The Forward Fitting

When having something bespoke made, the 'forward fitting' for those who don't know, is the fitting where the customer sees the garment more or less made-up and completed for the first time. It comes after the 'baste' fittings where most of the structural tweaking of the garment takes place, with the garment being stitched together temporarily using white 'baste' stitching for the customer to try on, before it is broken back down into its individual cloth panels and adjusted as required (as is the customer's pattern) before being re-baste stitched back together for the next fitting. 

Unfortunately I began this blog just after having my baste fitting for this suit, so we're joining the process at the forward fitting stage (with one more fitting to come).  Nonetheless, this is an incredibly exciting moment in the long process of having something made. As I said, this is the first time that both the customer and tailor see the garment made-up for the first time, and I can't tell you just how much I've been anticipating the arrival of my new suit - a beautiful fully-bespoke chocolate three piece cocktail evening suit from my tailors The Cad & the Dandy. I'm sure you'll agree that they've done a marvelous job!

This suit has been a long time coming, I placed the order back in July and was squirreling away funds to afford it for some six months prior to that. Given that the forward fitting is really the first time a garment is seen with its finished shape, its the shape and form of the suit; its silhouette and colour, that I'd like to take you through in this post.

I've gone for a beautifully rich, glossy super 160s two-tone chocolate herringbone, with a very fine turquoise pinstripe running through, from the exquisite Bateman Ogden Midnight Oasis bunch, and I'm pleased to say that everyone who's seen the suit in the tailors thinks that the cloth is a great choice. Its unusual to find a cloth with such a high yarn count weighing in at 10 ounces, normally they're 8 to 9 and very delicate and thin. This cloth strikes the perfect balance between feeling luxurious, flowing and airy, whilst still having enough body to feel full and drape well and to be dense and durable enough to count this an investment piece. My next confession is that I actually bought a five metre length of the cloth on Ebay, for £190.00 because buying it from a wholesaler, rather than through the tailors directly, saved me around £800.00 - such is the quality and expense of this cloth normally. The suit has been lined in a handsome turqoise and ochre paisley lining by Dugdale Bros the warmth of which compliments the warm chocolate hues in the suit, and picks out the turquoise pinstripe. 

As you can see, the suit is another piece which I've designed with a very clear 1930s influence. Keen readers will know that this is my favourite aesthetic, and heavily influences the way I like to dress - and given that its a suit I've splashed out on for formal parties and occasions, the cut is even more dressy than my blue flannel 30s suit (which you can read a little about here). I've kept to the things I really like, a long coat with a boxy skirt, structured shoulder and sharply fitted hourglass waist with lots of fullness and flare in the skirt. In term of styling, I've kept to one button closure, and a deep-cut single rear vent. Also present is my usual broad, sweeping peaked lapel and a high-waisted trouser which is worn with braces, vertical cut trouser pockets, turn-ups to add balance and body to the leg, and inverted pleats. On this suit I've kept to single pair, and I love the effect they produce, they flow outward down the leg from the waistband, in an elegant curve over the hips which helps to define an hourglass shape running through the body - which the high-sitting double breasted waistcoat supports with its hourglass silhouette and curved shawl-collar lapels.

That's how the style of the suit works, but I think that's enough for now - as I said, this suit uses The Cad & the Dandy's full bespoke service, and its the first fully bespoke suit I've had made, so there will be a lot more to say on the benefits of a true bespoke service to come. In the next post on this suit (which will follow my final fitting in a week and half's time) I'll take you through the benefits that bespoke can bring to the fit of a suit and enlarge on some of the specialist details that only bespoke tailoring can offer.

In conjunction with these posts on future fittings, over the next few weeks, I'm going to start running a series of posts on both the bespoke process and the specific process of constructing a fully tailored suit, which I hope will become the definitive explanatory guide for those who are unsure about certain parts of the bespoke process. There's going to be lots going on, so please keep checking my Facebook and Twitter feeds for updates!