GAP trousers on eBay - trading up

One of my readers brought this to my attention, and we ended up doing a mutually beneficial deal.

He spotted a pair of GAP trousers on eBay and was already speaking directly to the seller to secure them.
However, they are waist 36 which is a size or two too big for my friend.
Ends up he needs a waist 32 - which I have half a dozen pairs of.
I’d be happier with a pair of waist 36 as these will give me just a bit more fabric once dissected to use to make an Ultimate Tennant Suit.

So we agreed a straight trade - his 36s for a pair of my 32s. He’s actually ended up a bit better off as mine are mint and still with labels, where as these are pre-worn.

Eitherway, we both won!

GAP Brown Men’s Trousers
with A Blue Pin Stripe 36 Waist

Gap men's trousers.

Dark brown with a blue pinstripe.
Cotton. Waist 36 length 34.
2 back pockets with buttons.
Waistband with 7 loops for a belt Zip fly with button and hooks to fasten.

Very good condition.

The Definitive Magnoli fabric and GAP Comparison

By Alex Murphy

I had a great time at Gallifrey One last week, and met up with some old friends, as well as some new ones I had made online in the last year.
One is Alex Murphy, who I’ve been chatting to on and off for a while.

He has recently started his own blog, and has written a very informative comparison between the Magnoli replica GAP fabric and the real deal.

The Ginger Doctor

It is reproduced here with kind permission.

There has been much speculation in the cosplay community about where to get the best-of-the-best in terms of Tenth Doctor gear. Tennant’s Doctor is extremely popular at conventions and his iconic suits and jacket are a hot commodity.

Magnoli Clothiers began offering a custom reweave of both the brown and blue suit fabrics a few years ago, which they used on their Ten suits as well as selling by the yard. But at a hefty $60 per yard, cosplayers are naturally interested to know EXACTLY what they are getting for their money. I finally bit the bullet a while ago, after observing several Magnoli suits at various conventions, and decided that even if it wasn’t totally accurate, it was a damn good replica.

So after taking a huge financial leap and having a custom tailored suit from Magnoli’s brown suit fabric, I had a stroke of good fortune – someone sold me scraps of an old pair of GAP trousers!

Putting the two on top of each other, I hope I can give everyone who’s invested in the Magnoli fabric a huge sigh of relief!

While not 100% perfect, Magnoli’s current reweave is EASILY the best available option. The stripe spacing is the biggest problem, being too wide (1/2″) between stripes (the GAP fabric is approx. 1/16″ narrower between stripes). As you can see above, the blue on the stripes is nearly perfect in color, and although the Magnoli choice in browns appear too dark, this is a nearly brand new swatch, and many of the Magnoli suits I saw at Gallifrey One this year had faded to exactly the shade of the GAP trousers after some wear. Minorly, you can see that the stripes are SLIGHTLY too wide themselves, although woven correctly.

Feeling the two in my hands, the Magnoli fabric is ever-so-slightly thicker, which I think is merely a slightly thicker yarn used in the weave, which would account for the scale problems. Magnoli’s cotton is still a wonderfully lightweight choice.

But the above picture isn’t all I have to offer!

I met a fellow Ten cosplayer at Gallifrey One, introduced by some mutual friends. You may know him from Steve Ricks’ blog, as he is the one and only Kevin Coppa!

Kevin is an absolutely wonderful person, and was gracious enough to oblige me in wearing his GAP suit next to my Magnoli suit for a true side-by-side comparison!

He was even nice enough to let me wear his suit jacket!

As you can see, you’ve really got to put the two next to each other to even notice that they aren’t the same fabric.

Hopefully this can help to ease the minds of all who have shelled out the money for the Magnoli fabric – it’s WELL worth the investment! Hopefully they can even revise the stripe spacing so that a Magnoli jacket can be worn COMPLETELY seamlessly with a pair of GAP trousers! But even so, it’s an excellent investment to make, if you were on the fence about where to throw your money.

Alex also has a great blog where he makes Doctor Who inspired cocktails!
Well worth a look.

Doctor Who Cocktails
If the TARDIS had a bar…

GAP trousers - one pair going spare!

Now that I have my haul of nine pairs of GAP trousers in hand - enough for TWO whole suits - I discover I actually have one pair extra that I shan’t be needing.

They are size 32 x 32, mint, still tagged and unworn.

If you are a SERIOUS buyer, do get in touch and make me an offer!

I do have a figure in my mind, below which I cannot possibly sell them for - but it’s always worth getting in touch.

Thanks for all the offers, but these trousers are now SOLD

Christmas comes early

As you may have read, I’m slowly getting my GAP trousers together to make myself an Ultimate Tennant Suit.

Progress will always be slow as these were from the summer 2005 range, so haven’t been made for years.

That said, they do turn up from time to time on eBay, or through the forums where fans trade their costumes.

The last pair I found were on eBay in September, and I had to pay £150 to secure them.

So imagine my excitement this morning to find a pair on eBay with a £15 starting price - and on a BuyItNow!
I click that CommitToBuy button quicker than I could blink.

This puts me over halfway. I already have two pairs of waist 36 and one of waist 34, so these 32s will be forming the sleeves of my suit - when I can get on to making it!

It was only after that I checked their size - waist 32 - and noticed they were still tagged, so had never been worn!

I then started to write-up this entry you’re reading and was pulling in the description text from the listing, when I actually bothered to read it properly!

HERE WE HAVE BRAND NEW WITH TAGS GAP TROUSERS SIZE 32 X 32 INCHES I HAVE 1 PAIR SIZE 34 X 32 PLEASE REQUEST THIS SEPARATELY GAP SELLING PRICE £39.50. GRAB YOURSELF A BARGAIN WHICH SHIP IMMEDIATELY POSTAGE OR COLLECTION NOT A PROBLEM LIVERPOOL MANY THANKS

So this means there are actually TWO pairs on offer through this auction!
This will make FIVE pairs of GAP trousers - just one short of a suit!


I contacted the seller straight away to check he still had them and to make an offer for them. I gave him my number and within a few minutes I had a rather gob-smacking text.

Sorry? Hold on a minute. What was that????

We have gone from ONE pair (which would be great) to TWO pairs (which is even better) to a staggering EIGHT pairs??!!! E-I-G-H-T????

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him - but I did want to see and confirm what we were talking about, so I asked him to text me a photo of all eight pairs.

And there they are - all EIGHT pairs - all mind and still tagged, unworn.
We agreed the price; I paid my money; and will be getting them very soon.

I do not want to be looking a gift horse in the mouth, but it’s a shame they are all waist 32. At least I have a couple of 36s to cover the larger panels of the suit when it comes to it.

This will put my tally to ELEVEN pairs - more than enough for my suit which I can’t wait to get on to making in the new year.

You can’t imagine how excited I am to finally complete this first stage of making the suit.

It’s like Christmas has come early!!!

UPDATE
Just to clarify, none of these trousers are for sale. I am using them to make myself a suit, and potentially for one lucky client in the future.
The begging letter have started and will be ignored. Sorry.

My Ultimate Tennant Suit - Half of Ten

A couple of days ago I showed you a pair of original GAP trousers on eBay that sold for £150.

I did wonder who had paid such a sum for one pair of trousers - but I have to confess I knew all along who it was - ME!

The trousers arrived today, and I must say they are in near mint condition.

You might notice in the corner of my photo there are other pairs lurking around.

Well, I now actually have three pairs!

It’s taken me a few years to get to this stage, so I’m in no real rush.

To complete a suit I really need six pairs - one to wear and five to tailor the jacket.

The pairs I have are:

Pair 1 - 
Size 34 x 32

These were left over from the Ultimate Tennant Suit, and taken as part-payment

Pair 2 -
Size 36 x 30

These are my latest acquisition through eBay

Pair 3 -
Size 36 x 34

I bought these through a private sale via the Gallifrey Base forums

If you have a pair of GAP trousers and are willing to part with them to help me reach my target, please email me at tennantcoat@me.com.

Super-rare GAP trousers on eBay

Since 2009 when I exclusively revealed the brand of the fabric used to make the iconic Tennant Suit was from GAP trousers, a few pairs have cropped up on eBay.

Photo by Scott Sebring

So far only one person, Kevin Coppa, has gathered enough pairs to recreate the suit in the form of the Ultimate Tennant Suit.

He was lucky enough to find six pairs from which we fashioned the jacket, based as closely as possible on the original suit.

Since then I haven’t seen many pairs for sale, but tonight a pair of size 36 waist closed, selling for a hefty £150 price tag.

I wonder who got them?

GAP Trousers Brown with blue pinstripes

SOLD FOR £150

GAP FLAT FRONT TROUSERS
CHOCOLATE BROWN WITH BRIGHT BLUE PINSTRIPES
MINT CONDITION - NEVER WORN
36" WAIST - 30" INSIDE LEG
~~

THESE ARE THE SAME BRAND, STYLE AND COLOUR AS WORN BY DAVID TENNANT IN DOCTOR WHO
~~
GAP never made a jacket to match these trousers, the one you see the Doctor wearing was made by the BBC costume department from four or five pairs of trousers. I don't think I'll ever find another four pairs so I'm selling these on in the hope that they might help someone else out.

Ultimate Tennant Suit does SDCC 2011

This past weekend was the San Diego Comic Con.

It’s one of the biggest conventions in the US, and is a major draw for the cosplay community. All manner of costumes from every show you can think of and as many you have never heard of get to be paraded around the venue.

One costume you will know if you read this blog is the Ultimate Tennant Suit, worn by Kevin Coppa.

During the weekend he had the chance to get some great portrait shots taken by Lydia Chen.

Here are the photos she took, while Kevin picks up the story to the photoshoot.

So I got to take the Ultimate Tennant suit to The San Diego Comic Con 2011. Steve had done an incredible job as always and after he and I both got to show it off in public for the first time at Gallifrey One 2010, it was time to take it to it’s sophomore geek-gathering.

GAP trousers –see, it does still happen

The Ultimate Tennant Suit I made recently resulted in a fair bit of interest regarding the original GAP trousers.

I have had a number of emails from people who greatly appreciated knowing where the fabric was sourced from, stating that all they needed to do now was find the requisite number of pairs to make themselves a similar suit.
Annoyingly however, they were only a single-season garment from way back in 2005, so there is zero chance of walking into a branch now and finding a pair – even on their reduced to clear rail.

The only realistic option is eBay – which is how my client, Kevin Coppa, came by so many pairs himself. It was a lot of patience, and many hours trawling listing that eventually paid off.

And just to show it was NOT just a one-off, another client of mine, Jonathan Le Targat from Paris, has recently found another pair, this time on the French eBay site (see below).

Ultimate Tennant Suit - FINISHED!

Yippeeeee!!

After several weeks sewing – a year gathering trousers – a couple of years knowing the fabric originated from GAP – the day has finally dawned when The Ultimate Tennant Suit is FINISHED!!!!

I can’t hide that I am pretty cuffed about how well it has come out. I have spent a lot of time researching and studying the suit, as well as testing how to make it, all of which appears to have paid off.

Here are some detail pictures of the completed jacket.

Ultimate Tennant Suit - cutting phase two

The Phase One of the cutting gave me the fabric to circumvent the body of the jacket, as well as all I needed for the external pockets (see right).

Everything went well, so it’s time to return to the cutting bench and prepare some more pieces for assembly.

Pair 2 -
Size 34 x 34

I am cutting the sleeves for the suit now, and its a pretty forgone conclusion that the lower sleeves will be cut from the fronts of the trousers due to their width at the shoulder (see left, top); and the upper sleeves are cut from the backs (see left, below).

I need to angle the sleeves such that the top parts are on grain, and the forearms are a little bit across the grain. when I get to the assembly of the sleeves I’ll show why I have done this.

I have positioned the upper sleeves as low as possible, leaving me a decent piece of off-cut.

When I first cut fabric from the GAP trousers, I had quickly realised that I would not get fabric wide enough to cut the collar in a single piece. I concluded that the screen used suit must have a join at the back of the neck, so I will use this piece of left over to cut my collar.
I cut this just before I needed to set it, to make sure I cut it to fit correctly.

Pair 1 -
Size 34 x 30

I’ve returned to the pair that gave me the back of the jacket to cut the lapel facings.



While I’m on the cutting bench and have the pattern pieces to hand, I also cut what I need for the lining.

Most a straight repeats of the body of the jacket, but with a little adjustment to allow for movement and capacity inside the jacket.

The backs are cut with the vent allowance (see above); and a special panel is shaped and cut to cover the front panel, minus the lapel facing.

This is pretty much everything I need now to complete the Ultimate Tennant Suit!

Ultimate Tennant Suit - making body

Now I have cut the first panels of the jacket I can get onto some real exciting stuff – making it up into the Ultimate Tennant Suit!

First I had to correct a minor problem with the back of the suit, which involved re-cutting a new panel for the area above the belt. I was trying to get round it, but had to bite the bullet.
Here is where I cut it from:

Pair 3 -
36 x 34

I used the fronts from the pair that had provided the front panels of the suit.
The reason I recut was to correct the grain direction of the fabric, which should run slightly diagonally from the waist to the shoulder, not the centre back.
You live and learn.

Anyway, that out of the way I can at last start sewing some real GAP fabric!
I start with the front panels, and stitch the chest darts, which run vertically from the upper chest down to just above the pockets (see right - the first line of stitching!).

Once this is pressed out, and the fronts are interfaced as per the Hand Tailoring I outlined recently, I can think about making and setting the breast pocket.

It is sewn on the surface of the jacket with a separate flap above. The pocket has a box pleat on the front.
This has to be constructed very carefully, as it must span precisely three pinstripes.
The trick is to stitch up the centre behind the pleat at just the right place so a pinstripe lines both front edges of the folds (see left, top).

I then press the edges under, again lining along the pinstripes, with a one inch roll-fold at the top.
This is then pinned in place, aligning it with the pinstripes on the body of the jacket (see left, middle).
There is a level of compromise here as the chest dart expires under the pocket. This means it is possible to square the pocket to the pinstripes on one side only (take a sneak at the finished pocket and look at the right-hand edge to see what I mean).

Finally the pocket is top-stitched in place, with a sort of stretched triangle of strengthening at the top corners (see left, bottom).

I then need to do the breast pocket flap. This is quite simple really.

First I sew the flap together from two pieces of fabric, leaving it open at the top (see right, top).
This is then clipped at the corner points and the seams graded before turning and pressing it flat.

To stop the attaching edge bulking, I overlock the open end (rather than double-fold it) and then stitch it in place above the pocket (see right, bottom).

Once flapped into position I then firmly press the edge and it happily sits in the right place.

Here is the finished, pressed and crisp result (see left).

The white stitching around the pocket is tack stitches I have put to keep the body of the jacket and the horsehair interfacing together while I work – these will obviously be removed before I finish!

Ultimate Tennant Suit - cutting phase one

This past weekend marked the start of cutting the GAP fabric for the Ultimate Tenannt Suit I am making.

I have been planning this for a while, and at long last the day has finally come   :)

So far I have harvested fabric from three of the pairs trousers:
Pair 1 (Size 34 x 30);
Pair 3 (Size 36 x 34); and
Pair 6 (Size 33 x 32).

This will be enough to get the body of the jacket made, including all the pieces for the pockets and more than enough to get me started.

It’s gonna be funny looking at the finished jacket and know that that was a back of a leg and that was a front!

I think it will change my view-point on the suit next time I see an episode – which will be interesting!

It’s fascinating to see the reality of how they are cut, so here is a breakdown of how the pairs were dissected and what parts of the jacket they each provided. 

Pair 1 -
Size 34 x 30

I choose the waist 34s pair to cut the back panels as they just fit, leaving minimal waste.
What is left over still doesn’t entirely go to waste, as I then used it to cut the breast pocket flap and the back strap.

Pair 3 -
Size 36 x 34

The front panels of these trousers are the widest pieces of fabric I have, which is just as well since they need to cover from the lapel edge to the apex of the shoulder.

The small area of waste at the top gives me enough to make the facings of the outer pockets (the piece you see at the back of the pocket when you look inside it).

Pair 6 -
Size 33 x 32

finally I need to cut the side panels, so to preserve as much of the fabric as possible, I have dropped to the narrowest waist I have.

From these I have used the fronts of the trousers are the narrower of the harvested panels available.
I can still happily get the panel I want out of here, leaving a decent chunk of waste from where I cut the breast pocket and most of the pieces I need for the outer pocket flaps.

This completes the cutting I need for the body of the jacket, meaning work can start in earnest . . .