the Diplomat

I had been meaning to post earlier as I figured November may be a quiet month, but to my surprise, things actually picked up a bit.

Eric Tamayo, a diplomat stationed here in Ottawa, reached out to YourSuit during November, inquiring about a tuxedo. He said he needed it for the first week of December; I thought he may have been a groom who forgot to make wedding suit arrnagements (a common occurrence, unfortunately). But, I later discovered that he'd been asked to attend a diplomatic Black and White Ball and was only informed of it hours before he emailed me, hence the rush.

Normally, I don't take on such rush orders because the margin for error becomes supremely thin, and the major issue is not in the suit itself, but in the logistics (which is left up to the gods of parcel service). I'm always up for landing a client, but not at the expense of failing to deliver on a promise, and rush orders run that risk. I looked over the timeline and decided that we could do it.

Eric's a busy man, so the only time we were able to meet was one early morning in mid-November.

A busy diplomat in the morning - note the two cellphones!

What caught me by surprise was Eric's attention to detail. For a man who was in a rush to get a tuxedo, he was very calm and had thought a lot about what he wanted prior to our consultation. I rarely get clients who want classic tuxedos, but Eric had planned on going full out, complete with tuxedo studs and satin pant stripes. He also asked that the front dress shirt placket be hidden, a request that I rarely, rarely get.

The classic satin stripe, a.k.a. the military pant line.

We conversed for a while about suits, work and life; being a diplomat, he's well-traveled and was even stationed in Tokyo, Japan for a time. I wanted to ask him so many questions about Tokyo (I've always wanted to visit), but our time was limited. After about an hour, we finished up and shook hands. He left to catch a flight and would return to Ottawa a few days later.

I met up with him this past weekend for his fitting. His wife came along with him to give the final verdict. Fortunately, for both Eric and myself, the wife approved.

The Black and White Ball was held last night in Ottawa. I was not in attendance (obviously!) but I was able to snap this picture of Eric during the weekend fitting. It's not everyday I get to see a client fully dressed in a tux, complete with tuxedo studs and all, so it was very refreshing to see such class on a man.

Locked and loaded for the Black and White Ball.

Cheers, Eric. May we meet again soon.