Ross Bennett [00:00:00]: The concept of a tailor from an overall realm of just the general word is always a man of service. Regardless if they're tailoring a fence or tailoring a house or tailoring a suit, a carpenter or a fence builder is just the same man or a gardener is the same person as a tailor. They're taking someone's energy and beautifying it and making it them, that person, the client. Right? Everyone's yard is different. Everyone's house has little intricate touches. That's all done by the tailor. Reginald Ferguson [00:00:32]: I'm Reg Ferguson, and I'm a fashion consultant from New York City, born and raised. I've been helping men look fly for years. And now, I wanna help you learn more about menswear. The entrepreneurs, the brands, and top fashion tips on The Fashion Geek Podcast. I've been to Texas. I've been to Austin, Arden Creek area, warehouse district, and I've been to Dallas. Checked out the NBA All Star Game at the Jerry DONE. I've had the Shiner Bach, Ross Bennett [00:01:08]: I've had Reginald Ferguson [00:01:08]: some Buffalo barbecue. Stevie Ray Vaughn is one of my new screwdrivers. I think that those two cities are 180 degrees apart from one another. One of the things they have in common is the Texas businessman. Suit, boots, belt, 10 gallon hat. There was a regional take on a classic style. So what is it like being a tailor in Texas? Do you have more latitude in the customer's request? Do you do a bootcut for the panels? Is there a difference between a Texas customer and a New York customer? Yo. This is Reg Ferguson, fashion geek number 1. Reginald Ferguson [00:01:58]: How are you? Welcome to the ride. Thank you so much for listening. I'm a men's fashion consultant here in New York City, and I help fashion challenged men go from confused to confident. If you ever found yourself staring at the closet, not knowing what to wear or if the idea of shopping for clothes makes you feel physically ill, then this is a show for you. My goal with every episode is to help make looking good feel easy. If you ever want my help, email me at reg@nyfashiongeek.com for a consultation. If you have a friend who's looking to level up his fashion style wardrobe game, please share an episode with them. While you're at it, if you dig the show and haven't already left us a rating and review, please consider doing so now. Reginald Ferguson [00:02:47]: Your shares, ratings, and reviews help us grow the show and help us get the best possible guest and help more men dress their best. Today, we're gonna talk with Ross Bennett of the Texas Taylor, who is somewhere between San Antonio and Austin as we speak. We're going to talk about something that the everyday man should have in their wardrobe. Yes. We're gonna talk about bespoke and made to measure clothing, Southwest style. Ross in the building. Ross Bennett [00:03:20]: Hey. Hey. Hey. I'm good. How are you? Reginald Ferguson [00:03:23]: I'm well, man. Ross Bennett [00:03:26]: Hey. Man, I gotta tell you, I'm so blessed to actually get to meet you and, you know, by the grace of god, figuring out that clubhouse stuff to get into your club and start to meet the guys in that in that club organization you met and then, you know, divulging into an hour and a half, almost 2 hour conversation with you on the phone, and now here we are. So I'm blessed to be here, sir, you know, sitting outside on the porch here in South Texas, watching a beautiful cotton candy sunset, talking to you. Couldn't be better. Reginald Ferguson [00:04:00]: I really appreciate it. None of my viewpoint right now is picturesque. I am in my home studio in my living room. Thanks, COVID. And I'm sweating my tuckus off. But, yeah, I'm really happy about this, too. And for the record, we talked for 3 hours off of the net on Clubhouse, and, I really enjoyed it. And I keep on telling my listeners of the pod, hey, join Classic Menswear Club on Clubhouse. Reginald Ferguson [00:04:37]: It's a really nice collective of people. I have 2 guys running a room on Tuesdays in my club, Lewis and Austin, And that's the men's wear mindset on Tuesdays, 7:30 EST. And I came in because I have a 7 standing call, So I always come into that room late. And I saw the Texas Taylor holding Court. I was like, who is this guy? He's a he's a character. So, yeah, we, it seems like we've become fast friends and, really happy about that. Happy to have you on the pod. So before we go into our topic, Ross, please tell us, so what do you do? Ross Bennett [00:05:41]: Oh, man. That's a that's a hodgepodge of questions. But for this, you know, the concept of a tailor from an overall realm of just the general word is always a man of service. Regardless if they're tailoring a fence or tailoring a house or tailoring a suit, a carpenter or a fence builder is just the same man or a gardener is the same person as a tailor. They're taking someone's energy and beautifying it and making it them, that person, the client. Right? Everyone's yard is different. Everyone's house has little intricate touches. That's all done by the tailor. Ross Bennett [00:06:20]: So when I got into my world of building clothing, I first actually wanted to go into golf course design. I grew up in the country club world of Dallas, and I loved playing golf. I grew up on a golf course playing every day, and I thought that was gonna be the world that I wanted to do from a beautifying and tailoring landscape. Well, I also had a fashion background, being a model and doing all that. So when I got into my world of tailoring, I looked at it. It was first in the women's world, high end custom gowns. It was not couture. I'm not a couturier. Ross Bennett [00:06:57]: Don't have a couturier's license. None of that. I was studying at the University of Texas, but I was building, you know, you know, to my level of knowledge, you know, using some of the couture techniques we studied and researched in school to how to hold up shoulders on intricate bodice work and do all these other types of things that master tailors do to bodies on suit jackets. I learned architecture for a moving body in a really unique way. So as I started building the woman's world of evening wear and cocktail dresses for, you know, the socialites and the symphony leagues and all that stuff in mainly Dallas where I was from as well as Austin, even though for people listening to kinda put, a fashion, mindset on the 5 major cities of Texas. You know, Dallas is kind of your show me, show me, show me. A lot of big hair and a lot of fake work. Houston I mean, it's true. Ross Bennett [00:08:07]: I mean, it's look at the show Dallas. Right? I mean, it's this it's right. Now Houston is your old school, beautiful southern bells, good old boys, oil money that still drives an f 150. Right? Wife might drive a Mercedes or a Maserati, but it might have a Ferrari in the garage, but their daily driver is still like an f 150. Right? So it's different. And then you go to San Antonio, and San Antonio is, like, one of the oldest cities in Texas. Right? It's still majority Hispanic and of Mexican heritage. And we can talk about a little bit of that as I transition to where I'm at now and what we're doing. Ross Bennett [00:08:50]: But San Antonio is such a beautiful city because all of the buildings are so old, and they're built on the river, And it's you can still see all the mercantile stuff that went on there from salary and boot making and suit making and hat making. You know, my wife's great great grandfather, you know, in the late 18 nineties, early 1900 was selling produce right there and had the citrus farms down where we're at now selling oranges and grapefruits. You know, it's crazy. You know, it took the kids there. They're the 5th generation on those cobblestones. That's that's kind of powerful stuff. Reginald Ferguson [00:09:26]: Sure. Ross Bennett [00:09:27]: And so, you know, that city is it's all of it because it's got the Mexican culture of the of the Fiesta and the, you know, the beautiful colorations and the intricate styles as well as the lower end still what, you know, most of the world kind of figureheads in a negative aspect of what the culture is even though they're totally wrong. It's just that that city is so diverse with so much economic roller coaster, I guess you could say. It's a really cool city. Austin, man, I wish I was on that call for the sweatpants this last clubhouse because Austin is Reginald Ferguson [00:10:04]: man. I'm gonna miss you. Ross Bennett [00:10:06]: Austin is literally I know. Listen, dude. I broke my phone. My our ranch got 5 inches of rain in an hour, and the house was basically underwater. My goats were knee deep in water, and I was out there with my waterproof iPhone. And I just went to check the time, and it like, a matrix green line goes across my phone. It goes out. So I called Verizon. Ross Bennett [00:10:27]: They overnighted 1. I got one to, you know, last night, whatever. But still, so I couldn't be on Clubhouse, and it was just it killed me because I wanted to talk about Austin's fashion, which a lot of it, man, for as long as I can tell you, it's always been this laid back casual sweat pant yoga. It's okay to make 6 figures and go to to work in running shorts kind of attitude. And I've I've done my damndest to try to change that and be like, look, man, like, I don't care if, if you're making a $100 or 10,000,000, like you should still out of respect for yourself and the people you're around, when you sign a $1,000,000 deal, you should still out of respect for the meeting, have a presentation of yourself. I don't care if it's Jack. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:14]: Can we talk can we talk about that? Because Ross Bennett [00:11:16]: Absolutely. So in a nutshell, to me as a tailor, I've been a tailor my whole life. Right? I've been tailoring people. I've been helping people. I've been understanding it for over 20 years. I'm now in the cannabis business, and I grow, you know, commercial hemp and do stuff down here with hemp and got amazing things coming out in the next few weeks I don't wanna even talk about. I can't even talk about. Reginald Ferguson [00:11:33]: Yeah. Let's just talk about tailoring, it's tailoring Ross Bennett [00:11:36]: Right. Tailoring my life and tailoring the world and using the concept of the word tailor is to, 1st and foremost, not sell anything. You're always here to help and guide and be of service. Sales are last. That is the most important thing I can try to really enunciate and explain about a tailor. Tailor is about service. Whatever industry you're in, it's a service. You're tailoring people every day. Ross Bennett [00:12:08]: You're just not making the clothes. Right? You're tailoring their look based off their energy, their feels, their emotions. You are a wardrobe stylist is somewhat of a tailor in broad terms. I'm a bespoke tailor. I used to make it all myself. I don't anymore. I have a master bespoke tailor that now works for me so that I can do other things. So I'm happy to jump in now to the next part. Ross Bennett [00:12:33]: Sorry. I just I wanted to just say that. It's so important to me to, like, to let people know that when they're investing in a garment and going to a tailor, it's because that man is there for way more than just making a suit. Reginald Ferguson [00:12:48]: No. I appreciate you giving all that detail and review because, again, part of the reason why I wanted you on this pod is because you are from a geographic region that I don't claim to know infinitely well. Have I been to Texas? Sure. I've been to Dallas and I've been to Austin, but that was so many years ago. And fast forward to now and meeting your acquaintance so quickly, to me, you're kind of part of a series of what I've been doing in having tailors from non fashion capitals ply their trade. So you hit on something, Austin. Hey, keeping it weird, right? That's what they do. You are a suit in more ways than 1. Reginald Ferguson [00:13:41]: How did you develop your clientele in that city? And how do you even attempt to strike the balance between the irreverent nature from a fashion standpoint there to what you're doing, which is, you know, more more classic, more standardized? Ross Bennett [00:14:03]: So that's a really good question. And in my 18 years of doing this in that city, I think you might be the 1st person to really ask that question the proper way and the right way to for me to actually answer it. So I got started in my business in August of 2,008. And that business actually got launched because the state fair of Texas hired me to design an entire eco friendly women's highly tailored fashion line to be put into the butterfly conservatory that was being built. So my wife now of 11 years, who was not my wife at the time, girlfriend, business partner, we got to walk through the entire building, put in color implementation and kinda help talk to the designers and help see how it was all being put together so we could design our collection. And, that was a great thing. And that kind of launched my business. And from there, you know, I knew in just my own way I was raised, if you're gonna do something, you gotta sit at the table with the old men to learn how to do it. Ross Bennett [00:15:23]: Sure. YouTube and all this stuff can help you figure it out, but I was doing stuff at a time in 2008 when, you know, there I don't even think the iPhone was just coming around maybe. You know? There wasn't the I mean, we're talking it sounds so crazy, but we're talking 13, 14 years ago, and there wasn't any of the technology we have now, you know, in mass in mass terms. So I was raised by my family in Dallas, you know, through the world of country club and private events where you sat at tables and you talked for hours. And I was the young kid, and I learned that. So I knew immediately I went when I was in fashion school, I was like, I who's doing men's wear? And they were like, nobody. And I was like, what? They're like, we don't even have men's mannequins. I was like, you're the University of Texas. Ross Bennett [00:16:11]: Texas. How do you not have a male mannequin? And they were like, well, we don't have any teachers. The only teacher is over at the costume school for the theater. He's an actual master tailor. He works with Santa Fe Opera. He's the inventor of animatronics and a lot of other crazy things, but he's a bespoke tailor and best friends with president Bush's tailor, Gus Gassani. And I was like, okay. There's my there's my wrench. Ross Bennett [00:16:42]: Bam. No one else is going to this guy to do this. The only other person that I know of that took a class from him that's doing anything is Kirby Allison. Reginald Ferguson [00:16:49]: Oh. Ross Bennett [00:16:50]: Okay? Okay. So Kirby Allison went to the University of Texas, and he also studied under Jim Glavin, and he took this bespoke tailoring class to learn how to make a suit. So Kirby, I think, took it the year before I did. Now this class is a very high level graduate class. You have to get, you know, recommendations to get into it. I met with Jim multiple times, got approved, and was the worst student ever. Because at the same time, I signed the contracts with Formula 1 to design all the uniforms for the Grid Girls for the very first American race here in Austin and curate all of the uniforms, those fringe uniforms with the red boots and, you know, all that. I got hired because the year before that, I was on national television with NBC and did a TV show called Fashion Star, and that was a fun experience and a crazy thing. Ross Bennett [00:17:43]: But bottom line is I always knew that Austin was gonna be my secondary market, that I had to build myself outside of it. Now once I got on national television and I signed my deals with f one and all that stuff and my TV show came to air, You know? They wanted me to come to New York City every week, and I was like, go fuck yourself. Sorry. My language is just forget it, y'all. Like, forget it. I'm I'm now gonna go build my community in Austin. So I had a small little storefront downtown, and I would throw parties every week. I already had, you know, alcohol sponsors. Ross Bennett [00:18:15]: I had caterers that wanted to throw parties where I would pay for all their marketing and bring all their new clients. I'd pay for all the food, you know, get a discounted rate, and we would throw big shows. You know, a 150 people come to the events. We'd have our store open. And this is when I was doing women's wear. I didn't even have men's suits yet, but I was developing market, developing fence relations with the wealthy, developing a social scene. You know, Andy Warhol is a big, kinda, I don't know, secret energy of mine that I just admire in terms of creating a a community. I always loved that. Ross Bennett [00:18:52]: And, you know, when I first launched men's suiting, which came out of the women asking me who made my suits, and I was like, I do. I was trained and I learned and, you know, whatever. I've made 2 suits and I wear them all the time. And, well, how can I get my husband to have a suit or my boyfriend? You know? Sure. Let me go figure it out. Absolutely. So then there's a store in New York, or or I don't even know if he still has it anymore, but, you know, he's been around for several decades, Alan Flusser. Sure. Reginald Ferguson [00:19:21]: Still does. Ross Bennett [00:19:22]: Yeah. And his very first one of his first tailors from the seventies and the eighties. His name was Teddy, who was also a patsy to the mob and all of the crazy shit. 7 years ago, I moved him to Austin to live in my house, and we built suits in my garage that summer. And we built, I don't know, 9 or 10. And then he went back to New York with, like, 6 or 7 more orders and money and fabric. And then at, like, mid 80 year old guy gets divorced from his wife, takes the money I gave him plus the client's orders and goes back to Poland. I'm like, wow. Ross Bennett [00:20:00]: That's a late midlife crisis. Right? Like, crazy. So then I was stuck on orders, and then I moved a factory out to to to Los Angeles with Montalvo Tailors, and I worked with them for a bit because, you know, I was buying fabric from BBlack and Sons, Andrew, and which if you're a tailor and you guys need a great and you're starting out and you're a piece good kind of tailor that doesn't have access to mills, Andrew of b Black and Sons off Third Street Downtown Los Angeles. Their family's been in business since 1943. Up on the 4th and this is how I found out about it. Up on the 4th floor is his dad's office and grandfather's office, and, you know, LBJ's cut cards from Texas and a couple other, you know, governors and Texas guys from here are all their cut cards are, like, on the wall with a bunch of other famous people from tailors all over the US, but I learned from the guys that made those cut cards is what I'm getting at. And so but I digress. I'm sorry. Ross Bennett [00:20:58]: I it's it's an important part. So You're fine. So, Andrew, I'm I'm in love with everything going on, and Andrew sees the, you know, the symbiotic relationship after a few years of doing business. And he's like, why don't you go up one more floor and go check that out? And that was like my wife and I were going out to California not only to announce our first child, like, ride it in the sand on the beach, and we're freaking out because we have 6 orders and lost money and have to get these suits made. And by the grace of God, Andrew's like, go upstairs. And I was like, okay. And there was the guys from Montalvo, and they built us a handful of garments, and I was able to get out of that. And then from there, I was in an airport in New York doing some stuff with Formula 1 and met our next tailor. Ross Bennett [00:21:41]: And from there, the rest is kinda history. The suits kinda started going, and we started establishing different, you know, factories and doing different things. And still, at that time, I was making every single pattern and then sending every pattern overseas and sending all the fabrics over that way. And, dude, I did that until 4 years ago or 3 years ago. And then 3 years ago, I started just sending the measurements to my tailors, which was scary, but I built enough relationship where I didn't have to make patterns. And then to where now, this last year, a good friend of mine who owns a mill out of England was like, you need to talk to these boys. So I did, and I met their developer, and he's like, I'd like to build you a site. I was like, okay. Ross Bennett [00:22:26]: What does that mean? He's like, it's a digital wardrobe closet basically for your clients. You store everything in there. Our master tailor, I said I'd like to speak to him and meet him. Sure. No problem. Here's his information. Look him up. He's from Savile Row. Ross Bennett [00:22:41]: I was like, perfect. So we chatted for a bit. I fell in love with, you know, the way they did stuff and their customer service. The guys are a little younger than me, but they solved a problem for guys like me. And it's been a godsend because I launched that during COVID in January last year. And, sure, we were in the mask business, and I was selling them, only making 2¢ a mask. I was getting them for, like, 5, selling them for 7 so that I could do my, like, civic duty to the governments and the hospitals so they didn't have to put the tax back on the citizens or the or the, you know, the retail cost back on the citizens. And we had some fun doing that, and that established me being able to move to the farm and where we're at today to where I can literally I'm going to Dallas on Saturday to go see some clients. Ross Bennett [00:23:26]: It's a 5 and a half hour drive, but I'm going to a hemp convention meeting for a couple things. I gotta deal with backdoor, and then I gotta go and see 2 clients to build some some suits for SMU football season. Like, you know, I mean, that's my life. It's the life of just you know, it's funny. It used to be when I started suits, when I go back to the world community, I've always been a networker and a communicator and a and a and a relationship builder to whereas I find the need through my clients for another client's need so that both of them can go succeed in business and keep moving forward. Everybody needs that balance in life, and I figured out the way I could be successful with my market where guys don't buy suits every day that aren't sitting there on their phone, you know, while they're getting a suit made like in New York, my guys are wanting to talk for 2 hours. They wanna come down to the ranch and shoot some guns and buy a suit. They wanna meet at their house or on their boat or at their ranch or, you know, Where do you wanna rock? Let's go. Ross Bennett [00:24:24]: Let's where let's have some fun. This is your time to to to unwind and really make a difference in yourself. You're investing, and I'm here to listen. So that's how I've gained my market share in Austin. Yes. I've had a lot of international national accolades to get to where I am, but I had to say yes and take the risk and work my ass off. Jump on planes, fucking run around like a chicken with my head cut off, you know, make mistakes, go through bad investors, lose a bunch of money, make success, like, it's all there. But at the end of the day, it always has never been about making money. Ross Bennett [00:25:02]: It's always been about making sure my clients are safe, secure, protected, and keep moving forward. My time will come, and it's coming now. I've, you know, I I think you know we've had a little bit of conversation about what I'm doing with other stuff, but it's a blessing. My soup business is out of control, but it has to do with the fluidity of myself right Reginald Ferguson [00:25:19]: now. So how do you discuss with a person from Austin or a person from Dallas? To me, Dallas, I would think is an easier conversation to have. But to me, you did a cultural touchstone. You mentioned Dallas, the TV show back in the day when we were little kids. Right? Ross Bennett [00:25:45]: Yeah. Reginald Ferguson [00:25:46]: The Ewings. Right. I didn't want to go there because I don't want anyone to look at me in a stereotypical lens, so I wouldn't do it to anyone else. But since you have brought that up, I'm curious to know you had mentioned something else, too, talking to the elders, talking to the old money, like in Houston, for example. So no matter where you're having this discussion in the 5 major cities of the state of Texas, How are you incorporating, let's say, an Italian style or an English style, but then complementing it with a Southwestern style. For example, for me, I'm immediately thinking that some, not all, of your clientele wear boots. So to me, immediately, that means the pants are bootcut. So how are you how are you making these tweaks? Because to me, growing up watching a show like Dallas, I would see, you know, Cliff with a suit on, but he'd have boots and a 10 gallon. Reginald Ferguson [00:26:53]: And I see you because I went through all your gram, you know, doing the same thing. But from a guy from New York City, from the Northeast, that's all weird and interesting and exotic. So can you give me an example of what that's like having these conversations with the clientele? Hey. Have you ever found yourself looking in your closet before an important meeting, event, get together with friends, or maybe even a date and said, I don't know what to wear. I just don't have the right clothes. Well, that may or may not be true. One of the best ways to figure it out is to determine what I call your fashion foundation. I've put together a free guide so you don't find yourself looking in the mirror cursing yourself again. Reginald Ferguson [00:27:41]: It's called the 10 things that every man should have in his wardrobe. To sign up, just head over to nyfashiongeek.com forward slash 10 things, the number 10, to get it in your inbox today. Ross Bennett [00:27:57]: So the last thing you just said, Checkmate. Making the person that's watching my communication try to understand it causes them to try to figure me out. That is when you learn to master speaking without speaking, showing your true authentic self to where you come from. So when I talk to my boys here in Texas, you know, when we were on the phone, Clubhouse, and Nick started speaking of his tailor, And he was talking about Tommy Nutter, and I went ballistic. I was like, Tommy Nutter is my biggest inspiration, blah blah blah blah. I have so many Tommy Nutter cut jackets for myself. That is my style. Like, to a t, that is me. Ross Bennett [00:28:49]: Now the bottoms are different story because it's different time period, but the continental pockets, 90% of my clients are continental or jean front pockets. Pockets, 90% of my clients are continental or jean front pockets. Why? Because they wear jeans every day, all day long. Now if they have a fancy dress buckle that melt matches their boots, we will put in belt loops. If they do not, we keep it clean front. But most of the good old boys will buy either, you know, a suit with and a suit without or or however they like to do it. Now when it comes to the cut, there is no I mean, I guess I have Reginald Ferguson [00:29:28]: You have a house style, Ross. Ross Bennett [00:29:31]: But I have a style myself, and my style is you know, I wear khaki Wrangler jeans that I buy for $29, but I also sell $500 denim. But I don't wear them, and I'll tell my clients straight up, look, man. You need to go find a pair of jeans that fit you perfectly. I don't care if they're $14 from Kmart or Walmart because no one's looking at your ass to see what stamp you got on the back. One acre of farmland that's growing cotton is 700 pairs of jeans. So there's a lot of acres grown to cotton in the United States. Don't worry about what pair of denim you're wearing, goddamn it, because it doesn't matter. First of all, denim is the hardest business to sell, to build, to grow. Ross Bennett [00:30:23]: That's what I first tell my clients. You want to wear jeans all day? Sounds good. Pick them. Send them all to me. Send me pictures of them and you, I'll tell you how they look. No problem. That's the first thing. I am open and honest at the start with my clients. Ross Bennett [00:30:40]: I don't try to sell them something that's snake oil. No bullshit that goes through my doors ever. And that might be because that's how I was raised down here in Texas, and that's how I've been especially raised over the last almost 20 years now by my wife's daddy, who is a good old boy, you know, that was raised on a farm, not in the city. And a lot of that lives in me now. So that's helped my business a lot with guys that get, you know, a million calls from Tom James and not standard from hot chicks trying to sell suits. And I'm like, yo, bro. What do you need? Let's talk. So to how I sell a suit or sell a garment, everybody has a balance in life or is looking for that balance. Ross Bennett [00:31:29]: So you're either super dad that can't really excel in your job, meaning you're watching these younger kids keep advancing you in the same position you're in, and you can't figure it out. We've all known people that have been in that position, or you're just afraid to take that next step to leave the office to go take the advancement tie, and you just walk out the door, and you jump in your $100,000 car, and you go to your secure job. You're just aren't confident enough to take that next step, but you're fucking dying about it because you're watching your friends do it. Or there's the other guy that is just the billionaire that keeps buying and growing and selling all these crazy businesses but has 6 wives and can't keep himself stable because he's so focused on trying to look apart and be apart and buy all this stuff versus just be himself when he can be to sit at a table with a woman in a non branded item that looks perfect. That's then they notice from that point, okay. I'm now seeing how I can slow down by wearing this fit, this pattern. They look at themselves in the mirror. We all shit shower and shave, and then go to the closet and say, what am I gonna wear today? But if I can help the client start to build their wardrobe, literally, physically build their wardrobe, design their house, build their car, build their wardrobe, whether it's Wrangler denim or a custom suit from me or a custom sport coat or shirts from me or shirts from other companies. Ross Bennett [00:33:09]: I got clients that love other brands, Etan and all this stuff. And over time, they start to, you know, eventually leave that and come try mine because they always look at the fabric, and they're like, fuck. Another $150? Okay. Sure. I'll try one. And the next thing you know, they're buying 5 or 10, and they're filling out their closet for the season. So by allowing your client to really choose what they want to wear and ask the right questions of why are you here? What are you making this investment in yourself and allowing me the level of respect and trust to drop $5,000 with me and walk away and not see me for 10 more weeks. You know, I I honor that. Ross Bennett [00:33:58]: I give you my time. I'm not selling you anything. I'm asking you questions so that I can build you something. And so that's, I think, also why I've been able to establish relationships in, you know, New York, Los Angeles, all the big cities in Texas, Oklahoma, you know, Louisiana, Chicago. Now I got other crazy things happening in Chicago, which is gonna be a wild ride. It's just again, I'm just a tailor. I'm here to serve. I'm building blueprints and and and and I'm building the blueprint for every client so that when they walk into a meeting or they walk into that date or they just they wanna walk into work one day and say, you know what, boss? I'm here. Ross Bennett [00:34:45]: I've been here 20 years. Give me a shot. Maybe I helped them while they looked in that mirror and said, goddamn, I look good. Let's go get this, because we've all got that one step that we wanna take in life, especially the ones that are knowing how to make money and that I could afford my business. Reginald Ferguson [00:35:03]: So all your points are valid. I understand the topic of confidence for a man because I feel the same way that to make my client more confident is by making him dress his best for him to be the best that he can be. So your suits are not cheap. You are a bespoke tailor. How many fittings are you doing for your bespoke program with your clients? Ross Bennett [00:35:40]: So that's a funny question. So we used to do 3 to 4. My clients have the option of doing 3 fittings or 2, and they all basically do 2. Now most of my clients that are repeat clients, I'll see them for 20 minutes. I'll FaceTime them. They'll order. It'll be fully made, and I hand it to them. Like, that's it. Ross Bennett [00:36:13]: Some of them, I just have it directly shipped to them. Like, these guys, that's the relationship they've built with my hands. Like, I don't the concept of what goes on in Savile Row, and Nick said it best, it's just for show. A lot of that is is is a show show show. The cost of real estate these days, you can't afford it. The cost of shipping, you can't afford it, like brass tacks. So by establishing serious trust with my tailors, as well as mastering measurements. Yeah. Ross Bennett [00:36:52]: I definitely have more than 10000 hours in this business, and, you know, Malcolm Gladwell says it best. You know? 10000 hours is, you know, defines an expert. But I still have a shit ton to learn, and I'm learning new things every day from clients that are bringing me trend reports or stuff like that. You know, what a brand is doing. No. I haven't seen that. No. I don't look at that. Ross Bennett [00:37:12]: You know? It's always about the client and building what they want. Reginald Ferguson [00:37:21]: Do you feel that your clients or even yourself make fashion leaps and choices that, let's say, a market like New York City and individuals who live here like myself would look maybe askance at? Ross Bennett [00:37:41]: A scans. What does that mean? Define that term. Reginald Ferguson [00:37:44]: Sure. Meaning, I'll just keep it real with you that we that we would look at you sideways. Ross Bennett [00:37:51]: Oh, no. No. No. So the whole custom car world so I have deals with guys like, you know, Ferrari, where guys that buy bespoke jackets, you know, there are certain clients there that will send me all their high resolution images from the design factory. We build custom logo. We build all the custom linings with their car, match the exterior from Dormel or, you know, another very high end flashy fabric, to match the paint color to go with every single one of their cars they buy. Like, there is that world. Then I have a lot of clients that I'm not allowed to post that just buy pinstripes and blues and beautifully tailored notched lapels and all that jazz. Ross Bennett [00:38:29]: Right? Like, I don't do any photoshoots. I don't do any marketing. Like, I post pictures of ones that clients send me that I have permission to post. Does that make sense? Like Sure. I'm not I've deleted Instagram 2 or 3 times. You know? At one time, is it 56,000 then 24,000? I delete them because I'm tired of all the bullshit that I have to keep up with on those pages. Yes. They're there to sell, but they're also there just as a as a I don't know. Ross Bennett [00:38:57]: They're there because it has to be there. If I didn't have to have it like, my other business that I've launched with 2 of my partners, you know, we're not even taking it to social media. We have an account to hold it. We're not allowing anyone to join it. We haven't even posted a photo. We're not gonna post a photo to it for the 1st year. We're gonna be in business. We're already in business. Ross Bennett [00:39:14]: We're already doing things with the company right now. We're not even talking about it. Right? Like, because we know the value of keeping things quiet, working softly, and carrying a big stick. You know? Sure. Speak it is the name major term, but we use working because we are working softly. We're working quietly. We're doing things, you know, but it's about you know, it's a big deal. So when you're working with guys that are not your average daily person you see. Ross Bennett [00:39:45]: In in New York City, the amount of Hermes bags you see on the street, okay, you don't see those in Austin but a handful. But I could tell you that most of my clients, their wives have that bag. Right? Like, it's a different game here. It's a completely different game. So I can't tell you how many 3 and a half inch notch lapel blue blazers I make with gold buttons that have custom family linings of, you know, 5 generations of their family or the all the deans and the president at the University of Texas where they've got custom UT linings in them with just a basic burnt orange jacket and 3 and a half inch notch lapel. Okay. That stuff's not fun to see. It's boring. Ross Bennett [00:40:32]: But I also you know, you come to the office and you wanna talk business, I'll show you pictures. You see what I'm saying? It's a little different. I do things old school. I keep it real. I I don't. My clients come to me for discretion, period. Reginald Ferguson [00:40:50]: And you do suits, jackets, gloves, coats, and cowboy hats. Ross Bennett [00:40:57]: Yeah. Is that correct? I mean, every yeah. So we I block cowboy hats. Yes, sir. I do everything but socks and underwear. I used to make shoes in Spain for a long time, but I got out of that. That was just a a year or 2 years worth of my business, and it was fun. But, yeah, most of my bread and butter is sport coat suits, tuxedos, formal jackets, trousers, and then a lot of shirts. Ross Bennett [00:41:29]: And then, yes, sir. I definitely block, you know, a handful of cowboy hats. It's fun. Just I like using my hands. I like building things. I just wish I could build suits fast enough that the demand was. I can't. Reginald Ferguson [00:41:45]: It's a good problem to have. I want you to defend these wild linings that you're encouraging your customers to adorn. Okay. Ross Bennett [00:41:58]: So let me explain that. Can we have that conversation, please? Can we do can we have that? I'd love to. Absolutely. Alright. To the gentlemen that are listening, even the women that are listening, anybody who's listening when it comes to linings, Linings are your coffee table book. Linings are that hidden surprise that makes you take that insecurity in that room between 2 people, you win every time. The minute you go get a business card, the minute you go get your cell phone, the minute it gets a little bit of a heated conversation, authentic to you that's carrying your energy, it is more authentic to you that's carrying your energy, it is more powerful than you will ever know. I can tell you hands down how many clients I know that have won dates or won deals over that conversation, over a freaking lining in their jacket because they're like, they all have tailors. Ross Bennett [00:42:58]: Right? They're breaking $1,000,000 deals. They've all got some tailor, and they're like, wait. I haven't seen that in that not standard book or Tom James book. Where'd you get that from? Dude, it's custom. Mike Taylor made it for me. Well, who's your tailor? And then I'll get text messages. I don't wanna pass on your information. Can I come see you next week? Yeah. Ross Bennett [00:43:15]: No problem. Because they know that their business feeds my table. So those conversations are what wins. It wins their conversation, so it wins for me. As long as I do my job and making them win in business or pleasure, I'm a happy camper. I've had clients that are extremely overweight that used to shop big and tall or that have tried other custom businesses that come to me and finally have a pair of pants that are not riding up their ass or they're not having to wear a massive neck on a collar because their chest is so big. And the next thing you know is they're walking with their friends to lunch in a suit because a couple people in the office said, hey. You look good. Ross Bennett [00:43:58]: And the next thing you know, they're at home with their or by themselves walking their dog and maybe eating a few more salads that week. A few weeks later a couple months later, they're gonna call me and say, hey, dude. I've lost £50. What can you do? Well, let me see if I can recut the suit. Congratulations. If not, I'll give you a discount. How'd that happen? Well, your suit made me feel so good, and I got so many compliments. I don't know. Ross Bennett [00:44:19]: I just started walking around. It's that simple. It's that simple. And I tell these stories all the time, and it's no bullshit because it's true. This is the stuff when you can find yourself to find a tailor to help you transform, whether it is from a wardrobe stylist or is it a bespoke level where you're spending, you know, 20 to $40,000 a year on clothing in just the suit world. Right? You're not talking athletic pants and boxers and socks and T shirts. We're talking just a couple garments. The world that you get when it's authentic at whatever level you pay, and I'd like to talk made to measure too, whatever world you pay, as long as it's authentic to you and you find a brand or a tailor that is authentic to your energy, you're unstoppable because you're balanced, and you can just kinda move through it. Ross Bennett [00:45:11]: But the lining game, if you guys are ever on the fence about it, always ask your tailor if they can do a custom one for you and or go through the books and find something that challenges your tingles your feelings on the inside. Because if it tingles you and you can conquer that and make it feel excitement, then you're gonna win because that same tingling is gonna be to that person and it's an easy jump in to talk about how you have a cooler coat than they do. Right. Does that make sense? Reginald Ferguson [00:45:41]: Yeah. It makes sense. I just know that you have multiple customers rocking the same lining. And to me, that's just a coincidence I never would wanna have. Ross Bennett [00:45:54]: What do you mean? Reginald Ferguson [00:45:56]: Well, I was looking at the gram. Uh-huh. And, you know, don't quote me because I I don't have it in front of me, But there was one lining that you have. It looks kind of like a cartoon, like a graphic novel in style with boxes. And I think there's a woman with her lips pursed with her index finger, and I think there's a caption in French. So Do you know the lining I'm talking about? Ross Bennett [00:46:25]: Yeah. It's that bijou lining. So you're looking at literally my jacket, my wife's, and one other person. So, yes, it is in but, again, I post my own stuff. Right? So, yeah, there are 3 pictures on the gram of that lining. But I I always tell clients too. Hey. I just want you to know a client has this or client doesn't. Ross Bennett [00:46:49]: That's up to them. You know? They don't know the person. They don't give a a shit. It's not up to me. Right? Like, if they fall in love with that lining, it's all good. That's that's, to me, their choice. But they definitely know that my client you know, other clients have purchased that lining before. Or I'll say, no one's ever bought that, or no one's ever bought that cloth. Ross Bennett [00:47:14]: Yeah. I sold that cloth last week. So, you know, they don't people don't care about that. That is minuscule. The the biggest thing that people really care about is how it fits and how it feels. Right? That's the biggest thing. Most people, if they're gonna buy a a lining out of one of those books well, there's only 3 books that I know of that make that that brand of cloth, and there's only about 250 linings in there. Well, these guys know I have more than that in my client book that buy way more than one suit a year. Ross Bennett [00:47:51]: Right? So that's now why predominantly 90% of my business is all custom linings. Most of the time, if it's a client that I have done a lot of business with, I've just booked them in as a free custom lining every time. I don't even charge them that that charge anymore. Right? Because they've done so much business to where every lining they get is free. They can choose whether it's just something out of a book that they want me to choose or if they wanna send me some pictures and put it together. Cool. Like, I have a vintage Texas flag going right now for somebody. I just did the Republic Reginald Ferguson [00:48:25]: saw that. That looked very interesting. And a Texas a vintage Texas map as well. Ross Bennett [00:48:30]: Yeah. That one I've done bef yeah. That one I did. We've done American flags for clients. I've done, you know, fam I mean, again, from people's cars to, you know, collages to to me, it's whatever the client wants. You know, we talked a little bit on the phone about the fridge theory, and maybe this will help kind of help you under the clients understand why I defend that statement so much. It's not up to me what you choose. What I've done is, like, when raising a family, you have a fridge, and you can either put, you know, all organic, no protein, blah blah blah blah in there, or you could put all junk food, or you could put a mixture. Ross Bennett [00:49:19]: And then your child thinks they have the full access to picking and choosing everything out of the fridge, but you're the one who actually curated that fridge for them to choose from. So 90% of my world is is a is a pretty I think I have maybe one book that's a blend, meaning it's got some polyester in it. And I'm not talking about, like, Mylar or stuff like that. I'm talking like it's got a polyblend to it. It's like a 70 30, and that is like a yeah. But now I make that for chief of staffs and the governors and government and all that kind of stuff. Those are the run and gun, run of the mills that they're running through. They buy 5 suits every, you know, couple months, and they're running through them like crazy. Ross Bennett [00:50:05]: They don't wanna spend. And those suits for me are still 1375. K? Reginald Ferguson [00:50:11]: Yikes. Ross Bennett [00:50:12]: Yeah, dude. I mean, for sure, you're still getting a handmade floating canvas, you know, full handmade buttons, like, all that. You're still getting everything. Most of my paint most of my price is all due to cloth. There's a set fee for our building. Right? And then whatever cloth you want determines your price. It's very simple. Sense. Ross Bennett [00:50:39]: Yeah. Reginald Ferguson [00:50:39]: No. I understand. Ross Bennett [00:50:40]: Makes sense. I understand. Reginald Ferguson [00:50:43]: Of your books. You got high level books. You're dealing with, you know, Huddersfield and Ross Bennett [00:50:48]: Yeah. Huddersfield, Drago, Dormel, you know, Laura Piana, some Vitaly Barbaras. I don't know. Skubal. I used to deal with Caccioppoli. I don't deal with Caccioppoli anymore because that's an interesting business. You know, I know I know Laria very well. I've known the family a long time. Ross Bennett [00:51:05]: I've dealt with them for years. I'm just trying to stay strictly to mills versus vendors, and Caccioppoli is a vendor of Italian mills that they bunch together in their own book. So it's not an in house brand of cloth, just so you know. Reginald Ferguson [00:51:25]: Now I know. Ross Bennett [00:51:26]: Yeah. And that's just what I've been told. So I try to stay with, you know, Vitaly Barber, 1663, Huddersfield, out of Huddersfield, England. You know? And Nick has mentioned some others to me recently that I actually would be very interested in in meeting and, you know, having a conversation with. I get hit with mills all the time asking me to carry their books. I've got someone breathing down my door now that was like, pay $50. I was like, I don't pay for books. And he was like, oh, I'll just send them all to you then. Ross Bennett [00:51:54]: I was, like, I'm not worried about your books right now. I'm I'm I'm very set with where I'm at. I've curated my my fridge to what I like. You know? So, anyway, you know, 90% of my suits are blue that I sell. Midnight blues are 90% of my suits. Some of them are window paned. Some of them are pinstriped. A lot of them are bird's eye. Ross Bennett [00:52:21]: A lot of them are super kid mohair, super 150 silk blend. I do a lot of silk wool and linen blend from Loro Piana. They brought that beautiful summer collection out last year, that limited collection. But because of COVID, it stayed in line, and it's there this year. So it was you know, there's a blessing in disguise, though. There's a silver lining in everything. Just because we couldn't produce last year, we can now use it this year. So, that's been a really fun collection. Ross Bennett [00:52:50]: A lot of clients buy those. Those sport coats started 1950, and, I sell 1 a week. They're beautiful. They're they're beautiful, and they're silk wool and linen blend. A lot of my clients like the textiles. They're textile junkies. They're the IBM techs. They're the dotcom guys. Ross Bennett [00:53:09]: They're the billionaires. They're oil and gas money. And like I said before, they're watching these 28 year old kids who are going into Indochino and suit supply and all these other trendy shops. Right? That are selling you a trend to try to be cool like Instagram. And the the guys that are buying the Ferraris and the yachts and the $1,000,000 mansions come to me and say, what the fuck, man? Let's go have some fun. Fuck these kids. Let's go build a coat. I got a guy that messaged me yesterday, and all vice president of IBM out of Austin. Ross Bennett [00:53:38]: He moved to Houston recently. They got a big nice mansion down there, and he just bought a sprinter van. He's like, they bought a sprinter van during COVID, got it all decked out. And he's like, I'm coming to the ranch. Me and my wife are coming to the ranch in the sprinter van. Can we park it next to the ranch house? I was like, yes, sir. Absolutely. No problem. Ross Bennett [00:53:53]: He's like, I need some clothes, but I need some comfortable clothes that I can just pack in the sprinter van. Guy wants to build custom garments for his sprinter van, dude. Reginald Ferguson [00:54:01]: It's a nice problem to have. Ross Bennett [00:54:03]: This is the world that I live. I don't humbly I I keep it humble. I don't put it all over Instagram because who gives a shit about what you see for 5 seconds? It all matters about the 2 out you you know, like, I'm so protective of my clients, if that makes sense. Reginald Ferguson [00:54:20]: Absolutely. It makes it makes total Ross Bennett [00:54:21]: sense. Horrible at social media. I just post a lot of shit just because Reginald Ferguson [00:54:25]: I'm bored. As well, Yet it brought us together. Ross Bennett [00:54:29]: Yes, sir. It did. Absolutely. Austin Austin is a good person. Reginald Ferguson [00:54:34]: What is yes. He is. And we're talking about Austin Robertson. Ross Bennett [00:54:38]: Yes. Reginald Ferguson [00:54:39]: What's the top fashion tip you would give the everyday man so he could look his best? Ross Bennett [00:54:47]: Buy garments that fit your body and buy the colors that actually match your tone. Don't look at a brand and don't look at a value of the of the ticket. Literally, shop all stores from Walmart to Saks, Neiman's, Barney's to custom. Keep your eyes open, stay fluid in fashion, and buy things that really fit you regardless of the price. Reginald Ferguson [00:55:19]: Makes sense. What does the expression always be fly mean to you? Ross Bennett [00:55:27]: I mean, always be fly. There's a lot of you know, when you say that to me and I see the hashtag online, it's it's it's good because, like, a buddy of mine always used to say, stay flossy. He's a dentist. Okay? So and we've used Reginald Ferguson [00:55:45]: has a license plate. Ross Bennett [00:55:46]: I think he has it. It's Flossy. F l o, dollar sign, dollar sign. Yeah. Why? Because it's just so money. You know what I mean? That's what we've been saying since we were in 7th grade, bro. We're 38 years old. Like, so when I hear it, it reminds me of that. Ross Bennett [00:55:59]: And at the same time, I think about myself when I go put on, like and you've seen the picture of me in, like, a red jacket with a black dobs hat and my driving gloves. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:06]: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, dillydill gloves on. Ross Bennett [00:56:08]: Yeah. That's like Stay Fly. Like, that is when I need to get suited and booted, Stay Fly be on point. You know? Like, whatever it is, whether you're a guy at the gym that works at gym or you're a dude that works in the office, like, stay fly. Don't necessarily be the dude that's always on trend, but be you. Like, wear the shoes that fit your personality. Just because Under Armour comes out with the coolest shoe in the world and you haven't been a Nike guy forever or you've worn sambas your whole life, Stick to sambas, dude, because they're gonna be cool again in 5 minutes. You know what I mean? Sure. Ross Bennett [00:56:43]: Don't always change yourself to try to change with times, because times are always changing. Reginald Ferguson [00:56:49]: Makes sense. You sounded like Dylan right there. So it's clear that at least for men suiting, there are some regionalisms involved. Some customers want to hunt with their tailor. Some need to make sure their buckle fits properly on their pants. Others need to make sure their pants fit over their boots. The bottom line is bespoke tailoring should be for the person who has the budget and desires the quality of service and worksmanship that comes with it. You can find Ross Bennett at Texas Taylor at texastaylordot com. Reginald Ferguson [00:57:27]: Ride them high. Well, that's a wrap. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you had fun and are down for another one. Please tell a friend who could use some fashion help about the podcast or share an episode with them directly. If you enjoy the show, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcast. Lastly, if you constantly struggle putting an outfit together and are looking to turn that confusion into confidence, I would love to talk about how we can improve your weight. Check me out at nyfashiongoup.com, and email me at reg@nyfashiongoup.com for a consultation. Reginald Ferguson [00:58:07]: Special shout outs for our producer, Serge, and everyone down with the Fashion Week Podcast. Ross Bennett [00:58:13]: If you Reginald Ferguson [00:58:13]: have a story suggestion, you can email me at podcast@nyfashiongeek.com or hit me up on the insta@newyorkfashion geek. And remember, always be fly.