December 18, 2008

christmas home run.....

(the hall covered in snow)

How quickly this time of year seems to be upon us again. Dare I say it but we do seem to have had a very busy year, despite the obvious circumstances. I’ve no idea how we’ll fair in the next twelve months but time will surely tell.

The picture below shows what I think can sum up bespoke clothing. Paul’s made a lovely job for one of our clients and very good friend of English Cut. What we like to pride ourselves about our little company is that we have nothing to hide. If you want to come and visit us and meet who’ll be making your clothes, you can. If you want to watch me cut your pattern from scratch then feel free. I recently even got one customer to cut part of his suit under my very watchful eye. This of course added a little more interest to his bespoke order, something he’ll dine out on for years no doubt.

(nice lining)

As I said the chap who will be the proud owner of this suit has now become very good friends with Paul and even telephones him directly in his workshop to encourage him to magic his job to the "top of the pile” Although we try to let our clothes do the talking by their silhouette and comfort of wear, we’re not adverse to a little decoration. This fellow telephoned Paul and asked if he could do a little something different inside the jacket. Quite simply this was done just for fun and probably to give me a shock. As you can see he’s done a lovely job of finely piping the lining in cream and also contrasting the inner pocket linings.

Ok it wont make it fit, look or feel any better but my client certainly knows it was made for one person in mind. Now don’t get any ideas we don’t do this for everyone or hand out mobile telephone numbers of coat and trouser makers. However, it’s nice to know that we can. Especially when so many customers of tailors are kept in the dark about who is actually behind their commission.

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(Peter's handywork)

I’ve just returned from London after interviewing a young person who we’re going to take on as an apprentice trouser maker in January. I’ve been unable to lure my trouser maker from London to Cumbria who’s decided to retire in a few years in the sunny climate of Tenerife. He’s promised to teach an apprentice for me before he goes off to a life of sangria by the pool. It’ll be strange to pay someone a salary for the next few years without even seeing them but if they turn out half as good as Peter in a few years then the investment will be well worth it.

You may remember my last apprentice, Christopher. Sadly things didn't work out even though Chris is a super hard working you man who gave it his best. He’s moved on but still manages to visit regularly, especially for our little parties. Cutting is a strange art that does not rely on the usual hard work and intelligence. On the contrary anyone who’s met me will know that being bright isn’t the obvious trait of a cutter. Quite simply you have to have a sixth sense of shape and form and also a dedicated love of its many moods. Something which I wont deny has been exciting me for the last 25 years. The 21st of November 1983 was the date I started with Redmaynes and although I was more concerned with chasing birds (teenage English slang for girls) and downing as much bitter (English ale) as possible until my wages were spent. I knew I’d stumbled into something that was going to give me a lot of pleasure. We can’t forget the pain of course which goes without saying. Is it any wonder I’m looking tired! This ramble down memory lane was me trying to get to the point that I'm also working with a young man who’s looking very promising. Outside of work I’m sure he’s more concerned with playstations and alcopops but I see good signs. So maybe in half a dozen years or so I’ll be able to join my trouser maker and we can all be drinking sangria by the pool.

(taking its toll)

We’ll lets thank God were taking people on instead of laying them off.

From myself and all of us here at English Cut may we wish you all a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Talk to you soon :)

Posted by tom at 4:17 PM | Comments (2)

November 13, 2008

not so dark days before christmas....

( Lee, his wife Andrea and their son Lewis. This was a couple of months ago, promise no more brushes)

Home safe and sound. Well with all the doom and gloom around I'm pleased to say that the angels of tailoring are still keeping us busy. I wont talk about it too much, instead I'll just keep my head down and get on with things.

I am sorry that I've not been posting much recently, I do promise to try harder. It's not as if we don't have anything to tell you about, in fact it's the opposite, there's been an awful lot going on. At last we're moving into our new workshop in the stables. I'm also delighted that we've recruited a super new tailor. "Lee Oxley" who was completely trained under Don Gibbs, one of the "old school" of Anderson & Sheppard tailors where he trained and worked for the last seven years. He makes a lovely soft coat and will make a wonderful addition to our little company.

To have two young Andersons trained tailors to make our work lets us really concentrate on keeping our clothes made as true as the way I was taught by Mr Hallbery and the other originals of Anderson & Sheppard.

On the whole all of the top tailors seem to be doing well, yes it's a little quieter but hardly a catastrophe the media would have us believe. This may be the secret in that people who are attracted to real bespoke tailoring generally do their research thoroughly. Therefore the same people don't panic when they read the papers or hear the news that another bank is teetering on the brink.

As they say " I'm sure we'll make ends meet" :)

(not bad is it?)

It's always nice to see completed work. You'll recognise this style from a while ago. We made this in a lovely rich brown tweed from Scabal and its new owner can't wait to wear it this winter.

They're a headache to cut and make but I'm sure you'll agree they're worth it.

Posted by tom at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)