend and will take some photos to share. My choices have been quite conservative, since I mostly hobnob with bankers, lawyers, government types and other similarly boring people. So you'll see that the Chan suits are orthodox double-vented notch-lapel SBs with level flap pockets (my only indulgence on some of the suits were colorful linings). I'll also try to post a few other things from Chan -- a quarter-lined navy Fresco blazer, a Donegal odd jacket, and a cashmere topcoat.

BTW, in the not-recent past, I did a few suits and a blazer with Benson & Clegg. In retrospect, I think Ken Austin plunged my lapels a little too low in an attempt to make me look longer and leaner. I think the Chan suits and jackets have better vertical balance.

A little story and a question:  a few years later I lost weight and needed to have the Benson & Clegg suits altered. I didn't want to hassle going to London or waiting for Ken to visit the States. Since I live in Philadelphia, I went to Joseph Centofanti in Ardmore to do the work. Centofanti spotted the quality of the suits from twenty paces, which was cool. Interestingly, Joe's alterations left lots of extra lining visibly wrinkling on the inside of the jackets. I didn't ask him about it, since I didn't pick up the suits in person afterwards. I assumed this was done intentionally, so as to enable undoing the work if/when I would gain the weight back. Or am I wrong?

I don't remember. I'll look when I get home and let you know.

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Originally Posted by Despos 

Quote:

Joe's alterations left lots of extra lining visibly wrinkling on the inside of the jackets.

Vertically along the center back seam?

Yes, precisely, now that I look at them again.

(I remembered it as worse than it actually is. I must have registered this in my mind after getting a particularly bad pressing back from the dry cleaners. As it happens, I've not wore them in a long while. Having been made smaller after a successful diet, they are now relegated to my aspirational closet, given my current physique.)  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Despos 

Quote:

Joe's alterations left lots of extra lining visibly wrinkling on the inside of the jackets.

Vertically along the center back seam?

Yes, precisely. And now that I look again, they're not as bad as I remembered. Perhaps I formed a mental image from a bad pressing episode....

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Originally Posted by ThinkDerm 

Looking forward to hearing updates!

Nothing to report until July 10, when I see WW Chan in New York to place my order. So far, the dinner suit fabrics I'm considering are Scabal Festival 852054, a midnight blue barathea which I've seen, and these, which I've only heard about and don't know much about:

Dugdale Brothers 11 oz midnight blue

Any suggestions or insight on these or other fabric choices? I usually go into my meetings with Chan well-briefed on fabrics rather than sit and only then begin to pore over books, even though Patrick and his assistants are usually quite willing to explore fabrics with me. (They will sometimes gently try to offer alternatives to my requests -- for example, once I wanted Golden Bale and Patrick said it was hard to get in HK from his distributor and would result in a very long wait. I took their advice in that instance.)

BTW, I'm also doing a navy herringbone business suit. Since I have easy access to the Scabal online catalogue, I'm looking at Riverside 751905, and Royal 702635, 702636 and 702637.

The 702636 is a vibrant dark blue, the others are all dark navy. Somewhere once I was told that the narrower the herringbone, the more refined the look. Do you all agree? Any other suggestions for fabric choices from other houses? (Super 120 and below, please. I wear these suits for work, travel extensively, and am not a Russian kleptocrat, so I can't replace garments every few months.) 

Here's an update. I finally sat with Patrick yesterday in New York. We settled on:

• Scabal Festival 852054 midnight blue barathea at 280 grams (I was considering others, too, but they all were heavier cloths, and I will always be indoors in civilized countries with interior climate control, and I may even be forced to step onto the dance floor once or thrice)
• Peaked lapels in black grosgrain, single button, double vents (I put my hands in my pockets), besom pockets with grosgrain piping, purple lining (as befitting my royal ego), inside breast/pen/phone pockets, grosgrain covered sleeve and front buttons
• Uncuffed trousers with black grosprain stripe, side tabs (no loops), side pockets on the seam, normal rear pockets (usable handkerchief and my *$#!@ wallet)
• U-shaped waistcoat, black grosgrain shawl lapels, three buttons, inside lining same purple, outside lining in back matches midnight blue

I also ordered an ordinary suit in a nice, small, navy herringbone:  Scabal Triple A 752178, which is a 320 g Super 120 withs 2% cashmere. I've had a couple of suits before in this range and they seem to drape and wear well. I came in thinking something from Scabal's Riverside book, but Patrick talked me into this instead.

I should have both sometime in October.

Oh, and the bottom front of the waistcoat is finished in points, which Patrick and I both think is slimming.