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50 years

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News and blog

July 2015 - Bamboo - unique and beautiful

Bamboo is fast becoming one of the most popular fibres to use for clothing and textiles the extremely resilient and durable fibre compared to cotton and polyester has a much higher breaking tenacity, better moisture properties and absorption. It is also one of the most eco-friendly raw materials and one of the fastest growing woody plants in the world. One Japanese species has been recorded growing over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in a single day. Bamboo can grow in almost any climate from in cold mountains to hot tropical regions and covers nearly 40 million hectares of the earth’s surface, this high growth rate and the fact that bamboo can grow in such diverse climates makes the bamboo plant a sustainable and versatile resource.

Most of the bamboo used to make bamboo fibre and bamboo clothing is organically grown in China and Japan where historically used as a structural component in corsets, bustles and other types of structural elements used in fashionable women's dresses.

An 1881 bustle design

Thin strips of bamboo were woven together into hats and shoes and one particular design of bamboo hats was associated with rural life, being worn almost universally by farmers and fishermen in order to protect their heads from the sun, today you will find these hats made into beautiful mater pieces.

Today using modern technology bamboo leaves and the soft, inner pith from the hard bamboo trunk are extracted using a steaming process and then mechanically crushed making 100% bamboo yarn or a blend of bamboo and cotton yarn. This process allows the fibre to stay strong and durable and also gives bamboo its silky texture.

This year bamboo jackets have been our customers favourite as the cloths are woven into some of the most unique and beautiful patterns and feel like cashmere to touch, which makes them one of the most light weight and comfortable fabrics to wear but very durable and practical while looking absolutely stunning.

bamboo fabric

Bamboo cloth bunch from Huddersfield Fine Worsteds and Bamboo close up.


June 2015 - Draper award for Souster & Hicks?

souster and hicks review

Could Souster and Hicks be on the verge of a Drapers award? We will find out soon, with the company having been shortlisted for the prestigious award, often described as the 'Oscars of retail clothing'. So watch this space!


January 2015 - Prince of Wales check

prince of Wales

The Prince of Wales check is becoming more and more fashionable we looked into the double breasted suit and pushed this style for a while as it is still an old time favourite and classic. However fashion right now is definitely all about the fabric pattern and colour more than the style, people are looking for a unique cloth that best 'suits' their personality.

Here is one of our bespoke three piece creations in a striking black and white Prince of Wales check with a beautiful royal blue over-check going through the fabric. Inspired by the blue check we added subtle hints of blue throughout the suit with a one button front blue buttonhole, our famous 5 button angle cuff with alternate blue and black buttonholes and one single blue buttonhole on the waistcoat. Then to finish off the peak lapel we added a new handmade half and half design where half the buttonhole is black and the other half is blue.

The wide choice of vibrant and unique colours and patterns available now make a stunning twist on a classic fabric.


December 2014 - History of Harris Tweed

History of Harris Tweed

The Harris Tweed wool cloth is hand woven and spun by islanders in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. It is protected by the Harris Tweed Act of Parliament of 1993 which is the act that strictly outlines the guidelines of how the Harris Tweed wool cloth can be made. The Orb mark of Harris Tweed is issued only after inspection by the Harris Tweed governing body, called the Harris Tweed Authority.

For many years, the islanders, Lewis and Harris, the Benbecula, Barra and the Uists all worked with woven cloth calling it the "big cloth". However, while the other islanders work was done well, the work of Lewis and Harris stood out during the Industrial Revolutionary period. Many of the cloth makers during the Industrial Revolutionary period turned to machines but the islanders retained the traditional method of making the woven cloth by hand. The work of Lewis and Harris with woven cloth was known for its excellence which up until the nineteenth century, was done for the home and the local markets. This handmade woven cloth was ideal for the colder climates of Northern Scotland. The surplus of cloth was often bartered with the islanders paying for rent, food and other necessities with their hand woven wool cloth.

The Origin of the Name Tweed

Originally the name of the cloth was tweel or Scot for twil, representing the fact that the cloth was being woven in a twilled pattern rather than a regular pattern. The name tweed seems to have come about by chance through a merchant who received a letter from a Hawick firm around 1830 requesting tweels. The merchant mistook the name tweel for a river Tweeds that flows through the Scottish border and named the cloth tweeds for the goods. The name tweed has been the same since this time.

The Growth of the Production of Harris Tweed Woven Cloth

In 1836 during the time of the Earl of Dunmore, the production of tweed was still done by hand. The wool was washed in soft water before being colored with different dyes. It was then processed and spun before being hand woven by the crofters in the villages. However, upon the death of the Earl of Dunmore in 1843, his wife, Lady Catherine Herbert realized the marketing potential of the Harris tweed that was being produced in the town of Strond by the local Paisley sisters. She realized that the Paisley sisters Harris tweed was of a higher quality than the tweed being produced by the crofters in the village. After this, many crofters were sent to school to learn how to produce the higher quality Harris Tweed woven cloth that was initially marketed for hunting and sporting wear. Eventually the Harris Tweed woven cloth was worn by the queen and other aristocracy. The Harris Tweed woven cloth continued to grow after this, reaching a peak production figure of 7.6 million yards in 1966.


July 2014 - Eton Shirts

eton yellow shirt

We have been selling Eton shirts for over 30 years and with their attention to detail and quality of the finish they are still today one of the best ready to wear shirts around.

Take this stunning yellow shirt with blue trim from their Red Ribbon summer 2014 collection the shirt consists of 45 different parts and goes through a unique finishing process which requires 40 different production stages, truly fantastic craftsmanship.

Eton's easy care fabrics are made from 100% breathable cotton making them extremely comfortable to wear and their wrinkle free fabrics hold their shape throughout the day so they look as good at the end of the day as they did at the start.


June 2014 - National finalists

geoff

As many of you know we attended the national Red Ribbon Awards on Friday at the Goldsmiths Hall London as finalists for the family business of the year award. We unfortunately didn't win but when we realised we were in for the top category award and who we were up against we felt very proud to be nominated. The winners were The Entertainer a large independent toy company with 90 shops across the UK.

There were over 60 different family businesses up for nomination from local farm companies to the well known Fortnum & Mason and a few famous faces like James Caan from Dragons Den. In total there were 12 different award categories one of which was the New Frontiers Award that Geoff was kindly ask to announce nominations and present the award to the winners Weston Ciders.

awardsawrds

It was a fantastic evening set in the most beautiful hall and we are very proud to have been part of the awards and hope to be nominated again in the future.


June 2014 - More beautiful fabrics

more fabrics

What are we using lately...

With the weather now being a bit warmer we are using the two great bunches from Holland & Sherry, Savile Row.

"Triple Crown"

This collection has been exclusively developed and designed by Holland & Sherry from a bespoke palette of 3-ply twists. The 3 ply twists offer a depth of colour that would not otherwise have been achievable. These fabrics are a genuine Super 120's Merino Wool.

"Crispaire"

Crispaire is a traditional plain weave worsted fabric, constructed from a 2-ply yarn spun to a 36/2nm count. The fabric has a firm, round and crisp handle making ideal for a durable travel suit. Over 100 fabrics are available from these bunches so there's plenty to choose from.


May 2014 - We've been shortlisted for an award!

awards

We are pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted as a finalist for the Red Ribbon family business awards.
The good news was announced in a letter to us:

It is with great pleasure that I can announce you have been chosen as a 'finalist' in the Family Business of the Year category for the national Red Ribbon Awards 2014; the ONLY awards to recognise and celebrate the achievements of British, family-run businesses regardless of turnover or industry.

The awards will be held on 20 June 2014, 6pm – 11pm at Goldsmiths' Hall, London. For more info visit http://www.familybusinessplace.com/

Wish us luck!


Suits you sir? - an update

In 2006 the independent wrote an article about the changing face of Savile Row. It raised questions about the future of the area and how established tailors were facing an uncertain few years. See the original article here.

Shortly after, the world experienced its worst financial crisis in living memory, people batterned down the hatches and many retail outlets closed. But this did not seem to affect the area in the same way as other parts of the UK. So what are the possible reasons?

Ultimately Savile Row is arguably in a better position than it was prior to the financial crisis, with tailors who offer a great product and service thriving.


May 2014 - New cloth bunches

New cloth bunches from Dormeuil of Paris

dormeuil

Just arrived for summer 2014 are two new fabric bunches from Dormeuil of Paris:

"Eclipse" Super 150's and silk suitings - Dormeuil weaves together a 15.8 micron wool worsted warp and silk weft in order to create an intriguing eclipse effect. The fabric has an extraordinary soft and silky handle which is enhanced by the special the special 2/120 compact worsted warp. The lightweight twill construction has a unique fresh appearance, with a subtle lustre in harmony with a soft contrast ground shades which are really only possible with such a mix of wool and silk, expertly woven in England.

"Iconic" Super 120's suiting's - Iconic is first and foremost a tribute to all the Australian fine Merino wool growers, without them Dormeuil would not have existed. Since 1842 Dormeuil has always had a passion for innovation, creativity performance and quality, the will never compromise on quality and Iconic represents all the true values of Dormeuil.

Both of the beautiful fabrics deserve the full bespoke treatment, please call in to view.


February 2014 - Fabric choices

One thing's for sure when visiting us and any other bespoke tailor is the choice on fabric is vast! But what's right for you?? Well that depends on what you need the suit for, should you be wearing the suit commuting on the train and several times a week a soft, lightweight expensive merino wool is not what you need, as nice as these fabrics are to wear they do not stand up to wear as much as a heavier 13/14oz wool which will hold its shape better, last longer and is actually cheaper! A good tailor will not sell you the most expensive fabric available he will sell you what you need.

Micron count

The softer merino wools (usually from Australia) are now graded from Super 100's to super 250's, this relates to the micron count of the wool, a micron is equal to 1 millionth of a meter and is the measurement used to express the diameter of a wool fibre, therefore the higher the number i.e super 250's the finer the fabric, but these fabrics are extremely expensive, hard to tailor and are very high maintenance and it certainly doesn't mean it's the best, as that all depends on what the purpose of wear is for your suit. On top of that many wools are blended with other fabrics such as Mohair (from the hair or an Angorra goat) which gives the overall material other qualities such as a sheen, lustre and crispness to the fabric, Tonik Mohair suits were all the rage in the 60's with the Mod's and is still available now, many wools are blended with silk, cashmere and even Bamboo! So please give us a call or even pop into the shop so we can show you this wonderful selection.


November 2013 - Reasons for using a bespoke tailor

There are several reasons why people choose to use bespoke tailors, it could be that they want the very best, or that they're looking for a particular style or fabric which is not available off the peg. Or it could be a fit issue, pictured is a recent client of ours, as you can see from the side on view this client has an extremely round back.

back

We've been using factories for 30 years to produce a made to measure suit, and as clever as these factory systems are there's absolutely no way a perfect fit can be achieved for this gentleman using them. In this case it has to be bespoke, where a pattern is drafted and several fittings undertaken by an bespoke tailor, also pictured is the draft of the back panel with the clients shape and extra back balance taken into account, this is true bespoke tailoring and is part of the reason why it costs so much more than a made to measure suit, almost 45 hours of manual labour goes into a "proper" fully handmade bespoke suit, so if you see "bespoke suits" being advertised at £300 you should know that these are not the real deal.

September 2013 - Sayings and their relevance to tailoring and fashion

The Full Monty

You have more than likely heard of the menswear shop Burtons, this was founded by Montague Burton in 1903, After World War II Montague Burton offered men the chance to buy a full suit, comprising jacket, trousers, waistcoat, shirt and underwear, which together became known as 'The Full Monty'.

Sixes and Sevens

This is an ancient dispute between the Merchant Taylors' and Skinners' Livery Companies, The two trade associations, founded in the same year, argued over sixth place in the order of precedence. In 1484, after more than a century of bickering, the Lord Mayor of London Sir Robert Billesden decided that at the feast of Corpus Christi the companies would swap between sixth and seventh place and feast in each others' halls. Nowadays they alternate in precedence on an annual basis, in fact Geoff Souster when national president of the Federation of Merchant Taylors attended the 504 annual dinner In 1988!


August 2013 - Is it time for double breasted?

Fashion usually goes round at 20-25 year cycles and it's been that long since the double breasted suit was in fashion, so will it make a return? It has too, and the indications are that there's certainly more of a feel for it, but let's just hope it doesn't go back to that baggy look from the mid to late eighties as you just defeat the art of seeing a bespoke tailor because anyone can make a suit that's too big and doesn't fit, that said the fashion at the moment is for an extremely fitted silhouette but it's far too fitted and more often than not people are wearing clothes a size two sizes too small.

Where else could fashion go?

Maybe really wide lapels and flared trousers.... who knows? One thing's for sure though it will be a look from a previous decade, but as bespoke tailors we don't get heavily involved with high fashion as when you spend the money you would do on our suits you don't want something that's going to look dated in 2-3 years time, so we always design something classic but with a contemporary twist, thrown in with a few of our unique styling details you'll still have a well commented and admired garment. Have a look at our bespoke suits.

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