Exploring Bespoke 3: Style and How to Capture it

In this the third in our series, tailor Brita Hirsch talks about the important topic of style and its consideration in the bespoke process. Those of who who've followed the series so far (link below) will know that Brita made me a Norfolk jacket from Harris tweed in order to illustrate the remarkable skills of true bespoke. Clearly both customer and tailor need to have a common vision of what the final product will look like.

Brita and I study her pattern and the Harris tweed cloth before she begins to cut

Brita takes up the story:

"If you are considering the commission of a bespoke garment, you likely know what you have in mind with regards to style. If you know your style, you also know how hard it is to find it off the shelf, and that, of course, is where bespoke tailoring comes in.

David already had the material for his coat, a deeply textured Harris Tweed, and an idea in mind as to what he wanted it be made into: a classic Norfolk jacket, tailored after the blueprint of a 1920’s image by German photographer August Sander.

During the course of our conversation, we also established further style elements David was looking for, all adding to the wholly individual brief that is the very essence of each bespoke commission: soft, unconstructed shoulders, a slim fit and the incorporation of vintage leather accessories.

How does all of this detail, the half-formed ideas and concrete specifications, together with the hard data of the customer’s measurements, translate into the garment? The answer is a cut that entails both the technical ‘framework’ of the dimensions and the proportional aesthetics of the customer’s brief. And then some.

The individual cutting pattern is to the bespoke garment what the last is to the handmade shoe, with one notable exception: drafted from scratch, not derived from a ‘block’, it encompasses every aspect of the commission, however in two dimensions only, at this point.

Like a classical artist, who starts with a block of marble and a concept in her mind, the bespoke tailor begins her work by transferring the outline of the design to the cloth, with added allowances for future changes. The cutting of the parts, then, is only the beginning of a creative process that, in many ways, resembles the sculpting of a bronze statue".

First fitting and we decide to soften the shoulder line

It's clear from what Brita says that the bespoke tailor has huge flexibility in designing the final product, much more so than in made-to-measure where a pre-exising block restricts the options. Reading her account reminds me of a point at one fitting when I decided I wanted an even softer shoulder line. Brita, who had sewn some padding into the shoulder of the basted coat, ripped off the arm at the shoulder and simply pulled out some of the padding - job done - well, not quite as she had further work to do, but at times the bespoke process can be amusingly hands-on. The aim is to make the final product perfect - and this is what Brita did for me.

In the fourth instalment Brita will look at the bespoke process on more detail. For other features in the Exploring Bespoke series here on the blog, click here.

Links:
Brita Hirsch of Hirsch Tailoring
Adamley Textiles
Harris Tweed Hebrides
The Harris Tweed Authority
My trip to Harris Tweed: A Journey to the Heart of the Hebrides

With thanks to photographer Fiona Bailey whose images appear throughout this project.