Daily Archives: March 7, 2015

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Ben Mayer, a Tailor from Tom James of London. I was introduced to Ben by the wonderful staff at the Brisbane Polo Club after fulfilling the very British tradition of complaining about the lack of quality tailoring. (We wonder why we get called Whinging Poms) Ben has brought Savile Row Tailoring to Brisbane! At last we exclaim with glee!!!!!!! Ben offers the highest quality suits, shirts, sports coats, blazers, chinos and dinner jackets. His company weaves the wool in England from their flocks of sheep in Snowy River, Swan Hill, Cloudy Bay, South America, North England and Scotland they also make the garments in their own workshops in England and North America. Bens company owns the royal cloth merchant Holland and Sherry est 1836 and supplies this to the likes of Burberry, Paul Smith, Corneliani, Canali, Brioni, Tom Ford and all of the tailors of Savile Row of London. So if you have ever had suits from any of these brands, it is likely it was made from Holland and Sherry Cloth. Now for my experience. Ben came to my office with his bag of many tricks that would almost give Mary Poppins a run for her money or for our younger readers Hermione Granger. We spoke about styles, fabric, design, fit and use. In the end there was only one option I could go for. One of the most famous James Bond suits is the three-piece grey suit worn by Sean Connery in the film Goldfinger (1964), recently even chosen as the second greatest suit in film history by Esquire (just after Cary Grant’s suit in North by Northwest). I decided to get my own bespoke Goldfinger suit for a very special expierience. Now your all wondering cost. Believe me, the Scottish blood pulsating through my veins would not let me over spend but at the same time how long does a off the shelf suit last? My experience is about 3 years. Ben assures me if treated correctly this will last a lifetime, so I do believe I’ve saved money. Suits start at $750.00 and reach $10,000 but for this you really are getting into a unique spectrum of quality and refinery. There was one major problem, the suits are so good I bought two. Stay Safe James McLeod