Wearing Our Attire for Photographs: Etiquette and Sizing

IThe morning coat begins with a size consultation before booking

Before your booking, your butler asks your height, the clothes you usually wear and your shoe size. We choose the closest set from those in the Manor, and on the day check the actual fit in the Wardrobe.

A fitting is not a matter of settling a set by numbers alone; it means checking shoulders, collar, sleeves, torso, hem and shoes in turn, and watching how they move as you stand, sit and walk. Even at the same height, the fit changes with build and with the clothes you usually wear.

Sizes and styles are limited. Even outside the guide ranges, please ask first. We take your height, usual clothing and shoe size, confirm further measurements if needed, and your butler checks what the Manor can offer.

IIThe set, layered in order

The attire is provided as a full set: wing-collar shirt, striped trousers, tie, waistcoat, morning coat, shoes and white gloves. Your butler hands you each piece in turn and checks the collar and the way the fronts overlap.

The morning coat is the daytime formal coat handed down through generations, its front hem curving away and flowing long behind. Layered with striped trousers, waistcoat and tie, it gives the standing figure a vertical line. In the Manor it is the butlers' attire, and we lend full sets to those who come to be photographed.

Layer the shirt and striped trousers, then tie and waistcoat, then the morning coat, fastening the single front button. Put on the shoes, and the white gloves last. Your butler explains quietly on the spot, and you view the whole in the mirror yourself. The Manor's Wardrobe holds the following attire.

A display of butler attire (morning coat and tailcoat), top hats and leather shoes

The set, guided piece by piece by your butler.

Once you have dressed, your butler checks the collar and the overlap of the fronts.

IIIChecking sleeves, collar and hem before the mirror

Before the mirror, your butler checks the length of the sleeves, the fit of the collar and the movement of the hem. Not only standing, but also seated in a chair or reaching for a door, we make sure the attire moves without strain.

Does the collar follow the neck? Does the waistcoat show neatly between the fronts of the coat? Do the shirt cuffs leave the hands free? The tails that fall behind are repositioned by your butler before you sit. White gloves set off the hands that handle silver and doors, and we check too that the fingertips are not left overlong.

If anything is tight or awkward, please say so on the spot. We bring another size from what the Manor holds. Rather than forcing the body to the attire, we begin the photographs only once breathing, raising the arms and stride are all unhindered.

IVIn photographs, leave space between attire and furnishings

So that long tails and leather shoes do not touch chair legs or furnishings, your butler arranges where you stand. In the leather chair of the Study, the Dining Room, at the double doors and in the gallery, stride and direction change for each photograph.

Attire photography is not a matter of photographing clothes alone; it is time to compose posture, hands and the lines of the background around the attire within a single frame. In the Dining Room, the chandelier and the black of the coat; in the Study, the leather-topped desk and white gloves; at the double doors, the tails flowing behind become the axis of the picture.

For scenes that touch the silver, porcelain, armour or hall clock, please wait for your butler's guidance. When sitting in the black leather captain's chair of the Study, arrange the tails; when resting a hand on the English 1980s leather-topped desk, check the position of the white gloves.

VPhotography outside the Manor: with a butler, by permission

Leaving the Manor in its attire is possible only with a butler in company and within a range agreed in advance. The Butler Attire Portrait is a three-hour session inside the Manor. If you also wish to go outside, please discuss destination, time, means of travel and the content of the photographs separately when booking.

Use outside the Manor is not a loan of attire to take away; it is photography with a butler in company, at an agreed destination and within an agreed time. Conditions for each location are confirmed once we have your preferred date, time and content.

We cannot accept taking attire out without permission. Outdoors, hem, shoes and white gloves soil more easily than inside, so the walking route and photograph locations are decided first. On return to the Manor, your butler checks the condition of the attire before taking it back.

VIHeight guides for men and for women

As a guide, men around 160 to 185 cm in height, women around 150 to 160 cm, and shoes 24.0 to 27.5 cm. As fit changes with build and the cut of the attire, height alone does not settle it.

The numbers are an entry point for finding what we can offer. Even where the coat fits, the combination of trousers and shoes may differ, so your butler checks whether a complete set can be assembled, with the final judgement made before the mirror on the day.

Our female butlers wear the same butler attire. You may ask either a male or a female butler about how to arrange the attire and how to stand. If you have wishes about hair or how to combine it with your own clothes, please add them when booking.

Sizes for women, too.

We take your height and usual clothing and choose a set from what the Manor holds.

VIIHiring attire includes its return

When the photographs are done, please change in the Wardrobe. Your butler receives coat, waistcoat, shirt and shoes in turn, and checks for anything left behind and the condition of the attire.

Small items such as white gloves and the tie are part of the set. Your butler retraces the order in which they were handed over, checking number and condition. Keeping your own clothes and accessories in a separate place before changing helps avoid any mix-up.

The Butler Attire Portrait is ¥68,800 (tax included) for three hours. Having discussed sizes, please apply together with the scenes you wish to capture. If you wish to go outside the Manor, the time and permission must be confirmed, so please state this separately when applying.

VIIIStanding, sitting and walking each treat the tails differently

The etiquette of the morning coat is not a matter of stiffening the back; it means keeping the long tails and the position of the furnishings in mind, and making movements small and composed. Your butler checks not only the collar and fronts seen from the front, but the lines seen from the side and behind.

When standing, do not set the feet wide apart; show the line from the front of the coat down to the striped trousers. Before you sit, your butler moves the tails clear of the chair legs. When walking in the gallery, begin with a stride that does not make the tails swing too much, and match your pace to the photographer.

White-gloved hands may rest naturally at the sides, or rest on a door, lie near the silver bell, or hold a top hat, changing position with each scene. For any movement that handles the furnishings, please always follow your butler's guidance.

IXChoose scenes where the lines of the attire can be seen

Choosing a backdrop is not a matter of including many splendid things; it means choosing a place where the black coat, the white shirt and gloves and the striped trousers can each be distinguished. Watching the colour of the attire and the distance to the furnishings, your butler suggests scenes suited to front, side and back views.

In the full-length mirror of the Wardrobe, the person arranging the attire and the butler waiting behind can be captured in one frame. At the French oak double doors, the white glove opening the door and the long tails together. In the Study, a quill and leather-bound books can set a scene of quiet duty.

When using silver in the Dining Room, your butler handles the Christofle Marly. For scenes in which the person photographed takes a piece in hand, we advise how to hold it and where to set it down. Thinking separately about backdrop pieces and those actually placed near the hands makes the composition safe to choose.

XWhen booking, tell us your sizes and the figure you wish to capture

Consulting about attire means telling your butler not only height and shoe size, but in which scene, and in what pose, you wish to be recorded. Full length, upper body, white-gloved hands, a view through the mirror: describe the photographs you hope for in words.

Please write your height, usual clothing, shoe size, preferred date and time, number of people, and whether you wish to be inside or outside the Manor. If you will bring your own shirt, shoes or accessories, please tell us in advance so they are not confused with the Manor's set.

Your butler checks the attire held in the Manor and advises how to combine it on the day. As sizes and styles are limited, rather than fixing on a single option, we find together before the mirror the combination that fits best.