Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[bry2000]

Has I Sarti cancelled his September USA trip or is it still on?

 

[dauster]

Has I Sarti cancelled his September USA trip or is it still on?

I saw somewhere that it was cancelled but @UrbanComposition can confirm for sure.

 

[DavidLane]

Has I Sarti cancelled his September USA trip or is it still on?

It has been postponed.

-DL

 

[UrbanComposition]

Salvo and Totò from ISI are in the process of sending all existing clients emails telling them of the cancelled flight. I have no idea when the US will allow flights from Europe, but as soon as they do they plan on resuming trunk shows. Both in SF and NYC trunk shows were planned for outside/communal areas for safety and I’m sure they’ll do they same when they’re able to land Stateside.

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

Seems like you are happy with the suits so congrats and you seem to spend quite a lot of time thinking about it and you also seem to put a lot of time and effort into your post - so thanks for sharing.

That being said, the front of the first suit looks like its pulling around the waist and the back looks very messy, 2nd suits pics are very dark can't see much.

Are you sure you are satisfied with this result?

Also, for the lack of a better technical understanding the suits do not seem to flatter you - sorry but that's just my opinion. Since you are a bit bigger good bespoke would work around your body and "cover-up and improve") your overall body shape, which is not the case here.

I don't naturally worry much about the exact appearance of the fit which I suppose is a little odd or misguided, but I'm usually think predominantly about the details of the design and the feel while wearing it. I spent most of my life settling for clothes that I found dull and samey that felt like straight-jackets whenever I tried to move my arms, so that's what I tend to think about. There's only so much lipstick one can put on a pig anyway, so you might as well make sure that it's happy regardless. There's also a touch more to me at the moment, so to speak, than there was in early July, which might account for some of the pulling.

My 'photographic approach' of setting a digital camera atop a pile of books on a stool, then using the timer function probably does no favors. Maybe this would go better if I were to hire a professional photographer or share my life with somebody else so that I wouldn't be left to do this alone, but I'm sure as Hell not doing that! Nevertheless, for a lark, I took a second round of pictures with slightly better lighting. Too bad about the model, though...



The grey suit from the front, again.



A view from the left side, but without my arms raised this time.


The back again, with a somewhat unfortunate something happening at the lower back.



As a curio, this is the back with the jacket unbuttoned. (I paradoxically need both a haircut and more hair)

The navy blazer definitely didn't show well in the first round of pictures. I shouldn't've been so impatient about getting them out. Anyway, second verse.



The front, of course.



A straight-armed left side view. (Curiously, the left side shots always looked slightly better than the right side shots that I took)



The rear view, which, upon further inspection, does show a slight hint of the same trouble on the lower back.

Ah well, nonetheless...

 

[Simon A]

@UrbanComposition

Pete, it's not coming back, ever. The world has changed. The future of bespoke is MTM with virtual fittings.

Bespoke artisans who are still in denial will be retired to tending their gardens. Mark my words ....

Alan Bee

I would agree that they will have a tough time going forward. Part of that is because most are quite elderly and they will make their own risk/reward calculations about getting sick as a result of interacting with clients; many will retire and have nobody to pass the business on to.

Knowing that my current tailor is nearing 80, his youngest cutters and tailors are in their 70's, and he has nobody to take the business over when he retires, I started a relationship a little while ago with a new tailor in his 30's who took over his elderly master's business; his charming apprentice in her 20's is now his spouse, and his tailors are mostly in their 40's. He is in a wealthy European capital city with 15 million people within a 2 hour train ride, and he is fairly accomplished at social media marketing. I expect he will continue to do well as a bespoke artisan despite the challenges, and I anticipate a long term relationship with that house.. I am happily ordering commissions from both tailors.

 

[classicalthunde]

I would agree that they will have a tough time going forward. Part of that is because most are quite elderly and they will make their own risk/reward calculations about getting sick as a result of interacting with clients; many will retire and have nobody to pass the business on to.

Knowing that my current tailor is nearing 80, his youngest cutters and tailors are in their 70's, and he has nobody to take the business over when he retires, I started a relationship a little while ago with a new tailor in his 30's who took over his elderly master's business; his charming apprentice in her 20's is now his spouse, and his tailors are mostly in their 40's. He is in a wealthy European capital city with 15 million people within a 2 hour train ride, and he is fairly accomplished at social media marketing. I expect he will continue to do well as a bespoke artisan despite the challenges, and I anticipate a long term relationship with that house.. I am happily ordering commissions from both tailors.

I'm curious what the demographics of tailors are in other parts of the world, particularly Asia...My recent commissions have been made by My Tailor/Hemrajani which are made in Hong Kong and have been following others similar to them (The Anthology - HK, Prologue - HK, Dylan and Sons - Singapore) and they do not strike me as aging out of the business

Also, when you look at the high end in London or NYC, there are still a number of relatively young/middle age/non-octogenarian cutters and tailors (Steven Hitchcock, Davide Taub, Michael Browne, Oli Cross, Richard Anderson, Tony Martin, David Reeves, Paolo Martorano, Frank Shattuck, Yosel Tiefenbrun)

I think its a bit hyperbolic to say it is going away and never coming back, as oppose to becoming more rare, exclusive, and expensive and only really available in major metro ares...especially when compared to the more affordable alternative that @Alan Bee points out of of traveling tailors who do iterative MTM (which is what I use). Even then in my city, which isn't terribly cosmopolitan, there are still a handful of places where you can still get a benchmade bespoke suit at the moment

Ultimately, as long as there is a market for $5-6K RTW suits (Tom Ford, Brioni, Kiton, etc.) I think there will still be a demand for high quality bespoke tailors...it just may be out of the reach, geographically or financially, for most of us in the decades to come...

 

[dauster]

I don't naturally worry much about the exact appearance of the fit which I suppose is a little odd or misguided, but I'm usually think predominantly about the details of the design and the feel while wearing it. I spent most of my life settling for clothes that I found dull and samey that felt like straight-jackets whenever I tried to move my arms, so that's what I tend to think about. There's only so much lipstick one can put on a pig anyway, so you might as well make sure that it's happy regardless. There's also a touch more to me at the moment, so to speak, than there was in early July, which might account for some of the pulling.

My 'photographic approach' of setting a digital camera atop a pile of books on a stool, then using the timer function probably does no favors. Maybe this would go better if I were to hire a professional photographer or share my life with somebody else so that I wouldn't be left to do this alone, but I'm sure as Hell not doing that! Nevertheless, for a lark, I took a second round of pictures with slightly better lighting. Too bad about the model, though...

View attachment 1452709

The grey suit from the front, again.

View attachment 1452710

A view from the left side, but without my arms raised this time.

View attachment 1452708
The back again, with a somewhat unfortunate something happening at the lower back.

View attachment 1452707

As a curio, this is the back with the jacket unbuttoned. (I paradoxically need both a haircut and more hair)

The navy blazer definitely didn't show well in the first round of pictures. I shouldn't've been so impatient about getting them out. Anyway, second verse.

View attachment 1452712

The front, of course.

View attachment 1452713

A straight-armed left side view. (Curiously, the left side shots always looked slightly better than the right side shots that I took)

View attachment 1452711

The rear view, which, upon further inspection, does show a slight hint of the same trouble on the lower back.

Ah well, nonetheless...

all that matters is that you are happy but I still feel that a fuller suit that is less tight would benefit the overall look tremendously.

I would clearly say that the below suit really improves the look.

The Best Suit If You’ve Got Just the One Ab

We got six real guys into the best shape of their lives through nothing but the magic of suit tailoring.

www.gq.com

 

[yywwyy]

Another newly completed bespoke jacket. Made with a lightweight vintage linen from Holland & Sherry. This was made unconstructed (no canvassing except for a slight bit at the shoulder area) and without any lining at all. Really happy with the results as it holds up shape while wearing superbly light and airy.

 

[lordsuperb]

Spoiler: genuardi

I don't naturally worry much about the exact appearance of the fit which I suppose is a little odd or misguided, but I'm usually think predominantly about the details of the design and the feel while wearing it. I spent most of my life settling for clothes that I found dull and samey that felt like straight-jackets whenever I tried to move my arms, so that's what I tend to think about. There's only so much lipstick one can put on a pig anyway, so you might as well make sure that it's happy regardless. There's also a touch more to me at the moment, so to speak, than there was in early July, which might account for some of the pulling.

My 'photographic approach' of setting a digital camera atop a pile of books on a stool, then using the timer function probably does no favors. Maybe this would go better if I were to hire a professional photographer or share my life with somebody else so that I wouldn't be left to do this alone, but I'm sure as Hell not doing that! Nevertheless, for a lark, I took a second round of pictures with slightly better lighting. Too bad about the model, though...

View attachment 1452709

The grey suit from the front, again.

View attachment 1452710

A view from the left side, but without my arms raised this time.

View attachment 1452708
The back again, with a somewhat unfortunate something happening at the lower back.

View attachment 1452707

As a curio, this is the back with the jacket unbuttoned. (I paradoxically need both a haircut and more hair)

The navy blazer definitely didn't show well in the first round of pictures. I shouldn't've been so impatient about getting them out. Anyway, second verse.

View attachment 1452712

The front, of course.

View attachment 1452713

A straight-armed left side view. (Curiously, the left side shots always looked slightly better than the right side shots that I took)

View attachment 1452711

The rear view, which, upon further inspection, does show a slight hint of the same trouble on the lower back.

Ah well, nonetheless...

These jackets are the same length? You're a heavy set guy, I would've kept the length of the first jackets your tailor created for you. The grey suit needs work, but I love the blue blazer.

2nd Iteration

1st iteration

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

These jackets are the same length? You're a heavy set guy, I would've kept the length of the first jackets your tailor created for you. The grey suit needs work, but I love the blue blazer.

I had been thinking about comparisons across garments. I measured all four garments along center seam on the back from the top of the collar to the end of the jacket. I don't know whether this is a preferred method or not, it seemed like the best way to take a consistent measurement comparison. Curiously, the grey suit's jacket is 30" (76.2 cm) long, compared to 31" (78.7cm) for the blue fresco suit, while the blazer is 30 1/2" (77.5 cm) long and the brown sport coat is also 30" (76.2 cm) long. I can't recall discussing the length when I commissioned the jacket, as it was nearly a year ago, but I imagine that I would have suggested keeping the successful length of the blue suit's jacket. (It wasn't raised, but two of the jackets that John Di Pietro has made for me are also 31" (78.7 cm) long and the double-breasted one is 31 1/2" (80 cm) long)

I expect that I'll be invited back to Hoboken before the end of this year for a fitting. I'll have to revisit the matter then and decide upon broaching it then and try to determine how to do so.

 

[aristoi bcn]

Might go with slightly narrower lapels next time, not much, around 1 cm, what do you think?

 

[cchen]

I like the lapels!

 

[Despos]

Might go with slightly narrower lapels next time, not much, around 1 cm, what do you think?

View attachment 1453333

Have a few observations.
The lapels appear wider on lighter colored jackets and when the gorge is so high and horizontal.
From this camera angle the collar is so small in relation to the lapel it makes the lapel look larger. If the gorge were lower and you see more of the collar and a fuller collar shape it creates a more balanced proportion. The collar looks skimpy in proportion to the lapel and makes the lapel look broader.
If the gorge is more angled from the neck to the point of the lapel, less horizontal, the lapel would look more narrow without reducing the lapel width.
If you do narrow the lapel I think 1/4" is enough.
I am not a fan of high gorge lines and this is one of the reasons.

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

Might go with slightly narrower lapels next time, not much, around 1 cm, what do you think?

View attachment 1453333

I wouldn't change a thing, except perhaps for variety's sake, but it would probably still look quite nice with slight narrowing.