The Grey Trouser Project with Cad & the Dandy III: The Second Basted Fitting

With the vast majority of structural alterations undertaken at the first skeleton baste, I'm pleased to report that there was very little to be done at the second fitting of the two pairs of grey autumnal trousers I'm having made by bespoke tailors Cad & the Dandy. Given the amount of work that had been undertaken to transform the trousers from the first to second fitting, I had been eagerly awaiting the summons to the second fitting, hoping that it'd give me the opportunity to experience that magical sensation which fellow bespoke customers will be familiar with, where one senses their commission really taking shape as a bespoke product for the first time.

 Sizing up the light grey twill pair with Mr. Paul White, tailor at Cad & the Dandy.

The first fitting which took place a few weeks ago revealed that quite a lot of difficult structural work needed to be done and that my pattern required updating thanks to changes in my body-shape; the thighs needed more space and my 'sway-back' in tailor's-speak (or the concave curvature of my spine) meant that the rear half of the trouser legs needed 'picking-up' or re-cutting into the waistband to remove about half an inch of unnecessary cloth present in the rear half of each trouser leg. Likewise, the waists and trouser forks needed to come out a little, to give the trousers a little more room to sit faultlessly around my seat. There was a lot of work to be done, and with so much letting-out going on, I was a little apprehensive that the trousers would be feeling a little over-worked and brutalised at the second fitting.

At this stage, the trousers are sitting much cleaner around my thigh and seat, and the slight drag around my hip bones will be eased once the waistband is attached and the pockets go in, allowing the trousers to sit properly. The trousers are also to be finished with no break at the front for a cleaner finish.

Fortunately not however, the trousers now feel absolutely perfect on and they are draping (as far as I can see) pretty much perfectly both front and back. Readers may now start to get a sense of how elegant heavily draped, 30s inspired trousers look when they're fitted faultlessly - but there'll be more discussion on style and fit in the final instalment of the series in a few weeks time. Needless to say, slipping on each pair at this stage and having them fit so perfectly did indeed bring with it that truly magical sense of anticipation borne of seeing a bespoke commission coming to life.

On returning to the second fitting, Mr. Paul White another of Cad & the Dandy's highly skilled tailors (who very keen readers will remember appeared on this blog when it was in its infancy - in the guise of his previous role with Hackett London) sized me up and determined that there is now very little to be done. I was very happy with the shape of both pairs and how clean the lines of the trousers are now, particularly just underneath the waistband and around the seat of each pair, where before there was a wealth of rippling and creasing. Paul's expert eye did however notice that the tiniest bit of room was still required in the fork of each trouser, and suggested letting the fork out further by a quarter of an inch on each pair to keep me comfortable when sitting. The fork is essentially the very bottom seam of the trouser as it sits round the middle, running as it does between the wearer's two legs and into the centre rear back seam which runs up the seat of the trousers to the middle of the waistband.

Basted garments are initially made-up without pockets or a waistband so that they can be more easily altered.

That's all there is to it really at this stage. The trousers now require lining, the pleats and creases pressing-in properly and a waistband with side-adjusters need attaching. The vertical welt pockets also need to go in and pocket openings will be finished by hand. Note how pockets are never added for basted fittings, because the presence of a pocket can disrupt the altering of what would otherwise be clean, linear trouser side-seams if the size of the legs need adjusting (as mine did quite heavily). The forward fitting will come next, where the trousers will have reached their finished form and will essentially be presented for trying on, to see if any final minor adjustments are required. I suspect the trousers will be perfect by that point, given how little needs to be done to them thanks to the wealth of alterations made at the first fitting, so who knows - the next instalment could be the conclusion of this particular project.