Matthew

Matthew joined us in December 2013 straight after his A-Levels. He worked with with John Malone and with Oliver Spencer in the trouser cutting department before moving to the coat department in 2016 and working under Leslie Haynes.

Posts by Matthew

Striking In.

I have been working under Les as a coat cutter for over a year now and one of my favourite parts of the bespoke process it striking in. Les has spent a lot of time showing me how to strike in correctl...

From Trouser Cutter to Coat Cutter

Since August of 2016 I have been training as a Coat Cutting Apprentice under Leslie Haynes. I moved over from the trouser department where I had spent the past two and half years working as a tr...

The Bespoke Tailors Benevolent Association Dinner

Last night Colin Heywood, John Malone, Leon Powell, Martin Crawford, Sam Labone and I represented Anderson & Sheppard at this years Bespoke Tailors Benevolent Association dinner.Formed from a merger o...

Wool BnB – Bespoke Tailoring Demonstration

Last week, Oliver and I visited the Wool BnB in Haggerston to take part in a bespoke tailoring demonstration in honour of Campaign for Wool’s Wool Week. The BnB was amazing; we had half an ...

A Pair of Tartans

It’s been a busy period for all of us at Anderson & Sheppard. Many new orders in the pipeline and one in particular caught my eye so let me take you through what happens in the cutting room.Over...

Grey Flannel Trousers- Cutting The Pattern

New Year’s resolutions are a must and 2016 was no exception. As an apprentice in the cutting room I’ve decided to make myself a pair of trousers. It’s an essential part of becoming a...

Summer Favourites

An array of lightweight suitings, linens, frescos as well as cottons in a range of colours and shades have been a regular sight in our fitting rooms. If one is not a Londoner and is used to hotte...

Preparing the Carnet for the US Trip.

We are putting together the Carnet for the US trip, at the moment it consists of 160 jobs that are ready, and have been submitted through the London Chamber of Commerce. Everything that we send out ha...

Trimming our Trousers

Over the past few weeks our trimmer, Michael Bison had been away due to a minor accident playing football. While he was gone we had a lot of work on our hands; however this experience has given ...

Winter Wear

As the winter progresses, Anderson & Sheppard are overwhelmed with orders that reflect the season’s specials. Over the past months I've seen such warmth of cloth and garments that reflect...

BTBA Summer Ball 2014

The lead up to any BTBA event is always a flurry of activity and this year was no different. Tailors and cutters alike make last minute alterations to their existing garments and put the finishin...

The Bower Roebuck Mill

At the beginning of June Ashley, Emily and I went on a day visit to the Bower Roebuck mill together with other members of the bespoke tailoring trade in Savile Row. The whole day allowed me to meet so...

My chosen career

When I was 16 I thought I knew exactly what path to take. Without much thought I planned to finish my A levels, go to university and start a career in finance, something that's very familiar in my fam...

The Importance of Fittings

As an apprentice Cutter under Mr Hitchcock, I have worked on many facets of cutting and fitting during my 3 and a half years at Anderson and Sheppard. The process of drafting a pattern is challe...

CUTTING FOR OUR PRESENTATION AT LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN

Last November I was asked to cut and fit some pieces for the upcoming Savile Row show as part of London Collections Men. This was a great opportunity for me to be involved in such a tremendous e...

Wearing braces

I began wearing braces relatevity recently. Having had a number of suits now, I have always supported the trousers by having side adjusters. Out of all the ways of keeping trousers supperted by the wa...

BTBA Summer Party

Friday 5th July saw the Bespoke Tailors’ Benevolent Association summer party take place at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in the city. Held annually, it is always a fun night held for a wort...

Savile Row Cutting Diploma

One year ago I started considering doing the Savile Row Cutting Diploma. It is a qualification that I knew would not only be a great experience but particularly worthwhile knowing it was to be j...

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The 12oz Mid Grey Triple Stripe

The mid grey triple stripe is back after a leave of absence and numerous requests. Designed exclusively for us by cloth merchant H. Lesser, in 2000 we refined the design by bringing the three stripes ...

The first fitting

I wrote recently about taking on my first customer at Anderson & Sheppard and creating his pattern. The first fitting with him – the next stage in the bespoke process – took place a couple...

Black tie with waistcoat detail

Black tie with grosgrain-covered buttons. Three piece, the details of the waistcoat show the work around the horseshoe-shaped opening of the lapels. One button, with jetted pockets on the coat

Prince of Wales double-breasted

This double-breasted Prince of Wales jacket is finished, featuring grey horn buttons and some nice pattern matching around the ticket pocket, above

Vintage houndstooth jacket

This houndstooth jacket is an old Anderson & Sheppard, in for repair - a new right pocket bag and repair to the left pocket. Notice the style details like the single button cuff and suede collar

My first finished suit

This is the first suit I have ever cut and made myself - the blue cotton on me, far left. It was rather a challenge and gave me an even greater respect for the tailors we have at Anderson & Shepp...

A tropical double breasted

A tropical-weight pinstripe suit, double breasted in a Super-150 cloth. It will feature cuffs on the sleeves

The cotton option, in khaki

A single-breasted khaki cotton jacket, three button. The work around the front edge and buttonholes is particularly nice, hence the close-ups. You can see the chalk marks where they have been marked o...

Summer jacket in wool and mohair

An alternative summer jacket this, in wool and mohair rather than the more usual linen or cotton. A nice light fawn, with two buttons and an unlined back, ready for a first fitting

Silk, or denim?

An indigo silk herringbone jacket, in for repair, with a good suggestion of denim to it. Black horn buttons give it a very chic look

My first customer

Earlier this year when Mr Hitchcock was on holiday he asked me to look after his customers when they came in, trying the jackets on and doing a few fittings, both forwards and finishes. That seemed to...

Pink Prince of Wales

This grey Prince-of-Wales check is enlivened by a pink overcheck and some pink thread on the buttonholes. Dark brown horn buttons accentuate the effect

Red seersucker jacket

We had a bigger range of seersucker this year, and it's nice to see it being made up into a raspberry-and-cream jacket

Summer jacket in blue and green

This lightweight worsted jacket is a nice light blue with a blue and green check. The grey horn buttons work well, and as ever the check is a nice excuse to show off some pattern matching

Bottle-green velvet jacket

There's a great shape to the lapels on this green-velvet smoking jacket, and it's a nice excuse to highlight the work on the frogging too, on both the fronts and cuffs

Green moleskin jacket

Moleskin is rather unusual in a jacket, being more often used for trousers. But it works very well here, going particularly well with the brown horn buttons

A shetland DB

This is an unusual double-breasted jacket in a shetland tweed. It is a medium blue with a dark blue windowpane check. Nice to show the pattern matching across the ticket and hip pockets

Fawn cashmere overcoat

One of the last overcoats of the season, this is a double-breasted coat in fawn cashmere at the basted fitting stage

Shepherd’s check overcoat

An overcoat with character this. In a heavy Harris tweed with a shepherd's check, it has a fly front and is cut with a raglan sleeve. On the bottom picture you can just see the hip pocket, hidden almo...

A houndstooth overcoat

A beautiful tan-and-blue houndstooth lambswool is used in this overcoat. It is cut in a single-breasted model, and shows some great small-scale pattern matching

Learning to cut coats

Myself and Finnan started learning to cut coats properly just before Christmas. Mr Hitchcock began by showing us the basics and a few weeks later we’re beginning to get the hang of aspects of it...

The Porter & Harding Thornproof

This is a nice jacket in a blue-black cloth taken from the Porter & Harding Thornproof range. This lightweight alternative to tweed has been very popular this Autumn/Winter, as it has the texture of a...

A waistcoat for morning dress

I was finishing off this double-breasted waistcoat to go with morning dress last week. It is made in a fawn hopsack, 12 ounce, with mother-of-pearl buttons that match the lining and white Marcella Dem...

Green tweed coat with overcheck

Following up on the recent post on a lovat green tweed sports coat, this is a darker version with less of the gun-club check about it. It is also a heavier cloth. Note the out ticket pocket on the rig...

Lovat green sports coat

I liked the detailing on this tweed sports coat we had through recently. It's in a lovat green with a blue and red over check. The brown horn buttons on the cuff look particularly nice and you can see...

Icon: Cary Grant

I selected Cary Grant as a man whose style has inspired me. I first saw him in North by Northwest, wearing that famous grey suit, white shirt and grey tie. I believe it was made for him by Kilgour Fre...

My first A&S suit

We all made garments for the Golden Shears last month – in order to go along and support Sunna – with Finnan and myself finishing off our first Anderson & Sheppard suits. I had started cut...

Switching from cutter to tailor

Over the past few weeks I’ve been learning aspects of how to make a coat. As a cutter, that’s not what I will do day to day once I’ve finished my apprenticeship, but it’s a use...

I was inspired by my father

I’ve been at Anderson & Sheppard about two months now. I joined from Newham College – I was in the same class as Finnan but the classes were staggered slightly and I ended up starting abou...