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Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 00:02
Hello, folks, and a very warm welcome to the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. My name is Liam Ball, your magical wedding host, also known as the Gentleman Magician. And as I always say, this podcast exists to shine a light on some of the very best people in the wedding industry, particularly people who care about doing things properly. Now, if you are enjoying this podcast, do consider subscribing, following, and sharing it with somebody who you know is getting married. It genuinely does help people. to feel catered for and explore the world of the wedding industry so they can make the best choices they possibly can. Now today’s conversation is going to focus on an area of the wedding industry which is so often overlooked, and that is menswear. From suits, styling, confidence, and fit to helping men feel comfortable and sharp on their wedding day, we’re going to be chatting with somebody who works closely with grooms and anybody who wears a suit. to make sure that they don’t just feel the part, but they look it as well. We’re also going to have a little bit of a quick fire menswear section later on, settling some common myths And also try to figure out exactly how we should be wearing suits in the modern day. So, with a deep understanding of tailoring, style, and how men actually want to be treated. It’s a pleasure to welcome to the Supplier Spotlight podcast Ian Kinsman from Anthony Formalware. Hi, Ian, how’s it going? Fine, Niam. How about yourself? Absolutely marvelous. Thank you very much. Yes, it’s a nice February day here in Essex. Yeah, it’s cold outside, so I’m I’m thankful that I’ve got this nice area to be warm in. How about yourself?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 01:46
Yeah, it’s a bit damp on by the coast actually. I’m in Frinton.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:48
Oh Gosh.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 01:48
So windy and damp today.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:48
Windy and damp, but hey-ho. Um that that’s England for you, I guess. So let’s let’s sort of chat about the the Anthony formal wear. So h how did it all start and how did it find its way into menswear? And of course, amongst the other things that Anthony Formalware does, into weddings?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 02:08
Well, the business started in 1968. It was founded by a guy called Bernard, named after his son Anthony. And it started off as a designer menswear shop. small little Italian brands, things like that. And then early eighties, they introduced some top end formal wear to hire, mainly tail coats and dinner suits for the customers, and we ran it alongside the menswear. And then over the years, it sort of developed. The menswear was becoming harder and harder due to constrictions from suppliers and things like that. And the formalware was getting bigger and bigger, and we found a niche where we could design our own formalware to sell and hire. And then we expanded into other shops and other locations. So generally, it’s just we’ve gone from a menswear retailer into the hire, and then now doing more custom-made and made-to-measure suits. So you can offer a broad range of stuff. Um yeah, it’s almost going full circle where we’re retailing again a lot more than we have done for years We’ve had shops in different locations. We’re now settled in Billericky and Colchester, which gives us a large catchment area because people travel a lot more than they used to. So yeah, we’ve got third generation of the family still works in the business at the moment. Um, not myself. And yeah, it’s it’s it you know, we have a good reputation. We’ve dealt with thousands and thousands of people over the years. So
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 03:37
So, I mean, essentially, so formal wire wasn’t always the plan, but it’s it’s kind of it started out with a little bit and then it’s grown into it and then it’s been a focus and now You’re kind of moving again into more sort of general men’s fashion, am I understanding that right? Not so much.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 03:53
Different nowadays. I think We had the formal wear. We also became a manufacturer for a long period of time, for about designer-made our own stuff, and sold it to other shops around the country as well. But the markets changed. I would say 15-20 years ago, people wore more formal clothing. You wore frock coats, you wore tailcoats.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 04:15
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 04:15
Frequent length Nairu jackets, or if you had something different, it would be in a different fabric or more elaborate, and then all of a sudden It changed overnight. Everything went from being elaborate to young tweeds, dark suits, very faint, very generic. And it’s sort of continued really up until now that everything’s been a bit The same, a blue suit or a grey suit, nothing formal, nothing elaborate. That’s coming back a little bit.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 04:45
So that’s nice to see.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 04:46
Yeah, it is. It is. You know, dinner suits are very big at the moment. You sort of replaced the morning suit as the traditional thing to wear to a wedding. Still do tail codes. Yeah, it’s nice to see something a little bit more occasion-based. It looks like you’re wearing it for an occasion. Right, then you could be a guest, or it’s something you’d wear to work. But yeah, we do do a bit of menswear, but more bespoke. So, okay, yeah, where we make suits
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 05:12
Yeah, I mean, I think probably something which isn’t maybe that widely known is how accessible it is these days now for a guy who wants to look smart and who wants to feel A bit more about himself, and he wants to look like he got up in the morning and he got dressed, and it all happened absolutely on purpose. that that that’s it’s much more accessible, isn’t it, now, to go out and find not only the information that you need, because of course you know it’s twenty twenty six and the Internet is fabulous but also to go out and get great quality clothing and still feel like you’ve made a good investment?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 05:51
Yes. I would say yes, but It’s we are nothing like Europe in the UK. No independent gensware shops are like pubs. They’re closing week by week. You’re mainly down to multiples now. It is really tough. you’re traveling abroad a bit. You you go to a a town or city. They have multiple menswear shops, all independent brands from mid pric price point to high price point. Yemos towns now don’t have a menswear shop anymore.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 06:21
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 06:21
That it’s very difficult to search out something a bit different.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 06:26
Yeah, I think it is. Yeah, I think it is. And of course, that’s where I suppose you’re sort of stepping in and filling the void and making sure that. People looking fabulous on their wedding day if they want to wear a suit.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 06:37
Yeah, and it’s we try to find something that’s not generic that doesn’t look the same as everywhere else. It’s really difficult nowadays. Yeah, I mean, we were at trade show last weekend. And to be fair, we found a few bits, but there wasn’t a lot. We’re going out to Amsterdam next month to Dubai, and we’ll look down to Pitti and other places. ‘Cause we try and search for something a little bit different.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 07:01
That’s great. So you’re constantly on the search end for the right lines for your business to make sure that you’re, I suppose, getting the good balance for the people that know what they’re looking for.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 07:11
Yeah, and when you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, then you have to get it maked. So, yeah, we can in collaboration with a friend of mine that’s got another business, but in Wales, we Design well, we put some designs down and we’ve had made it without in suits. Could we want the exact specification that we want for the jackets, trousers and waistcoats? So that apart from looking unique, that they’re what works for weddings. Couldn’t couldn’t buy exactly what we wanted direct from the manufacturer.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 07:40
So that I go yeah. Right. That’s I mean that’s that’s awesome. So essentially a lot of the things that you’re offering then, people can’t get anywhere else.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 07:49
Certain things, especially on some of our higher suits, all not original higher suits, some of the newer ones, yes, you can. But it’s in selected outlets. A lot of them are our friends and things like that. Our new dinner suit is exclusive to us. All the other higher suits are exclusive to us. We had Specially milled at uh by Parperers in Milan, and then we pulled that over and made in Europe. Um yeah, we tend to keep a lot of that unique. We use a very exclusive tailoring company for our motor measure, which works really well because they do some beautiful fabrics at a very good price and the stuff is superb. And that gives us the opportunity to offer a massive range on that side of things. And when we search out, we try to make it a curated range of the best that we can find.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 08:37
Little bits of bulk here and there. Amazing. So I mean, let’s say I mean, you know, sort of somebody’s walking into your shop and they’re looking rather, they’re thinking everything you’ve got is great, but what I want is something just a little bit more so. So they’re going to go down your sort of made to measure range. And I mean, I’m the proud owner of several sort of tailored, bespoken, made to measure suits, which the whole process is just it’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 09:01
Yeah, people really enjoy it. You know, they find it daunting. I think. Sometimes people will come to us with an idea and say, I want this. I’m looking for this. Generally, we find that mate imagery is a precursor of what is going to come in in two to three years’ time. You get guys coming in now looking for a certain thing that they can’t buy on the shots. So then we we find that with the 114. Alternatively, you just get the guys that want to have something made, something special for the wedding day. Yeah. And then the most daunting part It’s just going, I’ll have that fabric because it’s coming from a swatch. It’s not everything available. Once they get through that, it’s quite a pleasurable experience choosing your buttons, your lining, your pairs, your personalization. you know, having it all fitted, discussing how they want it to fit and the drape and everything else. Some guys get really into it, you know, and we do such a mixture. You know, last week I did Double-breasted, like soft Italian tailored jacket with double-pleated high-waisted trousers. I did not Italian non-crease linen slim fit suit. Um, Saturday I did a pink velvet Dinner jacket. Wild.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 10:07
You know, just to wild everything, isn’t it?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 10:10
Yeah, we did a lot of really different suits. And agree with something a little bit different to stand out from the FP
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 10:17
That’s right. I mean, I I often sort of sit back sometimes and think, gosh, that guy looks really smart and he’s clearly had that suit made or he’s been in and he’s had it tweaks or he’s had it tailored. Where did he get the idea from? And I’ve discovered, of course, through speaking to various people in various sort of places, that a lot of the time they’ll see something like a celebrity or hat and they’ll go. Oh, I like that little detail, or they’ll see something, well, I like that, and I like that suit, and that suit looks great, and that one’s good, and I like this there, and that colours. But of course, they can’t find all of those things, and that’s how these things sort of start to build, isn’t it? So, yeah, one of my Go on. No, go on, Kirim. Switch. So one of my um one of my favourite quotes in the De Brett’s little men’s style book, because I I spend quite a lot of time looking at this stuff, is that a man should look as if he bought his clothes with intelligence. Put them on with care and then forgot all about them. Yes. It’s very difficult to dress men like that, though. It is, isn’t it? It really is. I mean, I sometimes wonder if. People just went straight to the end bit and just forgot about it, right? Definitely. Because it’s so that I mean, the fashion industry as a whole is so sort of female women centric. It’s often so difficult to find the right advice and actually get a hold of somebody who knows what a good suit should look like when you’ve got it on.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 11:41
Yeah, I would say two things. One, with the hire, you’re aware of how people wear stuff. So we make sure that everything is there for them. Yeah, you know. Every suit will come with a pair of cufflines because invariably someone will lose their cuffliners, not find their cuffliners yet where every suit comes with braces. Because they put their hands in their pockets, they pull their trousers down, the shirt sticks out between the trouser and the waistcoat. Looks awful in the photographs. Yeah. Yeah, if they’ve got sugar arms, we put armbands in to make sure the shirt sits in the right place. All those little things. Can refine the look of a higher suit or an off-the-peg suit so that it all fits absolutely perfectly. I would say with made to measure or bespoke or something like that, when you’re Creating a sync for someone. Apart from the visual thing of the fabric, it’s like you said about the cut or the way it fits, it’s having somebody sizing you that really knows what they’re doing. You’re putting in a drop shoulder at the right amount or lowering a collar, squaring the neck. Crooking or straightening makes a massive difference. And I think that that’s a difficult thing because a lot of places offer made to measure circuits. Yeah. But they’re not really made. Bespoke is different. Bespoke is handmade. Yeah, with made to measure. You’re taking a set of dimensions, having a suit made, but you can do figurations. Most places just shorten the sleeve, shorten the jacket, take the waist. It doesn’t really work. Perfectly. And to be honest, you know, we have a business, we have lots of staff. There’s three of us that do May to Measure. It takes years to be able to learn to do it really, really well. We don’t just allow people to come in and do Thanks for measuring short, but yeah, getting the cut perfect is the main thing on that, and it makes a real difference to the way it looks and drapes on, really makes guys look sharp and smart.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:35
Yeah. I I remember I’ve in fact I’m just thinking about it now. I remember buying my first ever made-to-measure suits and funnily enough it was in Burtons, um, up in the Upper I used to live, ’cause Burtons used to do a me, I don’t know if they still do. Yeah, they did, yes, yeah. And I remember going in and I remember sort of saying to this guy, you know, I’m a magician, I want a suit that’s going to look really smart, and it’s all these ones. He said, but if you want something that’s going to be a little bit, you know, modern, a bit more unique, a bit different. Go see Barry over there in in the suit department. He’s the guy with the bald head and the tape measure around his neck and get a made to measure suit. And I was like, oh, okay. And I remember it just being Almost like the most wonderful experience, where he’s like, Right, so we’ve got 5,000 fabrics to choose from. Which one do you like? And I’m like, that one looks good. Okay. And how about all these linings? There’s twice as many of those. And it’s like, whoa. But but actually, what I ended up with was a suit I think that I wore for about a decade. And probably had another four or five on the back of that, which was great. Um and and I think I think uh I probably wasn’t aware of the wedding industry then as much as I am now. But I think even now it men often feel like an afterthought in the wedding planning process. And of course, when it comes down to going out and getting the right the right gear for a for a man to wear on his wedding day that sort of turns the tables a bit. But why do you think that is the case? And of course, how important is it that many of your customers feel that they therefore get their share of that experience?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 15:14
I think nowadays men are more into it than they have been in the past.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 15:22
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 15:23
And right at the moment, they’re quite lucky as well because the soup business is It’s diet. People don’t wear suits to work anymore. So the manufacturers don’t make those. So the main market for suits in Europe is basically occasions. party weddings, you know, guests or grooms and things like that. So grooms have a lot more to choose from nowadays. But it’s the it’s almost the one thing that they get to do for the wedding as well. The one thing they have I wouldn’t say total control because it definitely The first visit is normally with the bride, yeah, to make sure they don’t go, you know, totally or script. But guys are a little bit more fashionable nowadays. ninety percent of them have an idea of what they want and they come in or how they want it to fit and things like that. So I th With us as well, they find it quite pleasurable. We get a lot of feedback from Caswitzaws. Oh my God, I didn’t realize how enjoyable an experience it could be. And even from just choosing an off-the-peg suit or having the suit made. When they come in, because this is so much, we dress them up, we try different things on them, they sort of really enjoy the experience. It is important because the whole day was It’s that little thing that the brute maybe gets to go, actually, I want this.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 16:38
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 16:38
And we do get the occasional one where the briefs are right, well, I’ve got my dress, but he wants this particular set, yeah. So we’ve got to wait for him to get that done and then go and choose the bridesmaids and then go and choose that because it’s all around the groom. So every now and again we get a a a wedding where Sort of the colour scheme and everything else is around the groom. Yeah, I think it is important for the guys making it, and they do, they always want to be a little bit different to everyone else in the wording.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 17:07
When it is there, though, of course, and you know, I mean, I believe that the point of getting a great suit or just great even great day to day clothes, but specifically a great suit, especially for a special occasion, is that you get an opportunity to put something on that makes you stand out and look a little bit different to everybody else. Right. And I mean, you know, we’re not a society anymore that goes to operas and sits with royalty and has to wear top hats and tails where it’s almost a uniform. we’re now in a society where s personal style and personal choices are super important. And of course, the the right suits fitted the right way, but also with the right look and the right accessories. Can make a huge difference on how somebody feels and just their general day-to-day confidence overall, can’t it?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 18:02
Yeah, and you can like you said about accessories and things like that you can change a naive suit from a piece in this suit to a casual something formal to something more casual change of a waistcoat, change of a tie, accessories, things like that. So, you know, if you took a navy blue suit, put an Irish linen waistcoat underneath, like the traditional waistcoat you may be used to wear with a tail coat. Put it on with like a grenadine tie, nice sharp shirt, pocket square. You’ve almost got the look of a tailcoat, but in a lounge suit. Yes, so it gives you a more classic wedding look. You know, equally, having the same suit with, I don’t know, a low-cut waistcoat, dark tie, pockets tie slide, pocket watch. You know, you’re you’re trying to make the the Navy suit look a little bit sharper and different to an everyday suit like that. When we do made to measure and custom made Um, you know, buttons, things that make a big difference. We always ask so if he’s ever in the Navy Blue Suit, for instance, say What kind of shoes are you thinking of wearing? And then, if they went, oh, well, I want it a little bit more softer, I’m going to wear brown shoes. Go, okay, so maybe if you have like a contrasting waistcoat we use like a smoked brown button on the jacket and the waistcoat and tie the waistcoat and jacket together. You can then add, put your brown shoes on, tie the outfit together. If you go in black The outfit looks a lot sharper with black shoes rather than brown shoes. So, again, navy buttons, blue buttons, maybe use a contrasting button on the waistcoat that goes into the waistcoat slightly. So then you create a different sharper look. You can change, it’s really weird, but changing button holes, buttons. Yeah, slight change to waistcoat, fabric, not even color, can and shoes can make the difference to a sharper and softer outfit. Yeah, for the broom. So they You sort of feel a lip and I’m like, Yeah, that’s the look I want. You can do it a bit with shoes, shirts, ties, and waistcoats, and off the peg as well. Um, especially with the new because we’ve got look new stuff this year. The colour range is brilliant because before it’s just been navy great and a little bit of I mean, beige, stony colours and greens are really popular. But in the last year we’ve put in a stone, a sage A dark green, pale blue. There’s like a lavender pinky colour just gone in, a berry colour, a tall yellow, brown coming in a few weeks. It’s just gone from a very dull colour palette off the peg. to or higher, but to a very broad spectrum of stuff now, which is quite nice.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 20:25
And I suppose a lot of that is what following like requests and demands and sort of looking at the things that people are wanting And kind of filling in to make sure that it’s there, right?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 20:36
Yes. I mean, the the asking for beige’s greens Stones, things like that has been really popular. Those colours are very, very popular at the moment. Brown’s coming up. Also, we used to do this stuff years ago. We used to do lots of different colour suits. Also, we had the opportunity to buy them and Myself often joke that I work closely with it. It’s just a bit boring nowadays. Let’s just put the whole lot. Let’s just give me something different again I’ve been used to years ago. Expand the range, lots of different stuff, lots of choice, mix and match it. That’s popular at the moment. Pale blue jacket over a navy trouser and waistcoat, or a beige jacket over. Well, the guy on Saturday, lovely beige dog tooth check jacket with black trousers, black waistcoat, black knitted tight. Not the type of thing you’d normally wear for, but looked so sharp on. So, yeah, there’s the more of an opportunity for the guys to mix and match and dress up in a lot more flamboyant colours. It’s nicer at the moment because it’s been so dark for years. It really has.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 21:37
I I mean, I’ve I’ve seen like the transformation of so one one of my one of my closest friends, when I met him many, many years ago, his his stance on things was, I don’t wear ties. I don’t, no, you won’t catch me in the tie, not ever. And I remember one day we were out at this thing, and this guy turned to and he went, Where’s your tie? And he went, I don’t wear ties. He went, In that case, go away and come back when you’ve got one. And if you haven’t got one, don’t come back again. And he was like, Oh, okay. At which point he looked at me and he went, I need a tie. And and he kind of went from that to having his own sort of tailor-made well, made to measure suit made. And then suddenly it was it was almost like he put it on and it was like, ooh, I feel I feel really good. And it almost changed his entire outlook on how he gets up in the morning, how he dresses, what he does. how he presents himself to the world. And as a result of that, he’s got happier, he’s got fitter, he’s got more confident, he looks great, he knows how to buy fabulous clothes. And sometimes it’s that experience, isn’t it? That people come in and they go, I need a suit and I don’t know what I want. And then you’ve got somebody like you who can advise them and they walk away thinking, I want to do that again. Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 22:54
We have I would say on from the groomed the age group with the grooms that come in We have certain ones have come back. Yeah. Time to talk. I had a text message yesterday from a guy that I made a suit for eighteen months ago for his wedding. It was just like, have you still got my sizes? Can you make me a navy suit? Yeah, he’s not even going to come in. I’m just going to make him a neat suit because I know what he likes. I have a few customers like that from or we have quite a few grooms that have come back. especially people that find it very difficult to get stuff to fit and look good in very tall people, very sh uh short people. So with the make to measure course, we do everything. So Suits, shirts, Chinos, polo shirts, coats, you name it, you can have it made. So we can get everything to fit perfectly. Bizarrely, when we We’re with the company we do at the moment because they do suits and everything else and it’s looking very attacked style and it’s lovely. We thought, oh, this is going to be great. All the grooms are going to come back and have something made. It’s not so much, it’s more the grooms that find it difficult to get exactly what they want, or they will come back to get something done for a special occasion.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:05
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 24:05
However, the dads are the ones that come back. It’s always the groom, you know, going, oh, I’m going to have a suit made, and everyone else is getting sized up for their off the peg suits. you know, um, maybe a higher suit. And then the dad will always come round to the major measure section and have a look and then just go, Oh I might get one maid as well, you know. And then it’s them that come back constantly. And they tend to bring in their, you know, sons and daughters or, you know, friends and fa other family for weddings and stuff. Yeah, we do a lot. I’ve got a customer, I’ve done both his children, and he’s bought in multiple other families. And he comes back every year, and I make his clothes for him. Wow. But yeah, but because I can make Stuff for them that they feel comfortable and confident in. I just do. Yeah, a lot of major measures there.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:57
So, what would you say are the things that grooms and men tend to worry about the most? When they’re looking for a suit?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 25:08
Depends on the person fit. Trousers big time. Yeah. And they just worry about the width of the trouser. Sometimes one of them is wider, sometimes one of them. That is a real personal thing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 25:22
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 25:22
And I think that is a it’s weird. It’s not They’re not worried about the color or this or that. It’s it’s trouser fit is the biggest thing. It sounds weird, but it is. Most guys will come in and it will be, you know, I’m looking for a suit or I don’t know. We tend to guide them through. It’s what mm. So if you were coming into my store, didn’t know what you want here, I’d be like, right. you got any ideas? When’s your wedding? What’s the venue? Have you got a colour scheme? Have you got any ideas? And then we would run them through, getting a rough idea of what they want. We’d run them through the high range then the off the peg range, then the custom made, and then finally the made to measure to give them an idea. And by then they’re like, oh, quite like this, quite like that. So they’re then sort of comfortable and they sort of know that we can accommodate what what they’re looking for. They don’t normally Come in apart from very few with a set thing or something they’re worried about. Yeah, that they’re more concerned is always fit, I always say. Well, because they can find the color. So, yeah, we we run them through that, then we would I suppose dress them up, and yeah, you know, a lot of time they’ll be like, Oh, I’ll try a higher one on. Oh, I like that one. That one’s one we sell. Can I try that in a different color? Yeah. And then, yeah, I like this, but I really want it to be more. And we go, right, but so if you want something like that, it’s a little bit more, but you can go from eight to measure. And they say, Okay, so a lot of the time it’s a process of trying higher off the peg, then go into custom made and made to measure if they can’t find exactly what they’re comfortable wearing. And it’s not so much about fit in my opinion because we can make things fit perfectly. It’s looking in the mirror and going, Yeah, I want to look like this on the day. I feel comfortable wearing this color. I feel comfortable in the accessories and everything else. I don’t feel like I’m wearing a costume. I think sometimes people can be too dressed up. It ends up looking like a an extra from Pinky Blinders or something. It it’s a costume rather than a suit you’re getting married in. So we want them to feel look in the mirror and go, yeah. And we always say you look in the mirror, you choose the outfit you really love, and then we’ll make everybody else in the wedding look not quite as good as you.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 27:40
Brilliant. I mean, that’s it, isn’t it, right? A groom on a wedding day should be the best dressman in the room. Exactly. And the only point at which that becomes a problem is if there’s two groups.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 27:51
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 27:51
And they could still each be the best dressed man in the room. So, yeah, that’s amazing. I mean, and I think this is it, isn’t it? I think a lot of the time. A groom getting married will think, I’ve got to go out and buy a suit, or I’ve got to go out and get a suit. It’s going to take me half an hour, right? Because I think a lot of the time men can be quite time-blind with that, can’t they? And they’ll say, oh, yeah, it’s going to be easy. I’m just going to walk in and go, that one, and it’ll just all magically happen. And of course, it doesn’t. So how long do you think that or no, a b better phrase that question, at what point before a wedding should a groom really start thinking about When to go and find the right suit and go through that whole process.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 28:43
Okay, so we would say if you were planning on getting married next year, 27 We always have our ranges in store by October for next year. So we suggest people come in October, November, December. Because it is dead in the shop. It’s nice and quiet. If you’re coming on a Saturday or during the week, you almost have the shop to yourself. It’s a lovely environment. To come, try stuff on, get an idea. People don’t generally finalize things, they still might not have finalized the bridesmaid’s code, but they’ll come in and go, right, I really love this, I really love that. And then we’re really flexible. So we say to people, look, choose what you really love. If you’re having horror off the pet, if you change your mind later on, don’t worry about it. We can swap it over for you. And then, so they come in then. We encourage them to come in then to try stuff on, choose what they want, sort of thing. And then to bring the guys in, if they’re hiring or buying off the peg ten weeks beforehand Mainly because most factories work on a three months rotation, so you can hit rotation stock if you’re short of anything. Custom made and made to measure, we quote, twelve weeks. They come through a lot quicker Well, that gives us enough time to make the suit, get the gentleman in, then dress the suit. I don’t like to do a shirt, tight, accessories when you’re having a suit made. You do that once the suit is made, so you get their full look on. That gives us enough time to get the suit made, get them in, make a shirt for them. Yeah, alterations once it’s done is twenty four, forty eight hours. But you know, it gives us that. And we could do a final fit a couple of weeks before if people have lost weight or put on weight. So a long time before, just to choose and get it all in your mind, then closer to the time to get people sized up because what happens is everyone leaves it. They go, oh, come in in the new year. Then January, February, March, we’re packed. Yeah. And it’s not, you know, you get the time, you’re not rushed or anything, but there’s a lot of people in the shop. Whereas pre-Christmas is not so quite a lot of time. And then people can go away and think about it. And they will go away and come back and go, actually, I really like the suit, but I want to change the waistcoat. I want to change the ties. I now want the guys in this. So it gives them. A a large window to think about it. They change their mind slightly if they want to.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 30:50
And of course it’s all the process. Yeah, planning is key. What’s been, out of all the, all the, all the menswear that you’ve sort of ensemblers that you’ve put together, what would you say has been your favourite today? What sticks out in your mind?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 31:09
Um did one for a guy called Cal. a few years ago, he came in with a picture of Mick Jagger at a wedding years ago. And he had a suit that was like almost like an ivory sort of base and it had like a liar look and purple stripe running through it. And I tried everywhere to find this folk, couldn’t find it. And it was he he had one of those first festival weddings years ago. You know, he was like Bear Grat, one of the first of those. So in the end we managed to find a uh a calico printing company that had a a cloth usable. We got the cop copied similar design, got it printed and made it in this candy striped suit. Wow. And he’s about six foot three, big hair, a bit of a mod looking guy. And I made it in that proper, you know, three button higher cup and an Asian rolled lapel and things like that. And it just looked absolutely That’s stunning. Absolutely stunning. That was quite good. We also did a wedding a few years ago. Guy was in a he was an animator and he was in a rock band. Quite a character. And the whole all the wedding wore you know two-toned shoes, a spat shoe, open neck shirts. He had a pale pink double-breasted suit made Everyone in his band had pale blue double breasted suits. The family wore pale lemon double breasted suits, and the dads were full man from Delmonsee ivory double breasted suits.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 32:37
Nice.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 32:37
I remember having them in the shop for those coming by on a busy day and people going, Oh my god, you know, as if to say, What are they wearing? They walked out of the change rooms and everybody in the shop’s just up That looks amazing. Yeah. It was just the mixture of the shoes, the pocket squares and the shirts being open neck and the collar styles just worked brilliantly. Yeah, that that was a pro over the years, we’ve I mean, footballers’ wives years in the nineties, anything. I mean, we did in suits we embroidered Napoleonic B’s on them, you know, pink suits, lilac suits, crushed velvet, crushed silk It was brilliant. It was anything and everything goes.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 33:16
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 33:17
It it was just phenomenal.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 33:19
Fabulous. But that’s different. Do you know what I’m just thinking about those multicoloured suited wedding and that just I’m thinking about it now because you would the concept of it would kind of make you go but actually altogether it must have been phenomenal.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 33:35
I think it was somewhere like Sicily or somewhere. There’s a picture on our Instagram somewhere of it. But they are walking out of a church in Italy with the confetti. You can see the blue on one side, the yellow on the other, and he’s in the pink, walking out with her. It it looks Yeah, really, really good. But I suppose nowadays, now we’re doing a few more different coloured suits, so people can have a purple suit or whatever that we’re doing off the peg and to People do try and express themselves in a way with dinner suits, you know, black tie, tattoo, whatever you want to call it, but it’s harder. But there are a lot of fabrics In that, like I did the pink one this week. But I’m doing a cerise one Thursday night. I’m doing an ivory and gold brocade one for someone on Saturday. Wow. So, guys, and there’s certain tailoring books and certain tailoring companies, if if you know where to get them, have ranges that are really elaborate. I mean, I’ve got like Royal blue camouflaged in suit samples made up in the shop and things like that. And invariably, that’s a dad that would have something like that. But I think At the moment, going back to what we were talking about, dressing up, people feel smarter in evening wear because it’s traditional, it looks sharp. But it’s very difficult to differentiate the group from the other guys if you’re wearing blacks. Yeah, a lot of people were asking for dinner cream jackets. We tend to play around with, you know, if they want all black tie. If it’s very simple, just change the pocket square on the ashes. If you’re green bridesmaids, they wear green pocket square, green wears white.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 35:10
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 35:11
But things like double-breasted suits rather than single-breasted jackets so the groom stands out. Cream white jackets are popular at the moment. Velvets are really popular. I think for the first time in like twenty five years, we put velvet back into the higher in black, navy blue, green. I think we’ve got burgundy coming in for next year. So we make a lot bespoke, a lot made of measure. But um, yeah, it guys want black tie, but they find it very difficult to look different. So we’re trying to bring more and more options on that as well.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 35:40
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I that’s that’s something that I often because I wear black tie quite a lot for formal do’s, you know. Um I I was very much in the in the row of my body shape, I find it quite difficult to buy off the peg suits for now. The truth is, I just need to get fitter. But also, it’s kind of open to getting tailored suits. And I’ve got some fantastic suits which have been made for me. which it’s just it’s a whole different experience. And and and I I my experience, I think, has been that when you’ve got two blokes standing next to each other and one’s wearing a suit which is an off the peg suit and one’s wearing a suit which is a tailored suit, They might be both of exceptional quality, but there is just something you’re kind of looking at there’s something, and I don’t know what it is, but there’s a it it just it looks better because of course it’s been made to fit that human being specifically.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 36:34
Yes. Yeah, it’s but you can tell. I’ve I can tell a lot. I can I remember sitting on the train a few months back, it was last year, and there was a guy standing up in the train that was going to my park’s house. I said to her, I went He said that made. She said, How can you tell? I was just the buttons, the way the shoulders fit. The shoulders are way too narrow for his chest size. Yeah. And then when he moved, I said, Yeah, and a fabric label on the inside as well. It’s both fabric. You can spot it a mile off. But yeah, there is a subtleness To that’s very important in weddings actually. Subtleness in making the groom different, but there is a a real subtle difference in the fit and shape of a proper Bespoke or made to measure, not custom made. People get this wrong. And I think that’s a big thing. If you’re going to spend money on this, find out what they are going to do to the suit. For instance, these companies have to do what we call custom made. So it feels like make to measure because you’ve got fabrics, you’ve got buttons, but you’re literally shortening the sleeve, taking the waist in, shortening the jacket. Fits better, but it’s the same alteration you could do to an off-the-peg suit.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 37:41
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 37:42
Except that’s done during manufacture. proper made to measure or high end made to measure is where they would take your dimensions from either a tape measure or a master garment and feed it into the computer. So rather than it being a hand cut pattern The computer drafts a pattern for you.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 37:59
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 38:02
And, you know, part of it will be handmade, parts will be machine-made. If you’re going full bespoke, what we I would personally call bespoke, every single part of that garment should be hand cut and hand stitched. You know, the internals of the lapel should have so many thousand stitches in by hand, things like that. But then this is problem. People believe they’re getting that. And unless you’re paying four thousand pounds, if you’re in on Severo six grand, you’re not getting it, no matter what they say. It’s not made there, it’s made abroad and broad. In or something, you can’t make a the man hours involved and the cost of the cloth and everything else. You’ve spent two grand. Yeah, it’s not going to be made properly bespoke. Major measure gives a more Value option. You can get same fabrics. You can do 90% of what a bespoke garment can be done with later middle. And fit wise, you really tell. Difference being bespoke suit is a work of art, it’s done by hand. Those pocket tats are done by hand. Yes, that, and the other. And It’s pref it is fitted time and time again. You get a good person with mate to measure, they can get very, very, very similar results.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:13
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 39:13
Yeah. Bad person with retimet. Oh my God. Yeah. Goes wrong sleep. Pitch goes wrong way. Things like that. It’s a big difference. But yeah, I think this is because people have come to us before and gone, oh, yeah. Remember one from last year. He said, Oh, yeah, I’ve got my suit, mate, somewhere else. I’m going to get the groomsmen from you. Absolutely fine. Did all the groomsmen’s suit six weeks before he comes in and goes, Can you make me see? He shows a suit, and he was his son. What have they done? Yeah, and people choose the wrong fabrics as well. You know, I’ve seen people come in with her disumos. Major Wood and Sit out cotton for Christ’s sake, there’s Chino fabric who did that for you Oh, well, the colour and they say it would be all right. No, it looks rubbish. Yeah. That’s horrible thing to say. I really should say things like that. But, you know, there is things.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:57
Yeah, that’s the difference, though, isn’t it? From dealing with an expert to dealing with somebody who thinks they know what they’re doing.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 40:02
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:03
So, yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 40:04
And let people just get into this. People just got older at DA to measure. It’s not that that’s the one bit it’s not as easy as think. And you know, I start some of myself been there twenty odd years and they don’t do it. You’ve got to have an eye for it. I was taught by an old tailor how to measure and things like that, so I know years and years of experience. But yet even all our stuff have been so long, they all know how to dress the grooves. How to give them that experience and make them look smart and sharp and things like that.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:37
And I guess that’s the boutique experience that grooms are coming in for.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 40:40
Yeah. Yeah. The the fact that we have a very, very large range, all the options in banks and boys and the experience to Make you feel and you look unique for the special delta. Awesome. That’s a big thing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:54
Fabulous. So, on that note, before we finish up, I’m going to throw some quick fire men’s questions at you. And um now I I I I personally have my own rules that I like to follow when I sort of dress up but I also look around sometimes and think, gosh, who dressed you today? And then when you speak to people a lot of the time, it’s because they don’t know how to wear certain things or what should or shouldn’t go with what. So Hopefully this might dispel some common myths and also help people to make some great informed choices. So let’s start out. What does black tie actually mean?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 41:30
Black tie is a dinner suit or dinner suit, tuxedo evening suit. Generally, black suit, satin lapel Satin pocket jets, satin buttons, satin stripe down the trousers. Should be worn with a camber bun or a waistcoat. Should always cover the waist area of it. That is your basic Definition of black tie. White jacket’s acceptable, midnight blue as well. Personal preference. I we’re doing a few more wind collars, but the trouble with the wing collar is it moves. Yeah. People feel uncomfortable with it. And I’m I’m not a stickler for convention in all forms. So for instance, a classic dress shirt should have a regular collar. dress studs, either a pleated or mar marcella front. We have those in the shops, we sell them, we do a made to measure. Our most popular is I do Because I like it. An Italian lightweight, non-arm twill shirt with dress does down the front with a cutaway collar. Because the modern bow tie sits better in front of that cutaway collar. It gives a classic suit a little bit more of a modnet, doesn’t it? Dad’s dinner. And there’s a brooding, there’s a company in the Netherlands that’d love to steal their tagline, but their tagline is: We are not your father’s tailor. They do that suits, you know, but they do it in a different color. They change things subtly. It’s not You’re not reinventing the wheel, you’re just subtly refinement. It’s not innovation, it’s refinement in a modern way. I like that. So, yeah, you can wear Kreme jacket, midnight blues, acceptable in a lot of places. Should have bow tie. That’s basically evening wear. I mean, shoes with evening wear, that’s a big thing. Is it painting shoes? Is it evening slippers? You know?
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 43:24
Indeed.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 43:25
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 43:26
Yeah. I th I think probably Peyton shoes most people go for these days, don’t they?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 43:29
They do. Yeah. We sell tons of Peyton shoes nowadays. Never brogues. No, no, for broks. But again, you know, it depends how you want to wear it. New Year’s Eve, I went to a black tie. I’ve got black tie, but I made myself a more modern version. So Italian woolen mohair trousers, no satin stripe. I had low cup waistcoat on, I used mother of pearl black buttons on it, velvet jacket, but no satin, but with black mother of pearl buttons on it, had the Italian twill dress shirt on. hand tied bow tie, diamond point, so two different ends on it. Um, and I wore it with uh black dress loafers for a more modern you know, it’s the same thing, but just done in a slight more modern weight. Yeah, yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 44:14
Uh braces or belts with suits? Braces. Oh, yes. Uh bowties. Should all men learn how to tie a bow tie?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 44:24
Yes, and it’s easy. It is, isn’t it? Think of it as a shoelace. Tie a knot, make two bows, wrap one round the other and pull. That’s a bow tie. People don’t do this. It’s really simple if you if you do it like this. Pull it apart and then go to tie it. It works perfectly. Yeah. But there is a trick to that as well.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 44:45
Yeah, there definitely is. Yeah. It took me ages to learn how to do it. Now I can do it without looking.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 44:51
Practice on your leg, trying the bow tie. And if you’re really stuck on the day, it’s a bit fiddly, but you can actually undo the anchor band because The length of a bow tie is adjustable.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 45:01
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 45:02
Tie the perfect bow tie on your leg, pull the anchor band down, put it around your neck, get your mates to insert it in. Then you’ve got the perfectly tied bow tie. Amazing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 45:11
Exactly. That’s a great shout. That’s a great shout. And I mean, you can’t look better at the end of a night, does it?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 45:17
Yeah, at the worst. One of the hardest points in tying a bow tie for the actual width that you want the bow tie to be or the size of the knot in the middle is knowing the exact length you need the bow tie to start with in your next eyes. So, you can spend ages trying to tie the bow to where you can get the perfect knot on your leg.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 45:33
Yeah. Your neck. Brilliant. Big ashamed. When you’re wearing a suit jacket, a regular suit, should you do the buttons up? And if so, how many of them?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 45:42
If you’ve got three let’s say you’ve got three buttons on the seat, yeah? The rule is middle one is always, top one is sometimes, bottom one is never. Okay. Always, sometimes never is the rule. Same on the double-breasted. That bottom button does not do up.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 45:59
Yeah.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 45:59
You don’t do up that last yeah, if you’ve got six buttons or you’re double-breasted, buttoning two, bottom on stays undone. Bottom button should always be undone on the suit.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 46:07
Yeah. A question that some people often don’t know the answer to. What’s the difference between a single breasted and a double breasted suit?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 46:14
Single breasted, the four part hangs down. which is the front of the suit, slightly overlaps. One, two, three, four buttons down the front. Double breasted, the jacket wraps over. Yeah, so you generally have four or six, six little spare wrap here. Big on a suit or button on a jacket, on a casual jacket. But double-breast is becoming more and more popular at the moment, isn’t it? We’ve just got I think one already made. I’ve got new double-breasted dinner suit, stone suit, and a navy suit in, and I’m just about to get the mink and the indigo in. Double-breasted now because look, guys, we’re making a lot of double-breasted. That sounds amazing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 46:50
Yeah. Double-breasted suits are definitely making a comeback. At the last question, when you’re wearing a tie and you have a pocket square, should they match or not?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 47:03
No but they’re not but they’re going to, but no. Yeah. If you come to the shop and walk around the shop, okay, every suit in the in the custom sorry, in the Higher and the ready-made generally has a matching tie in pocket square. Yeah. Apart from a few where we have these ties, we said if you go into the cussed into the full made to measure area, your C suits will have like a a grenadine plain color tie and then a pocket square of low explosions of color and things like that. So we tend to dress They’re made to measure in that more Italian way of lovely tie, really unique. I mean, I’ve got some beautiful mada silk and hand-printed English pocket squares, and I’m in a city. And some lovely handmade Italian pocket squares as well. I think that looks really cool. Yeah. But again, that’s something you, you know, you do for the groom. Yeah. You can have the other guys in say a navy suit, all with blue ties, blue pocket squares. The groom can have something a little bit more elaborate You know, a hint of colour in the tie, something more elaborate in the pocket square to stand out.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 48:15
But yeah, I prefer that look myself. I get you. Yeah, most definitely. And I think I agree. Listen, Ian, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the podcast. Thank you so very much. And a very, very last question. If people want to find out more about Anthony Formal, where maybe even get in contact, look at your range and make an appointment, where can they do that?
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 48:32
Websites most probably are the best, www. anthonyformalware. co. uk. Or if you’re looking for inspiration, Instagram. There’s thousands of real weddings that we’ve done on Instagram. People always send us images. I mean, put them on it, and you’ll see everything from higher suits to really unique suits on there. Fantastic. Gives you a lot of inspiration.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 48:50
Brilliant. Thanks ever so much. Take care. Love you. Catch you around. Thanks.
Iain Kinsman – Anthony Formal Wear • 48:54
See you later.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 48:54
Bye. And there you go, folks. What an absolutely refreshingly fantastic conversation with some real insight into menswear and suit. For a wedding day, and I think this is a topic which deserves a lot more attention. Now, if you are planning a wedding and menswear is something that’s important to you, and you want something that feels considered well-fitted and genuinely you. I wholeheartedly recommend Anthony Formalsware. Get in touch with them, check out the website and I’m sure that they will absolutely take care of you. And as always, if you are listening or watching and enjoying this, please do share this podcast with somebody else. this one will absolutely make so many more men make better choices for their formal wear and their suits on their wedding day. Until next time, folks, choose your suppliers wisely, and I’ll see you on the next episode of the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. Take care folks.