Savile Row Tailoring
Savile Row Tailoring
Savile Row, in the heart of London’s West End is famous for bespoke tailoring. For over a hundred and fifty years it has been the home of the finest tailoring and it has built an international reputation as the benchmark for well-made suits.
A brief history of Savile Row
Savile Row, commonly misspelt Saville Row, was built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the development of the Burlington Estate, and is named after Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington.
During the 19th century fashion and stylish dressing became a preoccupation of the gentry, and Beau Brummell epitomised the well-dressed man about town. He patronised the tailors on the Burlington Estate and by 1803 some had moved to premises in Savile Row.
In 1846, Henry Poole who is credited as being the ‘Founder of Savile Row’, opened his late father’s tailoring premises at № 32 Savile Row.
For over a hundred years very little changed until Tommy Nutter opened his place in 1969. The choice of fabric and cut offered at Nutters of Savile Row dramatically changed the traditional style and approach of the other tailoring establishments.
Although this modernisation has continued into the 21st Century, many of the existing companies are still an oasis of old-fashioned craft and personal service.
Sadly, with increasing rents the number of tailors on the Row had fallen to just 19 by 2006. Concern grew that an increase in commercial development in the area would price the tailors – many of whom manufacture their suits on the premises – out of the local property market altogether.
Savile Row however continues to be a mecca for well-dressed men the world over who want the very best of personal tailoring.
Savile Row has its own style which can be identified by a number of features: a soft but straight shoulder line, a high front-buttoning position, a curved waist and a high and prominent sleeve crown. These are some of the hallmarks that make the quintessential English suit.
It takes years of training and dedication to become a Savile Row tailor, cutter or finisher, and competition is fierce. A tailor can expect to work 15 years before that experience is recognised. The result is a standard of tailoring the match of any in the world.
The birthplace of the tuxedo
The “golden mile of men’s tailoring” is actually just over 150 yards long. Starting in the early 19th century, it was the unofficial couturier of the British Empire, the place where England’s military leaders, equestrians, barristers and aristocrats bought ceremonial finery for parades, hunts, dinners and coronations.
Both the tuxedo and the bowler hat were invented here, and when the suit emerged as the uniform of capitalism, the street set the gold standard for craft and durability. Its history and reputation are stellar enough that the name has found its way into at least one language. The Japanese word for “business suit” is sebiro. (Say it out loud.)
Suits made here don’t simply fit in ways that feel uncanny. They are intended to perform the sartorial version of plastic surgery, fixing imperfections like pigeon chests, splayed feet, uneven arms, humpbacks and more. It’s a goal that can’t be achieved through math alone. A fitting on Savile Row is a handsy tango that lasts anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, and there are three fittings in all. As tailors measure, they take notes, mental or otherwise, on physical quirks that no tape could capture.
The ability to meld numbers and observations is what is known in the trade as “Rock of Eye.”
Extract from David Segal’s New York Times article To Survive the Pandemic, Savile Row Cuts a Bespoke Strategy.