Billy Reid Bond peacoat tailoring experiences/recommendations

sailorsaturn

Apologies if there's another thread resource for this, seeing that a search yielded little, i hoped this may be a collection of answers for this specific item.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a specific tailor in NYC that can help with shortening sleeves? They are simply too long for me and I'm a little nervous/hesitant to take it to a run of the mill tailor to do sleeve work. Am I being paranoid,

This is my first foray into an expensive bond piece of clothing and I don't want to ruin it. ( i recognize this is probably one of the CHEAPER bond clothing options, which is terrifying )

I'm open to suggestions = )

Matt S

sailorsaturn wrote:

Apologies if there's another thread resource for this, seeing that a search yielded little, i hoped this may be a collection of answers for this specific item.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a specific tailor in NYC that can help with shortening sleeves? They are simply too long for me and I'm a little nervous/hesitant to take it to a run of the mill tailor to do sleeve work. Am I being paranoid,

This is my first foray into an expensive bond piece of clothing and I don't want to ruin it. ( i recognize this is probably one of the CHEAPER bond clothing options, which is terrifying )

I'm open to suggestions = )

There are a few places that are generally recommended (like Peppino or Wilfred), but all have mixed reviews. I go to a guy in the Upper East Side named David Leung, and the many alterations I've had done there are fantastic.

Skippy

If your already in the U.S., have you considered going back to Billy Reid and asking them to do it? It would certainly be my first port of call, as many high end fashion outfitters will carry out adjustments on their own products and obviously being the original maker know the build of the item better. Might take longer than otherwise, but I would be a lot more confident in their work in your position.

Good luck -{

KMHPaladin

I initially had the sleeves on my Large peacoat extended last year as I have long arms. I found a well reviewed local tailor (I'm in the northeast metro area but not a city proper) and took the coat in for them to check out. I had a discussion with the tailor himself about doing the job before I was comfortable leaving it. Altering sleeves isn't the most complicated operation by a long shot. The tailor unstitched the folded-back ends of the sleeves and extended them about an inch.

I did end up going up to an XL as the Large was just too tight particularly in the upper half (shoulders and chest). It might have been closer to 'screen accurate' but I wanted a coat I could wear comfortably and regularly at that price point. I'm 6'2" and ~190lbs with a reasonable gym habit which makes me wonder about some of the people in the main BR Peacoat thread, although I found very little differentiation in dimension between the Medium and Large I initially ordered using a tailor's tape measure. I don't know how much variation there is in sizing.

(as an aside, if it isn't possible to read between the lines, the customer service from the Billy Reid home office was impeccable and I was very happy to get exactly what I wanted thanks to their help and patience.)

I am considering taking the XL coat back to the tailor to have a bit of waist suppression done just to get a slightly more tailored look, but overall I'm not concerned. Particularly with the exposed seams on the coat, it isn't something you should be concerned having a qualified tailor altering. In fact if I remember correctly, when the coat was initially discovered Mantis had an XL tailored down to a Medium or something along those lines.

Matt S

Skippy wrote:

If your already in the U.S., have you considered going back to Billy Reid and asking them to do it? It would certainly be my first port of call, as many high end fashion outfitters will carry out adjustments on their own products and obviously being the original maker know the build of the item better. Might take longer than otherwise, but I would be a lot more confident in their work in your position.

Good luck -{

I would guess that Billy Reid, like most smaller shops in New York does not have a tailor in house, and that would make me less confident about using them. The most common situation is that a sales rep would mark it up and send it out to a local tailor (with an upcharge compared to going straight to that tailor). It's more reliable to have the tailor doing the work to mark it up himself.

There's not much to know when altering sleeve length, unless the sleeves need to be altered from the top. In that case a very skilled tailor is needed, and the sleeves should be basted first to make sure the length is perfect before committing to the significant amount of work. It's a difficult and expensive alteration. The Bond Peacoat has an unusual sleeve design (with an unusual wedge at the end for flare), which would look odd if shortened significantly from the ends.

sailorsaturn

Matt S wrote:

Skippy wrote:

If your already in the U.S., have you considered going back to Billy Reid and asking them to do it? It would certainly be my first port of call, as many high end fashion outfitters will carry out adjustments on their own products and obviously being the original maker know the build of the item better. Might take longer than otherwise, but I would be a lot more confident in their work in your position.

Good luck -{

I would guess that Billy Reid, like most smaller shops in New York does not have a tailor in house, and that would make me less confident about using them. The most common situation is that a sales rep would mark it up and send it out to a local tailor (with an upcharge compared to going straight to that tailor). It's more reliable to have the tailor doing the work to mark it up himself.

There's not much to know when altering sleeve length, unless the sleeves need to be altered from the top. In that case a very skilled tailor is needed, and the sleeves should be basted first to make sure the length is perfect before committing to the significant amount of work. It's a difficult and expensive alteration. The Bond Peacoat has an unusual sleeve design (with an unusual wedge at the end for flare), which would look odd if shortened significantly from the ends.

Thanks for the help. Would you consider 1.5" to 2" significant ? I suffer from T-rex syndrome

Also, are we to condition the leather collar with anything for preventative maintenance? Perhaps a little Obenaufs Heavy duty LP?

Matt S

sailorsaturn wrote:

Thanks for the help. Would you consider 1.5" to 2" significant ? I suffer from T-rex syndrome

Without having the actual coat, I can't really say.