The Third Coast Bride

Recently, my bride-to-be showed me a documentary that was DVR-ed from the Sundance Channel called "Jack Taylor of Beverly Hills." It was all about a 93 year old suit-maker named Jack Taylor who has been in the business for over 60 years. As a man ready to buy a well-made suit for his wedding, I was definitely intrigued.

Who has Jack Taylor tailored? Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Elvis Presley, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Charles Bronson and the Duke of Windsor are among the many in the Jack Taylor archives. The documentary chronicled Jack's business past and present and the rarity of a completely bespoke, handmade process for suit-making. This is how the New York Times describes his suits: “Handmade buttonholes, lap seams, Continental pockets, built-in silk cummerbunds, custom lining, your name woven into the pinstripes, hand stitching inside and out: when you get a Jack Taylor suit, it comes fully loaded. And the fit, well, forget about it.” The Los Angeles Times does an excellent job of summing-up the worth of one of his suits: "And the fact that Frank Sinatra was buried in a Jack Taylor suit? That speaks for itself!"