Objections to RTW Gieves & Hawkes blazer?

[Naive Jr.]

I would be very grateful for any advice about advantages and disadvantages of a Gieves & Hawkes blazer - single or double breasted.

 

[Ich_Dien]

Poor quality for the price. What size are you?

 

[Naive Jr.]

Originally Posted by Ich_Dien

Poor quality for the price. What size are you?

Nice to hear from you, Ich Dien. I appreciate your help and advice very much.

According to Justin Sumrie's guess on the phone (I cannot visit UK) my size must be 38S. The S is important because my RTW shirts must be shortened to 31". During the summer sale at New & Lingwood I inquired about a jacket, but there were no more available in 38S.

In the Gieves & Hawkes Spring Summer 2009 catalogue there is a "Navy reefer jacket with gold G&H Crown buttons" advertised. I regret that I do not have the technology to transfer the image of the photograph of this "reefer jacket" to this thread. I did not see this reefer jacket advertised in the Gieves & Hawkes website.

It seems to me that such a "reefer jacket" differs from a double-breasted in design because the upper pair of buttons are not spread. The appearance of this reefer jacket seems more streamlined than that of the double-breasted blazer. What do you think of this "reefer jacket"?

 

[Macallan]

Gieves have started to charge silly money for their RTW; only purchase it on sale, with at least 33% discount. The garment quality has also decreased.

 

[Naive Jr.]

Originally Posted by Macallan

Gieves have started to charge silly money for their RTW; only purchase it on sale, with at least 33% discount. The garment quality has also decreased.

Very interesting! When I looked at their summer sale, I saw for example a reduction of £100 for £500 Jackets - that's only 25 or 20%. Does garment quality mean cloth or sewing or cut?

 

[Macallan]

There is a difference in cloth quality from my older Gieves RTW to my last purchases (xmas '08). From what I have seen recently, there has been further decrease yet in the last year the prices have jumped.
In terms of construction, I suppose if I examine the garments there could be a difference; however cloth and price in this case are more of a concern.

I have varies RTW from Gieves: suits, shirts, sweaters, odd-trousers, tweed jacket, ties and a pair of shoes.

I have got to the point where my only RTW purchases are now casual wear, so I am picky about what is available in shops. If I was looking for a RTW jacket, I may be tempted with 25% off; howevers, Gieves RTW would not be my first stop, which it used to be.

 

[Naive Jr.]

I am most grateful for the initiative of both Ich_Dien and Macallam to respond in my need. Looks like I must look elsewhere for a jacket. Not only must I think twice about buying a G&H jacket, the model in question which impressed me as so aesthetically streamlined and orderly in comparison to the single-breasted is at present unavailable according to the the G&H salesperson with whom I spoke when I phoned last week to find out about the announced "Blazer Room", etc. He had told me G&H RTW blazers start at £600. At that time I hadn't realised that the reefer wasn't identical with double-breasted. I just received his prompt reply to my Email inquiry about the reefer model. I wrote him asking if the button distribution of the G&H reefer isn't different from the double-breasted and if Navy meant a particular shade of blue: You are right both on the style of the reefer as well as the colour. The only other observation would be that Reefers historically were made in heavier fabrics that today's blazer. We could only supply a reefer through our Bespoke service. These are not available at present as part of our RTW collection. If I were obsessed enough to insist upon this reefer in the G&W interpretation subsumed under expressed objection, I would presumably have to wait anyway until next spring/summer and have more time to review my problem of jacket need anew. Does anyone have a comment on the reefer design? The photograph in the G&H Spring/Summer catalogue of this reefer seems to show 3 patch pockets - upper left and two lower.