Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[FlowableFill]

Gallo NYC is my current go to. I've used a man named Nick Lopez in Houston but his style isn't what I like. I have a suit in the works with Solito but that's tough because I have to meet him in New York or San Francisco for fittings. I've convinced my wife to take a mini vacation for each fitting.

 

[Texasmade]

Gallo NYC is my current go to. I've used a man named Nick Lopez in Houston but his style isn't what I like. I have a suit in the works with Solito but that's tough because I have to meet him in New York or San Francisco for fittings. I've convinced my wife to take a mini vacation for each fitting.

Located in Houston?

I've seen some of Nick Lopez's stuff. His cuts look like it's for older overweight oil businessman and politicians.

 

[lordsuperb]

I'm constrained by budget, so I basically use Divij Bespoke (2 suits, 3 sport coats) and I Sarti Italiani (1 suit and 1 sport coat in the works).

In a perfect world where money was no object, I'd ideally have 4 tailors: one English for suits, one American/ivy style for tweeds and F/W sportscoats, one Neapolitan for fun S/S suits and sport coats, and one for odd trousers and shirts

American tailor?

 

[JohnMRobie]

American tailor?

I read that to mean American/Ivy style rather than American but may be off. CAID would fit that bill though I think?

I am not sure if my commissions in the last 3 years are just therapy by other means.

Now married, working remotely/virtually, and with a kid on the way I'm aiming for 2 commissions every 1/1.5 years.

Congrats! Having just written the first check for daycare yesterday I feel this. Although I did put in another commission to feel better from him bringing home NOROVIRUS his first week at daycare. Here's hoping my little dude is about a 9.5uk, 40L.

 

[FlowableFill]

Located in Houston?

I've seen some of Nick Lopez's stuff. His cuts look like it's for older overweight oil businessman and politicians.

That's a good summary of his style. When I went in for a fitting I actually struck up a conversation with an oil executive that was getting fitted for a shooting suit for a trip to England. He was real dismissive, I showed him a pic of an antelope I shot. The gist of what he said back was unless you go to Africa you don't really hunt.

 

[GzianoCucinelli]

I read that to mean American/Ivy style rather than American but may be off. CAID would fit that bill though I think?

View attachment 1886303

Congrats! Having just written the first check for daycare yesterday I feel this. Although I did put in another commission to feel better from him bringing home NOROVIRUS his first week at daycare. Here's hoping my little dude is about a 9.5uk, 40L.

Oh no, wishing your little man a speedy recovery! We're having a baby girl - who knows if she'll be interested in any of this stuff, but could be cool to show her all the different types of fabric swatches during trunk shows in the future 😁

 

[jonathanS]

I have 5, which cover the major schools of Italian tailoring with the odd English tailor:

1. Sartoria Cresent (Milanese)
2. Liverano & Liverano (Florentine)
3. Sartoria Corcos (Florentine)
4. Sartoria Silvano (Neapolitan)
5. Robert Bailey (English)

I travel to Europe 2 times a year (3 if I'm lucky), each visit is about 6-8 months apart and lasts about 10-14 days (usually enough time for a first fitting). Only 3 of my tailors do trunk shows in Asia, which is where I'm based, and of those 3 I can only realistically visit 2.

So turnaround time for me is rather long (9 months to a year for first orders), which is why ordering a minimum of 2 garments at each visit is almost a must for me.

I tend to order the most from the tailor whose style I deem to be most versatile, which at the moment seems to be Cresent (Milanese). When I visit him, I usually commission a total of 4 - 6 pieces, with a 60/40 mix of odd jackets and suits. I have ordered 9-10 garments from him.

Liverano and Corcos are quite busy so I can’t order as many (well technically I can, but they just won’t be finished all at once). Between these 2 Florentines I have a total of 10 things underway at varying stages of completion, about half of which will be delivered in the first half of 2023.

I love Silvano (he’s based in Japan) but he works alone and thus delivery time is somewhere around 1.5 years. I am trying to build a working wardrobe, so I only use Silvano for special pieces or more refined versions of things I already have or have outgrown.

Robert Bailey travels frequently but his style (heavily structured) is not something I wear often, so just one thing at a time. I am getting a finished DB pinstripe suit in Feb and also will be fitted for a dinner suit.

For the first order, ideally I try to order both a single breasted and a double breasted just to save on the time needed to develop separate patterns for subsequent orders.

On my next trip to EU, I’ve made plans to see Zizolfi and order some more basics - linen suits, navy sport coats and their ilk.

Out of curiosity, why zizolfi out of all the other Naples tailors? My thought would be someone like panico (old master) or pirozzi.

4-6 at once. Sheesh. That’s a lot. I just got back from a trip to Milan and Florence & was contemplating my next commissions, hence the question. I like your idea of starting with both a double and single breasted suit. As I’ve gone through the bespoke process a few times, I now typically start with a solid single breasted suit (or jacket).

My plan (as of now) is stick with 3 tailors I visited. But, budget is also a consideration. So @lordsuperb’s guidelines below are a decent minimum which is less than always having something in the works with a tailor, correct?

I used two before the start of Covid, but one of the tailor's retired and no longer travels stateside. I usually made an order every 2 to 3 years when I had money saved up. I've thought about starting a relationship with a new tailor but there are too many variables at play now that I'm married.

Everyone definitely has a different experience but I think you need to order consistently once a year to get things dialed in. Once you have your fit dialed in and established a good working relationship you can scale things back.

 

[lordsuperb]

I read that to mean American/Ivy style rather than American but may be off. CAID would fit that bill though I think?

View attachment 1886303

Congrats! Having just written the first check for daycare yesterday I feel this. Although I did put in another commission to feel better from him bringing home NOROVIRUS his first week at daycare. Here's hoping my little dude is about a 9.5uk, 40L.

I was hoping you would say Genuardi.

 

[jonathanS]

Oh no, wishing your little man a speedy recovery! We're having a baby girl - who knows if she'll be interested in any of this stuff, but could be cool to show her all the different types of fabric swatches during trunk shows in the future 😁

Solution: have a boy. Problem solved! (Not saying anything is wrong with a girl.)

 

[classicalthunde]

American tailor?

sorry, American-style or Ivy-style tailor...like Tailor Caid or Chipp (before the retirement)

 

[JohnMRobie]

Oh no, wishing your little man a speedy recovery! We're having a baby girl - who knows if she'll be interested in any of this stuff, but could be cool to show her all the different types of fabric swatches during trunk shows in the future 😁

Turns out kids are wildly resilient. Between norovirus and Covid he just wanted to play. Parents on the other hand… I used to think I had a great immune system. Turns out I was just really good at avoiding sick tiny humans that sneeze directly in your face.

 

[comrade]

I read that to mean American/Ivy style rather than American but may be off. CAID would fit that bill though I think?

CAID is in Japan. Would the Andover Shop be a good substute for
Chipp? I used to shop MTM and RTW with Chipp decades ago. Stopped
using them when I moved to CA and didn't get to NYC much. They
did have a model that worked for me, probably better than any other,
except for some more recent Neapolitan ones.

 

[JohnMRobie]

I read that to mean American/Ivy style rather than American but may be off. CAID would fit that bill though I think?

CAID is in Japan. Would the Andover Shop be a good substute for
Chipp? I used to shop MTM and RTW with Chipp decades ago. Stopped
using them when I moved to CA and didn't get to NYC much. They
did have a model that worked for me, probably better than any other,
except for some more recent Neapolitan ones.

Andover Shop and J. Press still offer MTM but not bespoke. I was actually having a discussion fairly recently with a family member about my tailor coming to town. He was disappointed Press no longer had traveling tailors (that we are aware of anyways) and I got a whole history of the Andover Shop and Press and how his tailor maintained relationships with guys after they moved away and would take the train out for visits. I’ve been meaning to reach out to Press and inquire about what records they may still have in their archives about orders and see if there’s anything worth recreating.

 

[lordsuperb]

Andover Shop and J. Press still offer MTM but not bespoke. I was actually having a discussion fairly recently with a family member about my tailor coming to town. He was disappointed Press no longer had traveling tailors (that we are aware of anyways) and I got a whole history of the Andover Shop and Press and how his tailor maintained relationships with guys after they moved away and would take the train out for visits. I’ve been meaning to reach out to Press and inquire about what records they may still have in their archives about orders and see if there’s anything worth recreating.

Hmmm, I used Paul Stuart Custom starting out. Suits were made by Martin Greenfield and came with a basted fitting. I’m not sure I would call it bespoke but I do consider the look American. They made me some cool sh*t.

 

[lordsuperb]

sorry, American-style or Ivy-style tailor...like Tailor Caid or Chipp (before the retirement)

See above.