At the end of 2024 I received and reviewed an MTM dinner suit commission from Mickael at La Bowtique. The one-line summary was that, on a like-for-like basis (ie comparing this first commission to other first makes), I’d rank La Bowtique among the better MTM tailors I’ve tried.

To complete the set I also picked up a shirt and a few accessories they offered, and thought a run-through of some of them would be helpful to PS readers. Let’s start with the single most important: the bow tie.

As my dinner suit was a classic one-button peak lapel SB, it was a nice canvas to try different shapes against. And since Simon’s introductory article in 2021, the range of styles offered by La Bowtique (who make the best bow ties I’ve tried) has expanded considerably. Here we took pictures of three of my favourites.

The first option we tried was the medium Diamond, which Mickael describes as one of his most vintage designs, redolent of 1940s Hollywood. 

Clearly it would work well with vintage tailoring,  which is where I would recommend any readers looking for evening wear on a budget start their search. Mickael also thinks it pairs particularly well with an off-white/ivory jacket.

It’s a slightly whimsical style, or in Mickael’s words: “A sharp look, which people will think you made a very conscious decision to choose.” I thought it looked good with the suit, and I liked how distinctive it was. However, in this particular case, maybe a touch small given the width of the lapels.

The second bow tie is the Brandon – one of La Bowtique’s most design-led models. The majority of Mickael’s ties are roughly the same width, but the Brandon is wider (you can see it rests on my lapels), pretty straight across the top and has full wings. All of which combine to make it a bigger tie that perhaps suits the taller or broader gentleman.

The tie oozes 1970s flair – the sort of thing one might have worn with a pair of tinted oversized spectacles to a New Year’s Eve party at Studio 54. This is an unwittingly apt analogy as the design was initially created for one of Mickael’s New York customers Brandon Mitchell (who I spoke to for my article on Dunhill Tailors) to go with his superb 1976 Tommy Nutter suit.

It’s clearly a statement piece, but these days that seems true of any type of formalwear. Mickael contends that “it’s not as bold as people think when they only see a picture”. Having tried it on, I’d agree with that, and I can see it being a great addition to the right suit, or a second tie for people that attend a lot of black tie events. A similar, but toned-down option for readers would be the Laurent or the small Laurent.

However, I wanted something a bit more classic, which brings me to the third bow tie (and the one I took home): the Crompton, named after you-know-who. You can read Simon’s thoughts on the model – which was originally a bespoke design for him – here.

It’s a medium dropped bow tie, i.e. the bottom half of the bow is longer than the top. Out of the approximately dozen styles offered, this is La Bowtique’s best-seller, which Mickael thinks is because it hits a sweet spot of “classic, but a bit different”. 

Not as dominating as the Brandon or a large dropped; but a shade more unusual than the symmetrical medium classic. I felt it worked the best with the style of the suit, and perhaps my own sartorial ambitions – classic, but a bit different isn’t a bad style philosophy.

I mentioned in my review of the suit that the shirt was the one area which didn’t work out the way we’d hoped. In fact, Mickael was more frustrated than me – and it can be refreshing when a tailor just acknowledges an issue, rather than try to ‘manage’ the situation.

The shirt itself was good. It’s quite full in the body – you might recall Mickael cautioned against making black tie garments too form-fitting as there’s a good chance you’ll overheat – and has a healthy collar that will work with all but the most oversized bow ties. I liked the amount of spread in the collar too: not splayed too wide (which I’m generally not a fan of), but enough space for the knot of the tie to nestle into.

However, you can see that the pleats, even after being painstakingly individually pressed, just refused to stay flat, and would instantly pucker and dimple to look like seersucker.

What caused the problem is somewhat unknown. It could be the cloth, insufficient pressing as the pleats were sewn, the stitching being too tight, or maybe some combination of all three.

It’s a shame because Mickael was keen for me to try a proper hand-pleated shirt – a real labour of love. He’s going to make a replacement, and this time we’re going for a slightly wider 0.5” pleat (as opposed to the 0.25” above) to see if that helps.

I’m happy to pop back and provide an update on how that fares. However, for now, my experience hasn’t done much to change my personal view that a Marcella front is an altogether cleaner and lower maintenance option.

As my jacket was single-breasted, I also took the opportunity to get a cummerbund from Mickael. Essentially you have one decision to make: Do you want five pleats and a straighter edge? Or four pleats and a rounder edge?

While the height of both cummerbunds is the same (14cm), the four pleat/rounded shape has a fuller appearance, which perhaps works better for taller customers and in combination with some of the bolder bow ties.

La Bowtique’s design also has a handy loop on the inside front of the cummerbund which slides over the waistband closure of your trousers, and helps to keep it anchored to a central position.

I also picked up some silk socks from Mickael which feel nice, but are more sheer than anything I’ve worn previously. As long as my leg hair isn’t too visible (which it wasn’t) it’s not an issue for me, but one reader did comment that he felt it drew too much attention to the ankles, which I can understand. The other silk socks I’ve tried are Gammarelli (via Mes Chausette Rouges) which are more opaque.

By the way, the opera pumps on my feet are Bowhill & Elliott, which I borrowed from Mickael for the photos. In the next couple of weeks, La Bowtique plan to have a full size run of the B&E patent pumps available, so customers can try them for size and order directly.

The decision about whether to go for an Oxford shoe or an opera pump is a personal one. My argument in favour of pumps is that the chance to wear black tie comes round infrequently enough. And so, within the bounds of classical styling, I try to grasp the opportunity to push the envelope, the button and the boat out. That means studs, silk socks and opera pumps. By comparison, a polished Oxford (as undeniably elegant as it is) seems relatively prosaic.

The option to buy shoes from La Bowtique means the only black-tie-related item you can’t get from them is jewellery (studs, cufflinks, etc); this expansion is welcome. For the uninitiated, a black-tie debut can be daunting enough without having to scour the four corners of the internet for the various elements.

However, as I noted in my suit review, the very best thing that Mickael offers costumers is his experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for evening wear.

La Bowtique can be contacted on WhatsApp at +44 7572 869286

Manish is @the_daily_mirror on Instagram

Photos by Alex Natt