Collar — measured where the button will actually sit, not where the tape feels comfortable. We put the half centimetre back ourselves. Chest — over a vest, at the fullest part, arms down and breathing normally. Sleeve — centre back to the wristbone with the elbow bent, so the cuff stays where it should when you reach across a table. Yoke — shoulder point to shoulder point across the back. Get this one wrong and no amount of taking in afterwards will save the shirt. That is the whole fitting. Half an hour, written on a card, and the card stays here for the next one.
I took this room above a coffee shop on Florida Road in 2017 with one cutting table, a 1974 Singer and about forty bolts of cloth. Most of that is still here, including the table. Everything is cut flat by hand, one shirt at a time, and sewn by two machinists who have been with me since the second year. Nothing gets made to a standard size and then let out afterwards to look like it was fitted. We finish about twelve shirts a week. That is not a strategy, it is how many one person can cut properly between Tuesday and Friday.
Florida Road, Durban. Tuesday to Friday nine to five, Saturday nine to one. Parking is behind the building, off Gordon Road.
