A bespoke blog
The desire here was not so much to wear a bespoke suit as to find out how much one costs. Thanks to English Cut, the blog of "Thomas Mahon, bespoke Savile Row tailor", I can now reveal that a two-piece job costs £1,710 (€2,598; $3,160). But what if you have only £200 to spend? "For that money, I'm afraid all you'll get on Savile Row is a very good meal for you and your friends at Sartoria, a lovely restaurant on the corner of Savile Row and Old Burlington Street," writes Thomas Mahon. Such honesty delivered with such grace, suggests that a Mahon suit must be a very elegant piece of work indeed.
The web being the place that it is, one link leads to another and so a virtual stroll down Savile Row produces no end of entertainment. Kilgour, which was founded in 1882, and modestly describes itself as "probably the most versatile and innovative menswear business in Savile Row" offers the following gem: "A member of the Irish gentry complained of being cold in his castle during the winter months, the stone walls and 30 foot high ceilings not being conducive to heat retention. Kilgours constructed a mink lined tweed Inverness cape with mink cuffs and edges. This magnificent garment weighed over 30 pounds and provided most satisfactory service." And the rest of us have to make do with woolly jumpers sans castles. Brrrr. This just in: if the EU commissars have their way, we won't even have jumpers to freeze in this winter.
