Friday, 30 September 2011

Consider Having Something Professionally Made for a Special Event


Special events, like weddings or formal occasions, require an outfit that is a bit special and it may be that a search of the shops has revealed nothing that quite fits the bill.

It may be a better alternative to have something custom-made using a professional dressmaking service.

To get the best out of the experience it is important to give the dressmaker sufficient time to do their job properly and to be prepared for an initial consultation and several fittings. Many get booked up well in advance, particularly if they do a lot of bridal wear.

While using a professional dressmaker is more expensive than buying ready to wear, it is important to have a maximum budget in mind and to be honest about it.  This will give the dressmaker the information they need to advise properly about what can be achieved within the limit and ensure there are no misunderstandings later.

It is likely that the dressmaker will ask for a deposit before beginning work and this is something to be prepared for.

Allow plenty of time – at least an hour – for the first consultation.  This is not a situation for making a hasty decision. If you have any ideas of styles and colours that you like it is worth taking pictures to the first meeting, but not to buy any fabric, not only because the dressmaker may be able to source the right material and colour more affordably but also because they are experienced and will be able to advise on the best type of fabric to use to achieve the look that is wanted. However, taking fabric swatches is fine as it will add to the information the dressmaker needs and they will be able to advise whether a particular textile will work for the design or not.

In the absence of any clear idea of what the client wants the dressmaker will be able to show them pattern books from which to build a picture of the eventual outfit. To get more guidance from experts check the following Dressmaking.


Advice on underwear, support and accessories is part of the services offered by a professional dressmaking service. Also if the client has been trying to lose weight they should be at their ideal weight at the time of the first fitting.  Major changes to measurements throughout the process will add to both fitting time and the cost of subsequent alterations to the outfit.

Once the basics of the outfit’s style and material are established it is important for the dressmaker to be able to carry out fittings properly that client turn up with the shoes they plan to wear and wearing the underwear that will be appropriate to the garment.

Having a special outfit made is the collaboration between client and professional expertise of the dressmaker and the guidance above will help make it a positive experience for all involved. Our previous blog will help you to know about the Importance of well Tailoring clothes for making the right impression.

Thursday, 22 September 2011

How Important is Wearing a Suit in the 21st Century


It is often said that dress rules have become more relaxed and casual, especially since the advent of dress down days at work and the widespread opinion that results matter more than appearance, but is this really true for men?

Wearing a suit for formal occasions, interviews and in certain types of profession is still the convention for a number of good reasons.

Clothes have a transformational power not only for the wearer but also for the observer. Wearing a well-cut, stylish suit can give a man confidence when it is necessary.

It is also believed that dressing professionally improves self discipline and this is true not only of those in the military. A suit suggests planning, forethought and being prepared but also sends out the message that the wearer has considered the situation important enough to take some trouble with his appearance.

Seeing a man in a suit also works psychologically on the observer.  It suggests professionalism, someone to be trusted and in whose judgement one can have confidence. It is not surprising, therefore, that a suit is generally the choice for those in the legal and business professions where trust is an issue. It is generally said that people form their impression of someone they are meeting for the first time within the first three seconds.

However, the style of the suit also matters. It is probably best to avoid the extremes of fashion in the more conventional professions, so the current trend for skinny leg trousers and tight fitting jackets that only just button is probably not a wise look for those ambitious for success in their careers in these environments.

Choosing a well-cut suit need not depend on buying a ready-made outfit from a top designer name.  For the same amount of money a man may be able to get a better quality suit by choosing bespoke tailoring. To get more guidance from experts check the following Suit Alterations.
The current “classic” style is one that is not likely to look dated very soon is a suit cut that would appeal to a military officer, one that accents a sense of the masculine through broad shoulders, a slim waist and slim trousers.
It needs to be made of good cloth and fit the wearer well and this is where expert tailoring will make all the difference. For anyone within reach of the UK capital, tailoring in London is still considered to be the best in the world. It is, after all the origin and home of the classic man’s suit. Our previous blog will help you to know about the Importance of well Tailoring clothes for making the right impression.

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Boutique Men and Body Shape

An Objective Opinion from a Friend Helps When Choosing a Suit

The natural male adult body shape is broad shoulders and expanded chest tapering to narrower hips and waist, the classic male V-shaped body.

But like women’s, men’s bodies change as they age and in men fat tends to concentrate on the abdomen and waist in men.

Chosen with care, clothing can be used to change the look of a body and to play down the bad points. This can mean that a tailor’s eye may be needed to ensure that it fits well and has the right features to accentuate the wearer’s best points.

A suit is generally a major purchase for a man and is expected to last longer and the advice is generally to buy two good quality ones in preference to five cheaper ones.

The attentions of a skilful tailor may still be needed even if a suit is bought ready made in the correct size because it is the fine details of fit through suit alterations that make a suit look and feel good, while style is a question of personal taste and the occasion or environment for which it is wanted.

The first thing to consider is the purpose for which the suit is mainly to be used, whether it is daily office wear, an interview or a formal event. The decisions on features are endless: one two or three buttons, what kind of lapels and one vent or two to the jacket, while trousers can be with or without pleats or turn-ups. A good quality wool will be longer-lasting than a lighter fabric and can be worn all year round.

Navy blue is generally considered a safe and versatile colour and will be the most useful for regular wear in a variety of situations.  The choice of a pattern will need care because patterns can date and may not be versatile enough to cover everything from an interview to a day in the office to a more formal event.  On the whole the guidance from the experts is to keep things simple. To get more guidance from experts use the following Alterations London.

Apparently also, according to some style experts, the one thing most women notice about men is their shoes, especially how clean and sharp they look.

These choices are less about the current fashion than about what will best enhance the person and the way they look as well as making sure the investment in a good suit will pay for itself.

For a young man buying his first suit an objective view of the choices he is considering will be very helpful. However, an experienced tailor will be able to advise and guide each individual on how to make the best of their appearance. Our previous blog will help you to know about the Importance of well Tailoring clothes for making the right impression.

Thursday, 8 September 2011

The History of the Mens Lounge Suit


The two piece lounge suit is a uniform for men in business almost all over the world and it is thought that its present form dates back approximately 150 years.

Before that, men’s fashion was much more colourful, featuring wigs, embroidery, jewellery, tight breeches, stockings of various designs and types until around the end of the 18th Century.

By this time London’s Saville Row, previously a centre for surgeons, had become the centre for gentlemen’s tailoring.  The buttons on the cuffs of the modern suit jacket are said to be a relic of the surgeons.  As professionals, as opposed to working men, they would keep their jackets on while working and the buttons could be undone to allow the sleeves to be rolled back to avoid their becoming blood spattered!

Male dress became more sober over the course of the 19th Century, at first using woollen cloth of more sober colours but with jackets having either tails or styled as frock coats. 

The Regency dandy Beau Brummel is often credited with influencing the development of men’s clothing to a more simple style and with devising the trouser, allegedly influenced by the trouser of military uniform.

Generally a man would have a “bespoke” suit custom-made from his chosen cloth and to his specifications by his tailor.

The tailed morning coat finally gave up to the lounge suit with the rise of American business culture at the end of the 19th century. The modern suit jacket style has a sporting heritage, with the vents at the back making it more comfortable to wear on horseback. Slash pockets are also thought to have been derived from the need to access contents easily while on horseback.

Over the 20th Century the details of suit style have changed with the fashions. In the 1920s young men started wearing wide-legged trousers, known as Oxford bags.  The normal suit trouser usually measured around 23 inches.  Other trouser fashions have also come and gone, from with or without turn-up, narrow-legged or “drainpipe” to flared from below the knee and back to straight-leg or even narrow again. Further queries check out Suit Alterations and it will let you know who we are and what we do.

Jacket styles have varied too, having one, two, three or even four buttons, wide or narrow lapels, pockets with or without flaps.

Tailoring also developed from bespoke to made to measure, where a standard pattern was adapted to fit the person and a choice of fabrics was offered.  Nowadays, of course, suits can be bought ready to wear, although it is often still the case that alterations by an expert tailor are needed to get the perfect fit. Our previous blog will help you to know about the Importance of well Tailoring clothes for making the right impression.