Preparing for the fittings

The first fitting will last up to one hour. For new customers, the meeting will focus on assessing the fit of the basted jacket prepared by the tailor and his workshop. The featured tailor will make any necessary adjustments to your jacket, pants or other garment being fitted. 

The basted jacket will consist of a partially finished jacket body (sleeves may be attached for returning customers). Pants may be semi-finished except for length, pockets and buttons. Optionally, we may take additional photos or video of you during the fitting as a reference for the tailor. 

Similar to the measurements meeting, we recommend you wear your best fitting shirt, ideally MTM or bespoke, that represents the type of shirt you’ll wear with the jacket you’ve ordered. This is critical in gauging your sleeve length. 

More generally, we will be finalizing key items such as button stance/height, jacket length and sleeve length. It is essential that you are fully comfortable with your choices and that you fully approve the changes made at the fitting. These choices are often not reversible (e.g. button stance/height or sleeve length) once made.

Finally, we can also receive cloth for any new orders you have placed as well as return a bespoke garment you have designated for duplication. 

Preparing for our first meeting - measurements

Our first meeting will take approximately an hour with the following agenda: 

1. Take key measurements and photos for the tailor to draft a pattern
2. Receive and check your cloth for sufficient length and detect and mark any irregularities for the tailor
3. Confirm key features of your order
4. Receive a bespoke garment to re-create (if applicable)

To maximize our time together, we suggest the following: 

1. Wear your best fitting shirt, ideally MTM or bespoke, that represents the type of shirt you’ll wear with the jacket you’ve ordered
2. Bring or wear your best fitting jacket
3. Consider bringing a backup cloth in the unlikely scenario that your cloth is defective or insufficient length

We know that quite a few MTM brands allow you to take your own measurements. Unfortunately, we have looked at this option and believe it introduces too much noise and imprecision into a critical part of the bespoke process. 

Sourcing and selecting quality cloth

Effective January 2018: Please note we are now able to order fabric for your Essential Bespoke commission from many of the cloth brands listed below. This is likely the most convenient option for most US customers outside of New York City. 

In my personal blog I have written about the pitfalls of assessing cloth quality as well as an introductory primer and empirical comparison of cloth quality. Textile quality is clearly an important consideration for picking a cloth. The good news is that if you buy cloth produced from a well-known, established mill or merchant there is very low risk of purchasing a defective or subpar cloth. Effectively (for now at least), this means buying cloths of English or Italian manufacture identifiable as such on the selvedge.

While there are always exceptions depending on the fiber and mill involved, I think it is fair to say that English cloths, especially vintage ones, tend to be heavier weight and feature more conservative patterns and a drier finish. In contrast, Italian suiting and jacketing cloth tend to enjoy wider color and pattern variation with softer hand feel and finishes. This distinction was clearer in the past but you can still see differences today between the English and Italian approach to suiting and jacketing cloth. 

The following list is not exhaustive but you should stick to established mills and merchants such as:

• Ariston Fabrics

• Breanish Tweed

• Carnet

• Dormeuil

• Drapers

• Fox Flannel

• William Halstead

• Hardy Minnis

• Harrisons representing Smith Woollens, H. Lesser and W. Bill

• Holland & Sherry

• Scabal

• Vitale Barberis Canonico

Ideally, you should visit a local fabric store who sells directly to consumers. That way you can see and feel in person the cloth before buying it.

If you live near or in a major city, your best bet is to go a local fabric merchant who has access to quality cloth. These include Tip Top (New York City), Britex Fabrics (San Francisco), Mood Fabrics or B. Black & Sons (Los Angeles). 

Alternatively, you can find third-party sellers and mills that sell direct to consumer such as Fox Flannel, Huddersfield Fine Worsteds, British Fabrics, Pepper Lee, Yorkshire Fabric or Harrisons Burley's online shop and eBay shop.

Focus your search on reputable mills and merchants

With a little luck and persistence, you can find distinctive cloths in superb patterns and finishes no longer in production

You can never have enough shades of grey in your wardrobe

Johnstons of Elgin brown cashmere donegal

Magnificent cashmere donegal by a cashmere weaver and mill founded in 1797. This is traditional donegal tweed re-imagined intelligently and playing to the mill's strengths. Our partner has only one end bolt in this color which recently arrived (36 yards left as of May 1, 2017). This is enough to make about 12 suits. 

Johnstons of Elgin gray cashmere donegal

Magnificent cashmere donegal by a cashmere weaver and mill founded in 1797. This is traditional donegal tweed re-imagined intelligently and playing to the mill's strengths. Our partner has only one end bolt in this color which recently arrived (36 yards left as of May 1, 2017). This is enough to make about 12 suits. 

Johnstons of Elgin green cashmere donegal

Magnificent cashmere donegal by a cashmere weaver and mill founded in 1797. This is traditional donegal tweed re-imagined intelligently and playing to the mill's strengths. Our partner has only one end bolt in this color which recently arrived (36 yards left as of May 1, 2017). This is enough to make about 12 suits. 

With quality issues addressed, you can focus your attention on a more compelling concern when selecting a cloth for your Sicilian Reserve order. 

This means deciding where to play in the aesthetic and functional sandbox - namely, weight, color, pattern, weave, and hand feel. You can start with the functions most important to you such as wrinkle recovery, drape or skin comfort. This will determine the ideal yarn/fiber type, weight, weave and hand of your target cloth.

Otherwise, you can start with color and pattern and determine by a process of elimination the ideal cloth for your suit or jacket. Organize and group your initial set of swatches by color/pattern. Then do a second pass by examining and comparing their weights, hand feel and finishes to determine the winner.

If you're deciding between more than two swatch options per color/pattern, divide your selections into pairs. Then do a pairwise A/B comparison and elimination according to the criteria you have set until you have your winner. 

Remember the selection process is greatly simplified if you hew to the established mills and merchants (large and small), focus on determining your aesthetic and functional requirements of the cloth and then conducting a pairwise comparison and elimination of the different options.