As we saw earlier in this series, tailor Rory Duffy shapes his bespoke collars to ever-so-gently “bite” the wearer’s neck. In this installment of “The Making of a Coat,” Duffy carries this principle through to the attachment of the collar to the coat itself. By slightly bending open the springy crescent of the collar as his bastes it on, it subtly curves the breakline, pushing it up against the wearer’s neck. This curve actually impart a straighter appearance to the breakline, which might otherwise appear bowed and hollow over the clavicle -- an all-too-familiar sight to trained eyes. It’s a somewhat difficult process to discern and even harder to describe, but it’s exactly the sort of craftsmanship which affords bespoke garments their precise fit.

Duffy then rolls the lapels along the breakline to see where they naturally meet the collar, thus determining the collar length. After fixing this relationship with a needle and confirming that the lapels are still rolling to the desired buttoning point, Duffy bastes the collar to the lapel, careful to cover the rough edge of the collar canvas with a piece of lining that is actually the top of the bridle, left loose for this purpose. The excess collar length is then trimmed away.