Celia's post from New York……
I have been handed the blog reins, for the time we are in New york, so put your bespoke suits on and lets go!
So, we arrived last night in JFK and had one thing on our minds……….bespoke, bespoke, BESPOKE! Our taxi driver raced us to the Benjamin hotel on the corner of 50th and Lexington. One slick elevator ride to our suite, and the manic unpacking of the hand made clothes ensued. Small panics over the light creases caused by transit, followed by sighs of content when steamed out. Once we had managed to press and hang all of the clothes, we toddled to dinner and then said good night to New York.
Sunday Morning, arrived early, because naughty London time was still ticking us. So, we caught a taxi to 25th street between 6th and 7th. We launched our button bright selves in to The Antiques Garage. A mix of antiques, collectables, vintage and plain old junk!
The photo above, shows the treasure that we bought. The thimble is a dress makers, hence the closed top. The tailors thimble has an open top, this is due to the nature of how tailors use their thimble at a different angle from dress makers.
Whats that I hear you say? “whats the pointy thingy?” That is a Bodkin! Nope, not a mythical creature. It is a tool made of bone or later dating ones are made of bakelite. This one in the photo is made of bone. A Bodkin is used by the tailor to ‘ rip down jobs.’ This means that after your first fitting all the white basting threads need to be taken out and the garment ‘ripped’ ( not as grisly as you think, it just means de-constructing! ) down from 3D to 2D so the Cutter can re-cut the cloth and pattern, to fit for your next fitting. A small but vital tool for tailoring!
After our treasure hunt, we trotted back to our suite where we met a few new customers, and gently guided them through the assortment of cloths and the Hitchcock cut. There were some warm and familiar faces too, also eager to order their next bespoke.
Tomorrow is going to be a whirl wind of a day, as the appointment book is getting fatter and fatter!
Toodle Pip! See you tomorrow, Celia.