How To Look Great in a Recession

I’ve always wanted to say: “Let me introduce you to my tailor”. Silly, I know, but there it is. Well, a couple of years ago, when I began a new phase in my career which involved high visibility - presentations, conferences, working with international music artists, etc - I really wanted to look the part so I hatched a plan.

Now you must understand that, as the years have gone by, and despite my best efforts with a healthy diet and exercise, in my old suits I looked increasingly like one of PG Wodehouse’s characters who was described as being “poured into his suit but someone forgot to say ‘when’”! I do my best to control my bulk but have had little help; even my doctor, on learning that a nagging pain in my lower abdomen had been most likely caused by overdoing sit-ups at the gym with my son, said to me: “You’re 53. Go to the pub!” So he was no help.

My old suits were looking, well, old! The classic suit has its moments but I’ve never really been comfortable in a tie. So I embarked on a quest for new sartorialism and - via an internet search - came across a chap called Harold Rose at Master Tailor, his Leeds-based bespoke tailoring business. I’d browsed made-to-measure suits before but the prices were so incredibly high. But Harold keeps his costs down: for one thing he is entirely mobile and doesn’t have expensive premises in London, or anywhere else, for that matter! So the price I paid for my first suit from him, a superb black suit with subtle stripes (pictured here), was a very nice surprise. I was able to afford to buy a couple of made-to-measure shirts from him too.

His service is excellent. At the fitting he came to my home armed with swatches of some wonderful materials. I made my selection and four weeks later took delivery of the resulting black suit (see photo), which has since attracted lots of positive comments. Since then I have bought a second suit from Harold, brown and black stripes, quite shiny and also looks the business! I can’t recommend him highly enough.

Harold - ever the master promoter as well as master tailor - now talks regularly about looking good in a recession and his suits will certainly do that for you. So if you’re looking for a special suit - if you are in the public eye or you don’t want to be just another ’suit’ - go to Master Tailor, drop Harold an email and tell him Bill Martin sent you! Harold’s suits and shirts have helped me create my own visual ‘brand’, which has been invaluable in setting myself apart visually from others. Why not see what Harold can do for you? You won’t be disappointed.

This entry was posted on 25/05/2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.