Thomas Watson wanted to be in the clothing business.  He would sit with my father on the couch that was on our second floor.  Customers would walk up the stairs.  He would see fellow board members, old school friends, and men he knew socially.  He would tell my father he envied the people who we got to interact with on a regular basis.  Mr. Watson would then go up in sit in my father’s office and talk about the clothing business for an hour or more.  My father asked me if I thought Mr. Watson would be willing to consult with an individual who might call Armonk and offer to make a $25,000 donation to a charity of Mr. Watson’s choice?  It was a rhetorical question.  Dad said Mr. Watson would not do it.  He did it 2 or 3 times a year with dad because he liked clothes, he liked my father, and it allowed him to play being in the clothing business.  After my dad passed on, Mr. Watson would talk about the business with me.  After his 80th birthday he asked me if I was surprised that he was still buying clothes.  I told him I had not thought about it, but that I was thank full because he had helped me put my kids through college.  He laughed .  Then he said he continued buying because he liked clothing and because there was an old Chinese superstition that if one had clothing in work at one’s tailor, you would live to pick it up.

When Mr. Watson died it was the first time in more than 50 years that we did not have something in work for him.

Al Capp, who was a Chipp customer, created a character he named Joe Btfsplk. To come in contact with Joe Btfsplk was to be in the presence of the consummate jinx. To give people fair warning, Joe would always have a little black cloud following him. He could be sitting on a beach. It would be a beautiful sunny day for all those on the beach except Joe Btfsplk, who would have the black could above his head raining and dispensing bolts of lightning that only affected him. One of my early lessons: We can fit almost all the bodies but only 90% of the minds.”Perfection” in anything is very difficult. There may only be one true “Perfection”, and no one has seen it. The more demanding one is, the more difficult their life will be. Some day an individual will arrive, I was warned, and the gauntlet will be thrown down. The thrower will say something like, ” I have had custom clothing made by Len Logsdale, Bill Fioravanti, Alan Flusser and Nino Corvato. None of them could please me. I am going to give you a chance.” The lesson continues. Anyone can have a less than satisfactory experience- lack of communication, a personality conflict. But if an individual has had something made by a number of talented individuals and none of them can please him, look for a “black cloud”. In my years at Chipp and Winston Tailors I have had a number of “Gauntlets” thrown down. I never pick up the gauntlet.

Until the 60’s, when the big fish started eating the small fish, there were small mills that would weave small yardages. We dealt with a Scottish firm by the name of Thomas Addie & Son- they made the finest hand loomed Shetland in the world. If a customer came in and wanted us to match the cloth from which we had tailored his favorite 20 year old sports jacket, we could send a small swatch of the cloth to Thomas and they would weave 10 yards of hand loomed Shetland for us. (The Thomas we were dealing with in 1960 was the son of the original Thomas Addie. He was a contemporary of my father. Thomas had a son who was my contemporary. He went out onto an oil rig. Thomas Addie & Son is no more.) Today the minimum yardage one can get woven is whole “pieces” of cloth, not yards of cloth. As a practical matter one can only order what the mills put into their “collections.”

We created what we called “projects” as a way to offer our customers unusual patterns that were not part of any mills offerings. We cajoled one of our suppliers into weaving a sample length of a pattern we chose. We used cashmere. As customers visited, we would show them the sample. When we got twenty orders, we would have a piece of the cashmere woven. It would usually take 6 to 9 months to sell the twenty jackets. Because we were ordering a piece of cloth, we would get a special price which would allow us to make the jackets at a special price. One of the first “projects” we offered was the Picasso Plaid. The pattern was very colorful. Pablo Picasso did not design the pattern, but he did have his tailor make him a jacket from the cloth. His French tailor ordered the cloth from W.Bill. When he ordered the cloth he told Geoffrey Bill that he needed the cloth rushed to him because it was for Pablo Picasso. From that point in time W.Bill called the pattern “The Picasso Plaid”.

If you are in the neighborhood you can see the “Picasso Plaid”- I don’t have any to sell, but I have a remnant. I also have 5 small bolts of Thomas Addie & Son hand loomed Shetland. While those cloths last a few jackets and/or bush coats can be made.

I have been an interested observer of the clothing scene since I joined Chipp in 1960.  Through the years customers have asked for my opinion about  lengths, widths, colors, and styles.  I have always pointed out that personal taste is that- personal.  There are very few things that are clearly right and wrong. There are usually degrees of correctness.  The fact that I have been in the menswear business for 48 years doesn’t make me the arbiter of what an individual should prefer. I say what I think. There are times I try to dissuade a customer from what he has asked for.  Ultimately I give a customer what they want. With apologies to David Letterman I list my current top 10 “eyesore” list.  I underscore “current” The list, like sands shifting in the wind, changes with time.

#10 Male models in fashion shots who look like they have not shaved for 2 or 3 days.

# 9  Young people wearing baggy trousers below their hips exposing their underwear.

# 8  Black suits other than dinner suits. (There are more black suits sold than any other color.  We have been in business for 61 years.  We have not sold 5 black non dinner suits .)

# 7  Cuffed dinner suit trousers.

# 6  Individuals who do not wear bow ties with dinner suits or dinner jackets.

# 5  Dinner suit jackets that have 2 or 3 buttons. ( Jacket front, not sleeves)

# 4  Leaving the bottom sleeve button open to show that you have working button holes.

# 3  Three or four button jackets that roll very highly to the top button. (Ugly,ugly,ugly)

# 2  Short suit jackets and sports jackets that are well above the bottom of ones rear end.

# 1  Very overweight females who wear mini-skirts and short shorts.

And my number 1 audio “ear sore”: Calling a dinner suit a “tux” or a “tuxedo”.  My father told me Gentlemen wear dinner suits and waiters ( not there is anything wrong with being a waiter) wear tuxedos.

Many years ago a customer voiced his dismay with the speed with which he wore out his socks. My brother, who never took any customer concern lightly, engaged the services of a well known “think tank” to research and come up with suggestions to solve the challenge. After many months of research they presented my brother with their report. What they discovered , much to the surprise of all concerned, was that people were actually putting their socks on their feet, then putting on shoes, and walking around. The suggested remedy: one should keep one’s socks neatly rolled and put them in his/her jacket pocket. If this suggestion is followed, ones socks will last for years. If one insists on putting the socks on their feet, it is recommended that you keep your toenails clipped and wear properly fitting shoes.

Here is a self serving observation on how  suits, jackets, and trousers stand up to wear. Obviously the type ( hard finish, soft finish) and quality of the cloth and the “make” are part of how well any garment will wear. Another statement of fact is “the heavier the cloth, the better the durability.” Everything else being equal, an 11 ounce cloth will tailor better than a 9 ounce cloth and will be more durable. One’s body type also plays a part. Some individuals, for example, have athletic thighs. They will wear out their trousers relatively quickly. And here is the self serving part- the number of suits and jackets in ones wardrobe is a big player in how long your clothing lasts. ( I have deliberately skirted around the issue of size change.) If you have a favorite suit and give it disproportionate wear, you can give a suit 5 years of wear in one year. If you have a large enough wardrobe and spread the wear evenly “good” clothing will give you years of wear. So a visit to Winston Tailors to purchase  additional wardrobe participants will be good for Winston Tailors and for you!

Through the years our customers have asked us to alter clothing that we did not make. Items that they may have purchased while traveling, or something they could not resist in a store window. We always were willing to undertake these projects as an accommodation to our valued customers.( Many custom tailors will not alter garments they have not made.) In much the same way that “casual Friday dress” opened the door down the slippery slide to “dress-down everyday”, what started as purely an accommodation to our own customers slowly expanded. Customers would bring in friends or associates who needed a little assist. We looked at it as a way to introduce ourselves to people who were not familiar with what we do- make clothing. The word began to spread and we found ourselves doing more “outside” work. The spread was then augmented when we began listing ourselves in the Yellow Pages under “alterations”. Today, hidden away as we are on the 5th floor at 11 East 44th Street, individuals looking for repairs and alterations are a significant source of new customers. Some individuals buy things at seasons end sales that need major reconstruction. ( “I really liked this pattern so I bought it even though it is 2 sizes too big. I got such a good buy that you can recut it and I will still come out ahead”). They are willing to pay more in alterations than they paid for the garment.  What one is paying for in alterations is time and skill. If a garment has to be taken apart it becomes quite costly. I call those projects “Lose-Lose” situations. From the customers point of view he is paying a lot of money for an alteration, and from our point of view, we can’t charge enough to really make it worth while . We often must do the alterations in steps- do a basted fitting before we can finish. To that you add the fact that when you recut something it will never be as right as something that was the correct size to begin with! Fortunaely most of the alterations are not in that catagory. There is also a win- win side. Some very pretty young ladies come in with slacks and skirts to be altered. This makes us smile.

A man and his partner own a yard goods store. The man is teaching his son the business. Each day he teaches him something else. One day the lesson was about ethics. He illustrated the lesson with the following example: A woman comes into the shop and selects $100 worth of goods. She gives the merchant what she thinks is a $100 dollar bill. Because the bill was new, a second bill had stuck to it. Here is where the ethics come in. Do you tell your partner about the extra $100?

One day when I was new in the business, Andy Warhol came into the shop. He was quite slight of build. He wanted a sports jacket. He walked to the end of the rack and saw a coat he really liked. It was a size 46XL. We did not have that particular jacket in any other size. He tried the jacket on, and to say it looked ridiculous would be an understatement. It came down below his knees and the sleeves covered his hands. I asked him if he was buying the jacket for someone else. He told me it was not a gift; he would be wearing it himself that evening. I told him it was not close to his size. He said he would take it just as it was. He paid me and left with the jacket over his arm. He did not want a box or a garment bag. And here is where the ethics come in: Was I wrong in not insisting he put it into a box or a garment bag? Today, 45 years later, I think I would handled it differently.

In the 60s, platform tennis was the hot game. A tournament was sponsored by a venerable Scotch whiskey maker. The tournament was called The Vat 69 Gold Cup. Chipp was engaged to make jackets and ties for the officials and for the winners of the tournament. The chairman of the company was so pleased by what we made that he arrived in his Rolls to personally thank my dad. My father, who loved everything British and Scottish, chatted briefly with the gentleman and then invited him up to his 5th floor office.

In two previous blogs I related the stories of the creation of our Kama Sutra lining material and my prowess in making novelty athletic supporters. Unbeknown to my father, I had covered a jock with one of the Kama Sutra images and left it on his desk. When my dad and his guest walked into his office, my father was mortified by what he found on his desk. His jovial guest thought it was very funny, so my dad gave him the supporter.

That weekend the British Embassy hosted a party—attended by some members of Congress, a Supreme Court judge, and other “A” list Betway-types—in honor of the Sanderson Chairman. The function was black tie. When everyone had consumed their share of Vat 69, the guest of honor put the supporter on over his dinner suit trousers. The following Monday, the Rolls arrived at 14 East 44th St. The Chairman said he didn’t care what it would cost. He had to have forty of the supporters to send to those who had attended the DC cocktail party.

About two weeks after we had shipped the supporters, we stated getting phone calls:

“This is the office of Senator So and So. The Senator received a gift of an unusual Athletic supporter. The Senator would like to order a dozen of the supporters.”

We got about 20 calls ordering one to two dozen supporters. And thus something I did as a joke turned into an item that was a fitting gift in a number of situations (bachelor parties, for example). In our present incarnation as Winston Tailors, we no longer have enough traffic to be able to buy the minimum order required to get the Bike supporters at the dealer price. As a practical matter, they exist no more.

In Chipp’s early days we had many customers who had attended Ivy League schools. My father had silk tie material woven that had the mascots of the “eight” and featured the proper school colors. When I arrived I added cloth for the UVa, Notre Dame, and Michigan. And then I had my first marketing idea. I bought Bike athletic supporters and covered the pouches with the tie material. We than had “tie and jock sets” which we sold under the banner of “Be an Athletic Supporter”. The great majority of the purchases were made to give as gifts. When women would call to order we would ask them what size they needed. We had to know the waist size. The question led to many funny exchanges.
As the creator of the college jocks, I took it upon myself to sew the pouch cover my self. In deciding the price at which the jocks should sell ( one could buy a set, or just the jock) I based the cost on the cost of the Bike supporter and the cloth used to cover the jock. I added nothing for my time. My father told me this could come back to bite me. And it did. One of our customers owned a mail order catalog titled “Hill’s Court” that featured tennis clothing and tennis equipment. One of our ties had the word “Love” where the “o” was a tennis ball. He asked me to make “Love” jocks. He sold many more supporters than I thought he would sell. Because I had not figured in cost for the labor to make them, I could not afford to pay anyone to make them. I set up a sewing machine in my home and I would sew them at night. I got so fast that I doubt that anyone in the world could have made them as fast as I could. That was many years ago. I am not so fast any more.

A customer brought in a length of cloth from which he wanted a jacket tailored.  The cloth was a heavy cotton and the print pattern was silhouetted Kama Sutra positions. Our customer wanted a jacket that he intended wearing during the week long wedding festivities that were to take place in the celebration of his sister’s wedding.  I suggested that we send the cloth to our ready-to-wear  maker (  We were using Linett ). I told him he would probably never wear the jacket after the wedding, and I didn’t think we should make a custom jacket for such limited wear.  He agreed.  We sent the cloth to Linett, who refused to make it.  I told our customer we would have to make it custom after all. The cloth was sent up to our own custom workrooms. The next day we got a call from our shop foreman who said the women finishers were “fainting”. The finishers were all older Italian women who my father would  characterize in the following way, ” They make seven stitches and  then say the Rosary.” So it was decided the only way we could make the jacket was to have one of the men take the cloth home and make the jacket.  The jacket was a big hit.  I asked our customer where he found the cloth. He told me his uncle  had a company that made shower curtains and that these were popular for bachelor pads.  I asked him to ask his uncle if he would object to my printing the design on rayon to use as lining material.  To my surprise a few day later a messenger arrived and delivered the screens.  He was no longer running the design and I was welcome to print the lining. The minimum run in printing is significant for a small shop.  I could could see how much fun I would be able to have.  I had the lining printed.  Through the years I have sold a fair number of extra dinner suits,  black blazers, and dark gray suits to individuals who wanted to use the lining. ( The lining is white with white images on black squares.  There are 12 images which are each illustrated in conjunction with a sign of the Zodiac. I still have a small bolt of the lining .  There is still fun to be had by those who are not faint of heart.