First MTM Suit - Mix & Match advise needed!

[wjenks]

Hi everyone,

My local tailor here in Dublin, Louis Copeland is hosting a number of Made To Measure events in two weeks and I've booked myself in for one of the days.

It's my first MTM Suit and I'm looking for some advice - I'm really keen to get a Navy or Grey windowpane or Brown suit but what I'm really looking for is something that I can mix up throughout the year, with different trousers or even waistcoats.

Is there any particular design/pattern that works best?

Regards,
William

 

[Academic2]

Hi everyone,

My local tailor here in Dublin, Louis Copeland is hosting a number of Made To Measure events in two weeks and I've booked myself in for one of the days.

It's my first MTM Suit and I'm looking for some advice - I'm really keen to get a Navy or Grey windowpane or Brown suit but what I'm really looking for is something that I can mix up throughout the year, with different trousers or even waistcoats.

Is there any particular design/pattern that works best?

Regards,
William

I you want a suit jacket that can double as an odd jacket consider getting hip patch pockets. Other factors being equal avoid solid worsteds which are usually too suit-like to pass as an odd jacket.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[wjenks]

Thanks a million @Academic2 like the sound of the hip patch pockets idea!

 

[BigBadBernard]

There are a couple of blue windowpanes in the Harrisons Regency bunch that might work quite well. It is quite a light cloth (10oz or so) but not so light that it won't be versatile.

I would go with blue, because a grey odd jacket is less useful, whilst a brown suit would only be appropriate if you work in a library.

Personally I wouldn't go down route of the patch pockets on a suit jacket. It would make it work nicely as an odd jacket, but looks wrong (and frankly just too iGenty) on a suit. You can dial down the formality slightly by having slant pockets and a small ticket pocket on the right hand side - that won't look wrong in a suit, and will make the jacket look less of an orphan when worn on its own (which anyway will be helped by being a windowpane).

 

[Academic2]

There are a couple of blue windowpanes in the Harrisons Regency bunch that might work quite well. It is quite a light cloth (10oz or so) but not so light that it won't be versatile.

[...]

Does Louis Copeland carry these?

Cheers,

Ac

 

[Academic2]

[...]

Personally I wouldn't go down route of the patch pockets on a suit jacket. It would make it work nicely as an odd jacket, but looks wrong (and frankly just too iGenty) on a suit. [...]

You're a brave man, saying this on Style Forum.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[BigBadBernard]



You're a brave man, saying this on Style Forum.  

Cheers,

Ac

Don't know the tailor myself, but most decent UK or RoI tailors will have a very healthy selection of Harrisons.

As for patches, I stick to requesting them for odd jackets. To be honest, a 'blazer suit' is a pretty difficult thing to pull off in the design and fabric selection - there will always be compromises. Best to decide if there will be a predominant use and design around that, so long as it doesn't involve making choices that are too barbarous!

 

[wjenks]



Does Louis Copeland carry these?


Cheers,

Ac

Not to sure in all honesty but will find out and keep you posted.

 

[Academic2]

Quote:
Some people define 'blazer suit' as having a breast patch-pocket in addition to the hip patch-pockets, some don't. I'd wear one without the breast patch-pocket but not with. Lots of well-respected long-time posters here wear both, however

The original poster needs to take into account, of course, the norms of dress in his location.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[wjenks]

@BigBadBernard thanks for the tips, really appreciate it!

What's your thoughts on a waistcoat with a windowpane suit actually?

 

[Academic2]

@BigBadBernard thanks for the tips, really appreciate it!

What's your thoughts on a waistcoat with a windowpane suit actually?

I've seen it done in tweed.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[Academic2]

Quote:
For example:





http://www.charleswall.co.uk/charle.../Ratcatcher-new-brown-check-shooting-suit.htm

Cheers,

Ac

 

[BigBadBernard]

I wouldn't have a waistcoat on any suit that was not very formal (i.e. plain blue or grey or a pinstripe). If you are making the jacket one that can be worn odd as well as part of a suit, then it is going to be on the less formal side, so I think the styling would clash with a w/coat and end up looking a bit of a mess.

Personally, with ref to Ac's point above, I think three piece tweed suits are tantamount to costume / passing off and would be met with howls of laughter in polite society in the UK, but I guess it takes all sorts...

 

[Academic2]

I wouldn't have a waistcoat on any suit that was not very formal (i.e. plain blue or grey or a pinstripe). If you are making the jacket one that can be worn odd as well as part of a suit, then it is going to be on the less formal side, so I think the styling would clash with a w/coat and end up looking a bit of a mess.

Personally, with ref to Ac's point above, I think three piece tweed suits are tantamount to costume / passing off and would be met with howls of laughter in polite society in the UK, but I guess it takes all sorts...

That's fine as an expression of personal preference, to which you are certainly entitled. But I'm not sure how helpful it is to the OP.

As I said, he knows best the norms of dress appropriate to the contexts in which he'll be wearing the suit/jacket. The rest of us are just here to help him review options.

Cheers,

Ac

 

[BigBadBernard]

I thought it was fairly helpful myself, adding context to my view (yes, I accept that rules of dress are not like the laws of physics) that three-piece suits are formal things, hence, appropriate for a formal pinstripe suit, less appropriate for a blazer suit (however so defined) and absurd in a tweed suit.