Am often asked where I source my suit trimmings used in my video series "The Making of a Coat".
Like most Savile Row houses I use Bernstein & Banley. Unlike most merchants they sell through their online store, theliningcompany.co.uk
There is a full list of all their products as well as photos and listed prices.
International shipping is also offered and they usually send a commercial invoice stating the goods are samples only, avoiding import charges.
You can also call on the number provided, Dan is the sales prep there, he's very helpful.
Thanks Rory,
Outer cloth is usually not too hard to find.
It's getting together all the 'other stuff' to make garments that's the most difficult.
Especially here in the back end of the world ;p
Graham
It's getting to be this way everywhere. I bought some stuff from B&B, via their online iteration, when I was last in England. Other than that I rely on Kenton.
It's annoying though, having to send off to other countries all the time. It's at the point where you go into a so-called 'specialist' sewing shop, allegedly supplying the fashion schools, and they don't stock proper needles, chalk, any proper canvas etc. And then all the blank looks when you ask for these things. Makes me livid.
It is pretty sad the lack of adequate businesses to buy from. One store by San Francisco had half the goods the tailor needs and didn't know anything about the other half. The sew in hook and eyes for trousers, there are a number of different sizes (the smaller ones are for other purposes) mail order and git the wrong size is wasting time. And, would they even have the right size? The store in California only had one size, to small. Canvases with non-natural fibers - who wants that? And who sells non-bias lenin tape in the US? And the list goes on. Mail order is not the same as seeing and touching.
You're right. The only way to know whether something is not worth buying, is to buy it! Only then can you decide, then the process starts again until you've spent more money on mistakes than on the things that get used.
I've never been disappointed with the Lining Company or Kenton and McCullouch.
Yes, Lining Company and Kenton are fine. I've just wasted money elsewhere in the past. Pocketing is one of the worst; even at the good places it alters in quality. I've used all sorts of different cotton cloths for pocketing other than the "official" pocketing. Some of it is dire.
I always use high quality Silesia for pocketing, much nicer and tougher.
Quote from: tombennett on March 08, 2017, 09:52:45 AM
I always use high quality Silesia for pocketing, much nicer and tougher.
I have two rolls of this - one lighter weight and another that would work for overcoats (which I've never attempted), but it's black-ish and often I need off-white or cream. From experience I know that orders for 'silesia' yields different results by mail order.
Many of the traditional names for cloths have become mere names for many merchants. It's not surprising, because wherever you go people seem to have differing ideas about what they look or feel like, what the weave is etc. Look at the description of 'wigan' in the glossary of MTOC 3 and then descriptions elsewhere, they range from dissimilar to contradictory. Not only that,but the supposed uses differ. I suspect that those differences always existed locally, but now we have the internet and people can see that one man's 'wigan' is another man's sackcloth.
This is the stuff I use, it is heavy weight but I use it in trousers so I'm sure it will be cool for coats and overcoats though I'd be tempted to use the lighter weight for waistcoats. I've never been disappointed with this company, they are always willing to send samples of stuff.
http://www.theliningcompany.co.uk/trimmings/cotton-silesia/60-cotton-silesia/
We have always purchased silesia from Whaleys.
The quality has deteriorated over the years. It was tightly woven and had a quite noticeable sheen through the processing of it (calendering)
Our buyer finally complained to them about the decrease in quality we were seeing, which they tried to deny, but we provided samples from 10 years ago that showed the change.
They did look into it and they did report back to us that the calendaring process had been modified (not sure why) and the silesia has improved slightly but it is not anything like it was. 😔 sigh.
Nothing seems to be as good as it used to be, the lighter weight Silesia has a better sheen and seems to have a slightly tighter weave.
As a US-based tailor, it's so difficult to find high-quality horn buttons. Of course, B&B has the right buttons, but $20+ for postage seems a bit much. Are there shops that sell the two-hole genuine horn buttons without such high postage costs?
I order from Italian and French wholesale companies without problems. Nowadays, they accept orders starting from 50 0r 100 pcs. Depending on size, horn can vary from between 40 cents to 1 euro, coroso is from 30cents to 1 euro a piece. The price difference between them and resellers is huge. I try to group to save on shipping cost... Try DEB at www.debspa.it or www.mode-harmony.fr ...
Cheers, Hendrick
These guys buttons are really lovely: http://prestigebuttons.com/
Prestige Shipping for 12 x 32L horn buttons is $7.00 USD
I have used this guy, Bill Wu, in Hong Kong, and was tickled that you can buy them by the Gross.
I was very pleased with their product: https://ywbutton.net/
Maybe Covid has changed things around. I just reviewed their price. The Chinese buttons have a $28.00 shipping fee, and I think that's USD.