Trunk have recently started offering Ring Jacket for made-to-measure tailoring alongside their existing made-in-Italy lines. The Japanese make from Ring is a step higher in terms of quality and at £2010 for a suit means they offer something in the same kind of bracket as Anglo-Italian (from £1980), Bryceland’s (from £2300) and others.
The Bryceland’s line is more handmade than the others and a little more stylised, but I can see readers considering this from Trunk alongside the likes of Anglo and indeed Thom Sweeney or Saman Amel.
One difference is that the Ring Jacket offering is partly based on trunk shows, with the team coming from Japan twice a year and requiring one meeting to take measures, before the suit is delivered to the store and the second appointment done with the Trunk staff. So that’s a little more restrictive, though the next visit is soon, April 17th and 18th.
I tried the service at the end of last year, and met Sasamoto-san from Ring Jacket during a trunk show. I wanted to replace my brown high-twist suit I had made by Dalcuore years ago – as that was now too small – and this was a good opportunity to do so.
That previous suit had been made in Holland & Sherry’s Crispaire fabric, but I’ve since found I prefer the slightly drier and sharper Ascot from Drapers (my Assisi suit was made in the four ply). Unfortunately, the dark brown I liked in the four-ply cloth had been discontinued, so I went up a weight to the six ply – an interesting opportunity to try that heavier, in some ways more traditional weight of high-twist suiting.
Sasamoto-san was fastidious with the measurements and consultation, which wasn’t a surprise as I’d seen him at work before – and indeed visited the Ring Jacket factory in Japan back in 2018.
I also tried a sample suit, which was useful to gauge the style. This is a very soft, round-shouldered look that feels like peak ‘stile italiano’ – the general Japanese name for the wave of popularity of such Neapolitan-like fashions in the 2010s and since.
That soft-shouldered look will appeal to lots of readers. It’s the kind of easy-to-wear tailoring that feels like a less corporate business suit, but could also make a great soft jacket in cashmere or cord, to wear with jeans and more casual trousers.
I was also able to update the cut by lowering the buttoning point a good inch, which I think looks good. But the style is limited in terms of the lapel, which has to retain this width and notch height. Some readers that tend to prefer wider lapels or lower notches might find this a little restrictive. Although I should note that the same restriction often applies to others as well, eg Saman.
The fit of the suit, when it arrived, was a nice balance between comfort and shape, which was pleasing. I was a little worried it would be tight, given I prefer slightly looser fits these days, but actually we ended up taking a little on the waist of the trousers and the leg line. The Trunk team do this in London and so have it ready within a few days.
I went for belt loops on the trousers because while I will wear this suit with a tie – as pictured – I will also often wear it with an open-necked shirt or even a knit, and the belt will add interest there.
This decision is always a bit of a compromise, and one I don’t find easy to make sometimes. But the key I find is to consider how often you’ll wear the suit one way and the other, plus perhaps how often wear the trousers on their own. Weigh that up and accept the compromise.
The fit of the suit was very good – not bespoke level of course, but for made to measure really nice. The collar is close on my neck, the sleeve pitch perfect, the jacket balance very good.
My lower right shoulder and generally sloping shoulders were coped with pretty well too. Even some bespoke tailors struggle with getting that right side clean, but Ring Jacket did a good job. There’s a little more wrinkling between my blades and under the arms than the best bespoke, but that’s about it.
The make is also what you’d want for the price – hand-attached collar and sleeves, precise finishing and buttonholes. There’s also some good shape to the jacket that comes from the pressing the Ring team do a lot at the factory.
If a friend asked me for the best place to get made to measure in London, this would certainly be one of the options I’d suggest. The necessity of waiting for a trunk show would be one restriction, but beyond that I’d say it’s mostly a question of style in terms of comparing them to somewhere like Anglo-Italian, and the price is under the likes of Saman and Thom Sweeney.
Bryceland’s is more expensive, but their level of make is more like bespoke and so a better comparison is with the likes of Saman’s Napoli line and Jean-Manuel Moreau, which are around £3500 and £3000 respectively.
Like Anglo and Bryceland’s, Trunk also has an advantage that there’s such a friendly team in the shop all the time, and a loyal client base as a result. I can particularly see the appeal of this service to existing Trunk customers.
Ring Jacket Made to measure details:
- Suit – from £2010
- Jacket – from £1490
- Trousers – from £540
- Trunk shows twice a year, the next being April 17-18
- Delivery to the store after around four months
- Bookings made on the Trunk site here.
- Made to order also available, suits from £1800
Trunk also offers:
- Made to measure tailoring with Caruso in Italy (suit from £1750)
- Trunk brand MTM and MTO in Italy (suits from £1350 and £1200 respectively)
- Both are lower levels, but have the advantage of not requiring trunk shows
Clothes pictured:
- Suit in Drapers high-twist wool, six ply and 510g, 18056 in the Ascot bunch
- Lilac cotton-twill shirt from Simone Abbarchi
- Knitted cashmere tie from Church’s
- Piccadilly loafers in London Grain leather from Edward Green
