Oscar Hunt is a new tailor just moved into the bottom of The Parade and its managing partner – while refusing to talk trash on men's style here – does hope his business can bring new confidence to the way Adelaide dresses.

When did the memo go ’round to all the male office workers in Adelaide that ties were optional when wearing a suit?

The look of Adelaide’s white collar or ‘professional’ class – suit pants bunched at the ankles and slung low on the hip with a thin white/blue shirt and a jacket over the top WITH NO TIE – has become ubiquitous. It’s as if office workers went through a quiet tie burning ceremony as a way to assert a man’s right to look slobbish.

Originally from England, Dan Harkin has recently moved to Adelaide with his wife to set up the South Australian branch of national tailoring business, Oscar Hunt.

Dan declines our invitation to rag on the tieless trend. He’s got more class than that.

“The thing about being critical is that it puts you in a place of judgement,” says Dan, when we ask him to weigh in on whether it’s okay to wear a business shirt with no tie.

Oscar Hunt isn’t Dan’s business alone but is part of a growing, custom-made tailoring business co-founded by Chris Edward in 2010. Before Oscar Hunt, Dan was a tailor for Adelaide-born-and-raised Patrick Johnson.

“Every time I came back to Adelaide for a trunk show, I would see the growth and change here,” says Dan.

“A lot changed over five years, I could see Adelaide growing culturally and with my wife being from here, it felt right to make the move back and start investing in the city.”

Oscar Hunt Tailors on The Parade is the perfect example of elegance in menswear.

Oscar Hunt Tailors are worth visiting for its interior styling alone

Prints by Sean Fennesy and cabinets by USM along with sculptures on beautifully restored mantles and a thick-weave rattan carpet make Oscar Hunt feel more like a home than a retail shop.

Dan explains Oscar Hunt is a place that needs to welcome a “full spectrum of men” through the door. This is partly why Dan refuses to throw tie-avoiding office workers under the bus, because these same men may become some of his early customers.

However, the main reason Dan reserves judgement is due to his sincere empathy for his clients.

“Anyone can walk in through that door,” says Dan pointing to the big timber door with the number nine on it.

“It’s up to us at Oscar Hunt to relate to each individual in the best way possible. It’s like hospitality in that way, you need to gauge how the client wants to be treated and either let them lead and get them through as quick as they want, or else start a conversation and discover where an individual’s sense of style comes from over an hour-long appointment.”

It’s all very philosophical, but how – we wonder aloud – are we going to encourage men to lift their game and show some respect to their colleagues, and to the city, if they don’t know they look lazy when they wear a shirt that’s designed to be worn with a tie – without a tie?

“Custom tailoring is pretty broad,” says Dan. “Oscar Hunt have done a great job of making menswear easy.”

Lazy people can feel right at home here then?

“Look,” says Dan, staying strong to his empathetic way, “there’s always going to be a disparity between people who care about how they look and go deep and people who don’t know it’s okay to care.

“The main thing Oscar Hunt is passionate about is finding out what looks and feels right for each person. If you hate wearing a tie – let us show you shirts that are designed not to be worn with a tie.”

Amen to that.

Oscar Hunt Tailors viewed from The Parade

Mark Twain is famous for writing (or saying, we’re not sure, we weren’t there when it happened) that naked people rarely have any influence on the world and thus clothes are, in fact, very important.

CityMag is excited by Oscar Hunt Tailors setting up on The Parade because it gives Adelaide men the opportunity to discover the benefits of a custom-made shirt, designed to not only make you look good, but feel comfortable, too.

Modernising the traditional concepts of suiting and what’s appropriate and respectful to wear to work is something CityMag believes Adelaide must take more seriously.

Good tailoring isn’t about whisky and cigars and striding around a room full of mirrors in your briefs anymore. It can be as simple as a coffee and a chat about what you do and how your wardrobe can help you do it more effectively.

“You can dress better and get on with the rest of your life,” says Dan. “It makes things easier in the long run.”