Just a quick interlude to tell you about the open house event I went to last week with my friend Clare. It was part of SohoCreate - a five day festival showcasing the creative talents who live and work in London's Soho. Open Houses are a great opportunity to meet the people behind the names, hear how their creative businesses work and generally have a good nose around!
We went to hear bespoke tailor Mark Powell talk about the world of suits. His suits are amazing - they have a classically tailored look (they wouldn't look out of place in a 1940's gangster film), yet there's something sharp and contemporary about them too. I loved them.
He explained how the same suit jacket block can give two totally different looking suits just by fiddling with the details. For example, he added a velvet collar to one jacket (sorry, no picture) and made another one up in denim. You'd never believe they were the same design!
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| Double breasted denim suit |
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| Look at the detail on that shirt collar! |
One interesting snippet I found out was the cost difference between a ready to wear suit, a made to measure suit and a bespoke suit. A ready to wear suit from his shop costs around £1000, made to measure suits (based on the RTW styles but made up in your exact measurements) cost between £1400-£1800 and a bespoke suit (made from scratch exactly how you want it) starts at £3000. Seeing the beautiful fabrics and linings he uses and the immaculate tailoring up close, I know I'd be tempted to save up for one if I was a suit wearing gent.
It was also great fun hearing him reel off his opinion of various Savile row tailors, "x is alright, y is probably the best cutter on Savile Row, z is a fucking idiot!" Mark Powell is a larger than life character and I could have listened to him talking all day. Sadly we only had an hour, but I did get to see some seriously smart suits!
