A Package from Pasadena, or How to Get from Savile Row to Ames, Iowa in Only 13 Years

[Fletch]

Today I received an eBay win I want to tell you about. For the sum of $145 + p&p, I have become the owner of a bespoke 3pc black and white tweed suit by the Savile Row firm of Dege, latterly known as Dege & Skinner.
http://www.dege-skinner.co.uk/

Now this is a very, very high-end maker indeed. Dege currently advertises bespoke 2pc suits starting at £2,515 ($3,467 in today's somewhat devalued sterling). The eBay vendor, out of a Pasadena, CA address, advised this suit had probably cost close to $4,000 new.

The material (a heavy, resilient herringbone I would estimate at 18 oz.), the details (including fully lined trousers and a discreetly roped shoulder), and the overall appearance of the suit show a level of craftsmanship seldom found today. (Pictures to come when I have a little more time.) The silhouette itself - a gracefully suppressed 3-button with 6-button vest and tabbed waist trousers - suggested a customer, and a maker, who knew what they wanted and were not limited by the trends of the day or the cost of real quality.

Inside the pocket, in tiny faint typewriting, was the date 11/3/1996 and a discreetly Wite-Outed name. Scraping off the white revealed it as W____ J_____.

After a few minutes' Googling the most likely W____ J_____ to have purchased a $4,000 3pc tweed suit in 1996 appeared to be the late founder or a Los Angeles market research firm. Born 1927, North Carolina. WW2 Navy vet, Chicago B-School alum. Among other things, a charity director and a world traveler (presumably how he got familiar with Dege). Died 2005 leaving a wife, 4 children and 7 grands. Known, said the obituary, for his "graciousness and gentle character," he presumably also had a reputation for impeccable taste.

There is one catch with Mr. J_____'s suit, which mostly fits me very well. And it's a big catch. It has surgeon's cuffs. And the sleeves need let down as much as can be. Mr. J_____ had unusually short arms for his size.

Quality comes at a price, even when you only pay $145. [huh]

 

[dhermann1]

I recently got a fabulous Austen Reed 30's vintage tux from England, via Ebay, as well. The original owner's name had been neatly and discreetly snipped out of the label. Wish I knew. You can't get this kind of quality at almost any price over here. The sleeves are quite long on me, and I'm confilcted about taking it to a tailor. So it may be in the classifieds or Ebay some time later.
Again, the winning bid, PLUS shipping from the UK, was only $160.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Can't wait for the photos! Sounds too good not to see :eusa_clap

.

 

[Fletch]

Are all bets off when lengthening surgeon's cuffs?

I'm not worried about the buttonholes - it's tweed; they can darn them shut - but I see that diagonal fold under the corner of the sleeve and I think, "Uh oh. Won't be long enough."

I tried the jacket on my dad, who's a short fitting, but this is really a regular with short sleeves. He was swimming in most of it.

 

[Orgetorix]

Are all four of the buttonholes on the sleeves working? Some Savile Row houses only cut through the lower two, for just this situation. The faux stitching on the upper two can be picked out, the sleeves lengthened, and one or two new buttonholes made in the proper location below.

Even so, I wouldn't expect to get more than 1/4"-1/2" out of it.

But if the sleeves are in the neighborhood of 24" or so, you know we're the same size...you can send it my way and I'll take it off your hands.

 

[Fletch]

You're right, the upper 2 holes are dummies.

But I'm going to need every last bit of the 2" or so of material inside - to the point of facing the insides if need be.

There are deep side vents in back, which could be closed up and the overlap used for the facing.