Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[ValidusLA]

I generally vary styling on pockets depending on fabric. Sometimes patch, sometimes flap. Occasionally I'll do hacking.

Can't get on board w/ the patch breast pocket though, and don't think I'm likely to.

My next will probably be a DB blazer with Fox City's dark green 002.

 

[DavidLane]

Try one button on the sleeve. Or two button sleeves with a bit of space between them. Its a subtle change, and leans a bit casual, but I like how it breaks up the monotony.

-DL

 

[classicalthunde]

Or two button sleeves with a bit of space between them

The ivy-style two button cuff is def on list of style details that I love and want to incorporate more...I was thinking about doing it on my Italian-style S/S orders when I Sarti resumes trunk shows.

My grey tweed is Italian-style MTM Orazio from the Armoury with a few ivy details (2 button cuff, swelled lapel) and my brown tweed is full on ivy-style (sack cut, natural shoulder, single vent, 3r2), both have patch hip pockets and a welted breast pocket

For this tweed jacket I'm thinking of leaning a bit more English country-style with some light shoulder padding and drape in the chest. I've kicked around the idea of hacking flapped hip pockets like I've seen on some Huntsman or Hitchcock jackets, but am worried it'll be a bit iGent-y and look dated in a few years....but then again I also like the idea of having a tweed jacket from each of the different style pedigrees

 

[induere_to]

Final steps:

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

Last week, just a few days before my birthday, I took delivery of a Covert Coat from John Di Pietro. This has been a long time in coming. We first began discussing is in January of 2020, but some events intervened to cause delays, besides some difficulty sourcing an appropriate cloth.

Mr. Di Pietro had never heard of a Covert Coat before this, much less made one, but I provided him with references and we discussed the particulars to define what I wanted. I formally commissioned is on March 13th of this year, so it was almost exactly six months from order to delivery. I think that it came out reasonably well.

The cloth is Huddersfield Fine Worsteds # 2006, 560 gram fawn covert. Mr. Di Pietro was able to find a handsome brown velvet for the collar and we settled on a dark caramel thread for the tramline stitching. It's perhaps slightly longer than a canonical covert coat, but not by too much, has a variant of the cloverleaf lapel that Mr. Di Pietro is fond of making rather than traditional notch lapel and beyond the tramline stitching at the bottom and cuffs, he added stitching along the fly, pocket flaps, breast pocket welt and lapel.

I'd never actually heard of a fly front coat before learning about Covert Coats, but Mr. Di Pietro was very familiar with the construction. I think that this coat is probably going to provoke more talk than my questionable sartorial decisions usually do.

The nice thing about top coats and overcoats is that they almost let one get away with being a big fat guy. Almost. The coat itself is pretty meaty, weighing more than five pounds.

For all of the decoration on the front, the vented back is rather reserved, although the tramline stitching is in evidence.

It's actually a little short for this kind of work. You win, public decency. This time! Incidentally, Mr. Di Pietro made the sport coat, waistcoat and trousers that I'm wearing; they're a set of my normal workday clothes and the trousers are certainly showing a hard day's wrinkles from sitting down a lot.

Although I usually prefer to wear my coats closed, I think that this has a very clean, handsome look left open.

One of my favorite things about Covert Coats is their large interior 'poacher's pocket', Mr. Di Pietro's interpretation shown here holding the Monday, September 20th edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Of course I subscribe to the paper.

 

[Bespoke DJP]

Dear @Encathol Epistemia,

Very nice in deed, the decorative elements (cloverleaf lapel, tramline & further stitching, etc) give a "character" to this overcoat, which is extremely well matched with your known to us wardrobe.

Enjoy it in health!

Best,

Dimitris


PS

BTW, what is the status of the vintage Ermenegildo Zegna fabric (jacketing?, I cannot recall), is there any progress with this project?

 

[FlyingHorker]

Take a shot for every time the word Mr. Di Pietro is mentioned!

Solid looking coat man, hope you're able to put it to good use this fall and winter. I dig the strong shoulder line.

Final steps:

View attachment 1671111

View attachment 1671112

Trousers look a bit fuller than what I'm used to seeing on you?

Whatever the case is, I love the overall package, looks great.

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

Dear @Encathol Epistemia,
BTW, what is the status of the vintage Ermenegildo Zegna fabric (jacketing?, I cannot recall), is there any progress with this project?

That was mostly finished last winter, but I managed to pull one of the buttons off and had always intended to have cuffs added, so considered it to be not quite finished. The tailor has it at the moment to sew the button back on and add the cuffs. It's a relatively bold and quite warm garment.

Take a shot for every time the word Mr. Di Pietro is mentioned!

How do you think I manage to get to sleep every night?

Solid looking coat man, hope you're able to put it to good use this fall and winter. I dig the strong shoulder line.

I appreciate that; my square shoulders tend to be best served by robust shoulder construction.

I always eagerly anticipate the cooler seasons. C'mon, daddy needs a polar vortex!

 

[FlyingHorker]

How do you think I manage to get to sleep every night?

I appreciate that; my square shoulders tend to be best served by robust shoulder construction.

I always eagerly anticipate the cooler seasons. C'mon, daddy needs a polar vortex!

If serious, I'm unfortunately all too familiar with needing booze for sleep. That issue seems to run in the family.

Hmm interesting, maybe it all depends on the aesthetic you prefer. I know some advocate for soft shoulders if you have square shoulders, but I dig this.

I know I gave a raglan trench coat to my sister who has broad, sloped shoulders and traps. She was happy to have a coat that didn't restrict her movement, and de-emphasized her broad shoulders.

Another shoulder silhouette that I find interesting is this one on traditional loden coats. The T shape looked bad to me before, but now I like how it looks.

I also love the cooler seasons for the excuse to dress with nice coats again.

 

[Camillo]

My new jacket by Dawid Kuklinski in the making:

View attachment 1505949

Made from Shetland Tweed in tobacco brown (herringbone) by Abraham Moon.

It's been some time - below a picture from the second fitting (have only one back photo). Will be ready soon.

 

[Bespoke DJP]

That was mostly finished last winter, but I managed to pull one of the buttons off and had always intended to have cuffs added, so considered it to be not quite finished. The tailor has it at the moment to sew the button back on and add the cuffs. It's a relatively bold and quite warm garment.


Dear @Encathol Epistemia,

When you will go to collect the garment, could you please take couple of photos (including a close-up to check the fabric) should you find the time?

Also, can you remember, or could you ask Mr. D. Pietro to check the info attached to the bolt, what is the composition and the weight of the fabric?

I appreciate it in advance.

Best,

Dimitris

 

[acapaca]

It's been some time - below a picture from the second fitting (have only one back photo). Will be ready soon.

View attachment 1672520

Wow, that looks clean! Fantastic.

 

[Despos]

Last week, just a few days before my birthday, I took delivery of a Covert Coat from John Di Pietro. This has been a long time in coming. We first began discussing is in January of 2020, but some events intervened to cause delays, besides some difficulty sourcing an appropriate cloth.

Mr. Di Pietro had never heard of a Covert Coat before this, much less made one, but I provided him with references and we discussed the particulars to define what I wanted. I formally commissioned is on March 13th of this year, so it was almost exactly six months from order to delivery. I think that it came out reasonably well.

The cloth is Huddersfield Fine Worsteds # 2006, 560 gram fawn covert. Mr. Di Pietro was able to find a handsome brown velvet for the collar and we settled on a dark caramel thread for the tramline stitching. It's perhaps slightly longer than a canonical covert coat, but not by too much, has a variant of the cloverleaf lapel that Mr. Di Pietro is fond of making rather than traditional notch lapel and beyond the tramline stitching at the bottom and cuffs, he added stitching along the fly, pocket flaps, breast pocket welt and lapel.

View attachment 1672229
I'd never actually heard of a fly front coat before learning about Covert Coats, but Mr. Di Pietro was very familiar with the construction. I think that this coat is probably going to provoke more talk than my questionable sartorial decisions usually do.

View attachment 1672230
The nice thing about top coats and overcoats is that they almost let one get away with being a big fat guy. Almost. The coat itself is pretty meaty, weighing more than five pounds.

View attachment 1672228

For all of the decoration on the front, the vented back is rather reserved, although the tramline stitching is in evidence.

View attachment 1672231

It's actually a little short for this kind of work. You win, public decency. This time! Incidentally, Mr. Di Pietro made the sport coat, waistcoat and trousers that I'm wearing; they're a set of my normal workday clothes and the trousers are certainly showing a hard day's wrinkles from sitting down a lot.

View attachment 1672232

Although I usually prefer to wear my coats closed, I think that this has a very clean, handsome look left open.

View attachment 1672233

One of my favorite things about Covert Coats is their large interior 'poacher's pocket', Mr. Di Pietro's interpretation shown here holding the Monday, September 20th edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Of course I subscribe to the paper.

@Encathol Epistemia

Happy belated birthday!

You probably know this, poacher pocket also used as a place to keep a scarf.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Grey flannel suit is my favourite. Now I want one as well.

I wanted one for a long time, and now I have four haha! My favorite is a medium gray one from the Dugdale flannels book: 14oz, lightly milled (so more a worsted flannel than a true one), wears like iron. I had my tailor make more trousers in the same fabric, as those end up getting worn a ton in fall - spring, with sweaters and polos.

Two others are from the VBC woolens/covert book, in gray with white windowpane from J.Crew's peak #menswear phase and in a surprisingly versatle shade called oatmeal which I got MTM and then felt silly for because J.Crew ended up making an RTW version soon after that I could have worn just fine. Very cozy true flannel that won't break the bank, either. All three are three-piece so that you can stay warm in the cold outside, and then take off the jacket and stay in CM-mode when you go into the inevitably overheated indoors (because people are stupid with the thermostat and other things).

The fourth one is a Purple Label charcoal chalkstripe DB affair that I bought unused for $80 from a disbarred local lawyer who had to host a fire sale of his wardrobe and cars to pay off his babymama and legal fees. Save the pity; he was a slimy asshole, but had decent taste in clothes at least; certainly his closet, while opulent as all-get-out, was not as embarrassing as, say, Paul Manafort's noveau riche celebration of booge. More of a Larry Kudlow / Roger Stone kind of tastefully evil wannabe Bond villain. ANYWAY....

IIRC you have your measurements pretty well dialed in w/ SM? They can MTO from Dugdale and VBC, as you probably know; might be time to shoot an email to Haris or Parketh or Brandon or whatever filler name they're currently attaching to the custom@$pier&mackay.com email. Edit: oops this the bespoke thread not the cloth thread... Oh well, all of the above still applies; can the guy who made your balmacaan get you Dugdale / VBC?

 

[FlyingHorker]

I wanted one for a long time, and now I have four haha! My favorite is a medium gray one from the Dugdale flannels book: 14oz, lightly milled (so more a worsted flannel than a true one), wears like iron. Two others are from the VBC woolens/covert book, in gray with white windowpane from J.Crew's peak #menswear phase and in a surprisingly versatle shade called oatmeal which I got MTM and then felt silly for because J.Crew ended up making an RTW version soon afterthat I could have worn just fine. Very cozy true flannel that won't break the bank, either. All three are three-piece so that you can stay warm in the cold outside, and then take off the jacket and stay in CM-mode when you go into the inevitably overheated indoors (because people are stupid with the thermostat and other things).

The fourth one is a Purple Label charcoal chalkstripe DB affair that I bought unused for $80 from a disbarred local lawyer who had to host a fire sale of his wardrobe and cars to pay off his babymama and legal fees. Save the pity; he was a slimy asshole, but had decent taste in clothes at least; certainly his closet, while opulent as all-get-out, was not as embarrassing as, say, Paul Manafort's noveau riche celebration of booge. More of a Larry Kudlow / Roger Stone kind of tastefully evil wannabe Bond villain. ANYWAY....

IIRC you have your measurements pretty well dialed in w/ SM? They can MTO from Dugdale and VBC, as you probably know; might be time to shoot an email to Haris or Parketh or Brandon or whatever filler name they're currently attaching to the custom@$pier&mackay.com email.

I've always wanted flannel, but have been hesitant with how warm it seems, and how it seems to become shapeless very easily. Not sure if these are true or not, but depends on the millling and weight I assume.

I laughed at the lawyer story, sounds like a good score man. If you ever post pics of you wearing these suits, definitely @ me.

Yeah my measurements are pretty dialed in with S&M for the time being.

As much as I want a flannel suit, it's pretty low on the priority and usability list for me right now. I'm that guy who keeps a word document of things I actually could use in my wardrobe, vs. the shiny things that may not get much use (like a flannel suit). I've had to learn this the hard way over the years.

I'll keep Dugdale and VBC flannels in mind though, thanks man. I bought a pair of VBC Covert Twill to replace a tight pair of pants and I really like the drape and hand feel of them.