January 25, 2010

well i never...

(chairman of the board with jeans)

The picture above may give you an idea about how comfortable bespoke is. This gentleman is a client of mine who popped in to see me to re-order.

I was a little surprised to see he was wearing his last suit minus the trousers. As you can see he was in jeans and casual shoes. Wearing a classic grey worsted coat and waistcoat with jeans is something I'd never of considered. But I had to admit I thought he looked extremely comfortable and relaxed, yet very stylish.

Worked well I thought. What do you think?

Posted by tom at 3:55 PM | Comments (1)

January 13, 2010

little spitfires.....

(Lucky me and my brilliant instructor)

I thought I should write a quick note to explain something which has been confusing some of my clients recently. You see every time we send out a new suit or jacket we pack it with a compliments slip. This of course is pretty normal. However, on the corner of the compliment slip we pin a little pewter Spitfire.

(one of our compliment slips)

As our clients will know this is our company logo. The main reason is as I said earlier. I have had the very good fortune to take the controls of this beautiful war bird a while ago and got to fly her one sunny afternoon. This is thanks to the help of a very good friend who realised my love of this beautiful aircraft.

As a little thank you to the bravery of the pilots and all of the Royal Air Force we like to support their memorial fund. This we do by purchasing these lovely Spitfire lapel badges. We don't expect you to wear them but if they make you pause for a moment of appreciation then that will be enough.

Posted by tom at 3:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2010

irreplaceable.....

(Ron and Pat on one of our English Cut parties)

I would like to wish all of our readers our very best wishes for the new year. Sadly the start of 2010 has been marked with the loss of a very dear friend and colleague, Mr Ron Hardy.

Ron has been working for Edwin and I for the last thirteen years. He has been in the tailoring trade all of his life and sadly passed away at the untimely age of only 67. Until last summer Ron was working full time as hard as ever. Apart from the huge loss to his partner, Pat and their family. His amazing skill and patients will be a great loss to our trade.

(An example of Ron's work)

Ron has made for many clients who have recognised his wonderful skill in making their clothes over the years. Recently you may remember the beautiful overcoats that Ron made for some of my clients. I hope our friends who were fortunate enough to own some of these pieces will treasure these truly rare and outstanding garments. These of course were only a tiny example of Ron's huge contribution to this very special trade.

One look at at some of our friends work confirms the outstanding beautiful skill that so much reflects the man. Ron's calmness and unflappable patience has helped not only myself but everyone who was fortunate enough to know Ron.

We have all lost a wonderfully kind and witty man who will be extremely missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this sad time.

Posted by tom at 7:46 PM | Comments (2)

December 31, 2009

see you next year....

As you can probably gather my pile of work has kept me pretty quiet. It's been a very busy but enjoyable year for us all here at English Cut.

As this was my first Christmas as a married man. I had to prove myself with the festive roast for our family and friends whom we'd invited to our snow covered home. I must admit that cooking a 20lb turkey in our Aga for 13hrs was pretty nerve wracking. However, as I was told, all was well and I relaxed in the knowledge that I'd performed my Christmas duties.

(the local scenery)

I'm very much looking forward to next year and I hope to make some interesting additions to English Cut which I hope you'll enjoy. I know some of our readers have already arrived into 2010 but before we nip down to our local for the evening. I'd like to wish a you all a very happy and prosperous 2010.

Thank you all again for your wonderful support and all your very kind wishes to both Claire and I. Until next year, best wishes to you all.

Posted by tom at 7:13 PM | Comments (1)

November 30, 2009

the flood....

(this will keep me quiet)

The winter sun has finally returned to poor old rain battered Cumbria. My lovely county has had a pretty awful couple of weeks with rain and floods. When I returned from the United States I had to meet clients in London and hardly seemed to have caught my breath since I left home. We had a super trip, all went well and we've been blessed with plenty of work to keep me quiet on these dark winter nights. It's going to take me the next few weeks simply re-cutting the work that I tried on whilst on my trip. It takes longer than you'd think to check my notes re-cut the clothes and check every pattern. Cloth is like fluid but if you're diligent with it you can eventually get it to work your way.

I know some of my clients may gasp with worry when they see this apparently random pile but worry not. These clothes are far stronger than you think and believe it or not I do have an order to this collection of sartorial commissions.

Left alone I'll slowly but surely get through this and enjoy every minute of it. I really don't think I'd care to be working full time in London any more. To try to concentrate with all sorts of distraction just wouldn't work for me. Of course the fellows on the Row manage fine and like everything in life, what must be done, will be done. I'm glad to be in our little tailoring haven here in the quiet north.

(spots before your eyes)

I thought you may like this picture. Paul is making a fitting for a local client here at the Hall. As you know we match the checks and stripes on our jettings. This we also do even on plainer fabrics as we are here with this birdseye. It's totally unnecessary and matching those dots isn't easy, that's all Paul will see when he's trying to sleep tonight.

(even with the darts it looks lovely)

I know this extra effort will be scoffed at by the words finest tailors but to Paul and all of us here it matters. I suppose that's why we are English Cut.

Posted by tom at 5:29 PM | Comments (1)

November 2, 2009

back in the USA....

(wouldn't like to get the fit of his suit wrong)

Our first stop in Chicago went very well and now we’re on route to San Francisco as part of our Autumn USA visit.

Business was brisk and the diary’s looking good, so God willing we should have a good trip. This was my first experience of Halloween in the USA and I’ll doubt I’ll forget it. Certainly, if Chicago’s anything to go by, Halloween is quite a party. I thought I’d time travelled to the 31st of December.

(all new to me)

It’s always nice to experience something new. And even more comforting to discover our friends this side of the pond don’t need an excuse for a party. What a very civilized nation.

Lucy and I will get down to business over here and as usual time will fly and we’ll soon be back home.

If anyone would care to meet up with myself or Lucy please let Jenni know at and she’ll do her best to help.

Posted by tom at 4:25 AM | Comments (0)