The Anderson & Sheppard Expatriates Thread

[lordsuperb]

Cloth can make a pretty big difference. My MTM stuff is pretty consistent in dimension and my pattern has been locked down for a while. I just made myself jacket in a lambswool/ cashmere and a suit in wool/ mohair. While the pattern is the same, the feel of the garments is very different and if I do mohair again, I'll give it a little more ease.

Mine is a bit stiff as well and I expect will take at least a season to break in. I just started wearing it a few weeks ago when the weather turned. I don't think I'll do MTM at that price point anymore. Will stick to RTW and maybe go all-in for bespoke if something special comes to mind.

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I think you guys should get a tailored jacket and pants made to understand the bespoke process and why things will fit and feel different from a factory made product.

Measurements are one thing but given the variations in cloth a tailor is able to adjust a bespoke pattern to your frame. Hence the baste and forward fitting.

 

[bdavro23]

I think you guys should get a tailored jacket and pants made to understand the bespoke process and why things will fit and feel different from a factory made product.

Measurements are one thing but given the variations in cloth a tailor is able to adjust a bespoke pattern to your frame. Hence the baste and forward fitting.

I understand what you're saying, and I've gone through multiple fittings in the past. MTM is not bespoke, but since its my company its unlikely that I will switch to bespoke

The other thing to consider is that I'm really happy with my pattern right now. I have enough garments and experimentation behind me that I've really learned how to use the system. The mohair suit I made for myself took a little less than 4 weeks to make and with a few minor alterations, it will be perfect. Bespoke may be better depending on the maker and the finishing would almost definitely be nicer, but it wouldnt be a world away in terms of fit. 5% better? 20%? It might even be worse.

Good bespoke is a wonderful thing that is very unique. I do good MTM (I think), which is not the same thing and really shouldnt be compared. Theres certainly a place for both.

Edit: You know, I really dont have enough experience with bespoke to know for sure if the above is true. I think its true, but I dont know and I could be wrong. So theres that...

 

[dieworkwear]

I have a pair of MTM pants. And I once tried a machine attached waistband on a pair of bespoke trousers, just to compare them to my hand-sewn attached waistbands. TBH, I can't tell the difference. They wear exactly the same, but the hand-sewn one looks neater.

Steed found their MTM factory by searching for a company already doing MTM, but in a style that they felt best approximated their own house style. I don't know how much they changed in their internal construction or pattern. The stiffness may be a result of different materials being used for the inside of the garment, rather than the stitching itself.

For all the years I've ready @jefferyd's blog, which is partly set up to explore just this question, I've walked away with

1) Top-end machinery often does a good job of mimicking handwork

2) A lot of handwork is done purely for craft sake

3) Many claims about the advantages of handwork don't stand up to scrutiny

4) Handwork may confer some advantages in some areas, but they are things that only a technical person would understand.

5) There's enough variation in handwork such that you can't easily compare hand vs machine sewing writ large. There's a lot of bad handwork.

Personally, I've also seen enough variation in MTM models such that I think the category is almost impossible to define. What's the difference between an A&S skip-to-the-forward process made with a block pattern, and the kind of "MTM"/ "semi-bespoke" companies coming out of Naples? Honestly hard for me to tell, but one is considered bespoke and the other MTM.

 

[Mr. Six]

As Booth mentioned, a bunch of the suits and couple of sport coats that I've posted pictures of are MTM. I can post some pics later. jcmeyer posted photos several pages back of his MTM stuff.

I'm wearing one of their MTM suits as I type this. There are no hand-finished flourishes like buttonholes. I think everything is done by machine. But it's been a long time since I talked with Edwin and Matthew about it, so it's possible that the chest is hand-padded or collar done by hand.

I think that the long seams on their trousers are the only machine-sewn parts of the bespoke. I believe everything else is done by hand, but DWW has a better memory for those details than I do.

I think the Steed MTM is a great product at the price point, if you like the silhouette. To me, the primary benefits are Edwin doing the measurements, the access to all of their fabric accounts, and Edwin and his shop doing alterations to finished pieces.

But having now done several bespoke orders, I do like it just a little bit better and probably won't order MTM again. When I have to replace some of the workhorse suits that I got from them, I might do MTM again, though.

 

[smittycl]

I think you guys should get a tailored jacket and pants made to understand the bespoke process and why things will fit and feel different from a factory made product.

Measurements are one thing but given the variations in cloth a tailor is able to adjust a bespoke pattern to your frame. Hence the baste and forward fitting.

It would be a fun experiment but also an expensive one. Am keeping bespoke in my plans for something in the future.

 

[jcmeyer]

I'm sure I'll take some new pics as time and weather allow, but here are all of my Steed MTMs in the order they were made.

Note that adjustments have been made since the blue donegal and brown check jacket pics but you get the idea.

To my eye, the brown check jacket has the most Steed DNA, while the blue suit fits slimmer through the chest without much of the signature drape. The lapels on the blue suit need to be better pressed, as they are rolling to a point above the top button.

Tweed jacket + flannel trousers

Brown check jacket

Flannel suit & brown HB Jacket

 

[dauster]

I'm sure I'll take some new pics as time and weather allow, but here are all of my Steed MTMs in the order they were made.

Note that adjustments have been made since the blue donegal and brown check jacket pics but you get the idea.

To my eye, the brown check jacket has the most Steed DNA, while the blue suit fits slimmer through the chest without much of the signature drape. The lapels on the blue suit need to be better pressed, as they are rolling to a point above the top button.

Tweed jacket + flannel trousers
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Brown check jacket
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Flannel suit & brown HB Jacket

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absolutely stunning looks excellent !!! just not the biggest fan of the ties but that is of course highly subjective.

 

[lordsuperb]

It would be a fun experiment but also an expensive one. Am keeping bespoke in my plans for something in the future.

Its only an expensive experiment if you are buying purple jackets like me. Maybe start with a solid color jacket that you know will get a lot of use. W. Bill Donegal is your friend.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

The only thing that I would change about those above jackets is that they look short to my eye. I would lengthen them and drop the pockets to be even with the lowest button.

Also, why do they only have three buttons on the cuffs? Is that something that was requested?

 

[Mark from Plano]

The only thing that I would change about those above jackets is that they look short to my eye. I would lengthen them and drop the pockets to be even with the lowest button.

Also, why do they only have three buttons on the cuffs? Is that something that was requested?

The jacket length looks nearly perfect to me. The bottom of the jacket divides him almost perfectly in two.

I’ve recently (last 2-3 years) started doing 4 buttons on my suit commissions and 3 buttons on my sport coats. I have a sport coat coming from Steed with three buttons on the sleeve, but it was my request. I sensed that their standard was 4 on everything but I could be wrong about that.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I only have one sportcoat and I have two buttons on the cuff. Three is weird.

 

[Mark from Plano]

I only have one sportcoat and I have two buttons on the cuff. Three is weird.

You say that like weird is a bad thing.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Ok, weird is a wrong choice of word. I'll change it to "bad".

 

[lordsuperb]

Ok, weird is a wrong choice of word. I'll change it to "bad".

You wear suits to the beach.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

That's weird, not bad.