I've had quite a few clothes made since I got here. Two suits, six shirts and two pairs of trousers. The shirts are great but the suits, hmmm, I'm not sure yet. I love the material I've chosen but there's something about the cut of the jacket that I don't think I like completely. I tried to raise it at the second fitting but I was persuaded to trust "the master" and as he'd proved to be completely right about the sleeve length of the shirts then I thought I ought to. Well I'm still not convinced but it's not too bad: I shall certainly wear them on my return.

The trousers however are fantastic! I have a pair of old baggy French Connection drawstring cotton trousers that I love but are sadly no longer available. I showed them to the people who made my suit and asked them if they could make me an exact copy. They demurred (and I wasn't surprised). But at the next place I tried they were more optimistic. They looked closely, asked some questions and said they could do it! I chose two colours - dark and light, left the original pair and went away. To be honest my expectations were low but for £25 all in I thought I could take a chance.

Yesterday I picked up the finished goods. The tailors did an amazing job!
They are perfect reproductions of the originals and in some respects even nicer: the pockets are better, the material is lovely and now I have a pair in another colour too. I'm dead chuffed!