Agreeable Menswear Post Of The Day

[Scherensammler]

The problem the Row has, is that the cost of the rent means that they should really be a luxury department store style business and not a niche men's tailors or outfitters.

G&H, A&S, Huntsman and possibly a few others make most of their money with their RTW offerings.
Huntsman spends millions a year on their bespoke side, I doubt they get that back in with tailoring alone. From what I've heard lately they are now trying to become a lifestyle/ fashion brand.

Some have been bought by rich benefactors who want the cache of owning a slice of British history

More like buying a well known brand name as well. Most copyright laws don't apply in China and some "clever" locals have registered British tailoring houses' names as their trademark, which barrs the original ones from dealing under their name in China.
Crompton generates quite some traffic for his customers and especially those who sell RTW items or accessories do benefit from it. The bespoke side probably not so much when the price tag tends to be enormous. At least that happened when he promoted Sexton.

 

[Great White Snark]

The ban hammer, all the elite members, olololol... Ymmv.
Go figure...
Nvm...the world keeps on moving

Interesting.
I like to come in here as a counterpoint to the sometimes ridiculous pomposity of SF but the clicqueyness of this place and the ridiculous idioms that have evolved is hardly conducive to encouraging new membership. That’s a big fail on the part of the ownership / management in allowing that, if we assume that the intent was to increase membership and not just have another Fedora Lounge type internet clicque of a handful of like minded members. Which is what this place has become, mores the pity.

 

[walker]

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[Untermensch]

Of course he has, I wouldn't deny that. What I meant was more that the final shape is usually very similar with little variation.

How right you are, my dear boy. Want to know why? Because, Crompton's disquisitions notwithstanding, the human body has the same shape in Savile Row, Naples, Milan and everywhere else. Most of the style differences that bloggers go on about are just figments of their imagination.

Oh, and Crompton has ZERO sense of humour. ZERO. If you're going to declare yourself an Arbiter Elegantiae, at least have some fucking self-deprecation. A MittelGerman (Roetzel) and a Lutheran Dane (Henrik Hjerl) could give British Crompers a masterclass in how to do it. Just fancy that.

 

[walker]

error

 

[doghouse]

Interesting.
I like to come in here as a counterpoint to the sometimes ridiculous pomposity of SF but the clicqueyness of this place and the ridiculous idioms that have evolved is hardly conducive to encouraging new membership. That’s a big fail on the part of the ownership / management in allowing that, if we assume that the intent was to increase membership and not just have another Fedora Lounge type internet clicque of a handful of like minded members. Which is what this place has become, mores the pity.

Who's the clique?

 

[The Shooman]

How right you are, my dear boy. Want to know why? Because, Crompton's disquisitions notwithstanding, the human body has the same shape in Savile Row, Naples, Milan and everywhere else. Most of the style differences that bloggers go on about are just figments of their imagination.

You would think that some of these tailoring houses would want to pad his shoulders and make him look good, but Crompton probably refuses to let them do it. He has all these suits and could look fantastic, but he seems to be his own worst enemy. One day he may look back with much regret. He is a left brained journalist...all logic and no artistry running through his veins IMO. Some people are like that, they have all the opportunities or money but waste it due to having no idea what looks good on them.

This SR situation is pretty sad. Who'd want to become a tailor under those circumstances. My tailor is the same, he sells off the rack and MTM to supplement his income because he tells me most people don't want to pay the money for bespoke. When it comes to paying really big bucks, few want to do it when it comes to clothes. These places obviously travel for this reason. Heck, even the lower priced WW Chan needs to travel to get business,so this tells me that people are really cheap when it comes to clothes, especially when it comes to buying clothes without a big designer label attached to it. Humans don't really understand clothes well, they just understand marketing.

 

[formby]

Who's the clique?

Where is this clique...?

And, more to the point.

WHY. AM. I. NOT. F**KING. IN. IT...!!!!

 

[Untermensch]

You would think that some of these tailoring houses would want to pad his shoulders and make him look good, but Crompton probably refuses to let them do it. He has all these suits and could look fantastic, but he seems to be his own worst enemy. One day he may look back with much regret. He is a left brained journalist...all logic and no artistry running through his veins IMO. Some people are like that, they have all the opportunities or money but waste it due to having no idea what looks good on them.

This SR situation is pretty sad. Who'd want to become a tailor under those circumstances. My tailor is the same, he sells off the rack and MTM to supplement his income because he tells me most people don't want to pay the money for bespoke. When it comes to paying really big bucks, few want to do it when it comes to clothes. These places obviously travel for this reason. Heck, even the lower priced WW Chan needs to travel to get business,so this tells me that people are really cheap when it comes to clothes, especially when it comes to buying clothes without a big designer label attached to it. Humans don't really understand clothes well, they just understand marketing.

I've been trying to spell this out to Crompers on his own blog, but he is invariably dismissive of anything except fawning praise. The question of price and profits is not some side issue. It is at the centre of this whole sartorial bespoke what have you. If Crompers is a journalist, then I'm a banana. He doesn't do journalism. He just does salesmanship. A journalist would tackle the real issues.

Out of the price you pay for a bespoke suit, how much goes into paying inflated London rents (i.e. into the pockets of the Duke of Westminster, as far as Savile Row is concerned)? How much to the suppliers (the price of wool has gone up, but not tenfold)? How much to the apprentices doing the actualy sewing (very little)? How much to the cutters (and is it justified?) And how much to the owners, whether it be some Chinese/Hong Kong conglomerate, Gulf financiers, or celebrity tailors?

Then they have the nerve to look down at the middle-income masses who buy badly-fitting RTW.

 

[Scherensammler]

Compared to what you pay for a watch, the price for a bespoke suit is relatively low.
AFAIK, London tailors (not cutters) get around 3000,-GBP a month at the high end houses, apprentices get less. Not really tons of money when you live in the Greater London area. Cutters might earn a bit more.
The head cutter at Huntsman allegedly earns 100k a year. That's a lot of suits to cut and sell. SR relies heavily on foreign customers and has done so for a long time. I think it was John Hitchcock who said in a SR documentary that without their American customers the firm would not have survived.
For the not so well off there are a few other bespoke options within London.
British tailoring hasn't changed much over the past 100 years when it comes to style/ silhouette or general make. All firms do pretty much the same things with in certain cases minor variations.
Not that things are different with Italian tailors, but I think they benefit from the fact that there is still a menswear industry in Italy that knows how to market their products well. Don't think there is anything equivalent in the rest of Europe.

 

[Lobbster]

He obviously doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him. Asking these questions or being too inquisitive on SR would probabaly put him out of business tomorrow. For one it would be enough if he was clear about the arrangements he has with tailors. And please don't forget his little clothing business. He easily triples his money there.

Also, how can you compare watches to suits? Compared to my mechanic's hourly rate my tailor is also dirt cheap, so where's the point? Both the watchmaker and the mechanic need loads of specialized machinery and tools that don't come for free. A dealers overhead will be far higher than a tailor's.

 

[Untermensch]

He obviously doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him. Asking these questions or being too inquisitive on SR would probabaly put him out of business tomorrow. For one it would be enough if he was clear about the arrangements he has with tailors. And please don't forget his little clothing business. He easily triples his money there.

Also, how can you compare watches to suits? Compared to my mechanic's hourly rate my tailor is also dirt cheap, so where's the point? Both the watchmaker and the mechanic need loads of specialized machinery and tools that don't come for free. A dealers overhead will be far higher than a tailor's.

Sucking up to tailors is bad enough. It gets positively nauseating when Crompers gushes over RTW items. All shockingly overpriced bog-standard clothes, with nothing to justify the exorbitant price tag. $365 for a roll-neck sweater MADE IN MEXICO?! I mean really.

We've left Annoying Twat. We're in Stupid Cunt territory now.

 

[Lobbster]

Another example today. Crompton intruducing the uber-exclusive PS Bridge Coat developed after months of brainstorming and perfectioning it. Yours for just 850£. Funnily it looks just like RTW version of the pea coat made for him by Gieves & Hawkes. Probably a "Crompton exklusive".

 

[Kingstonian]

Not just any Bridge Coat a ‘PS’ Bridge Coat.

I enjoy all the agonising over detail and the ‘I saw you coming’ pricetag.

Usually has loads more comments though. Perhaps he has not got round to writing them all yet?

 

[Lobbster]

I wonder how much he makes from his little exclusive endeavours. At 50 pieces for 708£ excluding VAT that's a tidy little sum, even if he only receives half of it.

 

[Kingstonian]

Enough for him to pack in his other job.

 

[Untermensch]

"And it has been great working on this, the PS Bridge Coat, with Private White VC over the past eight months."

Worked on. So he's a tailor - pardon me - a cutter now?

Any old fool can develop clothes. After all, we all wear some.

 

[Lobbster]

Jack of all trades, master of none.

 

[Pauly Chase]

 

[Untermensch]

View attachment 31045

Very Milanese, that piumino over the suit, plus designer beard, but not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

 

[Kingstonian]

‘Piumino’ is a nice word. However, it is still granma’s dressing gown material, even if this one is not pink.

Being light weight or being worn by the horsey set still does not take the curse off it. Saltwater New England woman may disagree.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

‘Piumino’ is a nice word. However, it is still granma’s dressing gown material, even if this one is not pink.

Being light weight or being worn by the horsey set still does not take the curse off it. Saltwater New England woman may disagree.

The Italians love it, as do Brit estate agents.

 

[Untermensch]

‘Piumino’ is a nice word. However, it is still granma’s dressing gown material, even if this one is not pink.

Being light weight or being worn by the horsey set still does not take the curse off it. Saltwater New England woman may disagree.

The Continentals have their little quirks. Let us humour them. They might leave us alone.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

The Continentals have their little quirks. Let us humour them. They might leave us alone.

 

[The Shooman]

While the suit isn't quite right, Simon's suit is one of the best l have seen from him here. Graham Browne bespoke. Those shoulders are fantastic...plenty of padding, the way it should be for a man with his shoulder slope.


As an aside....I still wonder why those SR tailors want to make him a suit. He is not a good advertisement for them, especially when they don't build up his shoulders.

 

[The Shooman]

btw, Simon has used at least 37 tailors. He is very fortunate to have had experience with them all.

A good coat by Huntsman:


Not such a flattering suit from Poole:

 

[Untermensch]

Crompers insists on having turn-ups on all his trousers, which ruins many of them.

 

[Dropbear]

Well he sure isn’t Most Agreeable Parent Thread winner

 

[formby]

Humans are not mannequins.

 

[Great White Snark]

While the suit isn't quite right, Simon's suit is one of the best l have seen from him here. Graham Browne bespoke. Those shoulders are fantastic...plenty of padding, the way it should be for a man with his shoulder slope.
View attachment 31174

As an aside....I still wonder why those SR tailors want to make him a suit. He is not a good advertisement for them, especially when they don't build up his shoulders.

Shoulders look uncharacteristically good on that suit. I don’t like the high waist and flared skirts of the jacket.

That Huntsman horse blanket thing is atrocious.

 

[The Shooman]

That Huntsman horse blanket thing is atrocious.

Yes, but a much better cut for him.

 

[yeahokaywhatever]

Crompers insists on having turn-ups on all his trousers, which ruins many of them.

When should a pair of trousers have turn-ups?

 

[Untermensch]

When should a pair of trousers have turn-ups?

The short answer is: when it's not formal or city wear. So turn-ups are fine (indeed, almost mandatory) on tweeds, casual trousers, anything country. The fabric is a good rule of thumb.

The longer answer is: when it doesn't ruin the cut of the trousers. Crompers has his trousers cut wide at the thigh and very narrow at the hem. With turn-ups, that contrast is accentuated, and the whole thing looks like Princess Jasmine from Disney.

The Italians like to put turn-ups on everything. Crompers just laps up Italian style, so that might explain it.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

The Italians like to put turn-ups on everything. Crompers just laps up Italian style, so that might explain it.

Some Italians, the state of dressing in Italy is pretty much the same as everywhere. 'Tis the season of black bubble winter coats after all.

 

[Untermensch]

Some Italians, the state of dressing in Italy is pretty much the same as everywhere. 'Tis the season of black bubble winter coats after all.

Ah, the Milanese piumino.

What you say about Italians is true. The iGents love their turn-ups though. Come to think of it, very few iGents are inspired by the English aesthetic. It's all very Continental.

 

[Lumpen]

I am reporting all craptom related threads and asking full ban for the posters

Anywhere

Anytime!

 

[Rambo]

I am reporting all craptom related threads and asking full ban for the posters

Anywhere

Anytime!

no you're not you fucker.

 

[Lumpen]

no you're not you fucker.

You have been reported

 

[formby]

...a self-ban is in order...!!!!

 

[Dropbear]

So it’s not anything breathtaking, but I dig the green tweed and striped oxford. Also, I grew-up with my grandmother’s mantra: ‘blue and green should never be seen (together)’. I’m appreciating breaking said ‘rule’ in my old age.