FYI, Hemrajani isn’t making my topcoat. I’m having it made by Bookster in England, their website is http://www.tweed-jacket.com . Right now the conversion rate is very advantageous, and Bookster has done a lot of very good tweed work for me at very favorable prices.

http://www.tweed-jacket.com/CLOTH%20PAGE/CLOTH%20GALLERY/HARRIS%20TWEEDS/images/Nearly%20Black%20Herringbone_jpg.jpg

That’s the cloth I’m using for the coat they’re working on for me, and even with all of the extras I had them do and the shipping from England it came in at under $600. I have one of their coats already in a gray-green tweed with a burgundy overcheck, and they do some very fine work. That might be a good alternative for you.

What works for both?

I’m considering getting out to one of the Hemrajani session while they’re in Boston, although it’s a lot of bank for someone on contractor’s wages.

And I have a new topcoat underway for that purpose as well, Harris tweed in a color called “Almost Black,” it’s a very, very dark charcoal herringbone that I’m having made up as my version of a Chesterfield. Black velvet collar, fly front. The peak lapels aren’t quite kosher for a Chesterfield, but I decided I liked it better that way.

I see your point about the homburg with black tie, though I’m thinking even that would draw excessive attention on the way to Lodge – and, really, it needs a top coat to go with it, as it would seem to me to look over done to wear just a tux and derby or homburg.

Then again, I come from a tradition where black tie events, if they continue past 6pm, one isn’t required to wear a cap, but that’s a military thing.

About 75% of the time when I wear a hat it’s a fedora (still normally sourced from Art Fawcett @ Vintage Silhouettes in Oregon), the remainder of the time it’s almost always a tweed flat cap.

So, I’ll stick with a good generic fedora, bashed on my own, as even that will attract attention in this day and age, and I can get away with it while wearing late 50′s era clothing for swing dancing, too.

Not always needed, as, fortunately, the Akubra Federation IV hat comes unbashed, and with a whole ton of sizes available.

mytailor.com comes right up for me from those links, but as many DOS attacks as have been happening today it’s hard to tell what’s happening.

I love Raleigh Limited, but you’re right, they’re not somewhere I can afford to shop on a regular basis. The author of one of the blogs I link to, Will Boehlke of A Suitable Wardrobe, is a professional wardrobe consultant and one of these fellows who travels to England a few times a year to do his suit shopping at true bespoke tailors. Will uses Hemrajani for his shirts. I started using them for my shirts when I learned that and I never went back.