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Ways to Wear: Dashing Trousers

Trousers are without a doubt the most worn item of clothing in the Western world, almost every other piece of clothing can be dispensed with or replaced in public nowadays. Hats, gloves and ties are becoming scarce, socks are often discarded as are jackets and shirts. Wearing vests has become de rigueur in some circles but lose the trousers and you’re in trouble. With this in mind, it’s surprising how little attention is often paid to this single most important item of clothing.

In terms of fit, trousers are much more complicated than first meets the eye. It’s no surprise that jean companies have found ways of pulling wool over your eyes when it comes to selling ill fitting cotton; anti fit twist, pant showing hipsters and shrink to fit are just a few examples.

A pair of well fitting trousers are items of great beauty and can do wonders for your figure and morale. Considering the vagaries of fashion, trousers are one of the most adapted pieces of clothing. Prince Albert had a fondness for a tight pair and with a prowess to match he endowed society with a huge following, setting the scene for decades of swaggering gentlemen.

The Edwardian era was a time for much trouser experimentation with tailors adjusting all the ratios of leg width and waist positioning until a perfect balance was achieved. Ways of helping trousers hang comfortably were also tested and you’ll be surprised at the different types of belts and braces that were produced.

For trousers to look and feel really good I always think they should sit on your natural waist, the area that goes in at the top of your hip bone. However, to achieve this the rise of the trouser from crotch to waist needs to be just right, too long and the bottom will sag, too tight and result will be audible. Once trousers sit well you can decide how tight you like to wear them and work on the silhouette of the leg.

At the moment I’m really enjoying wide legged trousers, they just flow with such a sense of insouciance that you naturally relax into a languid stride and the day seems better, but the choice is yours and with through our made to measureprocess you can choose whatever takes your fancy and run with it.

Dashing’s New Cloth Collection

This coming autumn season we are seeking comfort in one of the most sumptuous of tweeds, soft Donegals. This new collection is designed in our London studio and woven in Scotland using fine Merino yarns spun in Ireland.

At Dashing Tweeds we are always interested in experimenting with colour, Donegal yarns with their famous nepps of different coloured wools are a great starting point and as a first for us we have even created our own yarn. Known as the Motley design this initially appears to be black with neps of primary yellow, red and blue but on closer inspection a whole plethora of colours can be seen.

As colour is the focus we have used classic weave structures this season, working with herringbones and twills to produce a very wearable collection.

Our Ochre, Claretand Lapis Herringbone designs have a pleasing scale and work well for jackets and coats. Herringbones are classic designs which never go out of fashion so anything made up in these will be a great investment. At around 14oz (430g) they are light enough to wear now that autumn days are mild but warm enough for winter nights.

Our Gallant Checkis the most exuberant design, fabulously fun in a large scale with over checks in yellow, green and red. This design captures the joy we try to bring to our fabrics and will put a smile on anyones face.

To RSVP to our private view of our latest cloth collections on the 18th September click here or stop by 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone whenever you’re in the area.

Please don’t hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions or would like us to reserve you some of our latest cloth collection. Drop us a line at Guy@DashingTweeds.co.uk.

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 14th – 22nd September

London Design Festivalreturns to the capital for its 17th year this September with an inspiring programme of events and installations across the city.

Initially established in 2003 by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans, London Design Festival is an annual citywide celebration that brings together a global community of designers, artists, architects and the creative industries with a vision to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world. Since its inception, London Design Festival has grown to encompass a broad range of activities, and attracts visitors from around the world from over 75 countries and the 2018 Festival welcomed a record-breaking 588,000 visitors.

This year also marks 11 years with the V&A as a collaborating partner and the official Festival hub. During the Festival, the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance will once again play host to a series of specially-commissioned projects by internationally-renowned designers.

As a citywide event, London Design Festival is an essential platform for the capital’s major trade shows taking place across London as well, including: 100% Design, designjunction, Focus/19and London Design Fair.

These shows feature work from a local and international network of both new and established exhibitors. This year there will be 10 official Design Districts from East to West; North to South. Design Districts are areas where there are distinct concentrations of design activity and events that can be traversed easily on foot. Each District is organised locally and independently via the platform of London Design Festival.

This year will see a new Design District taking part in the Festival; Kings Cross Design District. It joins Bankside Design District, Brompton Design District, Clerkenwell Design Quarter, Chelsea Design District, Marylebone Design District, Mayfair Design District, Pimlico Road Design District, Shoreditch Design Triangle, Victoria Connections Design District and West Kensington Design District. In addition, the Festival is delighted to welcome back Paddington Central Design Route as a Design Route.

We are really excited to be hosting an event alongside our Marylebone Design Districtneighbours. Each district has a designated day to host events making visiting them all that little bit easier.

Marylebone’s main events will take place on Wednesday 18th September, which is the night of our new Menswear collection launch. Watch this space for more information about this in our next newsletter and to RSVP follow this link.

MILL OF THE MONTH: Stephen Walters

Photography by Ant Jones

Fit for a King or indeed a Queen is an expression we don’t hear much nowadays but one that would work well when talking about our jacquard fabrics woven for us by Stephen Walters.

The silk weaving company founded in Spitalfields in 1720 is now based in Sudbury, Suffolk and has been making fabrics for royalty for hundreds of years, major commissions include Queen Elizabeth II coronation robes and wedding dresses for Princess Anne and Lady Diana Spencer amongst many others.

Here at the Dashing HQ we are easily satisfied with the best so working with Stephen Walters is a natural choice. Regular loom weaving is a process by which the vertical warp threads are lifted together to form patterns such as twills and herringbones. These looms have been around in various forms for thousands of years and are what we use most of the time for our classic tweeds.

Jacquard looms have much more complex mechanisms by which individual warp threads are lifted, enabling highly complex patterns and even photographic images to be woven into cloth. The technology dates back to the 17th Century and includes innovations such as the invention of punch cards the earliest form of binary data storage later adopted by computers. We can thank King Louis XIV for renouncing the Edict of Nantes and causing skilled Huguenots to flee France and bring us the technology.

As with many powerful tools the skill is in control; we have used Jacquard weaving to provide an element of humour to our designs that would not be possible by regular weaving. Our Threadbare design is woven in pure cotton with the idea of emulating a garment worn to threads, we thought it amusing to use the Jacquard loom to give the supposed warp and weft an open wiggling shape as if stretched with age. The scale of the design does contain a regular repeat but this adds to the optical element of the fabric. The cotton cloth adds another dimension to our staple of woven wools and makes up in to a delightful summer jacket.

Our Exploded Houndstooth is another playful idea executed on Stephen Walters’ jacquard looms. The idea was to extrapolate a classic houndstooth design to a scale not otherwise possible on a classic loom, a zoomed in version of a weave made with a fine silk weft on a cotton warp. The resulting fabric is arresting to look at yet strong enough for a wild night out, perfect for a player and fit for a king of clubs.

Our jacquard designs are now also available through our Dashing Classics range meaning they will be stock supported going forward. However if you wanted these designs in a slightly different colour way, this is also possible but at a premium through our bespoke services. To find out more, do email Naomi@DashingTweeds.co.ukwho looks after all our cloth production.

P.S – *SAVE THE DATES*

We are also hosting two events in September for our official womenswear collection launching on the 17th September. To RSVP, please click here.

We will also be celebrating a private view of a new collaboration with 1960’s celebrity tailor, Dougie Millings on the 18th September. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Long Live Fashion

Sustainability is the key nowadays. We have long been told that the rate at which we are plundering Earth’s resources and generating waste cannot continue, only now is this beginning to sink in. We need a radical rethink of the way we consume everything if we are to thrive or even survive; a good start is to think about our clothing. As naked apes we find clothing essential, not only does it protect us from the elements, but as is the case with so many animals, its use within society as a display for pecking order and mating rituals is paramount.

Sustainability in general should be a major concern of yours and as awareness grows of all others around you. Displaying your empathy to the cause by wearing clothing made in a sustainable way will not only make you feel better but also actively disclose your conviction to others. This will without doubt make you a more attractive person in their eyes and greatly increase the fulfilment required by your dress, especially where mating is concerned.

So how to be sustainable? Transparency within brands is now more commonplace elucidating the whole making journey of a garment but this can quickly become a tangled web. I find it easier to stick to the simple rule of quality over quantity. Buying fewer clothes and looking after them well is a good start. For clothing to last it has to be made well in a good quality yarn. Wool is tough to beat when it comes to longevity and sustainability, improvements in cross breeding sheep has lead to beautifully soft wearable fabrics and sheep feeding on natural grassland are entirely in balance with nature.

Repairing clothes is only possible if they are of a certain quality, cheap cotton garments made at a huge cost to the environment, especially where water is concerned, seem to spontaneously disintegrate in one go making mending impossible. If your favourite quality outfit develops a hole then they are easy to mend. Darning is an age old skill that is currently in the midst of a revival and it needn’t be done as neatly as possible. Prince Charles was sporting an obvious patch to his Anderson and Sheppard jacket a while back, proud to be extending the life of an old favourite. Indeed visible mending especially on wool garments has become an even more obvious sign of ones personal attitude to sustainability.

The Japanese, have made a whole art of patching with their Boro fabrics constructed almost entirely of mended rags but you needn’t go this far. A classic elbow patch to extend the life of a jacket could be all you need to increase your clothing sustainability. When things go beyond repair you know where to come for garments that will not only last for many years but become firm friends on the journey to a sustainable life.

For the love of Harris Tweed

Authenticity is the new luxury. Machines that were once just sci-fi fantasies are now a reality and if Captain Kirk wannabes ask their replicators to make a tweed I’m sure the outcome will look pretty good. But is it the real thing? Tweed clad philosophers could theorise the night away spinning arguments with quotes from Plato to Bertrand Russell but one point they would all have to agree on is that the synthesiser could not make Harris Tweed.

Rules for the weaving of genuine Harris Tweed cloth from the archipelago Islands off the West Coast of Scotland are incredibly strict and were recorded as acts of Parliament over a century ago. Genuine Harris Tweeds are produced by just a few mills and many are hand woven by crofters living a self sustaining life on the island ensuring a very low carbon footprint for the fabric. The Harris Tweed Authority hand checks all production and authenticates it with the famous orb logo.

As climates ameliorate the islander have adapted and produce what they term “feather weight” qualities. These weigh in at around 14 oz, which may say as much about the local bird population as the climate of Scotland. However, if you are going to invest in a Harris Tweed jacket or suit it’s reassuring to know that the hardy fabric will wear for many years.

A while ago we worked with the Carloway Mill to weave some original designs for us. These were highly prized by tweed aficionados around the world and especially in Japan where the love of originality is endemic in the highly cultured population. Sadly, the Carloway Mill has now laid down its shuttles, but there are others and we are stocking a large range of glorious coloured tweeds woven by Harris Tweed Hebrides. We have close to a hundred different colour ways of classic Harris Tweeds to choose from.

In addition to the classics we have our unique collaborative design Iona as below. This fashionable royal blue barley corn weave structure is a more modern design and suitable to wear in town and out in the country.

Our Iona cloth is handwoven on a Hattersley loom as below. If keeping a low carbon footprint is as important to you as it is to us then you will be interested to know that these looms are driven solely by foot power. The weaver literally puts his all into the production, boldly pedalling as no man has before…

Beam down to our shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone and even if your everyday items are facsimiled you can be sure your new Harris Tweed jacket is an original. Do drop us a line at Holly@DashingTweeds.co.uk if you have any questions or would like to book a Made to Measure appointment using one of our Harris Tweeds!

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Dashing’s Feature in How To Spend It

Be sure to check out the latest Dashing feature the most recent FT How to Spend It article below!

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CALIBRE – Cycling Chic

Dashing’s latest feature in CALIBRE Magazine about our cycling collection using 3m reflective yarn woven into British wool, read the full story here

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Summer Weddings at Dashing!

It’s going to be a glorious summer for weddings so the forecasters say, so now is the time to make sure you are prepared.

You’d be surprised at the number of men who walk into our shop saying they are getting married next week and need something special to wear. Due to the culture of immediate deliveries and ready to wear some people forget that tailoring at its best takes time. Our made to measure takes 6 weeks so it’s best to think two months ahead at least, although we do offer an emergency 2 week express service at a premium for those reading this with a sudden sense of alarm.

Whilst the bride is the traditional focus of a wedding appearing just in time to sashay down the aisle, on many occasions the groom takes centre stage. Designer Henry Holland is a great fan of Dashing and we collaborated in the early days, weaving a flamboyant check for his catwalk collection modelled by Agyness Deyn. It was an honour that his husband, designer David Hodgson, sported Dashing for the wedding and as you can see they both look like the cat that’s got the cream.

(Photograph by Joanna Nicole)

As a man, one of the joys of dressing for a wedding be it groom, guest or the honourable position of father of the bride is that convention is now not so important. The days of donning a classic morning coat before a jaunt to the church and a wedding breakfast have been surpassed by all sorts of personal fantasies, and so it should be. Individuality is to be encouraged in these homogeneous times; without flights of fancy we would still be grounded in bear skins. For his idyllic country wedding Philip choose our Whitbread Roxy cloth and accessorised it beautifully with an orange flower to match his bride’s head dress, photographed by the wonderful, Joanna Nicole. Defying convention with a relaxed open necked shirt Philip looks at ease and joyful, starting married life as he means to carry on.

With over a hundred cloth designs to choose from there should be somethingDashing for everyone. We use light weight Merino wool for the summer and heavier British wools in our winter fabrics. Using our made to measure service could not be easier, after selecting cloth, linings and buttons we guide you through all the possible styling options and then 5-6 weeks later your tailored suit is ready. Minor alterations such as turning up trousers and nipping in the waist take no more than a couple of days after the final fitting. Then as Stanley Holloway sings; Spruced up and looking’ in me prime, girls come and kiss me, show how you’ll miss me. But get me to the Church on time!

(Photograph by Joanna Nicole)

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Shining at The Golden Shears

The Golden Shears award is the country’s most prestigious tailoring competition taking place bi-annually at the great Merchant Taylors’ livery hall in the heart of London.

The competition was set up in 1974 and for the last twenty years has been focusing on the talents of trainee tailors and apprentices from all over the UK. It is a huge honour to be selected as one of the 24 finalists for the awards night. During the evening the tailored creations are presented in a professional catwalk show to a panel of the most highly regarded tailors and stylists. Marks are awarded for technical ability as well as for design flair. The students have to create a garment entirely on their own from the conception through to cutting and sewing and since the recent renaissance in tailoring the competition has become extraordinarily tough.

This year Leisha Parlour a 20 year old South Londoner on a Bespoke Tailoring course at the London College of Fashion was very excited to use our reflective ‘Red Raver Wave‘ and ‘The Cyclist‘ fabric for her competition piece. She tailored a fabulous ladies trouser suit with bias cut patch pockets on both the jacket and trousers and other features such as pleated shoulders which enable maximum movement and comfort.

Many of her friends are skateboarders inspiring Leisha to create what she describes as casual bespoke tailoring, taking elements from both baggy skater styles and classic tailoring. The beautifully tailored piece took months of work and received great praise at the event. Leisha has work experience booked with the Italian tailor Riedizione this summer and then another year of study before she would like to work as a cutter for a major fashion house. We wish her all the best!

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

End of Roll Saturday’s at Dashing!

At Dashing, all of the concepts for clothand ready to wearstart in their weave design studio in Islington, which is the creative hub for the brand and is where the updated cloth designs for each season are conceived, adding new colours and textures to menswear and providing a contemporary twist to traditional tailoring whilst still maintaining the luxurious quality.

With a wide range of cloth available at their flagship shop in Marylebone, Dashing wanted to offer people the last chance to get their hands on some of their limited edition final lengths.

Introducing End of Roll Saturday’s where you can get any End of Roll design with 50% off, available in store only.

Innovation and experimentation is at the very heart and soul of the brand. Dashing is all about bringing variety back to menswear through cloth production and all of their original contemporary tweeds and high concept woven textiles are designed in their Islington based weave studio before the samples are sent for production to the mills in Scotland and around the UK.

Dashing Tweeds uses all the skilled crafts accumulated over generations and combines them fearlessly to make highly unique fabrics. Dashing’s End of Roll’s can therefore be re-crafted into a range of items from home wear such as sofas, pillow cases and chair covers to electronic accessories such as laptop cases.

The heir to the throne Prince Charleshimself was even spotted wearing a suit jacket with a neat but conspicuous repair. The royals are possibly not the best figureheads of frugality butthree cheers for Charles for making do and mending, particularly for insisting on using only British fabric, generally from smaller mills. Bespoke suits of this kind cost large sums, therefore its reassuring that when he discovered a tear in the fabric, rather than popping out to the shops for a new suit, a repair was in order with one of his tailors.

Additionally, you can use Dashing’s End of Roll cloth to create smaller garments such as skirts, having your very own Dashing look. The Dashing cloth can also be used to add a burst of colour in design details throughout your own clothing, such as collar or sleeve features.

Do stop by our flagship shop at 47 Dorset Street, Maryleboneto shop our library of End of Roll designs on Saturday’s. If you have any enquiries kindly click here.

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

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Dashing’s Latest Cloth Collection

This spring season we really are bringing you some most Dashing new fabrics. We’ve given traditional check and block designs a techno wake up with names coined from early 90’s video games and a playful attitude to match.

We’ve found that fine Merino wool is the very best for summer and so have concentrated on the highest quality 9oz suitings. This weight is ideal for creating an elegant drape and being pure wool the fabrics not only tailor well but are extremely comfortable to wear.

First up with have ‘Berzerk’, a beautifully balanced large scale Glen check with acid green and vibrant magenta threads against a ground of neutral ecru and grey. This in a way is the most traditional design and would make a splendid summer soiree or informal wedding suit.

Next up is ‘Pixels’, a Madras type design in greenish shades with a hot pink overcheck. Vibrant and large scale this is less formal and ideal as a daywear lounge suit for sauntering through life.

‘Tetris’ and ‘Galaxian’ as the names suggest are the boldest of our new block type design and like nothing you have seen before.

At first glance the sine wave undulating cubes in ‘Tetris’ floating against a wash of pink, green and grey may seem incongruous in a suit, yet surprisingly once tailored up the effect is mesmerising in a delightful way. We envisaged a short suit to be worn to dinner on a Balearic Isle, setting the scene for a night of ecstatic elation.

Similarly ‘Galaxian’ in a bolder, more graphic colour combination of magenta, acid green and grey would look unsurpassed when made up as a suit for summer cocktail parties.

Lastly ‘Block Out’ woven in navy and steel Merino yarns is a serious party fabric. The weave structure gives the face of the cloth a steely lustre through which the undulating dashes of navy traverse. For nights out in the spotlight or even on stage our modern new design ticks the box.

We are also excited to announce that we will be showcasing the latest collection at ‘Munich Fabric Start’ for the first time this season with our Agent Matthias Rollmann. The show runs from 29th – 31st January and has over 20,000 visitors yearly with 1,050 exhibitors, Dashing will be showcasing designs alongside other brands such as Fox Brothers, Alfred Brown, Ulster Weavers and Bernstein & Banleys.

To find out more about the show or to set up a meeting do drop us an email – Holly@DashingTweeds.co.uk

Do stop by our flagship shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone to shop our new cloth, or if you prefer to shop online click here where you can order samples from the new range as well!All the very best,

The Dashing Team

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s that time again, time to look towards the future, shrug off the old and metamorphose.

Popular resolutions often include health drives, decluttering and living a cleaner more environmentally friendly life, all things with which we fully empathise. Also, perhaps it’s a good idea to bring joy to others through acts of generosity and through a general aura of bonhomie. You will not be surprised to learn that all your wishes can be fulfilled through the wearing of Dashing Tweeds.

It goes without saying that dressing in a more upbeat manner puts fellow citizens in a good mood, people will feel you’ve made an effort just for them. Think how many ‘occasion pieces’ languish in your wardrobe providing moths with a sumptuous feast when they could be aired on a more regular basis, simply replace ‘dress down’ with ‘dress up’.

Wearing quality clothes for as long as possible, mending and patching is the only way forward, the world just can’t sustain societies which discard high street bought clothes within a year. Some discarded clothes from sweat shop production are sent off to third world countries where ironically they often cause more harm than good by undermining the sales of locally produced more environmentally friendly textiles. So the moral of the story is to buy sustainable British wool clothing, look after it and pass it down through the family, especially during the rare time of a Dashing sale.

Take advantage of our 30% off ready to wear by handing your cap to a deserving pal and buying yourself a new one, similarly hand your suit to someone waiting in the wings of succession and for 20% off our made to measure service, you can have a new one in a spanking original design tailored to last many more years.

We are also offering 10% off our beautiful British woven fabrics, use a patch to repair some holes or create a whole new heirloom garment for generations to come.

These offers are available in store at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, or online at www.DashingTweeds.co.uk – using the below codes online:

‘DASHINGCLOTH10‘ – for 10% off cloth
‘DASHINGM2M20‘ – for 20% off our made to measure service
‘DASHINGRTW30‘ – for 30% off our ready to wear collections
(offers available until 31th January 2019)

All the very best, and Happy New Year,

From the Dashing Team

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Final Festive Orders at Dashing!

“Last Orders Gents!” and Ladies. There is still plenty of time left to prop up the bar at your Christmas parties, but there is hardly any time left to get all your Christmas shopping done.

We have a range of gifts available in store and online from warming Donegal jumpers, laptop bags, flat caps and cycle hats, winter overcoats, Dashing dog collars and many more, but time is ticking and we want to make sure you get everything in time for the big day!

Below outlines our final order dates for delivery in time for Christmas:

UK delivery,order by is the 19th December
European delivery, order by 17th December
International delivery, order by 14th December

If you think your loved ones have an eye for Dashing, but you’re not exactly sure what, then a gift voucher is a great idea, they can ponder and decide what they want at a later date. We can post you a gold edged voucher to wrap up and present at Christmas.

The Dorset Street flagship shop is open from:

Monday – Friday 10am – 6pm
Saturdays 11am – 5pm
and closed on Sundays.

Then during the festive season, the shop will be closed for Christmas from the 22nd Decemberand will reopen its doors on the 3rd January, if there is anything we can help you with in the meantime, do drop us an email here.

Wishing you all a joyous Christmas and a fabulous Happy New Year!

All the very best,The Dashing Team

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A Very Dashing Christmas!

We come into our stride at Christmas time, after all ’tis the season for Dashing. However, for you there are halls to deck, figgy puddings to bring and of course piles of presents to find before merry gentleman get any rest at all. Shopping need not be a trudging lament through rude winds and even ruder crowds, you can find comfort, joy and lots more by dropping into Dashing Tweeds on Thursday December 6th. From 3pm till 9pm, there will not only be quaffing for all at our Dorset Street store but also a beautifully curated array of gifts.

We have recently been collaborating with one of the finest new English tie brands, Windridge and Young. They have been creating exquisitely made collections of classic ties using our creative fabrics. Our fine Merino and British wool designs make up extraordinarily well into neckwear giving a refreshing and relaxed change from the ubiquitous silk jacquards. Tie wearers can never have enough choice, so now you can surprise the ones in your life. They are certain to not already own a Dashing tie and our wool ones will jolly up the winter season.

Marion Friedmann has become a great friend over the last year, her refined eye and original style coupled with her tireless energy bringing Mexican artists to light makes meeting her a constant pleasure. Her geometric lamp by Pedro Cerisola will be hanging from our ceiling rose and Marion will also be displaying a select range of handmade objects and artworks in obsidian, ceramics, glass and textiles from various fascinating Mexican artists.

The delightful hedonism of those rave days in the ‘90’s is part of the fabric of Dashing Tweeds. Dancing around fields without a care in the world, feet on the ground, head in the clouds, psychedlic colour splashes, ethereal electronic tunes and oneness with the world. Weaving wools with technical fabrics is one outcome of this cross-pollination and another is the intricate artwork of Noj Barker. Time and space shrink the more you study them and the closer you look. Just thinking about their creation makes you giddy. There is no quick fix for these intricate art pieces, through endless hours of work, Noj elasticates time listening to Bach and reminiscing on the ecstatic days towards the end of our last millennium, ever decreasing brush points giving his paintings an additional raised dimension.

We will also be showcasing Guy Field shirts, a London based Italian made shirt maker, created by Christopher Field. With a strong focus on craftsmanship, Guy Field clearly understands the importance of quality fabrics and how a shirt should fall on one’s body. With an original grasp of contemporary tailoring and style, Guy Field shirts are great Christmas presents for your husband, brother and any loved ones.

Scented candles have become a way of adding atmosphere to a room or event just by lighting and retiring. Smell works deeply on the most primitive areas of our brain arousing emotion without even thinking about it and of course the ancient roots of winter festivals all evolve around lighting lamps and fires. Gold Hart candles transport you to the wild romantic habitats of Scotland not far from mills who weave our tweed. The brand is based on the myth of the Scottish white hart stag and a mystical vision who saved King David from a goring. Relax by a glowing candle flame and the heathery vapours will transport you to the lands of legend and adventure, make sure you are fully prepared by wearing a tweed suit.

Pocket squares are a safe bet when it comes to presents for uncles, works of art that are also useful. Madeleine Faust has been painting for most of her life and over the past few years she has been refining the process of turning her art works into attractive, elegant and decorative adornments. With a great choice of colours, you can find one to add harmony to any outfit or indeed just add a splash of colour for the sheer joy of it.

Leather goods make excellent Christmas presents; there is always a need for a new bag especially nowadays when we should never have to use anything from non-renewable resources. Goats are a great source of food and leather and have provided the inspiration and raw materials for Jack Millington’s brand, Billy Tannery. He set up his own goatskin tannery in the midlands and started making truly beautiful bags, wallets and aprons from the super soft hides. Yet to have his own London store, our recent event at Dashing in collaboration with Billy Tannery was a great opportunity to see his kid creations and of course buy them for the family.

Deborah Colman started designing and selling printed fabrics in her teens, however a career as a filmmaker intervened before Debs could return to her first love. Now back with a printing studio in London’s East End, Debs’ imagination has been ignited by nature. Crystalline fissures, skeletonised leaves and moulting plumage, exquisite telluric and evolutionary creations give form both directly and through interpretation to gloriously printed fabrics. In a process of material awareness, Debs hand prints her images onto contextually correct textiles and then goes one stage further and fashions them into usable works of art. Lamp shades, cushions and scarves form the backbone of her collection but you can also commission new creations for yourself or others and with empathetic use of colour there will always be something to please.

We will be selling great Christmas presents at our in store event, from Dashing hats and gloves to bags and ready to wear. To celebrate Christmas the Dashing way, kindly RSVP to Holly@DashingTweeds.co.uk and drop by the shop on 6th December between 3pm to 9pm!

All the very best,

Dashing

A Conscious Christmas on Chiltern Street!

Christmas is a time of reflection and sometimes action. Scrooge just managed to save himself at the eleventh hour, making amends for his lack of concern and general stinginess, but can we? Planet earth has been plundered for generations, vast areas recklessly destroyed by greed, is it too late to save not just ourselves but the lives of others? These questions should be on everyones minds this season, hiding under the bedcovers is no longer an option. We are all witness now to the ghosts of habitats past.

The Portman Estate are taking action by hosting a ‘Conscious Christmas’ event on the 29th November on Chiltern Street. This will celebrate sustainability and careful use of resources, especially as the conversation around waste amplifies during the time when we shop for Christmas gifts. Throughout the event, many shops along the street will be hosting interactive events to celebrate the concepts of sustainable manufacturing, use and reuse.

During the evening of 29th November, Dashing will be hosting craft workshops in store giving live weaving demonstrations on a hand loom, showing visitors how important it is to use sustainable wools, as well as presenting our high quality tweeds and clothes that last for years and years.

Dashing will also be having a pop up stand on Chiltern Street, selling smaller products from our range such as hats, ties and jumpers; Christmas gifts which will be cherished for generations.

Sustainability is at the core of Dashing, the company exclusively works with wool woven in the UK, and a large part of the production is with British wool, resulting in a very low carbon footprint in relation to transport and production costs.

Dashing is passionate about supporting the British textile industry which traditionally is one of the most sustainable of all British industries. Wool comes from the indigenous sheep population which feeds on renewable grass, the dyes used at Dashing are all regulated to meet environmental standards.

At Dashing, environmental issues are highly important for the brand. The future plans of Dashing involve sourcing more sustainable British wools, and as the climate ameliorates, the fineness of indigenous yarns increases making them more comparable to imported Merino wools. The brand will continue to implement sustainable policies in production so that you can rest assured not to be haunted by guilt or even ghosts of unsustainable Christmas’ past.

Do stop by on the 29th November on Chiltern Street for some festive shopping and drinks celebrating a ‘Conscious Christmas’ before a peaceful holiday and hopefully not an unconscious new year.

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

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Gresham Blake – Dashing Tweeds Never Fail to Impress!

Dashing’s latest press coverage from Gresham Blake, a Brighton based tailor, discussing their love for Dashing’s latest AW18 collection!

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Wool Week October 8-21st

Since the formation of Campaign for Wool by The Prince of Wales in 2010, the company has promoted globally the multifarious benefits of wool, ranging from its versatility in clothing, use in thermal house insulation and its inherent sustainability. As a result the public is slowly becoming more aware of the role wool plays in everyday life from luxury tailoring, carpeting and saddle cloths.

Today, the global endeavour that is Campaign for Wool is growing faster than ever. Wider awareness and international visibility has lead to a host of events, talks and pop-ups across the UK ranging from a Wool and the Gang workshop in Covent Garden to a West Yorkshire Spinners trunk show in Wakefield.

Weaving is one of the most rudimentary industries of Britain yet the varieties of woven cloth designs have dwindled over the years. At Dashing, luxury menswear is restored through vibrant colour palettes and complex yarns amalgamated with wool. With a weave design studio in North East London headed up by the Fabric Design Director, Kirsty McDougall, Dashing also works with the best mills in the country to produce cloth. Wool has always been at the core of Dashing’s brand since the beginning, as it is ideal for suiting and a brilliant fibre to dye and weave and the heritage cloth indigenous to the UK.

As the climate in the UK ameliorates so wool yarns from native flocks become finer, some British wools are now almost compariable to Merino wools which have become so popular due to their long fine fibres creating such desirable fabrics. Through the Campaign for Wool, the interest in these exclusive British sheep is increasing and Dashing is planning on bringing you ‘single estate’ collections coming soon.

Due to the richness of events, Campaign for Wool have had to organise a 16 day week as there are so many participants this year. Marking its ninth year running, Wool Week is on until October 21st, so to get the chance to visit any workshops or events do check out the schedule here.

If you would like to book a Made to Measure appointment to add a dash of British wool to your wardrobe, please visit us on 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND or drop us an email at holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk

Dashing Introduces Womenswear!

We are happy to announce that Dashing now offers womenswear made to measure. We wanted to be able to cater to the needs of any women who walk through our doors and enjoy our vast selection of cloth. Our brand is all about fusing heritage with modern technology, which is evident in our wide variety of cloth, enabling both men and women to create their unique piece of clothing using our designs.

Our womenswear Made to Measure is a contemporary synthesis of luxury and elegance, aiming to reflect our brand vision and concept as wardrobe staples. Following a made to measure service which covers the fitting and design process, where we finalise each detail to create your individual Dashing look.

Whether you are looking for a jacket for work, a wedding or just for everyday wear, our vast range of designs and stylistic choices can suit any occasion.

To ensure the perfect fit, we tailor our womenswear using a range of in house blocks sizes. We then take all your measurements against these to ensure we achieve the look and fit you require, covering every aspect from the positioning of darts, height of waist, width of lapel and length of jacket.

If you would like to create your own made to measure jacket in any of our designs, please drop us an email here or stop by our shop to get measured up at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone.

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

Our Autumn/Winter 2018 Collection

When preparing your wardrobe for the new season, remember a few worthwhilepossessions are better than many. Our AW18 fabrics are of the highest quality, woven in the Scottish Borders, featuring a range of tonal colours to suit any ensemble.

Each cloth design from our AW18 collection fuses the concept of traditional tailoring through an upbeat and fresh perspective, using aesthetically pleasing tonal hints, such as denim and charcoal greys, as seen in the ‘Queen‘ cloth below.

The ‘Bowie’ cloth is slightly extroverted in it’s acidic colour palette, but remains classic by nature, woven using a soft Lambswool yarn in the Scottish Borders.

Unlined and with a soft shoulder, the ‘Bolan’ has a more relaxed feel, this tailored cloth is ideal for casual events and everyday wear. The immersion of blue hues gives the cloth an energetic feel, balancing out the smoky grey base.

Named after 70’s Scottish pop band, Bay City Rollers dressed to the nines in their tartan and flair, the ‘Rollers‘ cloth brings colour and texture back to tailoring, updating the traditional British look.

Our ‘Bay City’ design is a great choice for the winter season as one can easily layer underneath. The cloth features our new yarn quality for this season, using lambswool, making it suitable for soft, lightweight winter jackets at 12 ounces.

Using our made to measure service, this enables our customers to design their own suits and jackets from the lapel width to the jacket length. The ‘Rollers‘ jacket below features a wider peak lapel and a well structured shoulder on the jacket.

If you would like to create your own made to measure suit or jacket using our AW18 cloth, please drop us an email at holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk or stop by our shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone.

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

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A Dashing Craft Week

Starting Wednesday 9th May London Craft Week opens the doors on London’s creatives, allowing you a rare chance to see how the most skilled craftsmen in town hone objects of extreme beauty from the humble origins of clay, wood, wool and metal.

During the past few years, with thanks to this event and others people have started to question where the numerous objects that surround them come from. Mass production has devalued everything from clothing to cutlery but now the true cost of ludicrously cheap stuff has come to light via sweat shop exposés and plastic pollution. We have to question what we actually need and then if lucky enough, own a few things which are exquisitely made. Fortunately the skills to make individually crafted objects are flourishing and you can have the opportunity to find over 200 events during London Craft Week 2018.

The wonderfully original cloths of Dashing Tweeds started life in our North London weave design studio before production in the finest British mills. Our fabrics are used not only by tailors the world over, but also by upholsterers and soft furnishing makers. On request, we can design and finish fabrics suitable for any interior projects from small homes to large commercial enterprises.

On Friday the 11th May I will open the doors to my home for a discussion with Maria Speake of Retrouvius and surface designer Daniel Heath. We will talk about the nearly completed house project and our shared love of natural materials which are of such high quality that they can live on through numerous reincarnations.

If you would like to choose from our extensive library of cloths to add that finishing touch to your home, please stop by our shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND.

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Tailors Uncovered: Tom Baker

“I respect people who live their lives through thick and thin, talented chance talkers living out of the box, doing want they want with conviction, and becoming unconventional celebrities”. Tom Baker uses tailoring to channel a fusion of gambling, womanising superstar, Paganini and Rock ’n Roll.

I met Tom talking with the self assured fluency of someone who knows their craft and lives according to their personal mantra. His shop in the heart of Soho shows no comprise to the ethos, where the law of Thelema so loved by Led Zeppelin is scribed above the window; “Do What Thou Wilt”. It is thus no coincidence that customers include Robert Plant, Alice Cooper, Mick Jagger and Barry Manilow to name just a fraction of the rock royalty crossing his threshold.

The Paganini reference is no less surprising when I learnt that Tom grew up helping his older brother build violins up in Scotland, a family business that imbued him with the love of hand made excellence. Being half Italian and with a natural ear for language, Tom then embarked to Manchester for a linguistics degree, feeling that his passion for customising clothing was not something to be taken seriously.

However, after graduating and roving Europe the lure of needle and thread could not be resisted. Tom was passionate about fashion and tailoring but hungered for technical knowledge. Savile Row, the Mecca of tailoring, was the obvious destination for any pilgrim of style after true knowledge of the craft.

Undeterred by a few rejections from the first doors he tried, Tom persisted and was awarded with an apprenticeship at No 14 Savile Row, the elegant home of tailor and Royal couturier Hardy Amies. Kenneth Fleetwood, described in his obituary 22 years ago as one of the most modest, discrete and charming fashion designers gave guidance and Tom’s talents flourished. As well as absorbing how tailoring was done properly from cutting through to canvasing, Tom also learnt how to put on a show. Unlike others on the row, Hardy Amies would regularly present in the airy first floor of the town house where models, mainly for the ladies wear collections, would sashay across the salon to the temp of classical beats.

Making a career move is always difficult but after five years Tom felt the calling to venture out on his own, spurred on by a “lovely old Italian lady working as a finisher at Anderson and Sheppard’ whom Tom used to enjoy conversing with in her native tongue. He laid down a £100 deposit on this own cutting board on Berwick street, within the tailoring fraternity it is common practice to work alongside all sorts of people and share the specialist skills of coat makers, trouser makers and finishers in one establishment. The Cypriot tailors at the centre of Soho proved an ideal location not only for haunts such as The Colony Rooms but also for meeting the customers who enjoyed Tom’s gothic aesthetics. Mick Jagger’s stylist searching for stage wear became an early fan and from then on the media types and talented musicians who gravitated to London’s bohemian club land became hooked on Tom’s potent mix of fine bespoke tailoring and dangerously dandy styling.

Unlike many Savile Row tailors who are content to continue with the patterns handed down to them, Tom is happy to experiment. He does this on his ready to wear collections by adding extra seams anywhere he fancies, seeing his creations as works of poetry, whereby the seams create an iambic, dactyl or even spondee metaphoric metre depending on his mood. And when his mood becomes particularly morbid Tom does not hesitant to blast his creations with a shotgun, literally blowing holes through the garments in a very unmetaphorical, although surprisingly commercial way.

We have worked with self monikered Sir Tom Baker (to avoid confusion with high street brand Ted Baker) on a few projects, the most noticeable being for Depeche Mode’s Delta Machine tour. The fabric brief from Martin Gore was for a modern punk stage look that would suit the new wave electronic music.

We combined fine Merino worsted yarns with silver and and black lurex, creating a shimmering check in shades of silver, black and blue. Tom tailored the fabric into separate jackets, waistcoats and trousers for each member of the band and on the world tour they were worn in various combinations throughout the show. The combination performed well, with the lurex catching the light and the wool holding it’s shape whilst wicking away any perspiration. The conflation of musicians and fashion was lauded by the crowds and encores demanded, another feather in the cap of tailor Tom Baker.

To find out more about Tom Baker do pop in and visit the shop at 4 D’Arblay Street, Soho, London W1F 8DJ or check out their website for more details

All the very best,

The Dashing Team

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Tie the knot in Dashing

The wedding season is approaching and if you are the groom, best men or just a friend of the bride then now is the time to start thinking about your outfit. I wrote a while ago about the changing trends towards less formal attire, grey morning tails are moving aside as colourful clothes, sometimes with a theme, are becoming increasingly popular for weddings. Luckily however, a tailored look is still the aspiration and as men throughout generations have discovered a well fitting suit makes you more look masculine, more elegant and more desirable should you be intending to hitch with a bridesmaid.

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We have found that country weddings with a tweed take have been popular, but if you are a guest for such an occasion then your old shooting suit simply won’t cut the mustard, even the game old birds will not be impressed. Tweed fulfils many functions from camouflage through to urban cycling but one of the main characteristics of the fabric is a sense of enjoyment. We have some takes on classic Glen Urquhart and Glen Coigach inspired designs such as our Chattanooga and Charleston Checks as well as our Dashing Explorer range that transcend this country wedding brief.

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The other trend we have observed is young grooms coming to us for their first made to measure suit. They are looking for an investment piece that they will enjoy for many of their married years. Tailored garments are often sparse in their wardrobe and so ideally the jacket can be worn after the wedding with other trousers or jeans for a smart dress down look. For this brief we have a whole range of creative yet subtle fabrics mainly in our fine Merino worsted quality. Our navy Seti design has proved very popular so we have rewoven this. The subtle hints of colour in the dip dyed Japanese cotton stripe provide both the sophisticated originality required for a wedding as well as the freshness for a night out in town. We also have a whole range of lighter weight Merinos in stripes and checks that when tailored well will elevate you from possibly dreary to dashingly dreamy.

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You may well be reading this with the anticipation of welcoming a new son or daughter in law to the family, the father of the bride or groom plays a pivotal role and whilst you do not wish to steal lime light from the central players, it is desirable to show the youth how to dress with a nonchalant aplomb that befits a man of wisdom.

We have a new cloth in a navy and black peak design which looks artfully interesting without seeking attention and fits the brief well. Of course, if you are renowned as a colourful bon viveur, and your audience would feel cheated if you did not excel yourself with a creation so joyous and exuberant that earth worms sing open harmonies at your arrival we would also be delighted to help make the special day superlative.

If you have any questions regarding cloth for your wedding or would like to book a Made to Measure appointment, please drop us an email on holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk

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Tailors Uncovered: Chittleborough & Morgan

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” Taking advice from Oscar Wilde is easier said then done, being a work of art can be rather tiresome as I’m sure Tilda Swinton discovered snoozing in her glass box at the Serpentine Gallery back in ’95. Wearing a work of art should be the ultimate pleasure, enriching the lives of over others around you as well yourself. However, it is no less easy to achieve with style and elegance. Obviously one could don a Chapman brothers mask, but looking like an ethnographic anthropologist on his way back from an Amazonian burger joint may cause some mirth in the boardroom. The answer to the dilemma is to visit Chittleborough & Morgan in Savile Row and order a suit. No matter what cloth you choose the resulting creation will without doubt be an exquisite wearable work of art that will not only turn heads in the right direction but give you unbridled joy in both the bespeaking and the wearing. The reason your suit will be a work of art is quite simply because it will be hand cut and stitched by the most skilled and artistic of tailors, Joe Morgan and his protégé Francis Paley. As with any art, provenance is all-important and the suits cut by Joe Morgan have rested on the shoulders of iconic giants.

He started tailoring at Wilkinson’s helping to measure up Harold Macmillan on his first day and then as his tailoring talents emerged he moved on as a cutter with Tommy Nutter. Here Joe cut suits in the definitively sharp house style for everyone who was anyone, from the Beatles strolling across Abbey Road to partying lords. All the time perfecting the cut and details, working on seams to smooth away any unnecessary drape from a garment and figuring out how to angle the pitch of armholes forward to avoid a single wrinkle on the chest.

In the early eighties Joe moved on and started his own tailoring house with Roy Chittleborough another talent from Nutters. Their aim was to carry on developing the most stylised cuts possible and to take traditional tailoring techniques to the absolute limit of menswear couture. In common with all masterpieces no compromise is made at any stage, the finest linen canvassing and horsehair interfacings are sourced and I was amazed by the attention to detail.

To perfect the dramatic shoulders and high arm holes extra layers of strengthening are added in tiny hand stitched layers that I have never seen in any other Savile Row tailor, and the fabric around the chest and armhole is cajoled with steam to sculptural perfection. Then, to confirm that every possible stage is truly a work of art I spotted the internal stitches of a basting. Here for a colourful customer the functional threads are most beautifully sewn into a cat and pineapple, the fact that no one will ever see them and only the client will know is testament to a level of detail beyond meticulous. The passion for perfection in the workroom is palpable and all the young apprentices delight in this level workmanship. I was proudly shown photos of Dashing creations from a few weeks before where our checks are aligned in way I did not think was possible on a curved sleeve.

For many tailors innovation is not on the agenda but when I asked Joe if he had developed new ideas recently he instantly showed me trousers with a lap seam that I immediately lusted after. The high waisted wide legged trousers had an immaculate overlapping seam running the entire length of the leg including the pocket and were examples of the most outstanding craftsmanship.

Standing elegantly tall Joe conducts proceedings in the house with energy and charisma sharing his knowledge and good humour. He is a great fan of our fabrics mainly due to freshness of our designs and the characters that bring them in for tailoring.

In the present climate where large brands dominate and people are swayed into buying ersatz luxury, walking into Chittleborough & Morgan and seeing a totally British style at the most refined and modern is like discovering treasure of legend. I strongly advise you to pay them a visit and you will leave feeling a million dollars.

To find out more about Chittleborough & Morgan do pop in and visit them at 12 Savile Row, Mayfair, London W1S 3PQ check out their website for more details