Our Gang - The Young Wizard of Warp & Weft and the Grand Viziers of the Grammys

So January slunk across the sky disguised as a rain cloud. I didn't post one blog. Let's resolve to not let that happen again for a while.

Our two days at Barclays Bank in Hanover Square to cover London Collections: Men was extended  to the whole week. Mark and his dad (both our dads are Arthurs) covered the mannequins in strips of pasted Financial Times and then we chose the clothes we would display before reporting to clock in at 9am on Jan 6th.

It was funny watching people walk by, double take, then come in to talk to us, not only to pay a bill. It was a thoroughly worthwhile exercise and we are really grateful to Osman and the team there who made us feel welcome and interesting, indeed we were quite disappointed not to be asked to tag along to their Austin Powers themed Christmas party on the Friday night. Glad to see Barclays being careful with the pennies and celebrating Christmas in January when you get better rates for party bookings.

On the Wednesday we had a host of visitors including Chris & Ed from Jocks & Nerds magazine http://www.jocksandnerds.com/, as well as their roving news hound Mark Webster, and Bill & Marcela Curbishley. They gamely posed outside - indeed Marcela was our demonstration fitting, trying her two jackets in the foyer while the business of life went on around her.

The banner on the magazine is "Style. History. Culture" and we make the case that Bill is a Titan of all three, having produced Quadrophenia, Tommy, McVicar and, in cinemas now, The Railway Man. Lucky he has Marcela to represent Beauty for him ; )
If you've seen the big sexy films of January, American Hustle and Wolf of Wall Street, go see The Railway Man next. It tells the true story of Eric Lomax, a trainspotter nerd in the British Army. He gets closer than anyone would want to the business of railways when he and his division are set to build the Thai-Burma line in the Japanese prisoner of war camp. This history was memorably portrayed in "Bridge over the River Kwai" but is one theatre of war that has often been overlooked. When I was a little girl we lived next door to a gentleman veteran who was in one of those camps and would hear him awake screaming in the night. So it's not a rom com or in any way light entertainment but if your soul needs some fibre, we recommend it most highly. Wouldn't that be something, if the conclusion caught on - that forgiveness is more powerful than revenge. All the cast do marvellous work, the older leads played by Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, but Jeremy Irving carries the honours as young Lomax - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Man_(film)

The Jay B overcoat in Harris tweed with red piping, in our window on Hanover Square

On Friday lunchtime, I put in a call to GQ magazine, some twenty odd yards away in Vogue House. Jonathan Heaf, Features Director of British GQ, assured me he'd be over to see us. By 4.45pm he had yet to appear. I felt that queasiness as I redialled that comes from the uncomfortable suspicion that you might be a pest. "Argh! I forgot! I'm coming right now!" he proclaimed and seconds later there he was. Life Lesson # 6152 - always make the call. Feel the fear and do it anyway. That meet and greet was a splendid closing quarter of an hour to our week of showcasing in the West End.

And on Monday we were back at 9am because we just couldn't stay away. But mostly to clear away:

One of the things we were excited to tell Jonathan about was our jeans. A few weeks ago a gentleman called up to ask our advice on manufacturing in the UK (we are on an online register for making in the UK www.letsmakeithere.org ). I helped where I could and then he mentioned that they sourced their fabric from London and its environs. "London?!"
Yes, he assured me. The London Cloth Company.

I was on the phone in two seconds flat and spoke for almost an hour to Daniel as I looked through his website. My heart quivered as I scrolled - he makes denim. No one has woven cloth in London for a century. No one has made denim in the UK, anywhere, for Lord knows how long. HE GETS WOOL FROM THE CITY FARM SHEEP for one of his cloths!! Excuse me shouting, it is just so exciting. The whole "de Nimes" thing is an urban myth put about by the dastardly French he maintains. The soldiers of the South in the Civil War couldn't wear wool as it was too darn hot, and anyway, think about what fills their fields down there - not sheep, COTTON. We made an appointment to visit a few days later. Meeting Daniel was a revelation. He is only thirty-two but it is like being in the presence of a master, the Dalai Lama of the loom, the Young Wizard of Warp & Weft. I made a little film of him talking. We are still walking ten feet off the ground. I would have hesitated to reveal this so soon, but Ralph Lauren has already found him and The Times and the Evening Standard both ran pieces last week on the marvel that is Daniel.
Here's my entry for Best Documentary Short then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIxIVkSfGA&feature=youtu.be

In a nutshell, Daniel used to make clothes for film and TV, then he found a loom in a barn in Wales and thought that would be a fun project, tinkering with that. And that's what you get from a spot of tinkering. It inevitably leads to all consuming passion:

It's so bloody cold up there in North London that the cat has to sleep under a hypothermia blanket. And Mr Wesley picked up some cloth from the floor, an experiment of Daniel's, and wrapped it about himself. And lo, the "Hobo" coat was born. "Hobo", by the way, is one of my favourite words, a concertina of HOmeward BOund.

I do not lie, the cat under a hyperthermia blanket

Mr Wesley was taken with a piece he picked off the floor

And lo, the Hobo coat!

So, here's the rub - the denim is being washed for us, then we will make our jeans, take them down to the Thames at low tide, take off our shoes and socks, go for a paddle and beat them there on the rocks. A more authentic pair of London Strides you will not find. It's not in the same league as my celluloid above, needless to say, but this parody of a scene in "American Psycho" is a rare treat for those who like the best but don't need to be a d*ck about it:
http://elitedaily.com/humor/hipsters-ruin-everything-this-denim-ad-parodies-the-best-scene-from-american-psycho-video/

Bedlam, where jeans come true!

To conclude this evening, we were proud fit to pop-by-proxy when our pals Nile and Scott scooped the lot at the Grammys this time last week. Song, record, video, sound, they won it all. Bedlam dresses the best! When in doubt, accessorise with awards -

Well done gentlemen, the sixty gun salute has sounded from the ramparts of Bedlam!

London Collections: Men 1014 - It'll be Bedlam in Hanover Square

Well you didn't expect that did you, another posting before you'd even digested the last! ("More bubble & squeak with your brandy butter?"). But the flag must be raised to alert you that Le Cirque de la Mode is rolling into town once more, to inspect the London Collections: Men http://www.londoncollections.co.uk/

Not sure we have ever used the blog to thank our bank before. There have been times I wanted to berate Barclays but, you know how it goes, if you've nothing good to say about someone, come sit down here next to me. No, no. Keep your mean mouth shut. Anyway, when we incorporated and had to open a new bank account for "Earl of Bedlam Ltd.", I requested we be moved to the Hanover Square branch. It sits plum in the middle of the action, across from Vogue House, just behind the Apple Store at Oxford Circus. Inch for inch, we're closer to that than we were to our previous branch down at Clapham Common. Now as part of an initiative to help small business account holders, we have been offered an installation in the foyer there, with its plate glass windows that gaze upon Mayfair and that will allow the denizens Mayfair, we hope, to reciprogaze.

We shall be there from 9.30am until 5pm on Monday and Tuesday next week, the 6th and 7th of January. It is my wont to write about things after the event but it occurred to me that it might be sensible to give advance notification for once! If you are passing please do come cheque us out.

Our lovely Marcela will come by for a fitting on Monday afternoon, fingers crossed, so you can see the tape measure in action. For now we must get back to decoupaging the mannequins, pasting them in the Financial Times, and readying our look:

We hope to see you!

Best of British

Greetings to our world wide multi denominational readership! Wherever you may be and in whomsoever your faith is placed, we hope this finds you as bright and crisp as the blue skies over London today. These few days are the waiting room between seasonal festivities where we flick through the magazine of the past year before being called into the next with some nervous anticipation.

Some people are wading through the next few days, awaiting with nervous anticipation the next wave of weather. Months ago, the hot summer delivered unto us quite respectably sized olives on the little trees of Bedlam and they have clung on in defiance of this week's storms that shook them roughly. We hope the year was kind to you and yours, that you weathered all inc. inclement squalls, and that this finds you replete from the fruits (and nuts) of your table.

We chose the rejected runt Christmas tree at the back of the yard that nobody else wanted, with a bent top that gave it a questioning air and allowed our fairy to list drunkenly:

One of the best gifts we could have wished for came wrapped in newspaper on December 9th, when the righteous Daily Mail chose six companies to represent the "Best of British" - the criteria being that you have to be making in Britain using British suppliers. We found ourselves proudly filling a sandwich between John Smedley
http://www.johnsmedley.com/
and John Lobb
http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/main/main.htm
two long revered institutions of distinguished dressing.

Makers of fine, in all senses, knitwear, John Smedley was established in 1784 in Derbyshire where they still produce today. They are a Royal Warrant holder, as is John Lobb, the company that bears the name of the lame Cornish farm boy who walked to London to learn the trade of bootmaking. He cashed in during the Australian gold rush by making boots with hollow heels for stashing nuggets and returned to London to open his shop in 1866 from whence the company has shod assorted Kings and maestros ever since.

The Daily Mail, meanwhile, has the second highest readership in the UK and the most online IN THE WORLD, thanks to the siren lure of the "sidebar of shame" - made up disgustingly largely, or shockingly skinnily, of celebs in bikinis - that scrolls down and yet downer to Hell. Here's the link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2520444/LIZ-JONES-FASHION-THERAPY-Had-cheap-foreign-fashion-Try-best-British.html

And for those who still prefer inky fingers, here's the paper:

So what company to keep, and we are most grateful to Liz Jones and her researcher Dawn. The article was intended as a riposte to Jeremy Hackett's comments in The Times that his company can't get their clothes made in Britain due to the textile industry being "decimated". http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/consumer/article3937680.ece

The first point to make would be that it isn't Jeremy's company any more, he is but an amiable figurehead. We have enjoyed his personal company on many occasions, he is a style standard bearer for South London, and we hope we betray no confidence when we say his eye glistened - or was it the candlelight? - when we told him we do indeed make everything here. He professed the wish that he still had the authority in the company that bears his name to buy a factory here. Well, we are but microscopic and not so flush, but had we the resources available to Hackett the corporation, and a mere six week lead time, we could ask Huddersfield Fine Worsted to weave anything we liked that was not in their available stock; we could commandeer the Cooper Stollbrand factory in Manchester to roll out ready-to-wear for us; and we would have busted a gut to stop James Grove buttons going bust and be helping the saint who is trying to re-establish them:

http://makeitbritish.co.uk/uk-manufacturing-2/save-a-british-button-manufacturer/

Many thanks also to Madame Sasha Slater, doyenne of class, who had our scarves elevated to Harper's Bazaar's Christmas gift guide, in the luxury section in between the Aston Martin hamper and a Mulberry dress:

http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/christmas-gift-guides/christmas-gift-guide-luxury-chanel-valentino#slide-22

A cause of much shrieking celebration was the milestone of the Millennial Bedlamite - Nick Johannessen was the 1000th person to "like" our page on Facebook! We know he is a man of taste from his blog www.welldresseddad.com and to his credit he can now add the Duffle Bag we are sending to Norway as a prize http://earlofbedlam.bigcartel.com/product/bedlam-duffle-bags :

If you haven't yet made your own mark of approval, then help roll us on and upwards here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Earl-of-Bedlam/157642327606726

Remember, that's the place to catch up with creations and commissions on a daily basis while postings here have slipped to monthly editions. Below is a gallery of the winter season's clients - a better bunch we could not wish for, and many, many thanks to all who climbed the stairs to Bedlam this year.

My brain is getting fatigued, the body having to work so hard to get through surfeit calories that the mind is sluggish. I had wanted to write a well considered round up of the year as digestif but perhaps these recent pictures will do it better. While we still hope in time to make a widely accessible branch of Bedlam, the joy of creating clothes for wildly diverse, fabulously interesting, individual characters that we have the privilege of getting to know, is so hugely rewarding that we only hope some of the satisfaction transmits.

Simon's purple velvet party jacket with silk lining custom printed by Dan & Louise Hatley with Bedlam's signature handcuffs

A cape for the castle ramparts in John G. Hardy "Alsport" tweed with scarlet silk crepe lining and secret zippy pocket just visible

Jamie Poulton in the "Dolf" jacket from the Hell for Leather Autumn / Winter 2013 collection

Moritz at the first fitting for his wool / mohair suit

We really do love our clients

Cool Cat Jake in his "Joat", made from John G. Hardy "Alsport" tweed

Steve's three-piece suit in Holland & Sherry "Peacock" tweed with mussel shell buttons 

Steve, monumentally magnificent in his suit.

We were proud to make Robert Peel's winter wedding suit (below). He has become a dear friend, a client who came with us from the old shop. No greater compliment can a man pay his tailor. His great great (great?) grandpappy, whose name he bears, introduced, amongst other things while holding office as one of our better Home Secretaries and Prime Ministers, the modern police force - put the raggle taggle key stone vigilantes in a smart uniform and gave them an identity: "The Peelers" or "Bobbies"!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peel

Robert was an early adopter of Bedlam, from the old shop. He paid us the highest compliment by asking us to make his winter wedding suit. CONGRATULATIONS!!

Robert chose a 100% wool John G. Hardy Worsted Alsport in a charcoal grey with joyful flecks of colour and a silver lining. We went for mussel shell buttons - one set of cuff buttons will have the rough side out, the other arm will present the smooth. For such is married life!

On one cuff the mussel shell buttons are rough side out, the other smooth, for such is married life!

And the last bit of sewing we shall share for now, the party hats we made for our Shareholders' Agreements, a document prepared for our Founding Fathers and Mothers. As the year closed we added one more to their number, my friend the legend, Nile Rodgers, and we are honoured by his faith, as we are by the continuing support of our other scaffolders, and everyone that entrusts us with getting them best dressed and, not least, anyone who gives this chattering blog their attention in times of myriad options and calls on such.
Thank you all.
Our very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014,
Caroline & Mark

Wishing you health & happiness - waheyyy!!!

Press Junket

We've had something of a flurry of press by our standards -  firstly Nile Rodgers, this weekend honoured at French GQ magazine's "Men of the Year" award in Paris - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17dl3a_le-palmares-des-hommes-de-l-annee-2013-gq_lifestyle
heaped props upon us when he was interviewed regarding his personal style:
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2013-08/08/nile-rodgers-chic-album-2013-interview

The section relevant to us, for those of you too busy to click, runs a little sumting like this:

"On some level, with certain tailors, I have a love affair with the bespoke process. There's this label Earl of Bedlam, a new line coming up here in London. Their rap is that they use nothing but the finest English fabrics. I have some wonderful woollen suits. Even their T-shirts are extraordinary: there are a couple of shots of a three piece white suit [founder] Mark Wesley made for me in a magazine called Jocks & Nerds. He's making some stuff for me now..."

This was followed by the  British edition of GQ deeming our cape "Winter's Must Have" in their October edition:

Then came a feature in Women's Wear Daily, the pre-eminent trade paper for the rag trade http://www.wwd.com/. You need a subscription to access it online but we shall circumvent that protocol for you:

October 4, 2013

By Julia Neel

LONDON — The meeting of Earl of Bedlam’s cofounders Caroline Butler and Mark Wesley, as Butler tells it, was almost inevitable. When she was working in media in the U.S..., she met John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s former live-in psychic. “It was about a year before I met Mark that ...she told me that I would meet a man in France; he’d have a son and gray hair. Then, ...in 2009, I met a single dad [living in the South of France] whose hair, when he took off his hat, was gray.”

She set up Earl of Bedlam with Goldsmith College-trained Wesley in 2010, naming the label after the infamous Bethlehem asylum that once stood nearby as a tribute to the local landmark that was also known as “Bedlam.”

Initially, they specialized in purely bespoke men’s wear, providing “classics that have stood the test of time but giving them a modern, relevant, contemporary and witty twist,” said Butler. “All our clothes have stories, there are eccentric touches but we never impose anything alien on a client; it’s about waking up the most fashionable person you can be. At 20 paces, one of our suits might look like classic killer boardroom attire but, up close, you can see bias-cut panels and quirky details.”

At the end of 2012, and wanting to expand from bespoke into ready-to-wear, Butler was telling Baron Sweerts de Landas Wyborg of their search for investors to grow the business. The Baron, or Dolph, offered his financial support. They pulled the rtw collection together in just a few weeks, earning it the title "Hell for Leather" for the rapid pace in which it was created, and for the leather and equestrian details it featured.

The collection, which riffs heavily on traditional English men’s classics, is made entirely from British fabrics and manufactured in the U.K. It is stocked at Any Old Iron in New York’s Lower East Side, and at the Buccleuch & Queensberry Arms Hotel, which is owned by the Baron’s family, on the Scottish Borders. Their London shop is visited by appointment: “Buying a piece of bespoke clothing is not like popping out to buy a pint of milk,” said Butler. “It’s a significant commitment... When people reach the top of the [studio] stairs, we know they’re serious.”

The brand is soon to launch a collection of silk scarves with “hand-rolled hems by a lady in Hull,” featuring the likenesses of Zelda Fitzgerald, Errol Flynn and Clara Bow, among others. The scarves, said Butler, are proof that “out of any crappy situation, one can find something good.” In September last year, Butler helped to save the life of a stabbing victim who, she said, “collapsed almost on our doorstep.” Months later, when she was called as witness on the trial, she was bemoaning the fact that the brand had been denied the rights to use artwork created by one of Bedlam’s inmates on the scarves to a fellow witness, Scottish-born artist Anna McNeil, who offered to provide the artwork instead. 

***************

As regular readers well know, the "others" referred to above are Keith Richards and Syd Barrett and so delighted are they / their representatives with the scarves that they are now approved, endorsed and official, bearing their respective marks to prove it:

So it took a while, but anything worth having is worth waiting for eh?

And a different sort of press appearance is our first ever print ad in "The House" magazine. It occurred to us a while ago that we had a captive audience of suit wearers a stone's throw across The Thames in the Palace of Westminster, and most of them could do with a hand when it comes to getting dressed. 

The smell of roast chicken is wafting across the Kennington Road to entice me back home on this chilly Sunday evening, so I shall wrap this edition and hit the printing press presently. But we'll conclude with another media darling, Mr Clifford Price, aka Goldie, who invited us to the opening of his art exhibition at the Mead Carney gallery on Dover Street, Mayfair. Had we a stash of cash for acquiring art, Mr Wesley was adamant that we would have bought one, which he didn't say to G, he said it to me. So it was not idle sycophancy.

Mr Wesley, Mr Whitmore (his old pal at whose club Goldie will be playing on Jan 2nd), his daughter Daysie and H

Me and Goldie and Mr Whitmore. I'm wearing our handcuff motif silk scarf around my neck.

Right, the chef's getting grumpy that dinner will spoil, so I must hasten home. Good night.

Season of Lists and yellow t-shirtfulness

This might be something of a random compendium of a round up as I got my panic on noticing it is a month since the last posting. Still, if I get in the zone a themed thread may emerge. In our last edition, you will recall, we featured the yellow "God Save the Queen" bee-shirt.

We made them specifically for Apple Day at the Roots & Shoots eco centre at the other end of our road that also houses the London Beekeepers' Association. Local events such as these are an opportunity to introduce ourselves to our neighbours and remind those that have not come good on promises to stop by! We take along our swatch books and this time included the shirting material (Lancashire cottons) to promote our new bespoke shirt service. One of our first customers announced that it was the finest shirt he has ever had made and that female admirers had flocked to compliment him on his uncommonly well turned out demeanour. We were proud and delighted to be told.

On this gloriously sunny day, one gentleman paused by our table and wagged a doomy finger, intoning as he did, "You've given yourself a thankless task, up against the internet!"
I pointed out that ours was a personal, bespoke service and he countered that HIS shirts were bespoke, delivered to his door and on time. With confidence I parried that we too delivered, if required, to the door, and on time. "But I pay £30 a shirt!" came his coup de grace.
"Well done," I conceded, "and I'm sure the children of the East are grateful for your business. Should you ever wish to give work to your local community then you know where to find us."
I had been standing up for sometime in the full sun without refreshment by that point so in retrospect it was lucky that was all I said.

One bad apple didn't spoil Apple Day though, as everyone else was friendliness personified. Oh, actually, there was one lady d'un certain age, who ruffled everything on the table before commenting she had seen our poster in the coffee shop and thought, "Ooh what a terrible name! Fancy choosing that!"
I remarked that it has worked well for us, once heard not forgotten.
"I'm sure it isn't!" she harrumphed. "Who would want to be associated with madness?!"
Some terse explanation about free thinking and creative imagination was offered through clenched teeth. In the week that saw the rumpus about Asda and Tesco withdrawing their "Mental Patient" Hallowe'en costumes it did behove some explanation more than usual. Aside from the association we are proud to have, there is the issue that if Elton John chose to call his clothing line, say, "Big Poof Designs" or Jay Z launched, er, "Nigga Ragz", no one could say nicht about it, so the same applies with "Earl of Bedlam". You can't take offence on behalf of the party appropriating the questionable term with due authority. Is that sufficiently comprehensible?

Back to the shirt heckler. It still seems that people disable their basic mathematics when buying clothes. Or anything for that matter. Since being involved in the chain of production I cannot understand why a pint of milk doesn't cost £73.00. Perhaps without EU subsidies it would. The universe gave the consumer a brusque shoulder shake when the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed the week Primark (one of the brands that used it) announced its climb-on-climb record profits. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/23/rana-plaza-factory-disaster-bangladesh-primark

The article above was written in June, at which point Top Shop had not joined those signing up to the Accord for safe working conditions. Disappointingly, this list of names posted last week shows they are still yet to join up, but you can see those who have:
http://www.industriall-union.org/bangladesh-safety-accord-welcomes-100-brand-milestone

Another recent over sight of the chain was to forget to ask Rihanna if she minded having her face on their t-shirt. She did.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2432421/Topshop-ordered-pay-Rihannas-1m-legal-sold-T-shirts-using-unflattering-image-popstar.html
The ruling in her favour was returned the same day we finally - you know we like to draw out our stories - heard back from Keith Richards to say we had the blessing of the Stone to proceed with our silk scarf. Patience and good manners (and some cracking connections, thank you to Bill & Marcela Curbishley and Scott Rodger) won the day. The law aside, it does just seem good manners to ask.

Sample of Keith's silk pocket square. The border will be more scarlet than orange, now we are allowed to make more.

Correspondence ensued between our camps regarding terms, and what seemed like a casual enquiry regarding a copyright line. Did we have one? Might as well, I thought, and replied, yes, we could add that to the design, thinking (oh simple girl!) they meant "(c)Earl of Bedlam". The deal memo duly arrived with the copyright line spelt out - "(c)2013 Keith Richards".
And we are happy to grant that. More than happy. Thrilled and relieved!

This last week I had the great pleasure of being treated to Eggs Benedict at the Royal Garden Hotel at a very grown up (and very early) breakfast meeting with Norman Perry, the man who oversees licensing for Pink Floyd. Not only did we get their OK for scarf Syd but they would like to offer it on their website. Norman asked about fulfilment of orders. I was ready with my answer, saying we'd talked over whether people would be prepared, in this age of instant gratification, to go back to the old school "Allow 28 days for delivery" terms. We, and Mr Perry, decided that they would.

Syd below Zelda with a strip of the Clink Street Gaoler's handcuffs

Syd Barrett atop Mr Wesley

If something is worth having, it should be worth waiting for and that is also crucial to the understanding that these are limited edition works of art, involving a team of skilled people. Namely:

Anna Mcneil created the original paintings  http://annamcneil.com/ which in turn were photographed by Ben Amure http://www.benjaminamure.com/
Those images were then given their borders and text by Mr Wesley before being sent to
Dan and Louise Hatley in Sussex http://www.hatleyprint.co.uk/Hatley_Print_Digital/Hatley_Print.html
The roll of silk then comes to us before being sent to Nicola in Hull who hand rolls the hems.
We met Nicola at the Best of Britannia exhibition in London two weeks ago, at the Age of Reason stand - generous as ever, they shared their golden contact with us. Funny how you picture people, I imagined an elderly lady sewing scarves and pocket squares, not the strapping young blond that greeted us.

So that's a chain of talented artists working on the finest materials, and hence a 90 x 90cm silk crepe "Fool'ard" costs £250; a 60 x 60 cm neckerchief costs £120; and a 30 x 30 cm pocket square can be yours for £50.

If we're spared, check back tomorrow for more of last month's news.