Bargain opportunity. Clearing our old hire stock

Hi Marc

I'm looking for a suit for my OH to wear...don't know how to describe it....tweed/vintage...think Downton Abbey! Any idea what the style of suit this is and where I could hire one from?

Thanks

Jude

Hi Jude,

Sorry for not reply last night.

(I didn't fancy posting on here last night with the troll infestation.)

In answer to your question, no I don't really know where you can hire one.

We have discussed the subject of adding a vintage style suit into our hire department a hundred times over the last year. Eventually our discussion always comes back to the same reasons as to why we don't.

1. Vintage/period/old fashioned suits would have all have been made Bespoke. Therefor you would never have seen a group of them. Each one would have been hand-made and different from any other. I am not convinced it would be worth anyone investing in a range of suits that would be hired one at a time.

2. Tweeds and these types of cloths would have been considered (and still are by alot of people) sports suits. They are considered by quite alot of people as the equivalent of an old fashioned track suit, to be used at weekends whilst walking, shooting etc. In terms of weddings things have not really changed too much, the most popular form of dress is morning wear. Which is still widely available.

So as much as I love tweed 3.piece suits etc, I just cannot see them being practical to hire. My own wedding had a vintage theme and me and all the guys wore 3.piece suits (some tweed) but everyone unique and different (which would have been correct for the period). http://devlinphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery/Sue-Marc-Wedding/G00005ZRWIjG1IMk

I would suggest the best thing to do is to either have one made. Or scour the internet and charity shops for a bargain old tweed suit or similar, then have the suit altered to fit as well as you can and then add accessories.

Accessories are massively important for achieveing that vintage look. Braces, tunic shirts, starched detatchable collars, collar studs (front and back), collar clips, collar pins, shirt studs, cuff links, pocket watch, button hole holders, all of these things are what make a vintage style outfit look impressive. When you watch programmes like Downton Abbey you see the men are wearing massive amounts of accessories, even more so than the women.

I hope this helps.

Marc

P.s. Here are some links for you

https://www.savvyrow.co.uk/

https://www.tweedmans.co.uk/

http://www.hornetskensington.co.uk/Hornets_Kensington/Home.html

/shop/

Thank you Marc for your helpful and comprehensive reply. I had a brain wave last night....my OH has contacts with a local Amateur dramatic group and they have a fab wardrobe dept....I'm going to try my luck here first then will be scoring charity shops/checking out the links you kindly supplied. Thanks again. Jude

No probs Jude,

Excellent brain wave by the way!

I was going to suggest the same thing. I am sure there are some costume hire places in London, I think the National Theatre hire too: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/20631/costume-amp-props-hire/costume-hire-store.html