New Limited Editions
Spring '09 Collection
Socks Have Arrived! |
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Greetings!
This issue marks a first for us. So many of
you wrote asking that we expand our Caveat
Emptor series to include other areas of
clothing. Suits are first. In that regard, we are
pleased to introduce
one of the finest bespoke tailors,
Jon Green, who will be making regular guest
appearances whenever I can drag him out of
the fitting room. I think you'll enjoy ... I
know you'll learn!
Of Note: Zimmerli has released
a wonderful
new color in the revolutionary Pureness
MicroModal. The Heather Grey is simply
stunning. Unlike the strong lustre of the
white or black, the heather grey is a soft
matte finish. Joelle thinks it is the best
color Zimmerli has ever made. I agree! Of course,
supplies are quite limited as always with
new Zimmerli items.
Deadline: Thanks to all
who have
helped us make room for the new Spring
Arrivals. If you missed anything, don't
forget that our Annual
Spring Clearance Sale
ends this week.
In Response: Due to the number
of requests, we have now
made all the Sartorial Excellence News
Caveat Emptor articles
available on our web site. Click here.
Best regards,
Alexander Kabbaz
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Caveat Emptor
. . . An Ongoing Series:
Suit Quality:Busting Myths |
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Editor's Note: Jon Green (better known
as The Maestro as ordained by
Departures Magazine in an article
about the finest men's tailoring) is not just
my friend but also my tailor. In contrast to
most of the old-world tailoring school who
tend to stay rooted to their benches, Jon has
an insatiable appetite for knowing all about
the upper echelons of fine clothing. In this
pursuit, he has spent countless hours going
from shop to shop both here and on the
Continent checking the construction and
styling attributes ... and detriments ... of
virtually every well-known "upscale" brand of
tailored clothing.
Green started young. While still a high
school student in his former state of Texas,
he talked his way into an after-school job in
the finest men's store in the state. His
interest piqued, Jon moved rapidly up the
ladder where he became supervisor of the
store's entire tailoring department until he
left to attend Juilliard. Jon's interest in
clothing never waned. About 20 years ago, he
walked into my Madison Avenue shop and we got
to chatting. When he left, it was with an
agreement in hand to share my showroom as our
resident tailor.
Though I had my fill of Madison Avenue about
ten years later and moved out here to the
"sticks" of East Hampton, Jon has remained
and risen to the top of the miniscule group
of New York tailoring firms largely regarded
as among the finest in the world. In sum, who
else would I possibly call upon for their
expertise when we decided to expand
Sartorial Excellence News beyond our
fields of bespoke shirtmaking and luxury
furnishings? It is with pleasure that we
present this first in a series of tailored
clothing articles by The Maestro, Jon Green.
Caveat
Emptor . . .
Part VII:
Suit Quality . . . Busting the
Myths!
by Jon
A. Green
Master Shirtmaker Alexander Kabbaz and I have
known each other for almost 20 years. During
that time we have worked together, laughed at
each other, agreed and at times disagreed,
but we have always shared the same commitment
in what we do:
To create Bespoke clothing that reflects the
taste of our clients and is the best that can
be created. We understand that the value of
what each of us makes is measured not by
price, but by its ability to function
successfully and fulfill the needs of its
wearer. A truly great hand tailored garment
is a valuable asset as well as a beautiful
work of art.
In recent years, the words "bespoke" and
"custom made" have become the improperly used
catchphrases of mass market advertising and
public relations. Today's marketplace
promises us more but actually gives us less.
Often, "Bespoke" is used inaccurately to
describe any garment which has been made for
an individual, regardless of quality. The
variety of terms widely used to describe the
various levels of made-to-order tailored
clothing include:
- Bespoke
- Bench
- Custom
- Made-to Measure
What is
"Bespoke"?
Nomenclature often overlaps or conflicts
depending on the country or the culture and
lead to confusion ... a confusion which
serves to benefit only the upscale mass
marketers.
From olde English, the word "Bespoke" is used
to convey ownership and literally means "it
is spoken for". Moreover, in the accurate
lexicon of traditional usage, it is much more
than that. The term Bespoke identifies a
garment made to a specific standard of
excellence that requires the drafting of
an individual paper pattern and hand cutting
of the cloth by the pattern maker who, in
certain countries, is usually referred to as
the "cutter". It results from the highest
quality level of hand work by a single master
coat (suit jacket) maker, an expert pant
maker, the waistcoat maker, and, if
applicable, a topcoat maker.
Proper use of the term Bespoke implies the
generativity of the process of creating
Bespoke clothing because we think of the
clothing we make as being "spoken" into
existence. In other words, it is literally
created by the speaking of it by the
client and the listening of his maker.
Without that ... bespoke clothing cannot exist.
Everthing built to last starts with a good
foundation. The superiority of Bespoke suit
and coat construction begins with the
building of the canvas. This is the
foundation, or infrastructure, of a jacket or
coat. The importance of the canvas in
tailored clothing is paramount. It is the
three-dimensional form over which the entire
jacket is constructed. The pockets, lining,
lapels, facings, collar, shoulder pads and
sleeves are all attached to this structure
called the canvas. A properly constructed
canvas makes it possible for the jacket to
function effectively, but because the canvas
cannot be seen it is often not understood.
Proper Bespoke jacket fronts are built on a
canvas contructed of varying combinations of
linen, cotton, and wool, depending on the
desired result. These, after soaking in water
over night to shrink and hanging to dry
naturally, are hand pressed, individually
hand cut, darted, and shaped to fit the shape
of the specific client.
The chest piece, a separate part attached to
the canvas and shaped with darts by a
master's hands, creates the
three-dimensionally shaped jacket front for
which Bespoke jackets are known. It is then
attached to the canvas with hundreds of
carefully placed hand stitches and "worked"
(formed) with a 14 pound tailors' iron to
permanently keep its shape. The chest piece
is finally covered with light weight cotton
felt on the body-side so the wearer cannot
feel it when the jacket is worn.
A softer jacket front, if desired, can be
made by omitting the chest piece and using
only a properly shaped canvas.
Keys to
Quality Construction
There are three ways to construct a jacket front:
- Properly: A completely hand made
canvas as described above
- Quickly: A machine made canvas
with machine padded or hand padded fronts
- Cheaply: Fusing (hot-gluing) a
knit interlining fabric - often polyester -
directly to the cloth
Hand-made Canvas
A hand made canvas has no peer. It is found
only in the finest and most expensive Bespoke
jackets and coats.
A handmade canvas gives shape to the chest
and roll to the lapels which are permanent.
Proper dry cleaning will not damage this
construction. It requires approximately 12
hours to make. The attributes include: most
beautiful, best fit, greatest comfort,
smoothest appearance, most durable
construction, and, by far, the greatest value.
Machine-made canvas
A machine made canvas is found in virtually
all canvas-front factory suits. This canvas
is assembled of flat parts which are stacked
like a sandwich and sewn together in
ready-made stock sizes by independent
contractors. Machine canvasses are trimmed by
the suit manufacturer to fit the dimensions
of the jacket to be made. If a size 42 canvas
is not available, a larger size is trimmed
and substituted to keep the assembly line
moving. This machine made canvas is then
attached to the front of the coat fabric
either by machine stitching, i.e., padding,
or in rare cases, by hand. Jackets with
machine made canvases eventually will have
flat fronts with lapels that collapse in a
concave shape on the wearer's chest. Lapel
edges will stand away from the jacket fronts
instead of properly rolling back to the chest
of the jacket. Installing a machine canvas
requires approximately 10-15 minutes for
machine-padding or 2 hours for hand padding.
Benefits for you: a canvas front coat, even
machine made, is more durable, more
comfortable, better looking, and of higher
quality than a fused front.
Fused jacket front
A fused front is used by most designers from
the U. S., Canada, Italy, Asia, and Eastern
Europe. A hot press and glue are used to
attach an interlining fabric - often of
polyester double knit - to the coat front.
Constructing this type of cheap jacket front
consumes approximately 1 minute of labor.
Benefit for you: sometimes less expensive.
Virtually all factory-made clothing is
constructed on an assembly line, not by
tailors, but by operators who have been
trained to perform one operation in the
construction of a suit. A supervising tailor
spot checks for quality control. All of this
clothing is made with the aforementioned
ready-made stock size canvas, or fusing,
regardless of price.
Where Do The
"Name" Brands Stand?
For your caveat emptor
edification, here is a partial list of the
"better" designers manufacturing techniques:
Clothing with a Machine-Made, Stock-Size
Canvas with Hand Padded Fronts:
Brioni, Oxxford, and, in days of yore which
are no more, Kiton
Clothing with a Machine-Made, Stock-Size
canvas with Machine Padded Fronts:
Armani Black Label, Kiton, Polo Purple and
Black Label, Hickey Freeman, Ferragamo,
Brooks Brothers, Canali, Zegna, Tom Ford, and
most "custom" tailors who use CMT factories
to make their "custom" clothing. (CMT
factories are impersonal outsource assembly
line sewing operations, some here and some in
Asia, which Cut, Make, and Trim thousands of
tailored garments for many, many different
stores)
Clothing with Fused Fronts:
Armani White Label, Calvin Klein, Joseph
Abboud, Donna Karen, Burberry, Chaps,
Southwick, Prada, Gucci, Polo Blue Label, Boss
As you can see, there is little-to-nothing
available from the mass-marketers which is
still made using the time-honored traditional
techniques. Should the best quality be what
you truly desire, bespoke tailoring has
become your sole option. For satisfaction,
comfort, and value, the process of creating
beautiful clothing remains the same:
One master tailor ... making
one masterful garment ... one at a time.
Ed's. Note: Jon Green can be reached
at Jon
Green New York.
In future
Caveat Emptor Articles
- The most important questions to ask when
interviewing a new tailor
- How to dress in this new economy
- How to get the clothes from a store which
are the best for you
- The impact of personal appearance on
presentation
- Traditional vs. Contemporary Suit
Styling
- Basic fitting parameters for Suit
Jackets
- Basic fitting parameters for Trousers
- Considerations when selecting various
weights and weaves of woolens
- The differences in the patterns of a true
bespoke suit and a made-to-measure suit
- Why is craftsmanship thriving in our
high-tech era?
- Developing a personal style: pulling it
together
- The intangibles of dressing well
- The elements of a well made suit
- The care of fine clothing
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A Quick Look:
Circo Stripe ... Six Months Atop the Sock Charts! |
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Marcoliani's Incomparable Circo Stripe
in Extrafine Merino is just walking out the
door! Both for Men and Women, Circo (seer-ko)
is a combination of sophisticated style and
unbelievable comfort. So much so that we've
convinced Marcoliani to make them for us
again! Get yours while they last.
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Copyright © 2009
CustomShirt1.com div.Kabbaz-Kelly & Sons.
All rights reserved.
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