Wilde Times Ahead

"I find that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, may produce all the effects of drunkenness.” (Oscar Wilde)

Sprawled on my Chesterfield, a glass of tawny port in hand, I couldn't agree more. For those of you who haven't seen his biography, "Wilde" is a decent film. Whilst my wife, and no doubt Stephen Fry, enjoyed extensive footage of Bosie's (Jude Law's) bottom, I was captivated by the wardrobe.

In a recent article I declared "The Dandy is back," but compared to the Victorians, we're lightweights.

Velvet smoking jackets, silk brocaded dressing gowns with quilted shawl lapels, gold pocket-watches, jewel-encrusted tie pins, cravats, double breasted vests and top hats and straw boaters were paraded before me.

I particularly liked this blazer with matching vest.



Checks are everywhere at the moment. I recently made this jacket in a Super 130's Merino wool blended with Mongolian cashmere. With its purple velvet collar and flashes of purple silk behind the working cuffs, I think it gives the former a run for its money.



It's been a great month here at Michelsberg HQ.

This Saturday, a friend and customer (Paul Dunphy) dropped me a line to say he had just been voted Best Dressed Man at York Races and here he is pictured below with Jeff Banks (remember The Clothes Show?:-).



As my Facebook Page shows, I've been very busy delivering lot's of new threads to happy customers including a few "Uber Levels."

The 'Uber' is our very top-level of construction. I've gone into the nitty-gritty in a previous blog but basically it's as good as tailoring gets.



The button hole above has been sewn by hand in silk twist - it's slightly longer than a machined button hole and has that rather charming hand-made look about it.

If you look at the picture below, you can see small dints in the fabric where the canvas in the lapels has been pad stitched onto the cloth by hand to achieve a wonderful roll.

And check out the chain-stitch which makes up the flower-loop. Sweet.



Best of all, it's got my name in it, beautifully cross stitched by hand.



These are the hallmarks of a truly artisan workshop, craftsmanship at its finest and it gives me a huge buzz to be able to offer it to my customers.

The dream has always been to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best tailoring houses in the world and with 'The Uber' in my armoury, I've got one hell of a pair of Cuban heels to raise me up to their lofty heights.

There's much for me to look forward to - at the end of this week I'm heading off to Devon for a holiday in search of cider, surf and sunshine. Can't wait!

Then, when I get back, I'm throwing a party for friends, customers and suppliers here in the Victoria Quarter, on Thursday 20th September from 6pm.

If it's anything like my opening bash, things could get a bit messy and as Friday morning rears its throbbing head, let's remember Oscar when he said, "Work is the curse of the drinking classes."

A Snappy New Year

Another year, another dollar, and after what has been a highly indulgent Christmas, it seems another chin.

For ten gloriously gluttonous days I put my feet up, except for an enjoyable trip to Helmsley for a photo-shoot with two new customers.

Introducing brothers George and James Craig, from the band, 'One Night Only.'



They knocked on my door after spotting the particularly dandified double-breasted waistcoat in scarlet doeskin I'd made for Jack at Jeffery-West shoes.

The clincher was when he explained to them that a button was missing 'because a girl had ripped it off.' Priceless. PR from the gods.

Beers were drunk, ideas exchanged and I think the results speak for themselves.

George, the lead singer, went for a very fitted, single-breasted number with slim notch lapels and cut-away fronts.I love the flash of lining on the cuffs and the bright yellow melton under-collar.



James, the drummer, went for an electric blue, silky Super 130’s cloth from Dormeuil, with brown velvet top-collar and jets. There’s a brilliant white lining with flashes of velvet in the cuff vents and cloth covered buttons.



These guys are going places, quite literally. George is currently playing with the rest of the band in Rio, whilst James is in Vegas as best man for a mate's wedding.

Dealing with them has been a genuine pleasure and the fact that my threads are tearing it up in Brazil and Sin City, puts a big fat smile on my face.

AND NOW FOR SOME BIG NEWS.

Never happy standing still and doing the same old thing, I am thrilled, delighted, excited and buzzing to announce a new line to the Michelsberg armoury.

THE UBER LEVEL!!

It's a top-of the tree, earth-shatteringly awesome, fully bespoke, full canvas product.

A first fitting of which is shown below.



Like an Aston Martin, it's beautiful to look at and will turn heads, but when it comes to performance and handling it's what's underneath the bonnet that counts.



The construction under the cloth has a number of layers. First the body canvas (which goes right down to the bottom of the coat), then the chest canvas, or hair-cloth, and finally a layer of domette (it looks a bit like felt) to protect the wearer from the prickly canvas underneath.

These three layers are then pad stitched (sewn) together and crucially shaped and moulded by hand to create a soft armour with which to flatter and caress the wearer's body.

The lapels are hand-padded which means the cloth and a layer of silecia (a bit like linen) is folded and sewn together by hand to achieve a beautiful 'roll,' rather than the flat lapels you get with many off-the-peg garments.

This folks, is as good as it gets. A herd of sartorially astute, stampeding wilder beast would stop dead in their tracks and gasp at the mind-blowing quality of such workmanship.

The clip below gives you a quick peek at the V12, 48 Valve, work of art that lurks beneath Huddersfield's finest.



There's about sixty hours of hand-sewing involved which provides a wonderfully artisan feel to the garment. As well as the time spent in building the internal structure of the coat, it's the time invested in the finishing that takes things to another level.

The edges of the fronts, pocket flaps, cuff vents and out-breast welt are all prick-stitched by hand. The lining is hand-felled (sewn) all the way round and eased into the armholes. Finally, the lapel hole and every button hole is meticulously hand sewn in silk twist thread as can be seen in the footage below.



It's what you'd expect if you went to the blue blooded houses on Savile Row, and that's been my goal from the start. To be able to offer my customers a world-class service with a product to match. The real deal. The best of the best.

This January has got off to a belting start and I've got more news to reveal in my next blog. So until then it's back to my pins and chalk and hopefully a few trips to the David Lloyd health club to try and get that chin sorted out.

Well Hung

Mr Miyagi and I both understand the importance of balance. To quote the great man, "Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good."

His words of wisdom are just as important to the craft of tailoring as they were to the floppy haired Daniel LaRusso, who broke a thousand pre pubescent hearts in the 1980's as he kicked his way to victory in the film "Karate Kid."



That said, you won't find me doing the crane, waxing cars, or having a pop at helpless insects with chopsticks. Balance, as far as I'm concerned is all about getting a coat to hang perfectly from the shoulders.

A bespoke jacket should resemble a tranquil lagoon without a ripple or crease anywhere on the surface of the cloth. When viewed from the side, the bottom of the coat should point slightly downwards and when viewed from the front, the lapels should sit close to the chest and the fronts fall away gently after the point of buttoning.

If we all had perfect posture and the physique of a Dolce & Gabbana underwear model then there's a chance 'the lagoon' might be achieved with an off-the-pegger. In reality, most of us have to contend with all manner of things that Mother nature has thrown at us, as well as the self-inflicted bumps and lumps that have appeared due to too many long lunches and getting to know Auntie Stella.

It is these imperfections, often called 'figurations' in the trade, that upset the balance of a coat and must be identified during the measuring stage and then provided for when the garment is cut.

They come in many guises - an erect (upright) or stooped posture, shoulders that slope severely, or, where one 'drops,'(slopes) lower than the other. A sway stance whereby a customer stands with his hips forward, a prominent chest, big thighs, skinny legs, moobs, muffin-tops, the list is endless..

Over the years I've probably spent more time checking out men's bodies than Graham Norton and never really switch off my tailoring radar. For example check out the picture below.



Yesterday, I attended a Speed Awareness Course after being caught on camera speeding. After only two minutes in the conference room, I'd spotted that the bloke in front of me had square shoulders (meaning they hardly slope at all). Had he been wearing an off the peg jacket, chances are a horizontal crease would be lurking just under the back of the collar. In fact you can see it happening on his jumper.

The cure for this would be to do a 'square back neck' in the cutting room. Rather than go into what this physically means, all I'll say is that there are many wonderful things that can be done with a pair of shears and some wadding to hide away our little faults and emphasise the good stuff.

This desire to flatter the figure and achieve balance continues throughout the fitting stage where small notches of white thread are sewn into the garment (as can be seen below) to act a bit like mini spirit-levels so we can make sure the garment isn't lopsided and if so, have a marker with which to make adjustments.



But at the end of the day we can't achieve miracles. Someone with a fifty inch tummy is never going to look like Leonardo DiCaprio in one of our suits no matter what we do. As one of my coat-makers once said, "James, I'm a tailor, not a bloody surgeon." Spoken like a true Yorkshireman.

It's Cuffing Winter!

The days of grilled fish and a lingering G'n'T after work are gone. Winter is upon us and it's time to pull up the drawbridge, uncork the red, slam a pie in the oven and welcome back the captains of crap TV into out homes. May I propose a toast to Messers Sugar, Forsythe, Michel Roux Jnr, and the modern day Cowley that is Sir Harry Pearce.

It's also a time to sort out the wardrobe. Light grey suits in floaty nine ounce cloths must give way to heavier twelve ounce weights in darker tones, with Flannels, Corduroy, Moleskin and Tweeds getting their turn in the spotlight.

As far as business goes, overcoats and winter jackets are the order of the day, and we are up to our eyes in dinner suits for forthcoming award ceremonies, balls, dinners, and Christmas parties.

But every now and then we get the chance to do something different. Here I am below with Richard, a new customer who shares my taste in Jeffery West shoes and sharply tailored bespoke suits.



He's just taken delivery of a rather dashing three piece to be christened at York races. It's made up in a modern, golden-brown herringbone design incorporating a striking orange over-check with chocolate brown velvet collar and jetted pockets.

It also incorporates those little extras that might be frowned upon by traditionalists but warm the very cockles of my heart. The devil, as they say, is in the detail, and life wold be dull without a little misbehaviour. Like many men, I'm a fan of the 'working cuff,' whereby the button holes are cut and sometimes sewn by hand, allowing the wearer to undo the cuff buttons.

I think they hark back to the days when it was frowned upon if a gentlemen removed his jacket in public. A well healed chap at the opera, could pop into the gents at half-time, undo his cuffs, roll back his sleeves, wash his hands and head back out for a glass of fizz without, heaven forbid, showing his shirt.

Wrongly, it's become a mark of 'bespoke' and I have seen them incorporated in 'off-the-peggers.' Whilst it is never going to be as important as other key areas of construction, I think it's a nice touch like the one pictured below, particularly when combined with a flash of velvet, or lining, under the vent where the buttons sit.

As you can see, it's rather subtle but will catch the eye of a fine filly when you open the car door of your Aston, or wink at the lesser dressed guy in front of you at the boardroom table when you sign that meaty contract.



And then there is the humble 'flower loop' like the one pictured below - it's a small loop of thread that is sewn behind the lapel hole of a coat. It allows the wearer to simply pop a flower through his button hole and neatly tuck the stem away under the loop, rather than fiddle around with pins and clips. Can you spot the "Made in England" label? Something of a rarity these days.



Like with the working cuffs, I've seen them on ready-to-wear garments but it does take time to make one, particularly when, like ours, it is done by hand and can be seen in the following video:



Final touches are the addition of a metallic copper lining and the Michelsberg badge of honour, that enriches the wardrobes of many and strikes fear into the hearts of lesser tailoring companies.



There's no escaping the fact that we've got some tough months ahead. It's going to get cold, damp, with less daylight hours than a Chilean miner, but we've got to stay positive. So here's to cosy nights in front of the box and perhaps something in cashmere to keep the winter chills at bay.

White Lines

Pete Doherty and I both get a kick when we look into a mirror and see lots of white lines that are perfectly lined up...

I do feel a little cruel using this picture of Pete as in my past I have stumbled out of clubs like Back-to-Basics and SW1 at five in the morning looking a little 'worse for wear,' and so apologise to our Burberry clad friend for using a cheap shot to try and inject some humour into this missive.

Anyway, back to white lines - check out these beauties below:



Can you see how the chalk-stripes on the shoulder match-up across the seam, and how those on the collar meet with those running down the back of the coat?

Beautiful, and it gets even better - at the top of the page, you'll notice how the stripes on the collar match-up with the stripes on the peak lapel. Bring on Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee because this my friends is a bit of tailoring magic.

There are some tailors on the Row who say that matching up the stripes on the shoulders is impossible without corrupting the integrity and fit of the jacket. They argue that the back of the shoulder is longer than the front and so fullness (extra cloth) needs to be eased into the seam to avoid any tightness across the shoulder, which in doing so, makes it impossible to get the stripes in the right place. A convincing argument, so who to believe?

I put this to a young Yorshire tailor by the name of Robert who helps to make-up my coats, as well as those of a number of well known London tailoring houses. He's a cracking lad who loves a bit of banter (usually at my expense), and his enthusiasm for the trade fills me with joy - he even reads historic books on pattern-cutting during his lunch-break! He simply grinned, shrugged his shoulders and with a typically blunt reply made it clear he was not of the same opinion.

I then spent the next forty five minutes trying to get to the bottom of it with two other tailors and also to try and better understand more about what is actually involved in getting the stripes on the lapels and collar to match.

In short, it is so complicated that my head nearly exploded and without getting too technical, or giving away too many secrets, the shoulders are matched up at the cutting stage and the collar is handmade (see below) and put on by hand at the under-basting and finishing stages.



Going off piste for a second, I want to talk about my brother, Edward - I believe he has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If you look in his kitchen, all the labels on the tins in his cupboards face the same direction, it is so clean you could perform surgery on the work surfaces and all his herbs are lined up on the shelf alphabetically. This is clearly a man who can see the value in matching stripes!

All I can say is this - I adore pin-stripes, like mine to match and have never experienced any tightness across the shoulders as a result. The unbroken flow of those striking white lines as they sweep majestically down to the floor to meet my Jeffery's is, much like Pete Doherty, poetry in motion.

Covert Coats - who's your daddy?

Brrr - it's been as cold as a polar bear's privates this weekend so what a cracking excuse to show off my new 'covert' coat pictured above. Technically it's not a true covert coat for reasons which I will explain below and so I have come up with my own name for it - "The Daddy."

It's styled along the lines of "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," pimped up with some purple velvet which came from the same piece used to make a jacket for Elton John - cross my heart this is true! - and made from a Super 100's cloth with cashmere from Edwin Woodhouse.

A covert coat gets it's name from the hardwearing 'covert' cloth from which it is made - a process which involves the twisting together of 2 threads of a similar colour (usually in faun or green) which results in a durable fabric with a slightly mottled finish. The term 'covert' comes from the French "couvert", meaning shelter, and over time came to mean a hiding place for grouse and pheasants.

Originally worn in the countryside, it is single breasted, has a fly front (you can't see the buttons) , often velvet collars, slanted flaps on the outside of the coat with a ticket pocket above the one on the right hand side, and, uniquely has a number of rows of stitching on the ends of the sleeves and the hem. In the 'old days' this stitching was to stop the lining from getting ripped out as the landed gentry steamed over thorny hedges during a hunt for foxy. Allegedly, the greater the number of rows, the more hard-core the rider.

Mine has three rows (four is more common) which I'll admit is still ridiculous as the last time I was put on a horse I was nine, the owner smacked it's arse, it bolted, I threw myself off it in fear for my life and have been scared of horses ever since. I'd like to quote Joan River's comment about horses - "any animal that sh*ts and walks at the same time has got to be stupid." Nowadays, I think the stitches are to prevent the lining from getting ripped during tussles to get on the tube at rush hour in London - don't miss it a bit!! Ah, wonderful Yorkshire....

Anyway, back to my coat - I love it. Whilst I get a real buzz making clothes for my clients and watching them wallow in front of the mirror in their new threads, making something for myself is particularly sweet. So bring on the next cold snap and watch out all you foxes, "the daddy" is ready and waiting.

Looking after your threads

A question I'm often asked is, "what should I do to look after my suit?" In short, treat it with a little love and kindness and it will grow old gracefully.

I have a wonderfully eccentric client who recently attended a wedding and am reliably informed ended up "windmilling" on the dance-floor wearing a jacket I'd made-up for him in a 12oz worsted cloth. Whilst this is quite a hard wearing fabric and our jackets are well constructed, this goes beyond normal wear and tear.

So, the first rule - no break-dancing.

The second - invest in a trouser press (corby) - it will double the life of your suit because they have a nice fat coathanger on the back which will keep the shape in the shoulders, allow the creases to fall out of the jacket (as it's not rammed into an overcrowded wardrobe) and the pleats in your trousers will be kept as sharp as a razor.

The third - buy some decent coat hangers (big ends to support the shoulders) and a quality clothes brush and give it a good going over each time you wear it. I know it sounds a bit OTT but is does help to remove the dirt particles that get ingrained in the wool fibres when out and about.

The forth, and perhaps most important, is rotation. If you've just bought a new suit don't rise to the temptation of wearing it all the time. I appreciate it's a bit tricky if your wardrobe is limited, but clothes need a rest after a days graft. They need to get on their hangar and chill out for a day or two. If you are going to wear a suit often, it does makes sense to buy an extra pair of trousers.

And last but not least - avoid taking it into the dry cleaners as much as possible. Most use liquid chemicals called solvents that will remove stains from a variety of fabrics, however, the most common chemical used is called "Perc" which is toxic with both human health and environmental concerns, although these have yet to be proved....(don't want a law case on my hands!) In my opinion, the less contact natural fibres like wool have with chemicals the better.

Is what most suits need to give them a new lease of life is a good press and this bring me to the very happy looking gentleman who is pictured at the top of this entry on the left hand side - introducing Brian.


Pressing is an art and it is a vital part during the creation of a bespoke suit. In the old days, tailors worked wonders with a 14lb iron and a wet rag, but today's technology has improved things amazingly. It is the steam that relaxes the fibres of the cloth which is then shaped accordingly but the trick is then to remove the steam as if the cloth is left damp, it will easily crease. Today's steam presses are very clever and incorporate a heating element and a pedal-operated vacuum to pull air through the board and dry the garments but the finished job is only as good as the person using it - if a press was a piano, then Brian is the Mozart of the North.

So that's about it for now - all that remains is to wish you all a wonderful Christmas break- I will be spending mine in the Lake District - log fires, warm beer and fresh air. Perfect.

Michelsberg Tailoring in the Yorkshire Post

The Yorkshire Post wrote a terrific article about our coming move to a working mill just outside Leeds - Edwin Woodhouse & Co Ltd - one of the oldest and I believe finest producers of fine worsteds in the country.
Currently in the process of building new offices and a showroom, the plan is to be able to show my clients around the mill, explain how the cloth is produced and then retire to my quarters for a consultation and fitting over a freshly made coffee or, perhaps, something a little stronger.
As one of my favourite cloth suppliers, most of their business is overseas although they do deal with some lesser know tailors than myself such as Gieves and Hawkes and Ozwald Boateng… you can read the article here.