Charles may have visited the shop and perhaps even accepted a gift, but this does not make Sam "his tailor." The king's civilian suits are made by Andrson & Sheppard (for decades now), and his military garb by Gieves & Hawkes. You can tell bc he wears a drape cut. 🧵
The term "drape" refers to the extra material around the chest, where excess fabric "drapes" along the armhole. This cut was invented by the Dutch-English tailor Frederick Schlote, who trained Per Anderson, co-founder of Anderson & Sheppard. Here he is with A&S cutter Hitchcock
The drape cut results in a fuller, rounder chest, which you can see here on Daniel Day-Lewis (who is wearing an A&S suit). This cut is essentially the opposite of Sam's, which is very lean through the chest. Sam's tailroing has no shaping.
The drape cut is achieved through pattern drafting and placing a dart that doesn't quite come up to the armhole (allowing some fullness near this area). It's also achieved by cutting the chest piece on a bias, so it gives the chest some roundness. Look at this shaping:
Most people don't need custom tailoring and would be better off with quality ready-to-wear than budget bespoke. If you want to get the drape cut, I recommend Steed in the UK, a company I've used for over a decade. Edwin is a former head cutter at A&S.
Other good tailors in the drape cut tradition include Redmayne (now headed by Tom Mahon) and Steven Hitchcock. All three tailors mentioned have cut clothes for King Charles that he actually wears.
Anyway, it is more important to focus on the quality of work, not client names.
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