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French Tailoring Thread (e.g. Camps de Luca, Cifonelli, Smalto and etc.)

dawei94

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Excuse the atrocious lighting, this was the best I could do right before the wedding.

For this order, I went with 3 piece peak lapel dinner jacket with midnight blue Smiths wool / mohair (the 71/29 one with super kid mohair, which was a consensus fabric in the Black Tie thread, by a number of Savile Row tailors, and one of the two books that Lorenzo suggested during the initial meeting in NYC), grosgrain facings, vents (not traditional but Cifo convinced me that it's nice to have the vents when sitting) and a double breasted waistcoat with no lapel (not a fan of cummerbunds, I didn't have a view on lapel vs no lapel but it is a bit different than my suit waistcoat from Cifo which does have a lapel).

It turned out about as well as I could have hoped, and I got quite a few compliments on the outfit from others at the wedding who I don't think were familiar with bespoke tailoring. To me, that's the ultimate test of a good bespoke garment if it's in a very classic style, which is that it looks good enough that "regular" people and not just other menswear enthusiasts notice something about it looks great, even though it has basically the exact same details as what everyone else is wearing (my blue double breasted Cifonelli overcoat has the same effect). As mentioned previously, the bow tie was also made by Cifo and presumably from the same grosgrain as the facings (though I didn't confirm). The dinner suit is paired with a marcella front shirt from Japanese shirtmaker Masanori Yamagami and black captoe oxfords from Japanese shoemaker Marquess (I couldn't really justify a dedicated set of patent leather shoes unfortunately, and the black tie events that I attend don't have people who are enough of a stickler for that to care).

A couple other notes on the customer service from Cifonelli that I thought I'd share. The first fitting was during the evening and was scheduled for 7:30, which is after the atelier's hours of business (7pm is the official close time) but was the earliest time I could make it due to the timing of my flight, and they waited for me for an extra 15 minutes as I was delayed by traffic coming from Orly. When we did the first trouser fitting a few days ago (there was one more previously in November but that was at too early a stage for this), I didn't have a chance to get out my own suspenders so they brought out a pair they had on hand for fittings. Because I saw they were using these fitting suspenders, I never bothered to bring mine for the subsequent fittings. The offer to make the bowtie came during the second fitting, and then when the bowtie was presented to me at the third fitting, Alex asked "do you have suspenders? If not, you are welcome to take these (the fitting suspenders)". Right after the second fitting, I had a quick work call that I had to take, for which I was provided a room to take the call (and a stack of fabric books to prop up my phone for Zoom). Finally, due to the tight timing of when Cifonelli was going to finish the suit and the timing of my flight from Paris (even though it was the last flight of the day), Alex was starting to think through how to get me to the airport on time, including getting a motorcycle taxi (which ultimately proved unnecessary as traffic died down a bit, CDG was not particularly busy and my flight got delayed). While my requests from other makers haven't been as demanding as the crazy schedule required to get this suit done on time for the wedding, the clockwork precision of the timing and everything else is quite different than other makers, where communication has been spotty and timelines missed by a wide margin (I am 6-12 months behind schedule from certain makers on receiving final products). I think anyone who is a customer / potential customer of Cifonelli (or other top French bespoke makers generally) will agree that the pricing is at the high end of the market, but the final products speak for themselves and the level of customer service is really appreciated when you start to experience lesser level of service from other makers (which has happened to me a few times).

If I'm missing anything here (other than more pictures of me wearing the garment, this is unfortunately the best I've got until the next wedding I'm attending, scheduled for August), let me know
 

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othertravel

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Excuse the atrocious lighting, this was the best I could do right before the wedding.

For this order, I went with 3 piece peak lapel dinner jacket with midnight blue Smiths wool / mohair (the 71/29 one with super kid mohair, which was a consensus fabric in the Black Tie thread, by a number of Savile Row tailors, and one of the two books that Lorenzo suggested during the initial meeting in NYC), grosgrain facings, vents (not traditional but Cifo convinced me that it's nice to have the vents when sitting) and a double breasted waistcoat with no lapel (not a fan of cummerbunds, I didn't have a view on lapel vs no lapel but it is a bit different than my suit waistcoat from Cifo which does have a lapel).

It turned out about as well as I could have hoped, and I got quite a few compliments on the outfit from others at the wedding who I don't think were familiar with bespoke tailoring. To me, that's the ultimate test of a good bespoke garment if it's in a very classic style, which is that it looks good enough that "regular" people and not just other menswear enthusiasts notice something about it looks great, even though it has basically the exact same details as what everyone else is wearing (my blue double breasted Cifonelli overcoat has the same effect). As mentioned previously, the bow tie was also made by Cifo and presumably from the same grosgrain as the facings (though I didn't confirm). The dinner suit is paired with a marcella front shirt from Japanese shirtmaker Masanori Yamagami and black captoe oxfords from Japanese shoemaker Marquess (I couldn't really justify a dedicated set of patent leather shoes unfortunately, and the black tie events that I attend don't have people who are enough of a stickler for that to care).

A couple other notes on the customer service from Cifonelli that I thought I'd share. The first fitting was during the evening and was scheduled for 7:30, which is after the atelier's hours of business (7pm is the official close time) but was the earliest time I could make it due to the timing of my flight, and they waited for me for an extra 15 minutes as I was delayed by traffic coming from Orly. When we did the first trouser fitting a few days ago (there was one more previously in November but that was at too early a stage for this), I didn't have a chance to get out my own suspenders so they brought out a pair they had on hand for fittings. Because I saw they were using these fitting suspenders, I never bothered to bring mine for the subsequent fittings. The offer to make the bowtie came during the second fitting, and then when the bowtie was presented to me at the third fitting, Alex asked "do you have suspenders? If not, you are welcome to take these (the fitting suspenders)". Right after the second fitting, I had a quick work call that I had to take, for which I was provided a room to take the call (and a stack of fabric books to prop up my phone for Zoom). Finally, due to the tight timing of when Cifonelli was going to finish the suit and the timing of my flight from Paris (even though it was the last flight of the day), Alex was starting to think through how to get me to the airport on time, including getting a motorcycle taxi (which ultimately proved unnecessary as traffic died down a bit, CDG was not particularly busy and my flight got delayed). While my requests from other makers haven't been as demanding as the crazy schedule required to get this suit done on time for the wedding, the clockwork precision of the timing and everything else is quite different than other makers, where communication has been spotty and timelines missed by a wide margin (I am 6-12 months behind schedule from certain makers on receiving final products). I think anyone who is a customer / potential customer of Cifonelli (or other top French bespoke makers generally) will agree that the pricing is at the high end of the market, but the final products speak for themselves and the level of customer service is really appreciated when you start to experience lesser level of service from other makers (which has happened to me a few times).

If I'm missing anything here (other than more pictures of me wearing the garment, this is unfortunately the best I've got until the next wedding I'm attending, scheduled for August), let me know

I like how the shoulder sits - and thanks for the details on their customer service.
 

Texasmade

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Excuse the atrocious lighting, this was the best I could do right before the wedding.

For this order, I went with 3 piece peak lapel dinner jacket with midnight blue Smiths wool / mohair (the 71/29 one with super kid mohair, which was a consensus fabric in the Black Tie thread, by a number of Savile Row tailors, and one of the two books that Lorenzo suggested during the initial meeting in NYC), grosgrain facings, vents (not traditional but Cifo convinced me that it's nice to have the vents when sitting) and a double breasted waistcoat with no lapel (not a fan of cummerbunds, I didn't have a view on lapel vs no lapel but it is a bit different than my suit waistcoat from Cifo which does have a lapel).

It turned out about as well as I could have hoped, and I got quite a few compliments on the outfit from others at the wedding who I don't think were familiar with bespoke tailoring. To me, that's the ultimate test of a good bespoke garment if it's in a very classic style, which is that it looks good enough that "regular" people and not just other menswear enthusiasts notice something about it looks great, even though it has basically the exact same details as what everyone else is wearing (my blue double breasted Cifonelli overcoat has the same effect). As mentioned previously, the bow tie was also made by Cifo and presumably from the same grosgrain as the facings (though I didn't confirm). The dinner suit is paired with a marcella front shirt from Japanese shirtmaker Masanori Yamagami and black captoe oxfords from Japanese shoemaker Marquess (I couldn't really justify a dedicated set of patent leather shoes unfortunately, and the black tie events that I attend don't have people who are enough of a stickler for that to care).

A couple other notes on the customer service from Cifonelli that I thought I'd share. The first fitting was during the evening and was scheduled for 7:30, which is after the atelier's hours of business (7pm is the official close time) but was the earliest time I could make it due to the timing of my flight, and they waited for me for an extra 15 minutes as I was delayed by traffic coming from Orly. When we did the first trouser fitting a few days ago (there was one more previously in November but that was at too early a stage for this), I didn't have a chance to get out my own suspenders so they brought out a pair they had on hand for fittings. Because I saw they were using these fitting suspenders, I never bothered to bring mine for the subsequent fittings. The offer to make the bowtie came during the second fitting, and then when the bowtie was presented to me at the third fitting, Alex asked "do you have suspenders? If not, you are welcome to take these (the fitting suspenders)". Right after the second fitting, I had a quick work call that I had to take, for which I was provided a room to take the call (and a stack of fabric books to prop up my phone for Zoom). Finally, due to the tight timing of when Cifonelli was going to finish the suit and the timing of my flight from Paris (even though it was the last flight of the day), Alex was starting to think through how to get me to the airport on time, including getting a motorcycle taxi (which ultimately proved unnecessary as traffic died down a bit, CDG was not particularly busy and my flight got delayed). While my requests from other makers haven't been as demanding as the crazy schedule required to get this suit done on time for the wedding, the clockwork precision of the timing and everything else is quite different than other makers, where communication has been spotty and timelines missed by a wide margin (I am 6-12 months behind schedule from certain makers on receiving final products). I think anyone who is a customer / potential customer of Cifonelli (or other top French bespoke makers generally) will agree that the pricing is at the high end of the market, but the final products speak for themselves and the level of customer service is really appreciated when you start to experience lesser level of service from other makers (which has happened to me a few times).

If I'm missing anything here (other than more pictures of me wearing the garment, this is unfortunately the best I've got until the next wedding I'm attending, scheduled for August), let me know
I've done the motorcycle taxi from CDG to Paris and that was by far the best way to get into the city. Only took like 40 minutes compared to the normal 90 min+ for Uber or metro.

Easy to do if you're not traveling in a group.
 

clee1982

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Great write up though that sounds super stressful I got to say
 

RJman

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On another note, Marc de Luca of Camps de Luca just was inaugurated into the Legion of Honor in France.
 

dawei94

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Great write up though that sounds super stressful I got to say

Yeah I was originally hoping to fly out Friday morning and do the first fitting Tuesday morning, which would have eliminated the rushed airport-atelier and vice versa trips, but the wedding added an event on Friday morning after the initial invite was sent out. Had I known ahead of time, I would have tried to arrive Monday morning, which would have given them an extra half day and not been so rushed.

I also wouldn’t recommend going in with such a rushed timeline, but they are able to do it when necessary. As mentioned before, I’m neither a frequent nor an important customer (and when I walked around the workshop, I actually happened to see the name tag of a couple customers that were about to be stitched in, and they were VVIPs in their home countries), but they still treated me like one, so for that I’m very appreciative
 

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