Seething shoppers of self-styled regency tailor declare he owes them 1000’s of kilos in undelivered orders
A self-styled Regency dandy is being chased by unhappy customers who claim that he owes them thousands of pounds in undelivered orders.
Seething clients in the UK, Europe and North America claim Zack Pinsent failed to supply outfits, made excuses for delays or completely ignored attempts to contact him.
A Napoleonic greatcoat, a £350 pair of pantaloons and a Regency-style Covid mask are said to be among the undelivered orders.
Tailor Mr Pinsent, whose commitment to wearing only Regency clothing has earned him nearly half-a-million Instagram followers, disputes some claims. He said they came as a ‘surprise’ and apologised to clients who felt let down.
He said they came as a ‘surprise’ and apologised to clients who felt let down.
One customer, New York-based actor Jonathan Hartman, 69, said: ‘In 2019 I gave him some expensive cloth, buttons and a £275 deposit to make a waistcoat for me, and he took everything and disappeared.’
Clients in the UK, Europe and North America claim Zack Pinsent (pictured) failed to supply outfits and completely ignored attempts to contact him
Mr Pinsent’s disgruntled clients include an American theatre producer and his husband who claim they paid an £8,000 deposit for outfits. Pictured: Gyles Brandreth pictured with period clothing tailor Zack Pinsent
Privately educated Mr Pinsent, 30, has been lauded by the National Gallery and the Parliamentary Society
Mr Hartman said: ‘To us, he’s just like what Adam Ant called himself in his No1 Eighties hit Stand and Deliver – a dandy highwayman.’
Privately educated Mr Pinsent, 30, who has been lauded by the National Gallery and the Parliamentary Society, also appeared in Channel 5‘s 2021 documentary In Jane Austen’s Footsteps, presented by Gyles Brandreth.
Mr Pinsent’s disgruntled clients include an American theatre producer and his husband who claim they paid an £8,000 deposit for outfits for a fancy-dress event in Venice.
They said: ‘Getting real responses from him was sporadic at best… and then there were endless excuses.’ Months later, they asked Pinsent to send what he had done and keep the deposit, only to receive ‘a box of rags’.
Pinsent said he has no record of a deposit and ‘would certainly not send out clothing that could be described as ‘rags’.
A customer from Cambridgeshire sent Pinsent £250 in 2018 for a greatcoat for Napoleonic War re-enactments.
He said: ‘It’s become something of a game now to wait for the latest excuse.’ Barbara Nieweg, 59, from Pennsylvania, is still waiting for a hooded cape ordered for £550 as far back as 2019 – expected to have been completed in three months.
Mr Pinsent at the ‘Napoleon’ UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on November 16, 2023
But some customers contacted by the Mail were satisfied with Mr Pinsent’s service.
In a statement, Mr Pinsent said: ‘I have never stolen money nor materials from any client.
‘If I have ever had to discontinue working with a client, they have received a refund in compliance with their contract.’ He said aggrieved customers should contact him via his website.
