The Importance of a Skilled Tailor to Bespoke Suits

In the world of fashion, a skilled tailor holds a position of immense significance. While fashion trends come and go, the art of tailoring remains timeless and essential. A skilled tailor possesses the expertise, precision, and craftsmanship to transform fabrics into perfectly fitted and flattering garments, elevating not only one’s appearance but also their confidence and self-assurance. Whether crafting custom suits, altering ready-to-wear pieces, or creating bespoke designs, a skilled tailor plays a pivotal role in shaping the fashion landscape and enhancing individual style.

Perfect Fit: Tailoring to Individual Proportions
One of the primary reasons why a skilled tailor is indispensable is their ability to achieve the perfect fit. Off-the-rack clothing may not always cater to individual body proportions, leading to ill-fitting garments that fail to flatter the wearer’s unique shape.

The bespoke suit is tailored to your body perfectly

A skilled tailor takes precise measurements and makes adjustments to ensure that each piece of clothing, especially bespoke suits, complements the client’s physique. The result is a garment that hugs the body in all the right places, enhancing natural curves and creating a polished and refined appearance.

Flattering Silhouettes: Enhancing Body Confidence
A well-tailored garment, like a bespoke suit, has the remarkable ability to enhance body confidence. By highlighting one’s best features and discreetly disguising areas of concern, a skilled tailor can create a flattering silhouette that empowers the wearer. Whether it’s a tailored blazer that accentuates the shoulders or a pair of trousers that elongates the legs, the expertise of a tailor can transform how an individual feels in their clothing, boosting self-assurance and leaving a lasting impression.

Personalization: Unleashing Creativity
Tailoring bespoke suits offers a world of personalization possibilities. A skilled tailor can cater to individual preferences, incorporating unique design elements, fabric choices, and embellishments to create a suit that reflects the client’s personality and style. From selecting the perfect lapel style on a suit to adding personalized embroidery or monogramming, the artistry of tailoring bespoke suits allows for creative expression, turning each piece into a one-of-a-kind creation that makes a statement.

Restoring and Alterations: Giving New Life to Wardrobe Staples
In addition to creating bespoke suits, a skilled tailor also excels in the art of alterations and clothing restoration. They can breathe new life into worn-out wardrobe staples by mending tears, replacing worn linings, and adjusting the fit to suit changing body shapes. With the expert touch of a tailor, beloved clothing pieces can be rejuvenated, extending their lifespan and reducing the need for constant replacements.

Tailoring Trends: Keeping Fashion Current
Tailoring bespoke suits is an integral part of the fashion industry, with tailors at the forefront of sartorial trends. They possess an innate understanding of fashion aesthetics, staying attuned to the latest styles, and incorporating contemporary design elements into their work. Whether it’s adapting classic designs to modern tastes or experimenting with innovative cuts and fabrics for bespoke suits, a skilled tailor ensures that their clients are always dressed in style.

Investment in Quality: Durability and Longevity
When it comes to investing in quality clothing, bespoke suits tailored by skilled professionals are the ultimate ally. The craftsmanship and attention to detail that go into a tailor-made bespoke suit ensure durability and longevity. Unlike mass-produced garments, bespoke suits are crafted with superior materials and construction techniques, making them resistant to wear and tear. The result is a wardrobe built to withstand the test of time, representing not only an investment in style but also in lasting value.

Wedding and Special Occasion Attire: Creating Unforgettable Moments
Weddings and special occasions call for attire that is both memorable and meaningful. A skilled tailor is often sought after for creating bespoke suits, wedding dresses, tuxedos, and other formalwear that captures the essence of the moment. By collaborating closely with clients and understanding their vision, a tailor can design garments that evoke emotions and make cherished memories for those special occasions.

Ethical and Sustainable Fashion: A Tailor’s Approach
In a world increasingly concerned about ethical and sustainable fashion, the role of a skilled tailor becomes even more significant. Tailoring bespoke suits supports slow fashion, encouraging the creation of well-crafted, timeless pieces that are made to last. By avoiding mass production and embracing craftsmanship, tailors contribute to a more sustainable fashion landscape, advocating for conscious consumption and reduced waste.

Building Lasting Relationships: A Tailor’s Personal Touch
Tailoring bespoke suits is a personal and intimate experience. Skilled tailors build lasting relationships with their clients, gaining insights into their preferences, lifestyles, and fashion aspirations. This personal touch ensures that each bespoke suit is infused with a sense of connection and understanding, making the entire tailoring journey a rewarding and memorable experience for both the tailor and the client.

Preserving Tradition: An Age-Old Craft

Tailoring bespoke suits is an age-old craft that has been passed down through generations. Skilled tailors carry on this tradition, upholding the values of craftsmanship, attention to detail, and dedication to excellence. By preserving this timeless art, tailors contribute to the continuity of an essential facet of human culture and history. In a world where mass-produced fashion often prevails, the art of tailoring bespoke suits stands as a testament to the enduring value of personalized, meticulously crafted clothing. From perfect fits to unmatched elegance, a skilled tailor shapes not just the clothing but also the confidence and charisma of those who wear their creations.

How To Style a Tweed Jacket

Tweed can be intimidating. Yes, historically, it has been synonymous with Ivy League professors, Sherlock Holmes, and gun-toting English gentlemen. But today, it’s a smart and versatile staple that any man can and should incorporate into his wardrobe, especially during these bitterly cold winter months.

Whether you’re trying to understand how to wear a tweed jacket that’s been hiding in the back of your wardrobe for years or trying to work up the courage to pull the trigger on finally buying one, we’re here to help. Here are five different ways to style the timeless but on-trend tweed jacket.

What is Tweed?

Tweed is a type of woolen material. It originated in a fabric-producing region in Scotland, near the Tweed River, during the early 1800s. However, the river isn’t its namesake, as someone elsewhere misread its original spelling of “tweel weave” for “tweed weave”, assuming this false connection of names. Nonetheless, the name stuck and its popularity soared. 

In the production of tweed fabric, it is woven in intricate ways to create different, typically diagonal, patterns such as plain, twill, herringbone, and check. Plain may be the most frequently used pattern of tweed, but it is much more complex than it seems. While the plain pattern may just be one color, it is given depth in several ways. For instance, various shades of one color could be used in the weave. Also, different colors can be woven in one thread to build on the pattern. This goes to show the balance of complexity and simplicity of tweed, as the simple structure and color palette blend with the complex weaving and patterns. 

The colors and patterns have made this fabric a very popular choice for blazers and suits. However, it has also served as material for caps, gloves, trousers, and liners. Most commonly, the fabric is dyed with various combinations of earth-tone colors, like different shades of brown or blue. Though it can be rough and unfinished, it’s both wind and water-resistant. Hence, it isn’t surprising to learn that this was first designed for farmers and other outdoorsmen. Eventually, because of tweed’s durability, one of its most favored forms has become that of a sports jacket, perfect for enduring the elements when outside.

Tweed Color Combinations 

There are numerous ways to wear a tweed jacket, whether you want to be casual or dress up for a smart occasion. Below are our favorite options and combinations.

Gray

A grey tweed blazer paired with an elegant white dress shirt and a navy blue pocket square. This look is designed for daytime office wear, as well as for casual evening occasions. The colors of the blazer and the white shirt are subtle. However, adding the accessory of the bold midnight blue pocket square adds a small, smart flare to the ensemble that builds on its sophistication. Not too flashy, it creates a professional look that shows careful consideration in its assembly.

Blue

A blue tweed blazer paired with a blue shirt and beige chinos. This outfit is the perfect look for a lunch date or weekend occasion where you want to look dapper, but not “too dressy”. By choosing no accessories (tie, bow tie, or pocket square) and a linen shirt, this attire is stylish and ideal for casual business environments or dinners. The two different shades of blue between the shirt and blazer match perfectly well and create a nice contrast between the beige of the chinos. However, the contrast isn’t off-putting and adds to the look a more polished feel.

Brown

A brown tweed blazer paired with grey chinos and a classic blue shirt. This works for more casual-business environments and occasions. The brown blazer has a fine, warm color that isn’t too bold or flashy for an informal environment. However, the touch of blue from the blue oxford shirt pops a bit out from underneath the tweed, allowing the outfit to stand out just enough.

How The Modern Gentleman Wears Tweed 

Smart-casual

The two-button tailored tweed jacket was the definitive smart-casual choice long before the term ‘smart-casual’ was coined: worn with flannels and brogues or loafers, the jacket had an air of academia about it, with pockets stuffed with one’s daily necessities, collar turned against the wind. Think George Orwell, Woody Allen, Dr. Who, even Dirty Harry.

These days unstructured tweed jackets and coats – worn perhaps with chinos – look more contemporary, more at ease. Don’t stand on ceremony in tweed: like a pair of jeans, a tweed jacket is one of those garments that looks better the older and more battered it is.

Formal

A tweed suit may well last you a lifetime – and it will certainly pose a challenge to anyone also enjoying that central heating. But tweed is also one of those fabrics – akin to corduroy in some respects – that manages to look smart when properly tailored, but also relaxed at the same time. This is partly down to image, partly down to the tactility, density, and sheen of the cloths.

But play down the tweed suit’s in-built traditionalism by wearing it with knitwear – a charcoal roll-neck, for example – rather than shirt and tie. If you’re opting for the latter, stay clear of tattersall checked shirts and plaid ties.

How Tight Should Suits Be?

How your suit fits you can make or break your overall look. Finding the perfect material, cut, and design will not matter as much unless you get that perfect fit for your body. Your age and body type should not be deterrents for getting a tailored fit. With the right, experienced tailor, you can get a suit that looks great on you and also feels comfortable to wear all day long.

How Tight Should A Suit Be?

The ideal fit is when your suit is able to show your full body silhouette in a sleek manner without any pulling or sagging visibly anywhere. This is the only way to get a comfortable suit that allows you to move freely while looking fantastic.

 tailor taking measurements of bespoke suit jacket on mannequin

When choosing a suit, here are a couple of pointers to keep in mind:

  1. When you button up your jacket, it should create an hourglass shape of your body. If you notice any pulling of the fabric or any loose fabric under your arms, it is not the right fit.
  1. When you sit down, your trousers’ fabric needs to remain smooth without any strain or bunching. If there are, you need a new set of pants stitched right away.

Signs That Your Suit Is Too Tight Or Loose

Let’s go through some of the main points you should be looking at when finding that perfect fit.

The Jacket

  • The button should fasten perfectly without any pulling or sagging of the material around it. When closed, the jacket should feel like a glove.
  • The bottom of the jacket should stay neatly in place with a short gap when buttoned. If it starts to pull away, then the jacket is too tight for you.
  • The jacket should not hang loosely on your body. If you feel any part of it sagging forwards, you will have to adjust it to fit your dimensions.

The Shoulders

  • The jacket sleeve needs to begin at the exact point where your shoulder ends. If the sleeve is too high, the jacket will be difficult to put on and will look small on you. If it is too low, the jacket will sag, giving you an overly large frame.
  • When the seam hangs over your shoulder, extra fabric will bunch up under your arms to the side of the jacket. This will again give you a wider frame.

The Collar

  • The jacket collar should sit perfectly along the lines of your shirt collar. It shouldn’t stand away from or press up against the shirt collar for the best look.
  • When the jacket is too large, there will be a gap between the shirt collar and jacket collar. This is quite visible to other people and does not show off a smart look.
  • When the collar is pressed up against you, you are bound to be uncomfortable wearing that jacket. Your shoulders, neck, and sides will be a little too tight and you won’t be able to wear that jacket comfortably for a long time.

The Length of the Jacket

  • Your height is the best measure to find the best jacket length. Typically, the best length is when the jacket ends around the middle of your crotch area.
  • Another way of checking is by the length of your hands. Stand straight in front of a mirror with your arms by your sides and see where the jacket ends. The best length is when it ends around the middle of your fingertip and wrist.

Why A Bespoke Suit Is The Better Choice

In order to get a suit “just right”, it needs to be tailored exactly to your body dimensions. Every person has a unique body type and you cannot get a perfect fit from a suit you get off the shelves. Those suits are created with generic body dimensions in mind and will fit perfectly for only a few choice people around the world.

Each section of the suit (jacket length, collar, pants, sleeve) will have to be custom-done to your exact measurements so that they all come together into one perfect ensemble. This is the only way to stitch a dashing suit that is the perfect fit for you. When you try on a well-fitted suit, you will definitely notice the difference in comfort and movement it offers you.

Once you try a bespoke suit, it can be difficult to go back to wearing a normal, everyday suit. Get in touch with our team today to discuss your requirements and we’ll work with you to create a suit that’s the perfect fit.

How Can You Tell If A Suit Fits?

The right fit is the most important part of any suit. The design, colors, or material used will not look good unless the suit sits well on your body. People have varying opinions about how you should wear a suit, but there is a basic suit 101 that many of them are unaware of.

While their opinions on suits might not be completely wrong, just a single missed point can break your whole look. Therefore, it is critical you pay attention to the areas that can easily go wrong while stitching a suit so it doesn’t end up looking “off” when you try it on.

There are a few rules that have been passed down from previous generations about the proper etiquette of suit-wearing.

Young businessman visiting old tailor

These have not changed over time and will probably continue for many generations to come. Let’s go through some of them below.

Signs Your Suit Doesn’t Fit You

  1. The length of the suit jacket

Unless your tailor left enough space to make adjustments, altering the length of a suit jacket is usually not possible. As such, it is important you get the measurements correctly and discuss them with your tailor before stitching the suit.

A short jacket has become a new trend for modern generations but not everyone can pull it off and if you go too short, it will ruin the whole look. The ideal length is when the jacket reaches around your middle-crotch area or just up to the middle of your thumb. If it’s longer than that, the jacket will look too big on you.

  1. The shoulders are sagging or tight

The jacket’s shoulder seam should match exactly where your shoulder ends. If it’s too long, the jacket will sag and give you a much wider and bulkier frame. If it’s too short, the jacket will be uncomfortable to wear and will look much too small on you.

The shoulder is one of the most visible areas of a suit and if it looks wrong, the entire suit will be thrown off balance.

  1. The lapel gap is too wide or pops open

When the shoulders aren’t adjusted correctly and the suit is too big on you, you will have a large chest gap when you button the jacket. Ideally, you want the lapel to lie across your chest with no gaping hole in between.

  1. Your knuckles are covered by the sleeves of the jacket

The sleeve of the suit jacket needs to end at the top of the wrist. This allows the shirt cuff to also pop out at the correct angle. If the sleeve is too long, it is likely the length of the suit will be long too. You may want to look at another option or adjust the sleeve length which is quite easy to do.

  1. The collar just isn’t right

One of the biggest pointers towards a wrong fitting jacket is the collar gap and collar rolls. The collar gap is the space in between the suit collar and the shirt collar. The jacket collar should rest against the back of your shirt collar for the perfect fit. If there is a gap, it usually means the suit is too tight for you and adjustments need to be made.

Collar rolls occur when the shoulder area is not adjusted to match the posture or shoulder-length of the wearer. This can be easily fixed by a tailor if the problem is found early on.

  1. The pants are too tight or sagging


The seat of your pants should be smooth against your behind and there shouldn’t be any pulling of the fabric. If it feels tight when you’re sitting down, you will definitely need to increase the size.

  1. The pant pockets stick out

If pants fit well, the pocket will rest against your side without popping out even when you sit down. The tighter the pants, the more the pocket will stick out. This is not an easy fix so you should either look at purchasing a new pair or speaking to an experienced tailor.

Why You Should Purchase A Bespoke Suit

Most of us will find at least one or two of these problems when we try on readymade suits at your local tailors or grooming studio. This is because the perfect suit cannot be done ready-made for all of us.

Due to our unique body types, a personal visit to the tailor is necessary if you’re looking for that perfect fit. An experienced tailor will be able to adjust your measurements to account for all the above signs, so the final bespoke suit will be perfectly tailored to fit you!