I walk past a small strip mall with a Mexican restaurant, chiropractor, barbershop and tailor. I do know how to sew and have, in fact, made several masks lately. However, there is a difference between sewing and tailoring. Tailoring is a very precise craft. It requires immense concentration, very steady hands and math skills. Many people sew, but just a few people are tailors. The cut of a well-tailored suit is truly extraordinary. I am a Project Runway fan, and there have been some episodes where tailoring was required. Most of the participants were not up to the task. It is difficult. That is why I have so much admiration for those that master the craft. To learn more about tailoring, read on.
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs or alters clothing professionally — especially suits and men's clothing.
Although the term dates to the 13th century, tailo took on its modern sense in the late 18th century, and now properly refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers and similar garments, commonly of wool, linen or silk.
The term so used thus refers to a set of specific hand and machine sewing and pressing techniques that are unique to the construction of traditional jackets. Small and medium-size retail tailors often provide their services internationally, with individual tailors and cutters travelling to various cities, allowing the customers to be met locally, measured on one trip, fitted on another and thereafter supplied with (a) garment(s) without the inconvenience of themselves travelling overseas. Even small tailoring businesses without an international following will sometimes travel from one city to another within their home country, and quite a number will visit customers at the customers' places of work or homes.
Traditional tailoring is called "bespoke tailoring" in the United Kingdom, where the heart of the trade is London's Savile Row tailoring, and "custom tailoring" in the United States and Hong Kong. This is unlike made to measure which starts by using pre-existing patterns within which relatively few individual style preferences can be satisfied. A true bespoke garment or suit is completely original and unique to each customer. However, the term “bespoke” is widely used by makers of garments not within the strict original definition of the term, and the legal battle to prevent what was once regarded as a misuse of the description has now been lost.
Famous fictional tailors include the tailor in “The Tailor of Gloucester,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Valiant Little Tailor.” A more recent example is John le Carré’s “The Tailor of Panama.”
As the tailoring trade has evolved, so too have the methods of tailoring. There are many distinctive business models which modern tailors may practice. While some may practice many, there are others who will practice only one or two. Moreover, many tailoring houses — particularly in parts of Western Europe, including the UK — have distinctive individual styles for which they are well known by the better informed users of tailoring services.
Local tailoring
Local tailoring is as the name implies. Typically, the tailor is met locally, and the garment produced locally. This method enables the tailor to take professional measurements, assess posture and body shape to make unique modifications to the garment. Local tailors will typically have a showroom or shopfront allowing clients to choose fabrics from samples or return the garment easily, should it require further modification. This is the most traditional form of tailoring. Hong Kong tailors and London are the most famous for high-quality bespoke tailoring. It typically takes some two or three fittings and about 50 to 70 working hours to handmake one suit. However, in England — as in Italy and France — the best of bespoke suits may involve a wait of several weeks from first fitting to final supply, whereas the process in the Far East is often very much faster.
Distance tailoring
Distance tailoring involves ordering a garment from an out-of-town tailor enabling cheaper labor to be used. In practice this can now be done on a global scale via e-commerce websites. Unlike local tailoring, customers must take their own measurements, fabric selection must be made from a photo and — if further alterations are required — the garment must be shipped. Today, the most common platform for distance tailoring is via online tailors.
Online tailors sometimes offer to pay for needed alterations at a local tailor. Another new option is the concept where a free suit mock-up is made to the provided measurements and shipped to the customer first. The suit mock-up can be tried on and worn to see where any adjustments are wanted. The final suit is then tailored to the new specifications provided by the suit mock-up fitting.
Traveling tailors
Unlike tailors who do distance tailoring, traveling tailors provide a more personal service to their customers and give the customers an opportunity to see the fabric samples and meet the tailor in person. Traveling tailors travel between cities and stay in a local luxury hotel for a short period of time to meet and provide the same tailoring services they would provide in their local store. In the hotel, the customer will be able to select the fabric from samples, and the tailor will take the measurements himself. The order then will be shipped to the customer within 3–4 weeks. Unlike local tailoring, if further alterations are required the garment must be shipped. Today, most traveling tailors are from Hong Kong, traveling to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Japan.
Economics
There are many gradations within the tailoring industry. The prices charged for genuine bespoke tailoring by Savile Row tailors — like those charged by leading haute couturiers in Paris — are well beyond the budget of most ordinary working people, even those from rich countries. Fortunately, mass-produced, factory-made, “tailored” clothing, —while of inferior quality to such artisanal masterpieces — is invariably priced to be within the budget of many more modest wearers.
Related terms
- A tailor-made is a man's suit consisting of a (usually) woolen or tweed coat and pants; the name arose during the Edwardian period.
- As an adjective, tailor-made — from the second half of the 20th century usually simplified to tailored — refers to clothing made by or in the style of clothes made by a tailor, characterized by simplicity of cut and trim and fine (often hand) finishing; as a women's clothing style tailored as opposed to dressmaker.
- Rodeo tailor is a term for a creator of the flamboyant costumes typical of country and western musicians, characterized by extensive hand embroidery, an abundance of rhinestones and cowboy details such as pearl snaps and arrowhead pockets.
- In some contexts, the verb “to tailor” means to adjust, and tailoring means adjusting.
Sewing professional is the most general term for those who make their living by sewing, teaching, writing about sewing or retailing sewing supplies. They may work out of their home, a studio or retail shop, and may work part-time or full-time. They may be any or all or the following sub-specialties:
- A custom clothier makes custom garments one at a time, to order, to meet an individual customer's needs and preferences.
- A custom dressmaker specializes in women's custom apparel, including day dresses, suits, evening or bridal wear, sportswear or lingerie.
- A tailor makes custom menswear-style jackets and trousers.
- A cutter cuts out, from lengths of cloth, the panels that make up a suit. In bespoke tailoring, the cutter may also measure the client, advise them on style choices and commission craftsmen to sew the suit.
- An alterations specialist or alterationist adjusts the fit of completed garments — usually ready-to-wear — or restyles them. Note that while all tailors can do alterations, not all alterationists can do tailoring.
- A designer conceives combinations of line, proportion, color and texture for intended garments. He or she may or may not have sewing or patternmaking skills and may only sketch or conceptualize garments. He or she work with people who know how to actually construct the garment.
- A patternmaker flat drafts the shapes and sizes of the numerous pieces of a garment by hand, using paper and measuring tools, or by computer using AutoCAD based software or by draping muslin onto a dress form. The resulting pattern pieces must comprise the intended design of the garment, and they must fit the intended wearer.
- A wardrobe consultant, fashion advisor or stylist recommends styles and colors that are flattering to a client.
- A seamstress is someone who sews seams or a machine operator in a factory who may not have the skills to make garments “from scratch” or to fit them onto a real body. This term is not a synonym for dressmaker. Seamstress is also an unkind and archaic euphemism for prostitute. Despite such unfortunate double meanings, a good seamstress can perform invaluable work within a hand-tailoring business.
According to Nick Carvell’s and Bronwyn McCabe’s Aug. 3, 2020 article “Savile Row Tailors: the GQ Guide,” women may have Milan and Paris but London is undeniably menswear’s global capital and the most important street in this world is Savile Row, a modest Mayfair row of the men’s tailors that quite simply make the best bespoke and made-to-measure suits in the world — so much so that today, Japanese for suit is "sabiro" (say it out loud).
Of course, what the street is best known for is being the undeniable home of hand-crafted British bespoke — so called because when customers used to choose their cloth it was said to "be spoken for." But over the past two decades, an influx of international designer labels have opened up the street's offering to also include ready-to-wear and made-to-measure suiting. Basically, it’s the go-to hub for any man who’s serious about formal dressing.
Gieves & Hawkes
With a rich history going back until 1771, Gieves & Hawkes officially opened in 1974, as the perfect marrying of tailors Hawkes and Gieves. At Number 1, it occupies the grand white building on the corner of Savile Row, so you can’t (and shouldn’t) miss it. Gieves & Hawkes’ tailoring history involves crafting military uniforms, and this is reflected in their penchant for high arm holes and roped shoulders, which of course — by virtue of bespoke tailoring — can be opted out of.
Kilgour
Kilgour made a name for itself by providing many of the most recognizable suits on screen: notably, Fred Astaire’s tailcoat in Top Hat (1935) and dressing Daniel Craig in Layer Cake (2004). To distinguish it from the many other tailors sitting side by side, Kilgour resembles a high-fashion, designer store far more than a quintessential English men’s outfitters: sleek, minimalist, little on display. Like most others on the street, they offer bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear, with their signature style involving a neat shoulder and shaping through the torso for extension.
Hardy Amies
Sir Edwin Hardy Amies was Queen Elizabeth II’s dressmaker, so they know a thing or two about providing the best of British tailoring. The brand boasts a colorful and fast-paced history; beginning in womenswear, becoming one of the first tailors in Europe to sell ready-to-wear, and eventually declaring bankruptcy shortly after the founder’s resignation and death. Having been bought up by Fung Capital in 2009, Hardy Amies returns, and with it your opportunity to call their famous Heddon and Brinsley jackets your own.
Alexander McQueen
It seems difficult to think of a better suited — excuse the pun — occupant for Number 9 than one of the best British designers to date: Alexander McQueen on Savile Row was opened posthumously, three years after McQueen’s death. They only offer either bespoke tailoring or ready-to-wear, but McQueen’s signature “pagoda shoulder” – sloping upwards towards the seam – is all you really need, with their suits typically contemporary in style and flatteringly slim. Famous wearers: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Dege & Skinner
Dege & Skinner embodies Savile Row, from aesthetic allure to its history, being one of only two family-run businesses left on the street. The story of its origins is a sweet one — schoolboys Arthur Dege and William Skinner meeting at Merchant Taylor’s School in 1880 — specializing in military tailoring to start with, like other stores on the Row. Dege & Skinner offer bespoke services and ready-to-wear suits, but also tailor-made shirts to accompany these — which they were the first to introduce to the Row.
Huntsman was founded in 1809, but only moved to its position at Number 11 a century later in 1919, just in time for its “golden age,” as it were. The Roaring Twenties saw the brand’s upper-class reputation establish itself, as clientele such as The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Kent and Lord Charles Cavendish all coveted a Huntsman suit. Offering bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear, the tailor’s classic silhouette is distinct: rigid shoulder, high armhole, defined waist and a skirt flaring out from beneath that solo, Huntsman button.
Scabal
Scabal boasts a 75-year history and a place on Savile Row since 1971, but interestingly, they had a great deal to do with the street before this official move in date, in making and delivering the fabrics used by the tailors in residence. Scabal was the first to offer “bunches” here — those books of fabrics that you flip through to decide — and as cloth-makers and weavers by trade, it makes sense that the experts in fabrics expanded into tailoring themselves. It has allowed them to establish a firm place on the prestigious Row in offering bespoke, made-to-measure, and ready-to-wear — even dressing Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
Norton & Sons
Norton & Sons were founded in 1821, originally on The Strand, but moving to their permanent fixture of Number 16 by the 1860s. Despite being a relatively small store compared to others — with only seven tailors, two cutters employed at a time and producing around 300 bespoke suits annually — this has far from affected their success, having dressed international royalty, three U.S. Presidents and Winston Churchill himself. Their signature silhouette is simple and classic — a neatly cut shoulder paired with a shaped waist — and a two-piece suit starts at £4,200.
Welsh & Jeffries
Welsh & Jefferies, like so many of the other tailors on the sartorial street, began its career by making military wear — possibly the best out there, as the official dressmakers of the Prince of Wales — and uniforms for Eton College. Since 2012 however, it has been spearheaded by head cutter James Cottrell and director Yingmei Quan: the first Chinese female master cutter on the Row, and winner of the Golden Shears Award in 2011. Now, it has drifted from its soldiery roots somewhat and is becoming renowned for its growing female client base.
Davies & Son
Davies & Son claims to have the longest history of any independent tailor on Savile Row, dating back to 1803 and with the clientele list to match: kings, princes, knights, presidents — you name it. It is one of the three bespoke-only tailors on the Row, so if this is what you’re after, Davies & Son do it best. With only four cutters on the team, they offer an intimate, bespoke experience.
Ozwald Boateng
Ozwald Boateng is renowned in the tailoring world for his bold reinterpretation of traditional British suit making, and his brand — moving to Savile Row for the first time in 2002, but boasting a much longer history than that — is built upon this mantra. He has since been awarded an OBE or Order of the British Empire, and has previously collaborated with Virgin Atlantic, Coutts and took on the role of creative director of menswear at Givenchy for a while. At the Savile Row flagship store, you can choose from bespoke or made-to-measure suits.
Richard James
A plethora of young tailors infiltrated the Savile Row scene in the early 90s, and Richard James is no exception, setting up shop in 1992 and introducing contemporary, bespoke tailoring with slimming cuts and bolder fabrics. In our interview with Richard James, he reveals the animosity he was met with when they first opened — partially for keeping the shop open on weekends — but this has changed drastically now, with Richard James firmly established in the world of tailoring. They offer bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear, with the house silhouette involving a longer jacket with a narrow waist and high armholes.
Cad & The Dandy
Cad & The Dandy is one of the youngest additions to the prestigious home of British tailoring, opened on Savile Row in 2013, having only been founded for five years by two bankers who had recently been made redundant in the recession. Neither had experience in tailoring, but they were certainly veteran suit-wearers, and this prompted them to create the success story that is Cad & The Dandy, now with three stores across the capital, as well as abroad. What they can give you — uniquely on Savile Row — is an affordable bespoke service, by offering both traditional, in-house tailored suits, as well as “semi-bespoke:” a half hand-stitched, half machine-made alternative, starting at only £800 and made in India.
Gormley & Gamble
On the first floor of Number 13, you’ll find Savile Row’s first women’s only tailors on the street, founded by the entrepreneurial spirit that is Phoebe Gormley in 2015. With continued experience as an intern on the Row from the age of 15, Gormley’s “G&G” finally provides made to last garments for the other half of the population, using only the finest fabrics from the UK and Italy. Cad & the Dandy agreed to shop share with Gormley, and her business continues to thrive as a made-to-measure service for timeless suiting and dresses.
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