Despite all the possibilities that come with getting something custom, the world of bespoke tailoring is extremely conservative. And perhaps for good reason. Since clients aren’t trained in clothing design, you don’t want to give them so much rope that they end up hanging themselves. So the choices in bespoke are often simple: how many buttons do you want (one, two, or three?); what kind of lapels (notch or peak?); how do you want your pockets (welted or patch, flapped or not?); and finally, how would you like to pay for your deposit (Visa or Mastercard?).
Recently, however, the London Lounge had a Cloth Club subscription for a brown Shetland houndstooth tweed, which was woven for them by Scotland’s Lovat Mill. Subscribers seemed to take their projects in all sorts of directions. A sample:
- Me: Recently made for me by Steed, this is a 3/2 roll, single-breasted sport coat with notch lapels and two patch pockets. It’s a fairly standard design, but the inside has a poacher’s pocket. The origin of this style goes back to England, where hunters would use these kinds of pockets to hold whatever game they caught. To keep the coat from sagging, there was a strap that came down from the armscye for support. That way, the weight of the animal was partly carried by the armhole. With the dead animal hidden inside the coat and the jacket kept straight, these hunters could then sneak past gamekeepers without being caught (hence the term “poacher’s pocket”). Mine is designed the same, but of course, since I don’t hunt, this is just used to carry reading materials — whether it be academic papers, a magazine, or an iPad. Just above the poacher’s pocket are two specialized pen pockets. One to hold a normal pen, and the other designed to hold a shorter and thicker highlighter. I consider my coat a "reading jacket."
- Voxsartoria: Here’s another coat from Steed, made from the same cloth, but for a more famous customer, Voxsartoria. Looks to be a 3/2 roll jacket with triple patch pockets. The well executed pattern matching really helps those pockets blend in beautifully (despite this being a very hefty cloth). Soft shouldered with a drape cut, just as Steed is known for.
- David: My friend David (who runs a wine consulting firm) commissioned the most adventurous design from Steed. This is what’s known as a Paddock coat, where the two front buttons are raised. So whereas the fastening button normally sits as the waist, this one is put a bit higher, which drags the bottom button along with it. This allows both buttons to be used (note how the bottom button is fastened). Also notable are the three flapped hacking pockets and half belted back. David really took advantage of the tweed’s rustic nature here, and the design looks so good that I’ve been thinking about commissioning something similar. Really well done.
- Pierre: One of the London Lounge members, Pierre, has another innovative coat. This one is designed for motorcycle riding. Like the original sport coats of yore, this one buttons all the way up to the throat, so Pierre can stay warm while riding on a cold day. The action back also allows him to comfortably extend his arms when he’s driving his bike, while the elastic bits in the vents allow his coat to return to its original shape once he dismounts. A YouTube video of Pierre demonstrating his coat is embedded below.
It’s fun to see the different kinds of jackets people came up with. Here alone we have one cloth, but four styles.
(Photos via me, Voxsartoria, and Slewfoot)
