Despite his J-Lo backside, Richard McComb discovers that elegance is possible if you buy the right suit.

By Jove, I look good. The colour of the suit (French navy, rather dandy), the rear drop of the jacket (delicately concealing my J-Lo “seat”) and the glory of the leg break (accentuating my imposing 5ft 9in frame) all suggest it could have been tailor-made for me.

As it is, this is an off-the-peg number. Yours for £499.95. In a world of over-inflated, self-promotional fashion branding – not that I’m averse to it, it’s just that I can’t afford it – a few pennies short of £500 for a 100 per cent minted suit doesn’t seem overtly extravagant.

And if the price tag isn’t a strong enough reason to be drawn to this suit, there is another reassuring attraction – it is the product of exquisite English tailoring, overseen in Birmingham. Welcome to the Brummie Savile Row.

Clements & Church is gaining a growing reputation for its stylish suits and its line of luxury accessories. The company has morphed into a bona fide Birmingham-based upmarket clothing brand in just a few years. Bosses have ambitious plans – a second store has recently opened in Leamington Spa – and there are hopes to do for Birmingham what Paul Smith did for Nottingham. This is no empty boast.

All of the suits, ties, shirts, cuff links and benchmade shoes are designed in-house. Everything bar the socks, which are made in Italy to Clements & Church patterns and specifications, is sourced and made in the UK. The suits, for example, are knocked up in Norwich. The tailoring is as English as David Niven and Paul Weller, both of whom would look sartorially splendid decked out in Clements & Church.

The Birmingham shop is in Church Street, just a short stagger over the road from the Champagne bar at Hotel du Vin. Step inside and the wood-panelling and discreet fitting rooms, concealed behind padded, red leather doors, lend the place the air of gentlemanly sanctuary.

Tailor and designer Adrian Barrows is togged out in a dashing, almost sculpted three-piece suit. It is made from the style of fabric a member of the Royal family might have worn in the 1930s. An athletic young gent, who has ordered his nuptial group’s wedding clobber from Adrian, pops in later. Pointing at Adrian, he tells me: “I knew that if he could carry off that suit he’d do a great job for the wedding.” It’s all about the fabrics and the distinctive cut, which is modern and stylish but unmistakably, gloriously English. English tailoring is back in vogue. It’s all over the world,” says Adrian. He has noticed an increased demand for more formal business attire and believes the days of the tie-less, open-necked shirt are numbered in the boardroom.

“We are in a different era now and people are upping their game when it comes to clothes. Men are taking a little bit more care in the way they look. They are smartening themselves up,” says Adrian. “Guys that used to wear semi-casual are now into formal – and people are starting to wear ties again. We have launched our new tie brand and we are selling about ten times the amount we used to.”

If anything, the recession has prompted city slickers to take more care of their appearance. They may not be buying as many individual garments as they did were when the market was booming, but they are investing more cash in single items, such as suits, to make a favourable impact and stay ahead of the corporate pack.

Adrian says: “You only get one chance to make a first impression. If you are doing a £1 million deal and you are dressed in jeans I would think, ‘Why has he not made an effort? Am I not worth it?’ People are more conscious about how they look. When business is easy, people are more lax. When business is tough, you need to pull in the strings in lots of ways. Our clients tend to be directors and managers and they have said to me that redundancies are being made and they are dressing up and making sure they are not picked out from the crowd as being scruffy.”

Shop at Clements & Church and there is no danger of being labelled the office tramp. There are standard blue, black and grey suits to choose from but a streak of individuality runs through the classic designs, becoming more pronounced in the more unusual colours and fabrics, such as aubergine. I had no idea there was still a market for brown suits, but there is a wide selection.

Fashion, by its very nature, requires Adrian and his team to be continually designing and innovating. Adrian shows me a silk blanket of swatches representing tie designs for autumn 2010. A similar blanket, of silk and cashmere, features the rose floral pattern being used for a new range of luxurious scarves. A couple of days after my visit, Adrian is due to fly to Milan to a week-long international fabric show.

And when it comes to the suits, there are limitless possibilities when it comes to Clements & Church’s made-to-measure and bespoke services. Made to measure, which are put together by machine, start at £800 and a two-piece handmade bespoke is upwards of £995. In practical terms, would the casual observer notice any difference between the machine and handmade versions?

“I’d say 99.9 per cent of the population wouldn’t have a clue,” says Adrian.

Then tellingly he adds: “Once you have had a bespoke suit made you will never look back.” There is no shortage of customers willing to pay the price for the finest level of suit-making. This, after all, is Savile Row tailoring in all but name. Clements & Church regularly visit customers in London-based multi-nationals for private fittings. Adrian says: “A man drove up from Windsor the other day and ordered eight bespoke suits.”

It appears that Birmingham’s coolest men’s fashion label has stolen a march on Mayfair’s finest without compromising on standards. But cost isn’t the only issue for high-rolling clients.

“When it comes to tailoring, it is very personal,” says Adrian. “You have to have a good relationship. It’s said you fit the body as well as the mind, and I think that’s right.”