RECALLING my personal experiences over my hunting years of sourcing my own personal bespoke tailored wardrobe and tack, also presents an opportunity for me to highlight some more of the talented craftsmen who continue to supply the equestrian public today.

My first experience of bespoke hunting attire was in the early 1970s when I had a hunting jacket with specially engraved hunt buttons, tailored by Michael Hawkins of Cavendish Row in Dublin. Sadly the shop is closed since 2002 when Desmond Leech, who spent half a century with the company, was their last employee. My Hawkins’ jacket that I wore for 40 years is still being worn some 50 years later by a lady hunt follower (as I was slimmer in those days!) in the USA.