We use the modern way of making suits, referred to as “half hand canvassing”. This is where the chest area is canvassed – thus creating a floating piece – while the bottom area is fused. We use very soft Italian canvas and French interlining for the fusion.

Some would say that means that we have a ‘floating canvas’ but the correct description is “half hand canvassing”.

I might not go that far, but with so many designers offering a double breasted suit in their ranges this year, it seems that the classic double breasted suit might just be back. At least for a year or two. Or perhaps even longer for those of us living a little further from the fashion capitals of the world.

With a six-button double breasted suit, I would still suggest using the middle button for the closure, though as Tom shows here, you might even get away with a four-button jacket.

I do like his use of a pocket square. Simple. Elegant.

Special Offer: Suit and a shirt for $400

There are a few new features – such as the flower loops – that we are starting to introduce across our range. We are always on the lookout for ways to improve the products we offer you, so if you come across something that you like, please just let me know and I’ll see what we can do!

If you haven’t been to our website in the past few hours, you might not have noticed that I have just created a special offer: Suit and a shirt for just $400!

We can have it made from cotton, wool, silk or even linen. To the right is a picture of a suit that we had made for Will from Brisbane earlier this week – just before we sent it to him.

If you’re interested, please start by creating your new shirt or suit on our website – just let me know what sort of fabric you’re after in the special requests section. Now remember that this Special Offer can only last until the end of September. That’s just about three weeks.

So get yourself measured up and into a new set of clothes faster and easier than ever before.

That way, you get the chance to show your cuff links and the style of your choice of cuffs. You can make it look even better with the use of working buttons so that you can leave one or two buttons deliberately undone.

So check your sleeves. Make sure that when you are standing up, you can still see some of your cuff – about 1cm is perfect.

Unless you want to look like you borrowed your jacket of course.

But mostly these days we just use them for a flower. Well, in theory we do. But in reality: Rarely. If ever. When was the last time you wore a flower on your suit jacket?

“But,” you ask, “how do you keep the flower in place anyway?” And it was a problem so I’m glad you asked…

Some will debate whether they should be cut through at all or just left sitting there as a ‘design feature’ or something. But I like to use mine. Just like I like to have working cuff buttons. And to make it even more usable, I realized that I could put a little stitch of fabric just below the hole. That way, the flower will be held in place by its own weight!

You might be able to see the orange thread in the image above.

Now this little loop of fabric has to be stitched by hand – but it is the kind of detail that could really make a difference.

So it’s springtime and it’s so easy to do – I am updating all my suits now.

DIY Emergency Cufflinks

It’s a formal event; you’ve got your shoes shining, your suit pressed, and you’re ready to wow the crowd with your dapper outfit. There’s just one problem: You forgot cuff links. What can you do?

If you’re blogger Even Roth, you dip into your office supplies, grab some binder clips, and fashion some DIY Emergency Cuff Links. Roth’s posted the entirely visual step-by-step on his blog…

Clever!

This special offer – $300 for suits and $50 for shirts – will only last for a few more days. We were going to finish it tonight, but there have been so many of you asking that we have it run for another few days, I figure that we can find a way. But remember, that it’s for my wedding, so we can really only do this once!

So please get your orders in soon.

That’s just $300 for a custom-made suit… a suit that fits.

And it’s just $50 for a custom-made shirt.

… That’s cheaper than you’d pay for off-the-rack options. (No wonder this offer is popular.)

To create your design, please just select that fabric in our ordering interface – it should be right up the top – and customize your order as usual.

To make it easier for you, here is our gentlemen’s measurement page (pdf) and another for our ladies. Remember that as we don’t have a shopfront, we make it easy for you to head down to your local drycleaner or alterations store with this form. Just let them know that you’re having clothes made with us, and for a small fee (sometimes free even – other times perhaps $10), they can do your measurements for you. It will just take you 10 minutes or so.

And thanks very much for your best wishes. I really do appreciate it!

By the way, we’re working on a new way to choose fabrics more easily – it should be coming out in the next few days…

My fiancee is from Shanghai, and we have built a wonderful relationship with some of the local suppliers. They offer suits that are much more affordable than even our regular range, and I wonder whether you might be interested in trying them out. We have had a small number of items made from them already, and I’m now willing to invite you to secure your own.

Now please know that we haven’t got everything quite as smooth as our regular range. We don’t even have photos of the fabrics on the website.

But, for only the next two weeks – that is until 30 June – you can:

Get a great suits for just $300 and shirts for just $50!

We are even throwing in Express Delivery for the regular price. Now, this only applies to the $300 suits and $50 shirts – we can only do this because I am physically in Shanghai right now! But if you want to speak with me, you can just call me on 02 8011 3727 and it will redirect straight to my mobile here.

As I said, we don’t have the pictures on the website – we don’t have the pictures at all! Instead, when you decide to order, we’ll work directly with you, so that we can create your new shirt or suit.

Contact us or use the recently improved interface and select “Wedding Special” and we’ll sort out the details. If you can tell me what sort of fabric you are after, we can find something suitable.