There’s just something about a well tailored suit. Oscar Hunt Tailors deliver on this, but there’s more to their business than that. Offering welcoming and inspiring showrooms where grooms and groomsmen can come together to design their own suits, Oscar Hunt pride themselves on celebrating their clients’ personalities through their style choices. We’re giving them a huge high five for creating such a comfortable, professional and fun experience for grooms, who can sometimes be a little left behind in all the excitement of the bride’s wedding attire choices. Today we’re chatting to Chris Edwards, director of Oscar Hunt, about how he and his team are so passionate about what they do and why grooms should choose Oscar Hunt to craft them their ideal look for their wedding day.

Tell us about Oscar Hunt…
Oscar Hunt is a made-to-measure tailoring business that exists to help men express their character through the clothes that they wear. Our team works side-by-side with our clients to craft the perfect suit that they love to wear. We do this by really listening and forming a relationship with everyone who walks through the door. Our experienced team of fitters and tailors live and breathe tailoring and this passion is weaved into each garment that we create for our clients. This is all done in the comfort of our inspiring yet warm and comfortable showrooms.

Where are your showrooms?
We have showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.

How have you set up the showrooms to appeal to the fashion forward man?
We have many examples of garments in different fabrics and styles to really showcase what we can do. That way we can physically show something that might be considered more traditional and compare it with some more fashion forward ideas.

Image: Thomas Stewart

What’s the in-store experience like for your customers?
Comfortable, welcoming and enjoyable are the words that I would use to describe our in-store experience. It is our view that if you’re not comfortable in an environment then it takes away from the whole experience. Our showrooms also make the product the hero. We celebrate our craft in our showrooms because we are very proud of what we are able to craft for our clients. Therefore you can really feel this passion when you are in one of our showrooms.

All Oscar Hunt suits are made to measure. How do your tailors guide grooms and groomsmen through this process?
Our fitters are extremely experienced when it comes to assisting grooms to craft their ideal wedding look. It all starts with a conversation. We listen and we learn exactly what the groom (and the bride) is after for their day. From there we begin to recommend fabrics, styles and cuts in order to craft the best possible suits. The key to this is the fitter. At Oscar Hunt we believe that our team is second to none, and therefore able to guide the grooms and groomsmen through the process in order to make the client the perfect suit whilst also having a really good time!

How many fabric choices do you have on offer?
Currently I think we have around 2,500 fabrics to choose from. Different colours, patterns, textures and weights in wool, wool/silk, cotton, linen, cashmere, mohair and many more.

Images: Courtesy of Oscar Hunt

Are you able to advise what fabrics might be best, depending on the timing and style of the wedding
Absolutely. That is all part of the benefit of seeing a tailor and our process of getting to know the client. Once we are able to establish the needs of our clients (and therefore what job the suit needs to perform) we are able to advise on the most appropriate fabric. This is a key advantage of made-to-measure when compared to off-the-rack. We are able to create a suit in a mohair, or light wool, or even a cotton or linen for a summer wedding and then a heavier wool for the winter months. If you are buying off-the-rack you are limited to what is in store, which is often very limited when it comes to fabric options as they are more concerned with fashion trends.

What are some colours of suits that work all year round?
Navy and dark greys tend to work all year round, as they can be dressed up or down where required. However we are now seeing a lot more imagination and comfort coming from our clients to play around with more colours and textures (and even fabric choices) all year round.

What kind of suits are on trend at the moment?
We do a large number of business suits and we are seeing a movement away from really traditional navy suits to suits in similar colours but with a slight texture or pattern. I think guys are becoming more unique in the way they dress without necessarily wanting to completely stand out.

Images: Courtesy of Oscar Hunt

And what’s your all-time favourite style of suit?
It changes too much to name a favourite! However I have a very strong preference towards double-breasted jackets and flannels (particularly in pins).

How can the groom stand out from the groomsmen?
I think the best way to stand out as a groom is to do it in a subtle way. For example, the groomsmen might be in navy suits and the groom in a slightly more vibrant blue. Or you could have the groom in a formal suit and the groomsmen in a slightly less formal finish. We don’t recommend things like outlandish coloured accessories – it’s all about complementary colours.

Do you advise the groom and groomsmen about the perfect accessories?
Yes we do. We work with the groom and groomsmen to put together the overall look.

Images: Georgia Verrells

What solutions are you able to offer in the way of alterations or remakes?
We have in-house tailors that are always available to offer alterations for our clients. With regards to remakes we will always remake a garment (in the very rare case) where the fit is unsatisfactory. This cost is completely covered by OH.

In what time frame should we expect a garment to be delivered?
We take 6 weeks to construct our suits however we like to leave 8 weeks for a wedding suit so that the groom is not picking up the suit the morning of the wedding!

What’s a typical day at Oscar Hunt look like for you?
There’s probably no such thing! At the moment I am working closely with our marketing team as we are doing some pretty exciting things in that space. I am also working with our Adelaide showroom manager closely as we have just recently launched our Adelaide business.

Images: Amy Wilde

What do you love most about your job?
Working with our team. They are an amazing group of people. I also love the client interactions we have. I don’t get to meet our clients as much as I used to but the client relationship is what I’m most passionate about (and is essentially what this business is based on) so I love hearing our client stories and the positive feedback.

Why should a groom choose Oscar Hunt for his wedding suit?
I think a groom should choose Oscar Hunt because you will be in the safest of hands to craft the ideal look and you will have a really good time throughout the fitting process leading up to the big day. Creating suits for occasions like this is our specialty and we take it incredibly seriously.

Images: Lovers Narrative

Thank you Chris for chatting with us about what makes Oscar Hunt a truly special place for grooms and groomsmen to source their wedding suits. And thank you for providing this superb level of service for them! Find out more about Oscar Hunt and their suit making process over on their website or via the Polka Dot Directory.

Headshot courtesy of Oscar Hunt