Austin Reed: A Gentleman's Tailor

Bill had a dream that we would wear white tuxedos when we got married. And we'd carry white tulips from Amsterdam. And I figured that it would be nice to arrive in a white stretch limo. Well, that changed a bit. I ended up booking a  14 seat shocking pink Lincoln instead.  Anyone who's watched Thunderbirds will get the resemblance to Lady Penelope's FAB 1. Who gets to be Parker I don't know. So: limo. Tick. We ordered our white tulips. Tick. We ordered a two tier white wedding cakes that we will decorate with red rose petals. Tick. So the only thing left on the wishlist was the white tuxedos....and these were not going to go the way of the limo and change to shocking pink.


Bill was tired after a late night on the town ( i had resisted the temptation to go to a nude sex club) so I got up early and headed to town with Colin, our host. Richard and Su-Il, the married couple in the house had rented their suits from Austin Reed and they couldn't speak about their experience highly enough. But I know Austin Reed to be a very classic British tailors: they've been in business for 110 years. So I went there with some trepidation. How would the very conservative staff react to a couple of classless queens wanting to rent a tux?

I needn't have worried. The entrance to the shop was very modern, with a spacious interior. Rentals were on the third floor and we took a gleaming glass cage lift to the top. Inside was a contemporary modern designers dream:armchairs, chrome, buffed aluminium. Wandering to the trendy bar area we asked a guy if he could help me rent a tux. As expected, he was slightly cool but as soon as he realised I actually wanted two tuxedos something changed and he grew much warmer. I booked a fitting for 3pm and phoned Bill (still languishing in bed) to meet me for dimsum. Incidentally, the dimsum in London are far far better than in Malaysia. Chinatown has a high standard but my old local restaurant in Dalston served us a wondrous meal last week. While I was in Amsterdam Colin took Bill to another place in Docklands which Bill swears was the best dimsum he'd had in his life. And this is hypercritical Bill we're talking about here!!! The best in his life. I've gotta go there..

Back to the fitting. We showed up at 3pm. Our assistant Alex (we were on first name terms by now) was with another customer so he asked us to sit at the bar and enjoy a complimentary drink. Imagine! Sitting in gorgeous leather armchairs sipping a gin and tonic waiting to choose a tuxedo! I looked up at the ceiling and realised that all the lampshades were inverted bowler hats! Very James Bond...At this point Bill had his laptop out and i was taking pictures with my phone: as soon as the staff saw this they came to tell us the password for the wifi. If I tell you the whole password I'll have to kill you. But suffice it to say that it ended in 007. Very very James Bond. The whole place has that kind of old school spy who loved me feel, but it's still FRIGHTFULLY modern...

Alex was incredibly sweet. He helped us to choose our clothes with a very light touch, listening to what we wanted and tirelessly letting us try out different combinations till we were happy. Colin, Andrew and Richard arrived towards the end of the fitting. It was Richard's birthday and they were already a bit loaded before they refueled with GT's at the bar. Alex took the drunkenness and friendly ribbing in good humour, even dishing it right back at Richard.

Well we didn't take any pics of the happy couple. That will have to wait until the big day. But Billy looked so fucking handsome in his tux, I can't tell you!

Just when we were leaving Alex told us that this new contemporary modern Austin Reed is only 4 weeks old. It's part of a new campaign to shed their fuddy duddy image. I'm completely sold on it. Getting married is such a big thing and to be treated with such civility and warmth is unforgettable. I will never go anywhere else again. I'm a convert for life. And I'll always recommend them. Good job Alex. Good job Austin Reed.