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Gold Labels - For The One Off Pieces - Le Noeud Papillon Of Sydney

Arriving this week were our new limited edition gold labels for one off pieces on the website. They're super cool, super sexy. I am hoping our customers will find them equally exciting. First cabs off the rank will be early next week. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Be Prepared For Your Next Black Tie Function

It's that time of year again and of course, once you pick up your tuxedo you'll have to make a decision on your bow tie and pochette. We are here, as always, to serve you, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week on Whatsapp +61413140994

A Bespoke Tailor In Sydney - Leng Ngo - And Also Does The Best Alterations In Town

Flash as a rat with a gold tooth. That's what my old business partner used to say to me if I wore anything too ritzy. But ritz is sometimes just my thing. This most recent suit was supposed to be an homage to the gangster films such as Goodfellas and Casino - where slubbed silk dupioni was de rigeur in the world of gambling, mafia connections, cocaine use, women of ill repute, wives who disdained women of ill repute and threw things at their husbands, murder and intrigue and what not. Not that anything like that happens in my life. But I do love the theatre of clothes.

So the first problem to solve was where to find the silk dupioni. We found it out of the New York office of Holland And Sherry through Zalman Lever, of Alexander Black NYC, a custom clothier. Zalman sourced the fabric and measured me, took notes on the styling I wanted and then I have him carte blanche to do the trousers as he saw fit. I wanted the suit to have presence as it will be in the window of the Studio for the spring carnival horse racing season.

Once the suit was finished in the Chinese workroom is was then sent to Sydney where I then took it to my tailor, Leng Ngo, below, and he finished the suit by bring it in here and there, finishing the trousers, bringing them slightly in to be more tapered and he also finished the button position and put grey Australian mother of pearl buttons on front and sleeves.

The result was to my mind, spectacular. The slubbed silk and the shimmy of the electric blue is so visually arresting that every time I walk past the Studio window I have to stop myself. Even after all these years of working with fabrics and making bow ties, I still get so excited when something really catched my eye and this is one of those stand out cloths I have worked with.

But it's not on the mannequin that it really comes alive. It needs a human. So I walked out of my office last Friday night and went to a bar. I wore no socks with a pair of Lobb Kiplings, put on a high collar pink shirt that was made for my by Studio Shirts in Macquarie Street and then I threw on a triple warp garza grossa bow tie made by us. You know, you have no idea how wonderful it is to take a portly somewhat long in the tooth man like myself and voila, a star is born. A movie star. A sheik. An oil baron. A shipping magnate. Such is the fun with good tailoring that nobody in the bar that I went to thought of me as a small artisan working out of a 30 square metre space. It was like, if you will, letting the genie out of the bottle.

If you, like me, enjoy a bit of theatre in life. Google Leng Ngo and he can knock you out a suit like that. Or google Alexander Black NYC if you are stateside and he will sort you out.

A Fresh Batch of Bow Ties Are On The Website

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What Are The Best Tailoring Scissors In The World - Potentially They Are Kai 7300 Series

In the Sydney Studio where I cut my silks I generally stock to rotary blades. The best rotary cutter in the world, in my opinion, is the well balanced and weighty Gingher rotary cutter - but I ordinarily switch out the Gingher blades for the titanium Fiskars blades which, depending on where you can source them, are a more economical and sharper blade (though the gingher looks more sexy). The other thing is I am left handed, and Gingher, which is made in Italy, is the only company that offers a left handed rotary cutter.

But when I am not using my rotary blade to cut silks, I am using my tailoring scissors to either cut fabrics or else to cut the patterns in the workroom that don't suit a rotary blade. For example, aspects of cutting ties, cutting rolls of fabrics and cutting the curved shapes of silk eye shades, require scissors. Over the years I have tried many varieties of scissors. There were the Schneider (German word for tailor) scissors from Zwilling, titanium ones from Fiskars (which are excellent), the classic red-handled ones from Mundial you find at fabric wholesalers and then, finally, the more upmarket Kai scissors with Japanese blades.

Of all of them, and it's now been eleven years that I have been applying myself to this craft, I recommend the Kai 7300 professonal tailoring scissors range. Made from Japanese steel they have not only a presence and feel in the hand that makes you feel more confident, but they blade is much much more smoother to the cut and it doesn't take much to splice the fabric without actually using the scissor mechanics. Despite their size (I use the 300mm version), it doesn't take long to get a grip on using them. The only problem I have encountered with scissors is that there is not enough information on how to sharpen them effectively and not enough information on how to maintain them over time. As is the case with many of my scissors, I am never quite sure if I am tightening the blades back correctly.

So if you are starting out for the first time cutting fabrics my suggestion is this. Start with a premium Fiskars rotary cutter and a self-restoring mat from Olfa or Fiskars. Concurrently start with the Fiskars titanium scissors. When you get a grip on it, buy yourself a Gingher rotary cutter for the balance and weight of it and concurrently move up your scissors to the Kai professional tailoring range. 

Working On Animal Line Drawing Silk Jacquards

The perfect place to start on a new silk design is by looking at nature, both flora and fauna. The Japanese, who inspire me most, seem to be able to capture the best lines to show fluidity and detail, just enough, never too much. Recently I have been looking at animal designs again and I went back to some photographs that Sydney wildlife photographer Margaret Weiss suggested I use as reference for a second design using her photographs. The photos are stunning. Eagles in flight. Whether I manage to turn it into something beautiful remains to be seen.

In Praise Of The Ruffled Dinner Shirt

Not everyone can pull of a ruffled dinner shirt. It has that 70's peacock appeal but the problem is that most people in today's climate would make it look Austin Powers cheesey. However, Andy has made it work for him. Read our instagram post below.

I prematurely posted this image of Andy the other night that was his ensemble for a trip to Las Vegas. He's channelling the 70's with a ruffled bib shirt he designed with the wonderful artisan shirt makers at @buddshirtmakers of which we once interviewed their cutter @cutteratbudd James for our own blog. The wide beige shawl lapel works so well with the shirt and his eye for good tailoring and proportions means his look, though referencing 70s black tie, is still so fresh even in 2019. And you can see said ensemble at the @bellagio by following through to @styleafter50 .

Make A Booking At The Studio And We Can Cut It In Front Of You

There is a feeling of joy that those that visit the Studio in Sydney get that surpasses the web experience. You get to see and touch with the naked eye. And we will the Studio with art and knick knacks and prototypes. I try to replicate that experience on our Instagram stories but nothing really matched what I call hand-to-hand combat - the getting to know someone in person experience. For those of you in Sydney who have the time in your schedule to swing past, Whatsapp me on +61413140994 to arrange a time. 

Private Label - Are You A Tailor Wanting To See Your Tuxedo Look Its Best?

It's sad when you see a tailor do and amazing piece of work and post it up to his Instagram wall with the customer wearing a very ordinary silk bow tie, the worst being the pre-tied ones. We have been making private label bow ties for very reputable tailors for many years, both in Australia and overseas. If you are interested in us making bow ties for your tailoring or retail business, Whatsapp us +61413140994 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.