Australian Members - Page 657

I used them back in the mid 90s when they were in Burke Road Camberwell and they were just 'Raftopoulos Tailors. I've still got 2 pair of wide wale cords they made from back then. I don't wear them as they are double pleated and a bit too narrow at the bottom, but I haven't relegated them to garden wear as they're too nice. Such are the idiosyncrasies of the clothes nut. { I have been directed by "the handbrake" as a New Years Resolution to do more "shopping in the back of the wardrobe"}

Unless their skills have gone down hill dramatically since then, which I doubt, then they are good. I know nothing about their knowledge and skills on soft shoulders etc but I can't see why they aren't good.

I talked to them a fair bit before deciding to go to PJohnson. They sound good but they are a little dearer than PJohnson and there was more direct experience on the forum with the latter so I decided it was less risky. Pinstripe's process sounded interesting though unless I misunderstood it, sort of half way between MTM and bespoke. Sounded like they had a proper fitting part way through the making (rather than just a post-make 'fitting' where any alterations are identified). Not sure how that would work logistically though so I could be wrong. Also I think they are only half canvassed from what Nick said ('minimal fusing' I think was the term he used) and what is implied on the website, for what that's worth.

No... spalla camicia is roping which is a whole detail. I mean puckering or dimpling a bit like in a tie fold around the sleeve head. Can anyone help explain this?

Actually I thought spalla camicia was a very soft unstructured shoulder (literally a 'shirt shoulder'). The ruffling you are talking about though is generally called a Neapolitan shoulder I believe.

Just means the sleeve and the shoulder hole either haven't been stitched properly, or the arm hole and sleeve arn't the same shape. Not a big deal.

In London my alterations tailor unstitched the sleeves on my coat to adjust sleeve length (rather than take sleeve up from the. Bottom) stitched back on in one day and charged me £20. Such a rip off here.

Y u no post pics?

Deleted

See the rest of the forum. Been discussed in detail a million times.

^ User jefferyd has an informative thread on here about "shoulder expression".

Oh sorry I thought it was your jacket jobro. My bad.

Sydneysiders,

 

There's a shop in Pitt St called Enrico Santi Shoes, between Liverpool and Goulburn, which has 40% off Loakes at the moment. I checked them out and most are around $250-270 (with the discount). A good deal, if you like Loakes.

 

Cheers,

 

Eightace

Pictures as requested.



The toes look a little distorted in this picture, which I think is due to the shoe trees. I'm using Woodlore epics, but I think I'll have to find a pair that fit better.



Double sole, Topy'd(gasp!)



Closeup on the stitching. Shoes are hand welted.




Closeup on the closed channel.

This was my first MTM shoe, with my only other SF approved footwear being a pair of RMW's. MTM is definitely a learning experience, and there are a lot of things I will do differently for my next order.
I'm very happy with the finishing and quality for the price I paid, and the fit is 90% perfect. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the info fxh and lennier.

Sounds like they are bespoke tailors from what lennier is describing. The 'part-way' done suit is probably the basted fitting. It is standard operating procedure for tailors. In that case, it makes sense that it would cost more than PJohnson who modify a standard pattern, offshore.

I might go to them when my piggy bank fills up. Hopefully they will work with customer supplied cloth as I have an awesome length of suiting which I want to get made up.

As lovely as the first time I saw them.

I don't think you'll have much luck on better fitting trees, short of getting lasted ones.

Do you know if its a true angled closed channel or one of the more vertical ones that you tend to find on rtw?

Also what would you do differently?
Edited by Plestor - 1/31/12 at 9:46pm

No worries, but take what I said about the process with a grain of salt. They *aren't* full bespoke with a basted fitting, I'm pretty certain (certainly not at their starting prices anyway) and my recollection of them being somewhere between normal offshore MTM and bespoke may have been based on a lack of knowledge at the time and me assuming that a 'fitting' was more than just the post-make check for alterations as done by PJohnson and most other MTM operations. I found Nick very approachable to talk to though, so I'd just drop in and have a chat if you were interested in how they do what they do.