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Buying a bespoke suit is an investment, and as with any investment, your suits should be well cared for. This is important in order to preserve their appearance and maximise their life span. The first thing to understand is that when you first start to wear a new bespoke suit it will begin to settle in and you’ll get a much better feel for the fit. It’s worth remembering that bespoke clothing differs from ready to wear, in as much as the garment shape will develop as it’s broken in. Cleaning Our advice is to dry clean your suits as rarely as possible as the chemicals used during the dry cleaning process strip out the natural oils found in the wool. This damages the cloth and in turn shortens the life of the suit. Ideally, a suit should be dry cleaned no more than twice a year but if more cleaning is required then remember a good dry cleaner will also be able to ‘spot clean’ any dirty areas. Regular pressing of your suit is fine, helping to remove creases and bring shape back into the garment. When selecting a dry cleaner it is worth spending a little more and going to one accustomed to dealing with bespoke suits. Brushing A suit needs to be regularly brushed, much like human hair, to ensure it looks its best. As well as removing dust, dirt and food particles, brushing helps to redistribute the natural oils in the cloth fibres which will prolong the life of your suit. We recommend you brush your suit after every wear and use a high quality, pure bristle brush. Rotation Don’t wear the same suit everyday! Over use is a sure fire way to shorten the life of your suit, wearing it out too quickly. Give your suit a chance to rest and breath in-between wear, alternating it with other clothing will help to increase its life span.

For the uninitiated, the ticket pocket is the small flapped or jetted pocket (it can be straight, or slightly angled), placed just above the right main hip pocket on a men’s jacket. It is normally roughly half as wide as the hip pocket. The ticket pocket, also known as change pocket, has an old British history. At first it wasn’t even used to store a ticket, as the name indicates today. It became useful before the huge popularity of the railroad, as it was placed on the jackets of equestrians who needed quick access to coins at toll points. Allowing gentlemen to keep their jackets buttoned, this exterior pocket held cash in an extremely convenient way. Ticket pockets were a staple on men’s sturdy country suits before they adapted into the urban suits men wore to commute on a daily basis. During the Industrial Revolution train travel boomed with men making daily trips to the country or to the city for work. As men found it annoying to go through all their pockets in search of their precious train tickets, the ticket pocket became their natural solution. Tailors started to receive requests for a special pocket made exclusively for this purpose, which eased everyone’s lives (train staff included). A new and practical trend was born. Today the extra side pocket is not a necessity anymore. Its main function is as a fashion statement that shows high style IQ. It looks sharp and can be a good conversation starter, especially with neophytes who want to know more about it. Even if it’s a British detail, nowadays one can find it on Italian or American suits as well. Men with a penchant for style and sophistication will always like a jacket that offers a little visual variety and sets them apart from the usual two-pocket look. Many modern guys still love that British-dandy vibe they get from an impeccable suit and feel the need to spice up their sartorial excellence with such details. However, you will find that this pocket which, to be honest, does add an extra kick to any suit or sports jacket, also makes functional sense today. It’s the perfect place to stash a bunch of business cards – extremely efficient in business meetings, on planes (one never knows when opportunity arises, right?) or at VIP clubs. An alternative would be storing aspirins, a tea bag, change, a receipt and even a subway card. Let’s face it, a jacket will always look way better than a “functional” cargo vest. Since we are evaluating benefits, tall men will find the ticket pocket visually helpful since it fills up some of that negative space in their long torsos. Same goes for the skinny types. Feel free to experiment and show a little personality by playing around with the ticket pocket! Let it spring up nonchalantly on an overcoat or a suit jacket and act surprised by all those turning heads. You may thank British sartorial heritage once again.

Wool is the fiber that grows on the body of a certain animal – sheep, goat, camel, rabbit etc. It replenishes itself each time the animal is sheared and continues to grow throughout its lifetime. It is also the word we usually use when we talk about fabrics that are made out of fleece of these animals. Each type of fleece is different and therefore every wool fabric has its own properties. Types of wool (most popular) Sheep’s Wool. It is traditional wool that can be made from any sheep fleece. Merino Wool. Merino wool is taken from a Merino Sheep and has fine, soft appearance of the fabric. It is quite expensive. The distinction from other types of wool is its resistance to pilling. Mohair Wool. Mohair is taken from Angora goat. It is not very soft and many people find it a very itchy fabric to wear directly next to the skin. Angora Wool. Angora wool is made of an Angora rabbit hair. Its main quality is its fluffy surface texture and its soft touch. It is expensive, as it comes from a specific breed of rabbit. To improve fabric stability Angora is often blended with Nylon.  Cashmere Wool. Cashmere is soft and luxurious fabric. The fibers that are used to make cashmere come from specific areas of the fleece of a cashmere goat, and that is why it is so expensive. Alpaca Wool is made from the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but it also also can come from similar fibers of mohair, Icelandic sheep or even high-quality English wool. Alpaca fleece is a lustrous, silky, soft and therefore luxurious natural fiber. It is warmer than usual wool, not prickly, and bears no lanolin, and therefore – hypoallergenic.   The common benefits of wool fabrics are those – they are natural, warm, easy taken care of, and they breathe.   Wool qualities Wool fiber is resilient and elastic. It can be bent more than 20,000 times without danger of breaking or any damage. Because of a complex cellular structure it can absorb moisture vapor, but repel liquid. There is no synthetic fiber that could combine all of these characteristics. Wool absorbs dyes deeply and directly without any use of chemicals. Because of this, wool can be dyed in beautiful, rich colors. Wool is an absorbent fiber and therefore is comfortable to wear in both warm and cool climates. When the air is warm, wool takes up perspiration and keeps a layer of dry insulating air next to the skin. When the air is cold and damp, wool absorbs moisture and keeps a layer of dry insulating air next to the skin. This makes the body’s natural warming and cooling system work better. Wool products are a great investment. Since wool fibers resist piling, snagging, and breaking, wool items typically outlast synthetic ones. Unlike many artificial fibers wool naturally resists flaming. Wool does not melt and stick to the skin when on fire (like other fabrics) but usually smolders or chars instead of bursting into flame. Although intense fire would burn wool fabric, when the flame source is removed it normally self-extinguishes.   The bottom line is, wool is the ideal fabric for bespoke suits.  

A jacket is good for outdoor activities and very casual get-ups. Beyond that, though, you need a nicer overcoat for a wide variety of events: daily work at a professional job or the occasional job interview; going out to a bar, restaurant, or movie; coffee dates, theater dates, and every kind of date in between; winter weddings or funerals; Christmas mass and a New Year’s Eve gala. Not every kind of overcoat achieves the same all-around adaptability, however. Some are more casual and don’t work with formalwear as well, while some are so formal they’d look out of place over jeans. The key is to pick an overcoat with the fit, length, fabric, and style that give it a not-too-formal, not-too-casual look that will be appropriate for nearly every occasion. STYLE. The double-breasted overcoat goes in and out of style, and is a nice choice for wearing to a conservative workplace or more formal events. But a single-breasted coat is more classic and versatile, and pairs as well with a suit as a sweater and jeans. While a double-breasted overcoat should be worn buttoned and closed, a single-breasted can be worn open for a casual look. The single-breasted, as it involves less fabric around your midsection, is also more flattering and slimming. Single-breasted overcoats are especially recommended for short men; the double-breasted variety tends to swallow the petite man up. BUTTON. A 3-button overcoat is the most classic way to go. 4-button coats tend to be more formal. LAPELS. Notched lapels are typical of single-breasted overcoats and are more casual. Peak lapels are usually found on double-breasted coats and are more formal. Go with notched. COLOR.  Rather than black, navy blue is your best and most versatile color choice. It’s serious without being solemn, and looks equally good with both day and evening wear. Dark gray comes in as the second runner up in the color category. A camel-colored number is an attention-grabbing but viable option if you own multiple overcoats, but for our minimalistic purposes, navy or gray will be more versatile; you’re not going to pull a brown coat on over your formalwear. FABRIC. For weight and durability, 100% wool is the way to go; it’s warm and durable and will last forever. Cashmere coats have a nice, rich-looking finish, and are lighter, softer, and warmer. But cashmere comes with an enormous price tag, doesn’t hold up to the elements as well, and wears out and pills easier. And since this is outerwear we’re talking about, extra softness doesn’t matter much. Some coats add a layer of synthetic microfiber for extra warmth, which can be a good idea if you live in a particularly cold place, but 100% wool should do it for most. Look for a nice hefty fabric; a good overcoat should weigh around 4 pounds.

We are excited to announce the addition of a new luxury fabric from our favourite mill “Vitale Barberis Canonico”. VBC’s “REVENGE” Super 150’s range is made entirely from 16.1 micron wool, spun to a 104,000 yarn count. This means that from each kilo of wool we obtain 104 kilometres of yarn. Produced in just a handful of regions in Australia, the wool is the result of strict breeding regimes and meticulous preparation. The health of the flock is essential, with some wool growers even putting protective covers on the sheep to save them from environmental pollution. Only about 1,600 bales of this exclusive wool are offered for sale each season in Australia. Vitale Barberis Canonico is the largest buyer. The resulting fabrics tailor and wear superbly. The “R E V E N G E” range is a collection for the most discerning. The colours and styles are timelessly elegant and are ideal for finely tailored suits, blazers and trousers. Come down to our store to feel the exquisite fabric. Learn more about Vitale Barberis Canonico

So, why the sudden resurgence of the long-time unpopular, or certainly under used, waistcoat? For our wedding customers a three-piece clearly makes a lot of sense: something to add to the sense of occasion and make the groom stand out for the crowd, so naturally the ratio here is high. For our wedding customers we make a waistcoat for almost 1 in every 2 customers. This obviously skews the stats, but doesn’t account for the entire trend. The fact is that a waistcoat does look good – it’s smart, sharp and masculine, but fell from popularity in recent decades as the work place became more relaxed and casual. The resurgence seems to come from the fact that the work place isn’t quite so relaxed or casual in anymore – people are hanging on by their teeth and doing what they can to make sure they’re not the one under the chopping block. The trend is simple: when times are tough, people smarten up. The simple waistcoat, it appears, is what London’s businessmen are banking on to smarten up their image and make sure that it’s not their seat that is in danger.