Anderson & Sheppard vs Huntsman

One street, two philosophies

These two houses stand a few hundred metres apart, cost roughly the same, and cut coats that could not be more different. Choosing between them is the single most instructive decision in English tailoring, because it forces a customer to decide what he actually wants a coat to do.

Both use identical construction: a full horsehair canvas, hand pad-stitched, hand-set sleeves, hand-worked buttonholes, made by outworkers. Asking about construction will not separate them.

Drape

Anderson & Sheppard cuts with extra cloth across the chest and shoulder blades. Standing still, the front falls in a soft vertical fold; moving, the coat follows the body. The shoulder is natural and lightly padded, unusually soft for the Row.

It flatters a slim man by suggesting a larger chest, and it is markedly more comfortable than a close-cut coat. On a man who is already broad it can read as bulky. The lineage runs back through Frederick Scholte to the Duke of Windsor.

Clean cut

Huntsman cuts close: lean through the chest, a strong shoulder frequently with a roped sleeve head, a high marked waist, and traditionally a single button. It descends from riding and sporting tailoring and it carries that upright military bearing.

It is sharper, more formal and considerably less forgiving. A single-button coat leaves nowhere for a poorly cut chest to hide, which is a statement of confidence by the house.