Tailoring is a trade that has a lot of tradition, lots of history and also lots of rules.
Tradition covers a lot of ground of course, the cloths that are used, how things are made and constructed and how the trade is followed and passed down.
The same can be said for the history of the trade, who did what and when did they do it. Who did they work for and who have they made for?
Both of these things are of course important and should be cherished and held on to and passed down and the same can be said for the rules. Can’t it?
Tailoring and suit wearing does tend to have a lot of rules. You have to wear this sort of suit to this event; you can’t use this sort of cloth for this sort of garment. This button should never be done up and this one should always be done up. This sort of stitch shouldn’t be used here but can be used there. Only ever wear this sort of shoe with that sort of trouser and so on and so on.
“Never wear brown in town Sir” or “bottom button done up on your waistcoat Sir? Tsk Tsk”
You get the idea.
Perhaps it all falls under etiquette instead. Either way, there are lots of rules, lots of do and don’t, lots of ways to get it wrong or if you love the rules and many do, lots of ways to get it right. Essentially there is nothing wrong with rules or wanting to follow them if that is your thing, in fact more power to you, but that does bring me to the other thing that suit wearing and tailoring has and that is gatekeepers.
Now I am a Tailor, I understand and know the rules but do I follow them? Some maybe but all of them? No way. Do I enforce them on my customers? Well, never.
If there is one thing I have always hated, it’s feeling silly if I get something wrong. Feeling like I’ve made a misstep because I haven’t followed something that I ‘should have’ known about and my thoughts on this with tailoring is no different.
I’m a very strong believer that style is a very personal thing, something individual to the person in question. That doesn’t mean you need to dress completely differently to everyone else, in fact you can wear exactly the same as everyone else if you want to, and that is the key thing, IF YOU WANT TO.
Rules are great but they can be broken, perhaps should be broken, if you want to find your own style, be yourself and wear what you like and what you feel good or comfortable in, not what some gatekeeper tells you to wear or smirks if you’ve done one too many buttons up.
Our approach at H&H is to be yourself and for us to help you find the suit or jacket, trousers or waistcoat you want to wear. Always has been and always will be and of course that does include following the rules if that’s what you want to do, as I said there is nothing wrong with that, if that is what YOU want.
Be yourself, wear what you want and like, find your own style, borrow looks, try stuff out, wear something you will never wear again and fall in love with clothes and shoes but above all else be your own gatekeeper and don’t worry about what other people think.
Rules can be helpful and even fun but gatekeepers? Nah fuck em.