DBs IN THE SPOTLIGHT - AND BESPOKE GUIDELINES

Sackville Street tailoring houses, Meyer & Mortimer and Stuart Lamprell, talk to Tony Rushmer on the latest styling trends and bespoke guide lines

Double breasted suits are back in favour, with a number of tailors reporting an upsurge in orders, including Meyer & Mortimer.

“There has been a definite resurgence of the double-breasted suit, both here and in the States,” Paul Munday,  director of the company reveals. “We are cutting more than usual for the younger guy - the six-button version.”

He also reports that things have got more formal. “Colours are toned down, a lot more subtle - no lairy stripes and we are selling waistcoats again with three-piece suits being ordered.” Their own house style he describes as “very classic with a high waistline…close-cut armholes to give a longer silhoutte”.

He and his fellow director, Brian Lewis, have long experience in the Row, Lewis with Mortimer & Meyer for 50 years, while Munday, who joined in the early 1990s, can point to Gieves & Hawkes, Edward Sexton and Dege as past employers.

Above, Paul Munday, left, front of house man, Brian Jones, and right Brian Lewis.

The company has a rich history stretching back over 200 years, featuring a host of illustrious clients that includes the Prince Regent and Beau Brummell. The military association that begun with Brummell, who was an officer in the Light Dragoons, continues to this day.

But though steeped in history and tradition, they have recognised that a website is a necessary tool in the modern world and are the latest Savile Row house to launch one.

“Maybe 10 years ago we would have decided a website was not for us but people are wanting more information these days,” explains Munday.

“We’ve found that the younger man is doing his homework before coming in extra clued-up on exactly what he wants and what he is looking for. So we made a decision to launch a website and it’s been up and running since September.”

It gives details of their States-side visits, which have been upped from three to four this year in response to demand. The autumn visit, taking in Montreal, Washington DC and New York, was very successful , according to Munday.

“It was a prosperous trip and we acquired some new customers, some of whom have been buying ready-to-wear and now want to dip their toe into bespoke,” he says. “There are a lot more younger clients coming into bespoke, starting earlier - in their late 20s and early 30s.”

Right, the Mortimer & Meyer silhouette in a three-button jacket; and top, their classic pea jacket.

ADVICE FOR THE BESPOKE NOVICE

“Make sure where you go is true bespoke and that the person who looks after you is the cutter,” is the advice from  Stuart Lamprell as his opening salvo. “Make sure, too, that he will see your garment safely through all the stages necessary for a bespoke suit.”

Lamprell is well placed to offer guidelines to those considering bespoke for the first time. The 38-year-old struck out on his own in 2007 after serving his apprenticeship at Gieves & Hawkes and then spending almost a decade at Timothy Everest.

He is a good advert for his own suits (as befits an admirer of Cary Grant and Steve McQueen’s style, Stuart was interviewed for this feature in a silver-grey three-piece suit cut from a 1960s H Lesser mohair fabric). And he has plenty of sensible advice for those who are ready for that initial bespoke experience.

“Generalising, I would suggest a good simple cloth to begin with; nothing too fancy or difficult to look after,” he says. “Go for a plain fabric maybe with some texture, a good pick-and-pick for example. 

“In my experience, men who have dreamed of owning a bespoke suit try to want to add every detail – over-cook the suit. But if it is cut and made well and the balance is right – ie, length of jacket, button position, shoulder width, lapel width – then the suit can be in a plain cloth and still look most striking. Men often forget this.

“The Prince Of Wales checks, flannels, pinstripes and mohair's – just to name a few – will come later as you put your suit collection together.”

For styling, Lamprell goes for a conservative look: “I would suggest a two-button jacket with notch lapel, angled flaps without ticket pocket and centre vent, the jacket not too long and the button position at the natural waist. The lining should be nothing too garish.

Formal brown check suit with vest, showing a high waist suppression.

“Trousers are often forgotten, but I’d advise a plain front with a tapered leg. That's not to say pleats are a wrong choice as long they are fitted and have shape. In fact, I’ve recently been making a lot more pleated trousers with one pleat at the front.”

He keeps his finger on the styling pulse. “I can do ‘classic’ – I have the traditional training from Gieves & Hawkes – but on the other hand, there are new guys coming in who have probably bought off the rack that want styles that are slightly faster moving and you have to be able to add your eye to that.”

Lamprell wants as full a picture of each customer as he is allowed before involving himself from start to finish in the suit-making process. “Bespoke is about the individual,” he says. “It’s about having a consultation on how the customer will wear a suit, and trying to read a customer’s mindset about how he wants to look and grabbing hold of that.

“That level of individual contact is really important to me because the personality of the person you’re making for is just as important as their body shape.”