Straight Out of the Box But Just Couldn't Wait...

I took delivery this morning of a box and too my surprise, I realised it was my own sports jacket that had been finished by my tailor in London. I started this jacket last summer and took the forward fitting out to show when we where invited to Beijing, China last September for a luxury goods expo. 
.
However as we have been so busy we couldn't get the jacket finished, as obviously the customers always come first!

I'm looking forward to getting this back from the finisher next week and having it ready for our March USA trip and if I get a chance I will take another couple of photo's after the hand button holes are in and it's buttoned and pressed.
..
What I like about this cloth from the Porter & Harding (Harrisons), Glorious Twelve bunch is its flexibility and we have made up nearly the whole bunch for customers over the years. 
.
It is a 11oz Sporting Tweed & Country Collection but is perfect for either sport coats, such as this or to be made up in two or three piece suits, as is the cloth shown here of which I just caught Dad cutting out for a new customer in The States. (25338 Brown donegal) 

..

















This one of mine is the 25341. It is a grey barley corn weave with a blue over-check and although I have had it made up as a sports coat, I may end up following the lead of a customer of ours who had it made up as a sports jacket originally and then decided a 2-piece suit will work as well so we made the trousers up for him and it looks fantastic. 

..
That's the great thing about this bunch, it is a good weight with it being 11oz so it suitable for 3/4 of the year in most climates and most of the patterns work well as sports coats and suits depending on the occasion.
..
I'm going to be using my jacket as a more casual sport jacket to travel in and to go out for meals as it looks equally great with jeans or grey flannels with a nice Oxford blue shirt and black or brown shoes and even for the most daring of people, white trainers/sneakers. 


Best,
Matthew

Anderson & Sheppard, A Style Is Born

I was lucky enough to be given this lovely book as a present for my recent birthday and I must say it is a fantastic and interesting read with some beautiful and encapsulating photo's in it.

It brought back wonderful memories to see so many of the customers that I had looked after, during my seven years there and you can see why so many still want to be part of such a rich history, by having their clothes made there. 


Also while I may not be in the book from a photographic standpoint in person, I am however there in the form of my handwriting, on the one jacket pattern that they chose to feature, who was a customer of Colin Harvey and later mine once Harvey retired. 


Each cutter used to mark his patterns with their initials, which you can see on the white note, with the measurements on at the bottom of this pattern.

What a wonderful surprise it was to see the painting of Colin Harvey at his board, which I had never seen before but really encapsulates him perfectly and just as I had remembered him. I recently bumped into his brother John, who was a director at Scabal's (from whenever I can remember), whilst on The Row last Friday and I asked him if he knew of this painting as I would love a print of this, if not the original! 

When Harvey retired he gave me his cutting shears, which I don't use but have retained the yellow cloth that he had wrapped around the handle and now adorn the shears that I use, which where my Fathers. 


If you look at the picture below you can see that the artist has included this in his painting.

For those of you who wish to purchase the book, you can contact Anderson & Sheppard through their website for details on how to find it. 

London Lounge - Cloth Club Current Available Inventory

Further to our recent announcement last week about the special promotion that we are running in collaboration with Michael Alden and The London Lounge's Cloth Club. Please find below photo's and information on the current stock that is available from Michael.

Customers that have already purchased lengths from the Cloth Club that have yet to have them made up, are also welcome to our promotion if they place the order before March 31st 2012.

Also there are plans for a couple of re-runs on previous LL cloths that have sold out, information on these are also below.

Current stock:

Light Grey Brisa Chalkstripe (LLBR10)

This cloth is perfect for the spring and we have made it up a couple of times before as both a SB & DB and it looks fantastic!

 




RAF Blue POW (LLBR09) 

Again another spring cloth, we have yet to make up this cloth but look forward to doing so in the near future.

LL Agnelli Flannel (LLFL09)

This is a beautiful blue flannel with a brown overcheck. We are currently making this up for a customer in NYC and Dad has since decided he is going to have to take our customers lead and have it made up himself!

 

LL Blue Shetland Tweed (LLTW20)

This cloth is the sibling to the very sucessful Brown Shetland Tweed with crimson window pane which can be seen below.

It was also featured in our series of articles named...
"A Work In Progress" and has become a firm favourite of ours. Looks great as a sports jacket with grey flannel trousers or with brown shoes and blue jeans for a night out on the town or when out for a nice meal.

Donegal Herringbone Tests

The first is a oatmeal Donegal Herringbone and the other is a black and white Donegal Herringbone. Both of these are available for immediate delivery.

Possible re-run of LL Brown Shetland Tweed with Crimson Window Pane!

I have asked Michael about the possibility of this cloth being re-run as quite a few customers have enquired about it as well as the fact that I am dying to have it made up myself! I will have more information in the near future about if it will go ahead and will let everyone know if it happens but it is looking promising! :-)

Eden in Paris re-run!

This is a classic from the Cloth Club and it is back due to popular demand! I have a length of this myself which was given to me as a gift by a friend and customer in DC, unfortunately I have yet to have it made up but I will get round to it eventually when we have time! As Dad often says.."Its like the cobblers son with no shoes.."

For more details on this re-run please check out the link on the topic below.

http://www.thelondonlounge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10576

LL RAF Blue Linen


This cloth is currently in stock but I havent got too much information on it but for those interested you will find Michael Alden's contact email below.

LL Donkey Flannel


We have made this cloth up for customer in DC in a 3-piece suit, it may not catch the eye like some of the other LL Cloths, but once it was made up it looked fantastic and all of us where very pleased with the outcome.

LL RAF Flannel


This is another that I unfortunately don't have too much info on but again if you are interested you can contact Michael below or I will try to find out for you.









For anyone that is interested in any of these cloths and would like more information please contact Michael Alden at the email address below. As I get more information myself about any other possible re-runs or current stock that Michael has I will post them up on the blog to let everyone see.

I would imagine there will be a lot of people interested in these cloths featured so to avoid disappointment I would advise contacting Michael about subscribing any of the LL cloths before they sell out.

alden@thelondonlounge.net

Best wishes,

Matthew DeBoise

Steed Bespoke Tailors

matthew@steed.co.uk

London Lounge - Cloth Club Promotion

Both Steed and Michael Alden of The London Lounge, are pleased to announce a promotion, which will give anyone purchasing a LL Cloth and has it made by us here at Steed, a special price that equates to around 20% off Steed's regular prices. These prices are for the make-up of the cloth only as the cloth is paid for separately to Mr Alden.


We are currently in the process of creating a brand new website, which should be up and running in the next month or so. It will include a couple of exciting features which will be announced over the next few weeks. One being a dedicated page to The LL Cloth Club, showcasing a few pieces of our work with Michael's beautiful cloths and a link through to the forum. 


As well as explaining all the details of the promotion we are offering, the section will provide news and information on new cloths that the cloth club are commissioning.  


This promotion will run until March 31st 2012 and may be extended if it proves a success.


Below are some examples of our previous work with LL Cloths.


(Please note the two middle photo's are clothes made for customers but modelled by myself)

London Lounge Special Price - VAT Exempt 

3-Piece Suit £2200

2-Piece Suit £1830

Sports Jacket/Blazer £1295

Overcoat £1830

London Lounge Special Price - UK & European Union

3-Piece Suit £2645

2-Piece Suit £2200

Sports Jacket/Blazer £1555

Overcoat £2200

Best wishes,


Matthew


Steed Bespoke Tailors


www.steed.co.uk

Happy 50th Birthday Dad (Ed)

Andrea, myself and everyone else at Steed would like to wish Dad (Edwin) a Happy 50th Birthday!


We will be celebrating at work by eating this lovely cake we have had made specially for him and then taking him for a meal tonight to a local family run Italian restaurant.