Fine Craftsmanship

A garment should feel old when new and look new when old. Quality construction enables a more expensive garment to actually cost less in the long run due to its prolonged life expectancy.

Coats

• Floating Canvas
  A lightweight canvas interlining and expert tailoring, creates a coat front that adds lasting shape and body without heaviness or stiffness. A soft wool canvass sewn in between the lining and exterior garment fabric provides support without obstructing the flow or movement of the fabric. This sewing technique is often referred to as a ‘floating chest piece”. It provides shape and comfort to the wearer. Hair cloth beneath the canvass helps the garment to “spring back to shape”. It helps the lapels maintain there gentle, flowing roll because hair cloth will not crease. The hallmark of quality is immediately noticed in the graceful way the coat lapel rolls and in the way the coat front hugs the chest like a second skin.
  Note: Coats of inferior construction do not sew in a canvass, but will fuse or glue a stiffener fabric to the back of the coat fabric to provide support. This method results in a very stiff uncomfortable construction. In the long run this gluing process will break down unlike a sewn in canvass which will last a life time.

• Shoulder, Armholes and Sleeves
  A well set coat armhole determines how comfortable the coat will feel. The coat sleeve must be positioned in the armhole to match the natural angle of the arm to the body. The coat sleeves need to be cut on a graceful curve that mimics the curved line of the arm from the shoulder to wrist. This will ensure that the coat drapes naturally and gracefully.

• Coat Collar
  A properly design coat collar requires precise cutting and tailoring. Constructed of two halves, which allow the cloth to conform more easily to the natural shape of the neck, it will hug the neck and keep the coat from kicking up in front. A one piece collar on the other hand creates tension on the outer edge of the piece as is bent.

• Under-collars
  The best under-collar interlining is made of fine Irish linen. It is “married” to the under-collar cloth, a woven wool flannel (not a pressed “felt”). As a result, the interlining has resilience and body characteristics that are transferred to the coat collar.

• Coat Lining
  Bemberg lining is the fabric of choice. Milled from short cotton fibers, it will not fade or shrink. If a lining shrinks it will “fight” with the designed drape of the garment. Bemberg lining combines the soft, smooth feeling of silk with the easy care and absorbency of cotton.

• Silk Thread
  Silk provides strength, elasticity, and “memory” (it returns to its original length after being stretched) plus reliable color brilliance and fastness. Silk gives seams a soft, thin, and flexible characteristic while holding up to the constant stresses of daily wear, dry cleanings and pressings.

• Buttons
  The most durable buttons are turned from the horns of the water buffalo and mother of pearl shells. Horn buttons are more durable than corozo (shell) buttons. A button from nature offers durability, richness of color, and texture that are unmatched by man-made materials. Horns used are naturally shed, not harvested.

• Hand Sewn Buttonholes
  Buttonholes sewn with long-wear silk thread over a fine twist-free linen gimp produces a durable and soft, yet flexible feel that will not unravel like a machine sewn buttonhole.

• Sleeve Cuffs
  Cotton sleeve wigum should be sewn into the sleeve cuff to help it retain its shape, not fusing (glued stiffener).

Shirts
A properly fitted shirt should not only fit at the neck and sleeve, but also properly fit the persons bone structure (yolk) and body (shirt waist). Only when fine tuned at the cuff (circumference), tail length, collar band height and chest along with the proper collar selection (body type dictates) will the shirt be properly tailored.

Shoes
The human foot is oddly shaped and is constantly morphing into different shapes as the stress of walking is applied. Only by taking the time to craft the uppers will a shoe provide the ultimate in comfort. Shaping the upper requires lots of skill and lots of time. Each upper should be left on its “last” or mold for at least a week before it is removed and sewn to insole and sole of the shoe. This extra time sculpts the shoe and helps it to retain this very precise shape wearing after wearing.

Neckwear
Ties should be finished by hand to ensure the tie drape returns to its natural shape wearing after wearing. A machine stitched tie, on the other hand, will eventually warp the drape of the tie. Tie designs accomplished either by printing the design on to silk fabric or actually woven – with different color silk threads interlocking together to produce the silk fabric and ultimately the exceptional detail found in a woven silk tie.

Trousers
A proper fit entails more than just the waist and length. A correctly tailored trouser should also fit: between the crotch and the waist (pant rise), seat, thigh and width at pant bottom. Custom fitted trousers can also correct for the rotation of the pant crease caused by bow legs. This must be done at the pattern stage before the pant is cut and sewn.