Breaking the rules?

[thenitwit]

I really would suggest you dig out the extra £80.

A decent blazer in a solid wool 13 ounce can take a beating and last a lifetime. I have one going strong that was worn heavily for ten years and infrequently for another ten. Still there. If you can find the funds and invest in a hardy Huddersfield cloth, this really will pay dividends over time.

Alternatively try E&R OTR in the sales. They produce a good, traditional, hardy product (although have lilted a little towards fashion recently if the website is anything to go by).

And Oliver Brown is well worth a look - what Hackett used to be (niche little shop off Sloane Square, run by great people and with decent quality reasonably priced OTR together with MTM). I don't like their block because of the slanting pockets, but much better than the firm you linked. You could have the buttons on this swapped over to brown horn by any competent tailor (& they may well do this in-house):http://www.oliverbrown.org.uk/gentlemen/shop-by-product/jackets/single-breasted-navy-blazer.html

Thanks for the tips. Do you think it will be canvassed? I will have a look and see if E+R have a sale on at the moment. I'll ring C_TD tomorrow and see what they're looking for price wise. Oliver Brown don't seem to do a short however, and I'm 5ft 7. I already have to have the sleeves shortened on short blazers.

Are there any other good trusted brands you would suggest to buy OTR? I may just do that and get a tailor to make it fit well. Seems to be my best option, but if C+TD can do soemthing for £400, I'll likely go for it.

 

[Balfour]

Thanks for the tips. Do you think it will be canvassed? I will have a look and see if E+R have a sale on at the moment. I'll ring C_TD tomorrow and see what they're looking for price wise. Oliver Brown don't seem to do a short however, and I'm 5ft 7. I already have to have the sleeves shortened on short blazers.

Are there any other good trusted brands you would suggest to buy OTR? I may just do that and get a tailor to make it fit well. Seems to be my best option, but if C+TD can do soemthing for £400, I'll likely go for it.

C&tD are half-canvassed machine made; fully canvassed when bespoke.

Re. jacket (sensu stricto, coat) length, many people wear their jackets much too short (Thom Brown fashion forward shrunken suit look). I'm 5'9" and when wearing OTR found short sizes too short. The key principle is that the coat should cover your backside.

I went into Roderick Charles recently (they do great chinos - preferable to Cordings: Cordings insist on a button fly and RC provide a zip fly!). They said their suits are now fully fused, so avoid.

OTR in the UK is pretty hopeless to be honest. Ede is the only company I would go to OTR (fortunately I don't have to anymore).

 

[Geezer]



At 5'9", I don't do DB - my wardrobe is similar in style if not quality to the Duke of Edinburgh (all single breasted 2B, although only jetted pockets with City suits).

What do you like by way of blazer-ish odd jackets?

Sorry, Balfour - was offline for a bit. I have a few inexpensive OTR (including more than one - shock horror - from Roderick Charles) jackets in linen and cotton in various shades of blue, and plain tan and a cream-tan with subtle blue overcheck that fit well after alterations, and a couple of MTM tweed numbers on grey and blue grounds for colder weather in London (and brown-green tweeds for out of town of course). Until recently I also had the jacket from a lightweight bespoke navy suit which was still in good shape when the trousers were past their best which, being plain navy and refitted with brass buttons, did good duty as a pseudo-blazer.

Which i guess illustrates my earlier point - that the traditional blazer currently fits in a narrowing niche between suit and "smart casual". It's neither fish not fowl. My father (78) wears one a lot, which may be a factor. And I can recall going to summer parties 20 years ago where half my male friends wore traditional blazers - these days almost none do if they wear a jacket,

Off-topic, but I'm afraid to say I haven't had an SB suit or other jacket made for me without slanted pockets since 1987...

 

[Balfour]

Sorry, Balfour - was offline for a bit. I have a few inexpensive OTR (including more than one - shock horror - from Roderick Charles) jackets in linen and cotton in various shades of blue, and plain tan and a cream-tan with subtle blue overcheck that fit well after alterations, and a couple of MTM tweed numbers on grey and blue grounds for colder weather in London (and brown-green tweeds for out of town of course). Until recently I also had the jacket from a lightweight bespoke navy suit which was still in good shape when the trousers were past their best which, being plain navy and refitted with brass buttons, did good duty as a pseudo-blazer.

Which i guess illustrates my earlier point - that the traditional blazer currently fits in a narrowing niche between suit and "smart casual". It's neither fish not fowl. My father (78) wears one a lot, which may be a factor. And I can recall going to summer parties 20 years ago where half my male friends wore traditional blazers - these days almost none do if they wear a jacket,

Off-topic, but I'm afraid to say I haven't had an SB suit or other jacket made for me without slanted pockets since 1987...

Funnily enough as I said above I was in Roderick Charles recently and had a look at jackets. When I asked whether they were half-canvassed the salesman said they were fused and then tried to convince me this was a good thing! I think they did used to be half-canvassed, but perhaps standards are declining. I can see picking up a beater cotton jacket from them - I couldn't justify the expense of bespoke on cotton. I do quite like their chinos.

As regards blazers, I see what you're saying, but I have a very soft spot for the navy odd jacket (influenced perhaps by time spent in America). I have several (a traditional blazer configuration with brass buttons, but more with brown horn buttons, which softens the look somewhat in my view).

On slanted pockets, I applaud the consistency. Same for me - in the sense that I've found something I like and stick with it. No rule here either way of course, just a matter of personal taste. (And I do break the rules in some respects, e.g. the dreaded slip-on with a suit …)

 

[Geezer]

I think I have posted this before, but my favourite bad customer service in RC, a few years ago, buying an odd jacket (navy, cotton, brown buttons) at deep discount because it filled a gap and the shoulders and chest fitted well went something like this:



Geezer: Great, I'll take it, but take in the waist and put an inch or so on the sleeves.

RC Bloke: are you sure? That's £50 of alterations on a £99 jacket? You sure you want to spend that much?

Geezer: yes, because it's a £99 jacket that doesn't fit properly or a £149 one that does, which is a bit of a no-brainer. I want a jacket that fits properly. [Geezer, thinking: look, old boy, I am wearing a bespoke suit, an MTM shirt, and Edward Green shoes, what is it you don't understand about this proposition?]

RC Bloke: mumble, mumble, grumble, grumble, OK, maybe done next week, have to send it out, we'll let you know.



Geezer's clothing theory number 96: as a general rule, you get rubbish service from any "tailor" whose staff have tape measures worn around their shoulders.

(As for hacking pockets, I apppreciate your tolerance: it's a way of subtly livening up otherwise very conservative business dress suits. And, yes, while I normally wear more conservative shoes, I also wear a variety of loafers, chelsea boots, George boots, and balmorral boots with suits.)

 

[Balfour]

I think I have posted this before, but my favourite bad customer service in RC, a few years ago, buying an odd jacket (navy, cotton, brown buttons) at deep discount because it filled a gap and the shoulders and chest fitted well went something like this:



Geezer: Great, I'll take it, but take in the waist and put an inch or so on the sleeves.

RC Bloke: are you sure? That's £50 of alterations on a £99 jacket? You sure you want to spend that much?

Geezer: yes, because it's a £99 jacket that doesn't fit properly or a £149 one that does, which is a bit of a no-brainer. I want a jacket that fits properly. [Geezer, thinking: look, old boy, I am wearing a bespoke suit, an MTM shirt, and Edward Green shoes, what is it you don't understand about this proposition?]

RC Bloke: mumble, mumble, grumble, grumble, OK, maybe done next week, have to send it out, we'll let you know.



Geezer's clothing theory number 96: as a general rule, you get rubbish service from any "tailor" whose staff have tape measures worn around their shoulders.

(As for hacking pockets, I apppreciate your tolerance: it's a way of subtly livening up otherwise very conservative business dress suits. And, yes, while I normally wear more conservative shoes, I also wear a variety of loafers, chelsea boots, George boots, and balmorral boots with suits.)

Hah! Well said.

 

[thenitwit]

Hah! Well said.

Thanks for all the advice, Balfour. I've made a decision. What I'm going to do is put the blazer off for a few months whilst saving the extra money and have it done properly somewhere. This allows me to purchase 5-6 shirts MTM from a UK vendor. I've come across Barrington Ayre and Steven Hardounion? In Fulham. At around £80-£100 per ****, do you have any suggestions as to where I should go? I only want basic shirts. I feel more comfortable being able to go to a UK vendor as I know I can have one made, wear it a bit, upload pics here, have it perfected and then have the others made. These online MTM places well...I can just see it being trouble. As I don't need the blazer right now, I'd rather save the cash, have something made that's going to last and won't be chucked away in near future. I've come across Needlemanthread and also C+TD. I'd have around £500-£600 for it in a few months so think this is a better call.

Is it worth having one shirt made here, then send it off to an online MTM to recreate or is the experience / level of attention just worth doing it all in one place in the UK rather than messing around online.

Thanks again

 

[Balfour]

Don't know what to suggest re. shirts.

You could see whether Hilditch and Key OTR would work - the quality is very nice, but it will come down to fit. (I prefer a much fuller cut shirt than the slim-fit nonsense you see these days.) £59-70 in the sale (one of the two annual ones on now), so would leave some budget for alterations.

But the good shirt-makers are all going to be > £200 for bespoke usually with minimum orders.

Budd do MTM for £165.

Steed have also introduced MTM starting at £85. This seems remarkably cheap, but perhaps worth trying as I doubt they would want to be associated with a poor quality side-line. Not tried myself.

 

[thenitwit]

Don't know what to suggest re. shirts.

You could see whether Hilditch and Key OTR would work - the quality is very nice, but it will come down to fit. (I prefer a much fuller cut shirt than the slim-fit nonsense you see these days.) £59-70 in the sale (one of the two annual ones on now), so would leave some budget for alterations.

But the good shirt-makers are all going to be > £200 for bespoke usually with minimum orders.

Budd do MTM for £165.

Steed have also introduced MTM starting at £85. This seems remarkably cheap, but perhaps worth trying as I doubt they would want to be associated with a poor quality side-line. Not tried myself.

I'll give them a ring and see what they're offering for that, I'd presume it will be a case of 'yeah, they start at £85, but you wouldn't want a shirt that we sell at this price".

How slim is H&K's slim fit? Charles Trywitt's slim fit, despite me not being slim, swamps me.

 

[Balfour]

I'll give them a ring and see what they're offering for that, I'd presume it will be a case of 'yeah, they start at £85, but you wouldn't want a shirt that we sell at this price".

How slim is H&K's slim fit? Charles Trywitt's slim fit, despite me not being slim, swamps me.

Depends what you mean by swamps - lots of people wear their shirts in a much too vacuum-packed way. This is a good thread: http://www.styleforum.net/t/39248/how-should-a-dress-shirt-fit/0_50 - see Manton's post about adding 5" to the chest, 6" to the waist and 5" hips.

 

[thenitwit]

Depends what you mean by swamps - lots of people wear their shirts in a much too vacuum-packed way. This is a good thread: http://www.styleforum.net/t/39248/how-should-a-dress-shirt-fit/0_50 - see Manton's post about adding 5" to the chest, 6" to the waist and 5" hips.

Was much bigger than that, with the extra slim being too slim. Is Kent Wang able to make shirts in the UK? I'm quite short so getting the sleeves shortened always has to be done, which cocsts a bit when the placket is moved too, I'm led to believe. Plus, I have a smaller neck, 15.5 which means most 'well fitting' shirts, are too slim as my body isn't that of a typical 5ft 7, 15.5 neck. My own fault, i know. Just a pain finding a shirt to fit. I don't want skin tight, I don't want tight either. Around 4 to 5 inches would be good as tucking it in allows me to hide some flaws. I recently tried CT, Ralph Lauren, TM Lewin and Thomas Pink a few months back and got frustrated. I then tried Jaeger, Boss which were even worse.

 

[Balfour]

Yes, you can order Kent Wang in the UK. You might even be able to get measured by him in person (he's now based in London).

 

[thenitwit]

Yes, you can order Kent Wang in the UK. You might even be able to get measured by him in person (he's now based in London).

Do you have an idea of prices or are the same as the online prices? How can I find him and or the store?

I'll ring up Steed tomorrow, possibly even Barrington Ayre but they seem to have a limited range of fabrics. Some are even cotton / polyester. Some are lsited as 50/1? What does that even mean? Is that single ply? If not, I suppose C+TD may be my best choice at £120 a shirt for four.

Where can I find Wang?

Regards,

 

[Balfour]

Email [email protected] and explain what you're looking for.