Tips to prepare for first trunk bespoke suit appointment

[The Dirty Pigeon]

Hi all. I've dabbled a bit with local bespoke clothiers with decent results but I have an appointment with a more established bespoke suiting house who is traveling through Los Angeles later this year.

This will be my first suit commission with a traveling bespoke tailor. I am assuming that they don't typically travel with a full spectrum of fabric books and don't have access to certain things that they would if I were visiting the shop in London so... to those who have done this type of thing before, what should I expect and is there anything I can do to prepare ahead of time? Should I let them know if I have an idea of what type of fabric I'm looking for so they bring some appropriate samples? Should I wear my best fitting suit to the appointment? Anything else I should know?

Thank you

 

[rjc149]

I used a traveling trunk tailor from Hong Kong for my first batch of MTM suits. He was set up in a hotel conference room with what appeared to be his entire repertoire of fabric booklets -- there was no reason to believe he only brought select booklets to service his American clientele, reserving the full inventory for visitors to his Hong Kong shop. But this could have been the case, and is possibly the case with a clothier based in London. However, there were stacks and stacks of booklets so I feel safe assuming this was his entire inventory.

I wore my best-fitting suit (at the time, a Jos. A Banks) to the appointment, which added marginal value to the appointment as his "house cut" was British styling compared to my sack suit. Wearing dress shoes, however, was important.

The tailor's breath really stank, I suspect from a decaying tooth or some periodontal disease. This wasn't from something he ate. I could smell his noxious breath from a few feet away. It was the only unpleasant aspect of the experience.

I've never commissioned a bespoke suit, but it's my understanding that the multiple fittings required are difficult and untimely to do with a traveling clothier, which is why it seems that most trunk tailors are making MTM suits.

 

[circumspice]

On the fabric front, you might want to play to stereotypes - English tailors might have a strong bias for English mills, and Italians Italian. So, one of the ideas percolating in my mind is doing a overcoat in camelhair or cashmere - if I were going to do this with Steed, I might want to ask in advance if they bring the Loro Piana overcoats book as a few years back it had an overcoating in a more biscuit-y than yellow shade.

So, only if you have a specific book in mind, or a more unusual request would I bother asking - these days, morning wear/white tie may be unusual enough to ask.

 

[The Dirty Pigeon]

The tailor's breath really stank, I suspect from a decaying tooth or some periodontal disease. This wasn't from something he ate. I could smell his noxious breath from a few feet away. It was the only unpleasant aspect of the experience.

Ooof, sorry to hear that. So you're suggesting I wear a gas mask then? ;-)

I've never commissioned a bespoke suit, but it's my understanding that the multiple fittings required are difficult and untimely to do with a traveling clothier, which is why it seems that most trunk tailors are making MTM suits.

Yes, that makes sense. I am fully expecting this process to take over a year to complete.

 

[The Dirty Pigeon]

On the fabric front, you might want to play to stereotypes - English tailors might have a strong bias for English mills, and Italians Italian. So, one of the ideas percolating in my mind is doing a overcoat in camelhair or cashmere - if I were going to do this with Steed, I might want to ask in advance if they bring the Loro Piana overcoats book as a few years back it had an overcoating in a more biscuit-y than yellow shade.

So, only if you have a specific book in mind, or a more unusual request would I bother asking - these days, morning wear/white tie may be unusual enough to ask.

Ok got it. This will be a fairly straight forward mid-to-heavyweight suit in navy--something like a twill weave. I am sure their English books will suffice. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to raise it ahead of time.

 

[ispeakbespokeitaly]

Best thing to do is communicate to the tailor which kind of fabric are you looking for earlier, so that they can try to get the fabric book. Another option is to buy the fabric by yourself and bring it , if tailor agrees. Always a good choice to bring with you your best fitting suit . Even if the tailor for the bedposts will get all measurments on the body, your suit can be helpful to value lenghts. Let’s also start with an idea about style and details of the suit already. If you wi

Hi all. I've dabbled a bit with local bespoke clothiers with decent results but I have an appointment with a more established bespoke suiting house who is traveling through Los Angeles later this year.

This will be my first suit commission with a traveling bespoke tailor. I am assuming that they don't typically travel with a full spectrum of fabric books and don't have access to certain things that they would if I were visiting the shop in London so... to those who have done this type of thing before, what should I expect and is there anything I can do to prepare ahead of time? Should I let them know if I have an idea of what type of fabric I'm looking for so they bring some appropriate samples? Should I wear my best fitting suit to the appointment? Anything else I should know?

Thank you

ciao Rosarito, the best thing to do is to contact your tailor, time before, and indicate fabrics you would like to value, so that he can get book fabric from the supplier.
Good idea to wear a suit which perfectly fits you: obviously the tailor will get measurments on your body, but your suit can be helpful to value lenghts. Then, i suggest to you to go to the appointment already decided, more or less, about all the details you would like to find on your suit, because often tailors are not so propositive (exemple about lining, if you don’t ask for half lining or no lining , they will go for fully ; or if you don’t ask to see possible linings, they will go for a tone on tone). There are really a lot of details you can choose about everything. Hope to be helpful.

 

[maxalex]

I believe most trunk tailors won’t do CMT because if all the clients brought their own fabric, imagine the return-trip baggage allowances (or shipping costs). And if they’re visiting multiple cities they need to schlep the fabric around.

 

[The Dirty Pigeon]

I believe most trunk tailors won’t do CMT because if all the clients brought their own fabric, imagine the return-trip baggage allowances (or shipping costs). And if they’re visiting multiple cities they need to schlep the fabric around.

Yeah I definitely wouldn’t be bringing my own fabric.

 

[JohnMRobie]

No need to overthink it. They’ll travel with plenty of bunches - Probably more than you’ll have a chance to flip through. The only reason I’ve ever mentioned a specific bunch to my tailor is if something new came out or if I was positive I wanted to look at it. For something along the lines of a staple navy twill you’ll be fine.

Not sure how you would define mid-heavy weight but Fox Worsted Classics, Lesser 13, Holland Sherry Classic Worsteds are good bunches to start with and are on the heavy side of mid weight.

Wear your best fitting garment. They may measure the jacket length. Think about any details of the project but wouldn’t get bogged down on those - A rough idea is plenty. Enjoy the process and let them do their thing.

 

[classicalthunde]

I often get choice paralysis, so I would recommend going in with a rough idea (e.g. do you want a navy or charcoal business suit, a country-like tweed or sport coat, something 'fun' for a night out on the town, etc.).

Maybe send them a quick note and let them know which direction you're leaning or send a few pics of stuff that you like so they can curate a short list for you prior to your arrival.

I also would have at least a couple images of stuff you like on your phone so you can point them in the right direction (e.g. shoulder expression, belly of the lapel, amount of drape in the chest. etc.) - I'm pretty bad at articulating those things in person...

 

[JohnMRobie]

I also would have at least a couple images of stuff you like on your phone so you can point them in the right direction (e.g. shoulder expression, belly of the lapel, amount of drape in the chest. etc.) - I'm pretty bad at articulating those things in person...

I’d say this piece is only important if your tailor lacks a distinctive house style though or has two drastically different cuts. Given he mentioned it’s an SR tailor visiting, their house styles are what they are and I wouldn’t hand out thoughts on any of that stuff. Especially on the first commission. Let the tailor do their thing.

 

[classicalthunde]

I’d say this piece is only important if your tailor lacks a distinctive house style though or has two drastically different cuts. Given he mentioned it’s an SR tailor visiting, their house styles are what they are and I wouldn’t hand out thoughts on any of that stuff. Especially on the first commission. Let the tailor do their thing.

I don't think it hurts to do, even with a distinctive house style, as there are degrees to everything.

I've seen a couple of different shoulder expressions and degrees of belly on Steed suits, or maybe the angle to which slant pockets are cut on Hitchcock's stuff.

Showing an image that you think is a 'slight belly' or a 'slightly roped shoulder' will make sure that you both are working off of the same basic understanding

 

[The Dirty Pigeon]

I’d say this piece is only important if your tailor lacks a distinctive house style though or has two drastically different cuts. Given he mentioned it’s an SR tailor visiting, their house styles are what they are and I wouldn’t hand out thoughts on any of that stuff. Especially on the first commission. Let the tailor do their thing.

I don't think it hurts to do, even with a distinctive house style, as there are degrees to everything.

I've seen a couple of different shoulder expressions and degrees of belly on Steed suits, or maybe the angle to which slant pockets are cut on Hitchcock's stuff.

Showing an image that you think is a 'slight belly' or a 'slightly roped shoulder' will make sure that you both are working off of the same basic understanding

I can see both angles here. I was thinking I'd share some general thoughts like, "This will be for formal social events and elegant special occasions, not for conservative business dress" and then accept that I'll be getting their interpretation of those subjective requirements. I am already clear on styling details like lapel style, number of buttons, etc. I might also share my reasons for working with them in the first place and what I believe are the 1-2 biggest challenges with my other suits in hopes that they will focus on those.

 

[classicalthunde]

I can see both angles here. I was thinking I'd share some general thoughts like, "This will be for formal social events and elegant special occasions, not for conservative business dress" and then accept that I'll be getting their interpretation of those subjective requirements. I am already clear on styling details like lapel style, number of buttons, etc. I might also share my reasons for working with them in the first place and what I believe are the 1-2 biggest challenges with my other suits in hopes that they will focus on those.

Yea, I mean ultimately, its best to use examples from their own body of work (or someone adjacent) that way you know its within their wheel house

Who are you using?