Only Fitting
In bespoke tailoring's elite world, the suit always fits — and execs pay thousands to wear it .
MASSIMILIANO MOCCHIA DI COGGIOLA
© ROSE CALLAHAN/THE DANDY PORTRAITS
Mah clients wahnt to be dandy," Edgar Pomeroy drawls as he smoothes a mannequin's cashmere suit in his Atlanta showroom. He takes a step back, shakes his head, then gives the suit's pink silk handkerchief a tug. He turns and peers over his spectacles, eyebrows raised. "Most people don't know how to be dandy. Ah help them get there."
"Dandy" is the bespoke tailor's favorite adjective, a combination of "dashing" and "dapper" that can't be pulled off accidentally. Pomeroy creates suits for an impressive roster of nowdandy executives, including lawyer to the stars Joel Katz, BET anchor T.J. Holmes and Cantor Fitzgerald Managing Director Joe Nunn. "Mah suits increase their confidence," Pomeroy says. "They stand up straighter."
Pomeroy learned the ethos of "apparelequalsaplomb" as a boy in Savannah. His father, Edgar Pomeroy Williams, is a prominent tax attorney (his firm was featured in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) who doesn't own a pair of jeans. "My fahtha wore a smoking jacket to breakfast," Pomeroy says. "He dressed up to get dressed up. He taught me to appreciate elegance."
When Pomeroy was 8, his dad bestowed him with his first suit, a brown herringbone tweed that was altogether perfect — except the jacket didn't have a vent. "So I got out a pair of rounded nail clippers and made my own," Pomeroy recalls. "I was very proud of it."
His father has no trouble recalling the incident. "I was hahrified," he says. "You don't have your children cutting up their clothes." He pauses. "Thank goodness he didn't try to make a double vent."
Today, Pomeroy makes quite a nice living cutting every kind of vent — and his clients pay him $2,500 to $7,500 for his efforts. His namesake shop is wellknown in the world of bespoke tailoring, a planet in which every client has his own individual suit pattern and all details, from the stitching to the pockets to the buttons, are customized. If you put on a suit and have it radically altered, it's not bespoke. If you have a suit created for you from a stock pattern (made to measure), it's not bespoke. You have to start from scratch. "In bespoke, there are no economies of scale or efficiencies," says Luke Mayes, a representative of the Custom Tailors and Designers Association of America and president of Dormeuil, a company that supplies highend fabric to bespoke tailors.
Bespoke tailoring originated in England at the end of the 19th century. During those days, when a tailor created a suit for someone, the suit's fabric was considered "bespoken for" — hence the name "bespoke." Even back then, Mayes says, people liked to add little details that made their suits their own; one popular feature was a large interior jacket pocket in which a businessperson could store a rolledup newspaper.
As European tailors immigrated to America, so did bespoke tailoring, and during the '70s and '80s, the industry entered its heyday. Executives were increasingly willing to admit an interest in fashion, and major designers like Tom Ford weren't yet churning out highend suits en masse. "The oneman tailor shops thrived," Mayes says. But Ford, Armani and others caught up, and today bespoke tailors are doing what they can to stay competitive. To expand their client base, some offer readytowear, madetomeasure and bespoke suits under one roof. Others lower their overhead by shipping their tailoring to Hong Kong. Pomeroy isn't one of them; his 10 tailors work directly above his showroom, creating around 40 suits a month, mostly for male executives.
Which begs the question: Why aren't women a greater part of the bespoke world? "With women, there are far more style options and those options reinvent themselves every season, so it becomes haute couture," Mayes says. "When you have to throw everything off the table and start from scratch all the time — it's hard to run a bespoke business offthat."
Still, there are plenty of men who aren't willing to make the equivalent of a mortgage payment on a suit either — so what motivates those who do? Dr. Michael Apa, an aesthetic dentist based in New York, says that for him it boils down to a feeling. "There's a certain excitement that comes with starting your day picking out your bespoke suit versus just getting dressed," he says. He wears bespoke suits every workday (25 hang in his closet); his most expensive one is a Kiton number worth $9,000. He makes no apologies about his ultrapricey wardrobe. "I'm charging a premium to my patients for a certain quality and aesthetic," he says. "It's of the utmost importance that they feel comfortable with my aesthetic."
Joe Nunn, one of Pomeroy's clients, echoes the sentiment that bespoke clothes give him a professional edge. "When people see how I manage my style, I'd say I get the benefit of the doubt," the New Yorkbased executive says. "It aids me in being accepted and getting a certain respect."
Nunn says most of his 45 bespoke suits are traditional (striped, doublebreasted, 7inch pant pleats) because he doesn't want to invest thousands of dollars in something that will one day look as outofstyle as acidwashed jeans. "I'm going to be able to date when they started making skinny tight suits," he says. Indeed, all the bespoke tailors interviewed for this piece said they aren't fielding many requests for trendy looks or even casual office attire; precious few of their clients are willing to invest thousands of dollars in something they won't be able to wear several years from now.
Bespoke's adherents do, however, ask tailors for personalized touches — think contrasting stitching on the lapels, or smaller pants pockets so their hands can't go all the way down (in case you're wondering why — bent arms show more muscle). Some even request the modernday version of the newspaper pocket: An iPadsized interior jacket pocket.
According to Mayes, the bespoke shopping experience has changed over the years — "martinis and measurements" have given way to "fittings on the fly." It was just a decade ago that only 10 percent of bespoke tailors left their stores to meet clients; today, "traveling tailors" who bring swatches and measuring tape to homes and offices around the country represent 50 percent of the business. "People have less time to shop," Mayes says. Case in point: whenever Nunn wants to add another suit to his 12by18foot closet, Pomeroy hops on a plane from Atlanta for a consult.
Still, the bespoke business remains a highly servicedriven one, with tailors doing all they can to forge and maintain relationships with their clients. Duncan Quinn, who owns an eponymous bespoke shop in New York, hosts private dinners, car rallies and cocktail parties for his clients, "who inevitably become friends," Quinn says. And whenever Pomeroy is in New York, he and Nunn discuss suits (plus sports, work and family) over dinner. "Joe knows clothes," Pomeroy says the day he returns from one such visit. "He's one of the dandiest of all dandies."
He doesn't say anything more, but the implication is clear: Pomeroy made him that way.
COLLAR
A traditional collar connects to the lapel with a small notch, but if you want to look like you've been out riding, ask your tailor to add a throat latch. This little loop lets you pop the collar up and secure it with a hidden button to keep warm (or make you look dashing).
LAPEL
Most suits have notch lapels, but if you want to look snazzy, ask for a peak lapel. It juts toward the shoulder like a tuxedo lapel. "Peak lapels signify that a man knows he's different and wants to stand out," says Pomeroy.
STITCHING
When it comes to stitching, perfection is an imperfection. "Bespoke tailoring should be handstitched," Pomeroy says, "which means it's not going to be exactly straight." He advises against asserting your individuality with hot pink: "You'll look like a buffoon."
ARM CUFF
The mark of a good jacket cuff is the buttonholes. Pomeroy says they should be functional and allow the buttons to touch without overlapping. You can also opt for a Gatsby look and ask for French cuffs on the sleeves.
SHOULDER
Channel your inner Brit by asking for a rope shoulder, which gives you a little bump at the top of the sleeve. (The American style simply rounds the material and drops off. Yawn.)
POCKETS
The traditional pocket — a 3.5 inchflap sewn onto the jacket — is for the everyday man. The besom pocket is cut into the garment for a cleaner look for the obsessively neat. The slanted pocket, which is tilted slightly downward, is favored by retro lovers.
VENTS
According to Pomeroy, side vents are the most flattering option because the jacket still covers your backside when your hands are in your pockets, and they also allow tailors to cut a slimmer silhouette.
BUTTONS
Not only can you choose the material you want — horn, plastic, etc. — you can also choose your color. "A lot of my clients want brown horn buttons for their navy suits so they can wear brown shoes," Pomeroy says.
PLEATS
Reverse pleats angle toward the side pockets, which helps them lay flat, making you look slimmer. Forward pleats angle straight ahead for a classic look. Scissor pleats are a combo that makes you look experimental or, as Pomeroy asserts, "like a fashion nightmare."
PANTS CUFF
Pomeroy says his sweet spot is a 1.75inch cuff width — he'll shave off a quarter of an inch if you insist, but he refuses to go any narrower than that. "It's so disproportionate," he says.
BESPOKEN FOR
Great bespoke tailors around the country
ATLANTA
EDGAR POMEROY
4043650405 www.edgarpomeroy.com
CHICAGO
BALANI CUSTOM CLOTHIERS
Balani's modern accents — like an inhouse bar — haven't detracted from its 50year tradition of quality. They still take 45 separate measurements to ensure the perfect fit. 3122639003 www.balanicustom.com
NEW YORK
DUNCAN QUINN
Besides cocktail parties and sports car rallies with VIPs like you, this legendary shop also delivers a bespoke suit that "should last longer than you." 2122267030 www.duncanquinn.com
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY A. DAVIDSEN MASTER TAILORS & IMAGE CONSULTANTS
Once you look like a million bucks, this shop helps you act the part, molding your overall image from your hairstyle and footwear down to the content of your emails and texts. 2152535905 www.henrydavidsen.com
WASHINGTON, DC
GEORGES DE PARIS CUSTOM TAILOR
All tailors make suits for executives. But the 78yearold De Paris makes suits for the executive — the US President (every one, in fact, since Lyndon Johnson). Need we say more? 2027372134
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