Issue 45; The Rough Lapel: Jacket Sir? Volume 2

Too much choice is always a problem, the now well known coffee order dilemma, it would just be nice to have fewer options.  Of course in other areas what you want is choice and one thing Norton & Townsend had was choice when it came to cloth, so the search began.

Thankfully I was there to help a friend, a ploy used expertly to check a place out without making that obvious.  We were kind of in the market for a similar style especially with it being December time so a heavy tweed style sports jacket was in the works.  I had a colour in mind but that was about it.  My journey to replace the jacket lost had taken a side step on viewing the fabric, the weather certainly put me in the mindset of what I was now looking at. Rather than the unstructured lightweight jacket that went now a great thick fabric was inbound.

Being in a tailor's room is something else with the vast array of cloth.  What came with the large amount of swatches was the regaling of stories from tailor Graham Hall.  Graham has been in the business for thirty years but has lived some life, at one point I think we all forgot why we were even there, especially when we got to the eighties, which I will leave between us.

Like most things I end up buying I am not sure until I am there in the room, part of the fun is the experience.  As the colour I was leaning towards was a grey I was between two but one certainly won and was partly to do with it being a lighter grey but also due to the orange thread running through it and giving Graham an excuse to put bright orange in the lining.  After some measurements which I do not even want to know we were choosing some details. Vent, buttons, lapel and length.  On Graham's advice I had the jacket cut in a slightly longer length to have it in a more gentlemanly cut rather than my normal cut which is more the modern style.

Then the wait begins, but even with Christmas breaking the time up but the end of January we were back to try on and take our jackets home if all was good.

The orange certainly popped on that lining and the cloth looked better than expected, as I will admit it is hard to work out what the suit will look like on a small square of fabric, especially when there is a larger check involved.  Now for that added length, it certainly is different for me, it makes the jacket a little bit more versatile as you can wear it as a jacket coat style dressed down a bit or dress up quite easily as a blazer.  It is a sports jacket with many uses, especially in the colder months.  The length does limit it a bit with my general style as do have the shorter cut on most of my jackets but one and it took a bit of time getting used to it.  Initial thoughts was good with a "that's long" in the back of he mind.  For this style of jacket it works, I wouldn’t have it for a suit or plainer blazer style but it is good to now know this.

The small details are good and the pockets are standard inside for bespoke, always good to have a pocket that I can fit a cigar in without issue of bulging.  It also fits me perfectly, also without bulging with my frame going in it.

Once you open that bespoke world you may want to jump straight back in, but sit back and think and slowly make decisions.  I have ideas for a suit later in the year so next time I head in to see Graham I will have more thoughts on what I want from the suit, then it is down to the fun bits of cloth choice, lining and buttons and all the other little touches at Norton & Townsend.