Exploring Bespoke 2: The Choice of Materials with Brita Hirsch Tailor

In the first instalment of this fortnightly series exploring the elements of true bespoke tailoring, I introduced my collaboration with bespoke tailor Brita Hirsch to explore and describe the skills of bespoke tailoring by designing and making a Norfolk jacket made from Harris tweed. Any such project starts with selecting the best materials. 

The inspiration and the end product - choice of materials is the first important step

Brita takes up the story:

"First stop on the journey to a truly bespoke coat is finding the right material: choosing it wisely is key to everything I do. When it comes to fine cloth and rustic tweed, I'm fortunate to have the world’s best producers on my door step: the best fine wool cloth available to the global market is still produced in the long established woollen mills of West Yorkshire, only an easy drive away from my workshop in Macclesfield. I source my fine worsteds, frescoes and flannels from the knowledgable local cloth merchants who work closely with these mills.  

Scotland, with its accomplished hand weavers, is not far away, either, and I buy my tweeds directly from them. Courtesy of Harris Tweed Hebrides, David was the proud owner of a length of beautiful, conker coloured, richly textured tweed. His idea was to have a coat that is steeped in tradition, a Norfolk jacket, tailored for him.

Harris tweed from the Harris Tweed Hebrides mill (L) and the Adamley design for the silk lining (R)

A classic coat for outdoor pursuits, the Norfolk calls for a lining that is hard wearing, breathable and quintessentially British to perfectly complement the weather-resistant tweed. It might come as a surprise to some, but not to the connoisseur, that the material of choice is silk. The toughest natural fibre available, coming with a molecular structure that is similar to that of wool, silk combines toughness with excellent climate balancing properties, whilst being soft and lightweight. 

But what about the 'quintessential British' part? Well. Macclesfield, in official UNESCO terms the Western end of the historic Silk Road, is home to wonderful silk printers Adamley Textiles. The company supplies many of the big names in the fashion world with the most beautiful silk fabrics and is proud guardian of the David Evans [no relation to Grey Fox's David Evans!] archive of graphic print designs. What, then, could be more appropriate than to use a silk lining for the Norfolk and let David pick the design for his custom print?"

So, we selected tweed and silk as the main materials of the coat. I told the story of Harris tweed here so there's no need to repeat it here. Brita mentions the silk lining from Adamley Textiles. I was surprised when she suggested a silk lining to the coat as I hadn't understood just how tough a cloth it makes, but its robustness, ability to take bright designs and colours and its breathability make it an ideal lining material. Brita and I visited Adamley in Macclesfield (for centuries at the heart of the English silk industry - see images below). 

Brita and I look through the David Evans silk design archives at Adamley in Macclesfield

Screen printing at Adamley Textiles

I looked through dozens of old archive books and I selected a fox head silk dating from first half of the last century. Adamley very generously redrew and printed off a few meters of silk, using the traditional silk screen method, for the lining introducing the colours we specified to go with the conker-coloured Harris tweed. In a future feature I'll show just how perfectly this lining matches the tweed.

The next in this series will be the measuring and cutting stages of the bespoke process.

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.

Exploring True Bespoke Tailoring 1: Introducing a Collaboration with Brita Hirsch Tailor

I've recently had the huge pleasure and privilege of collaborating with Brita Hirsch, tailor, to make a Norfolk jacket designed to show the best of bespoke tailoring. Over the next few months we'll use this project to illustrate the extraordinary craftsmanship, time, materials and skills that go into making a true bespoke garment.

Brita Hirsch, bespoke tailor, at work

Brita and I met a couple of years ago with a view to producing a suit made from British-woven cloth made from wool from British sheep. That project wasn't completed, although Brita has recently produced a British merino cloth (but that's another story: see The Great Northern Cloth here and also on the blog here).

The term 'bespoke' is much abused, often used to describe made-to-measure products which are produced without the handwork, time and skills found in bespoke tailoring. In this series, which starts with the image below, Brita and I will describe the making of a truly bespoke garment.

The photograph above, one of my favourites, was taken in the 1920s by German photographer August Sander. It shows a provincial schoolmaster with his dog. I loved his Norfolk jacket. He's clearly very comfortable wearing it. The soft slope of the shoulder with a slight roll at the top of the sleeve, the elegantly crumpled tweed and the superb fit all suggest a skilled tailor. After some discussion Brita and I agreed that working on a similar piece would give her ample opportunity to illustrate a tailor's skills.

I was keen to have a wool coat that I could wear outdoors from the fells of Cumbria to our local park in London. I'm outside every day for at least two hours, walking Harry, my labrador retriever. I need a coat that's warm, breathable and water resistant. Harris tweed provides all these properties, while having the potential to be tailored into something far more stylish than much of the modern outdoor wear available on our high streets. 

The Norfolk jacket has a long history as an outdoor coat for country sports and mountaineering; an early example of a technical garment with a very practical purpose, to keep the wearer warm and dry, while providing mobility through its construction and storage in its large pockets

From the Harris Tweed Hebrides mill came the cloth for our Norfolk coat - Image Grey Fox Blog

Early last year I visited The Outer Hebrides at the invitation of The Harris Tweed Authority. That visit was described on the blog last year (link below). I came away with a few meters of beautiful conker brown tweed from the Shawbost mill of Harris Tweed Hebrides, full of the colours of the Hebrides, from the white of the sandy beaches, the blue of the sky, the orange of the heather and the yellow of the gorse. This tweed would be used to make the coat and this process will be described in detail over several instalments here on the blog.

We've also been able to collaborate with Macclesfield Adamley Textiles who kindly gave us access to the David Evans (no relation) silk archives so we could select a silk which they then redesigned and screen-printed for the coat's lining. Brita and I are very grateful to them for their generosity and support. Full story next time.

So our project began and in the next instalment of our series Brita covers the first aspect of the bespoke process; the choice of materials.

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.

Artefact London: Made-to-Measure Tailoring

Artefact London is a relative newcomer to the tailoring scene, but judging from the suit they've just made for me, they've hit the ground running. Founded by young entrepreneur, Tatyana Kozhevnikova, whose enthusiasm for tailoring is infectious, Artefact London focuses unashamedly on made to measure (MTM), as opposed to bespoke tailoring. The thinking behind this boils down to a balance between value for money and the quality and fit of the final product.

The completed suit from Artefact London

So great is Tatyana's belief that MTM represents good value, that she offered to make me a lightweight wool suit, confident that I would be very happy with the result - and I have to report that I am. She is very clear and honest about the key differences between MTM and bespoke, pointing out that the "pattern [was] made on a computer and laser cut...buttonholes [were] machine stitched and the floating canvas made with help of a machine, but shaped and attached by hand". A bespoke suit may have more hand stitching and more time would be spent on fittings and detail, but she points out that this additional care comes at a cost and argues that an excellent MTM suit can be made at a fraction of the cost of bespoke.

One of the most important aspects of having a suit made is how well the tailor works with the client, interpreting and gently guiding their wishes and expectations. Tatyana is excellent at this and long discussions ended up with a suit that precisely echoes my aims, but included a number of suggestions from her.

The system is flexible enough to allow multiple and often minute changes to the block, allowing the client almost exactly what they requite in terms of fit, shape and design. I asked for roped shoulders, a slightly fuller cut to the trousers and a double-breasted coat. All were delivered as I expected,

In measuring a client, Tatyana tells me, she will "look at your posture: stooping, erect or leaning forward, do you have a curve to your back or perhaps a dropped shoulder, or prominent blades? I look at the position of your arms relative to your body to eliminate any creasing around the bicep area. These are all the things that you cannot gauge with linear measurements, but will have a great impact on the fit".

Images Paul Harries

My conclusion? The suit is excellent and I'm more than happy with it - it fitted well with out any alterations. A similar suit made bespoke might cost four or five times as much. To anyone aware of the details of tailoring, the additional little touches and flourishes of a fully bespoke suit would be important enough to merit the extra cost and care. However, it would take an experienced eye to be able to see the difference between a well-made MTM suit and a bespoke one.

The pure bespoke experience is one that I'll treasure and everyone who can afford one should try it at least once. However, in terms of pure value for money (so unromantic I know) the well-made MTM suit is hard to beat. The fitting process revolves around a pre-existing block (rather than a bespoke pattern) and CAD is used to create the pattern. There is much more flexibility in the MTM process than I'd expected and it was possible to include all the little touches I wanted in the suit in terms of details like cut, lapel shape, button configuration and so on.

Having a knowledgeable and enthusiastic tailor who can guide the client as well as Tatyana does helps the process along and I'd recommend that you try Artefact London, who are based in New Bond Street, London, studio to discuss your needs.

Cloth light tan Prince of Wales check from Holland & Sherry's Cool*Breeze range in pure wool worsted. Prices from £960 for a two-piece suit. Shirts, overcoats, morning and evening wear also available.

The suit was provided for this review by Artefact London. I received no financial compensation for this review. All views expressed are my own unless otherwise stated.

Auction of Dege & Skinner made safari suit for Valentino

On 30th November, Bonhams in New York will be auctioning a safari suit made by tailors Dege & Skinner of Savile Row for Rudolph Valentino, the Italian-born American actor and star of silent films, who became a sex symbol of the 1920s, before his untimely death in 1926, aged just 31. The suit will be auctioned in a movie memorabilia sale. 

Rudolph Valentino

Dege & Skinner tell me that they were asked to verify the suit as genuine. They were able to do this as they had sewed (as they still do) a label into the suit recording the customer's name and date of despatch to them. The label records that it was made in 1923, the coat was cut by Dege & Skinner's current chairman’s father, Tim Skinner in their workshop, then located on Conduit Street. The riding breeches would have been made by the celebrated A.J. Hosford.

Dege & Skinner are, of course, one of only a couple of family-owned tailors left in Savile Row. They are Royal Warrant holders and continue to dress Hollywood stars and leading actors with timeless style and supreme elegance. Readers may recall that they recently made me a suit from cloth which I designed with Johnstons of Elgin (click here for the story).

Masters of Style: Edward Sexton - bespoke tailor

After decades as a lawyer, essentially an uncreative and often destructive profession, it's a huge pleasure for me, in my new life as a blogger, to talk to people who make it their task to create quality, elegance and style. I recently went to Beauchamp Place, in the shadow of Harrods in South West London, to meet Edward Sexton, bespoke tailor and striver for perfection, in his studio.

I can, even as a then disinterested youngster, remember the impact made on Savile Row by the opening of Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton's Nutters in 1969. I even went over there to press my nose to the window. For some reason I can't now explain, I thought that Nutters was mentioned in one of the James Bond books as 007's tailors. The last Bond book was written a few years before Nutters opened, so I'd just got it completely wrong.

Of course, Nutters wouldn't have made suits to Bond's tastes anyway. Although the quality of the tailoring was high, the clientele was international pop and rock stars and the styles were those of Carnaby Street rather than the establishment of Her Majesty's Secret Service. Images of stars wearing Nutters long waisted coats with huge, wide collars, exaggerated roped shoulders, flared trousers and clashing checks advertised Edward Sexton's creativity and sixties style.

These elements still echo in his tailoring, providing a refreshing and individual alternative to the classic styles available elsewhere in London. These style clues from earlier and possibly more original days of tailoring reminded me of Mark Powell, another tailor whose work I write about here. The relationship between cutting edge tailoring, depth of experience and heritage is complex and so interwoven that they can never be separated. Without tailors with a foot firmly in the best of the past, we would be much the poorer.

But Sexton isn't dwelling on the past. The focus of his skills, and the very obvious pride he has in them, is on the quality of his tailoring. He showed me how he structures, sews and manipulates canvas, cloth and thread to make a garment that moulds to the wearer, moving with him or her and masking unevenness or pocket contents in way which, to me, seems magically mysterious. 

Despite his depth of experience, he told me that he can learn something new every day and he admitted to me that he has never made the perfect suit. This must make him the perfect tailor. Who wants to go to a craftsman who claims always to make perfection? It's the striving for elusive perfect tailoring that makes the genius. Luckily he also loves to pass on his skills to a younger generation and seeing him work with a young apprentice made me envious of the creativity and skills he has to pass on. 

Everything is completed in his studio; cutting and tailoring. Sexton offers a made to measure range, offering all that we love of the Sexton style. Suits in this range cost around £1800 and are made in China from his own patterns. The block is then altered back in London after fittings with the client. A large proportion of Sexton's clients are women.

Sexton is obviously a man of great generosity and the number of young tailors and apprentices working closely with him highlights his desire to pass on his many years of experience to a new generation, ensuring the future if his business, and indeed of London tailoring.

See Edward Sexton.

Masters of Style: Mark Powell Bespoke: a very British tailor

To mark the start of my Best of British Menswear Week, I've been to see Mark Powell.

Historically, much of Great Britain's success has been based on the contradictions it displays to the world. Its toughness and belligerence hide the essential kindness that drove the British to pioneer parliamentary democracy and fairness. Mark Powell, London-based bespoke tailor, is just like that. He's very British - in appearance a hard East Ender; in reality a highly creative, humorous and generous man. 

Mark Powell

Like many men in their fifties, life's experiences bring focus. This clarity of purpose shows in Mark Powell's tailoring and it's easy to recognise his work. But there are contradictions; is his style classic or modern, nostalgic or cutting edge? In reality it's a bit of all these things. Nothing is ever truly original; it's how he uses inspiration that makes a man an artist.

Maybe the best approach is to see how Mark Powell sees himself. He describes his work as follows:

"Established in 1985, Mark Powell is one of London's most iconic and influential bespoke tailors. Renowned for his nostalgically and classically inspired tailoring, combined with experimental cuts and styling, he was one of the first to successfully bridge the gap between the traditions of Savile Row and contemporary street style".

The Mark Powell bespoke stamp is unique and widely-appreciated by the many big names he has dressed from the worlds of film, television, music and sport from George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Mick and Bianca Jagger, David Bowie, through style giants such as Bryan Ferry and Naomi Campbell to The Killers, film director Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, Sean Bean and most recently, Paul Weller, Martin Freeman and Bradley Wiggins.

Nostalgia is there, but not in a mawkish way. I saw tailoring influences from Edwardian through every decade of the intervening century; most recently the mod look has been seen on Bradley Wiggins and Paul Weller. Essentially it is sharp tailoring with brightly-described details in buttons, cuffs, collars, taking ideas and colour from earlier looks and adding a very contemporary feel. And yet somehow Mark captures the essence of the wearer, not imposing a style on anyone.

Despite, or because of, the celebrity links, Mark has worked with more establishment organisations like Marks & Spencer and the DTI to bring his style, and that of Britain, to the high street and to the world.

I really enjoyed my meeting with Mark Powell. He was informative, friendly, passionate about is work and generous with his time. Several people had described him to me as 'scary' - what nonsense. If you want a garment that reflects your personality, rather than shows you up as a tailoring clone, go to Mark Powell. This makes him ideal for the man confident about what and who he is; in general that means the older man as, despite having its roots in nostalgia, this is a very mature style.

To pigeon-hole his work is impossible - the most accurate description is that it's Mark Powell. 

Mark Powell, 2 Marshall Street, London, W1F 9BA.
Telephone +44 (0)20 7287 5498
mark@markpowellbespoke.co.uk  

Fox Hunt Menswear survey - please help a young Made in Britain bespoke knitwear brand

Julija, the founder of Fox Hunt Menswear, has just competed a civil engineering degree at UCL and is now focussed on building her bespoke knitwear brand. This is the sort of enterprise I love to support and I'm asking if you can help her develop her business by answering a short survey.

She will use your responses to model her products to her customers' preferences. To find the survey please click here, the link will take you through to Survey Monkey where it will take you only a few minutes. Julija would like to receive at least 100 responses, so please pass the survey link on to friends as well. Many thanks.

I'm lucky enough to have a Fox Hunt jumper which has become a firm favourite - they are beautifully hand-crafted from high quality wool. Julija is offering her bespoke jumpers (hand-made in Britain for you to your size, at your order) online at Fox Hunt Menswear. At present there is a free pair of gloves, mittens or scarf available with each order. The jumper is pictured above and is available in a choice of colours.

The Tailor's art - Ken Austin of Benson & Clegg bastes a sleeve

Ken Austin, owner of Benson & Clegg, has more than 40 years in the trade as tailor and cutter and is a Master tailor. Here he bastes the sleeve of a bespoke morning coat, stitching it in temporarily to check its position before finishing it off.

I had a fascinating morning yesterday talking cutting and tailoring with Ken and his colleagues. Benson & Clegg offer a genuine bespoke service. Unfortunately the definition of bespoke is being undermined by those who offer a 'bespoke' service that is little more than made-to-measure.  I'll talk more about the difference between bespoke and made-to-measure in a future post

For more information on Benson & Clegg see their website or phone +44 (0)20 7491 1454 (and mention Grey Fox).

Bespoke at Susannah Hall - Grey Fox is measured up

Grey Fox had an enjoyable and interesting afternoon this week being measured up for a bespoke tweed jacket and waistcoat. This will be made from tweed kindly supplied by Hunter's Tweed (for more information about their beautiful Scottish tweeds see the image below and go to my post here).

The tweed from Hunter's Tweed 

Susannah Hall is one of the many friends I'm privileged to have met through Twitter and I had earlier visited her shop in Clerkenwell, London, simply to find out more about the tailoring process. We got on so well, and had so many interests in common (in particular about British-made menswear), that I asked her to do the tailoring for me. See Susannah Hall's website here - Twitter @SHalltailors.

With Susannah Hall.

Grey Fox is wearing - linen/cotton suit: Oliver Spencer (jacket Made in England), shirt: Evocha (Made in England), shoes: Loake (Made in England), folio: Holdall & Co (Made in England), socks: J Crew, hair: model's own.

Susannah is highly professional, very knowledgeable and great fun, taking the measure of me (as she called it) as I walked into the shop, assessing style and taste. This process continued as she measured me up and we discussed cut, shape and details like buttons and lining for the jacket and waistcoat. She somehow skilfully balances helping the client achieve a distinctive style of their own, while tactfully steering them from any too obvious sartorial errors.

Now that I've been measured up, the pattern-making and cutting will take place in Yorkshire and soon there will be a second fitting at which the partly-complete coats will be tried on for size and further tweaked before going back to be finished off. I will report on that in due course.

Susannah Hall has an excellent selection of shirts (available off the peg in her Office Smoothie range, or bespoke), accessories and ties. She has a superb sense of colour and her products are beautifully displayed, skilfully blending patterns and shades of fabrics, linings, shirts and ties. Her prices are very competitive.

Now that's what I call a jacket!

This brown blazer jacket was photographed recently by the Sartorialist. One's attention is drawn to the trousers, but look closely at the jacket and you see a beautiful fit and outstanding detail in the stitching and the positioning of the (working) cuff buttons. Is it bespoke? It seems to be made from a linen-based material; is it mixed with cotton or silk?

Look at how this jacket fits across the shoulders and upper arm. Most men (including me) wear badly-fitting jackets. The fabric sags over the shoulders and bellies out across the back. The sleeves are often too long. Off-the-peg clothes are made to fit an average size; mathematically few of us are that ideal shape. I suspect that we tend to select jackets that are too large for us. If you can't afford bespoke, try a size smaller than usual and see if that improves the fit, or ask a tailor to make some alterations.

There's no doubt that well-fitting jacket gives a great sense of style.

Photo The Sartorialist