Tailoring for Women

Someone recently said to me, ” I’m sure you can see now that men’s and women’s tailoring will never sit side by side.”   Granted, this was not one of the most  forward-thinking of the Savile Row fraternity. (I am not sure that Armani would agree with him either!)  It seems ironic that these days, when the talk is of ‘breaking glass ceilings’, there should be such a lack of joined-up thinking.  I have to confess that this thought was in part stimulated by a book I was given by a friend recently; The Spitfire Women of World War II (Giles Whittell)

The women of the Air Transport Auxiliary may not have taken part in the Battle of Britain but, without their flying skills and courage in delivering the aircraft to the RAF bases for their male counterparts, the battle would never have got off the ground; they flew Lancasters and Wellingtons too.  There are believed to be about 15 of the women pilots left, all in their eighties and nineties.

To fulfil their posts, they needed to be in uniform and as you might imagine, all the tailors were men.

The book relates a charming account from one of the women pilots about a trip to a local tailor in order to be measured up, and the consternation caused amongst the erstwhile cutters when a group of them first walked into the shop.  “Whoever heard of such a thing!”.

Apparently the basic measures were accomplished without incident, but when it came to the bust measurement the approach of the tailor seemed somewhat unusual.  “He would take a few quick steps, throw the tape measure round the back, catch it in mid-air and, turning his head away as if he couldn’t bear to look, wait until the two ends met before giving a fleeting glance to the number of inches it recorded.”  The process was completed by the cutter whispering “the awful secret” in the “hairy ear” of his amanuensis.  What a performance!

The end result was that their long awaited uniforms arrived with trouser seats four inches lower than they should have been.

Thank goodness times have changed…or have they!?

Photo: thanks to HarperPerennial, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail

I had something of a surprise last week.  An unexpected visit to my Spitalfields studio  from one of the members of the Japanese Imperial Household.  It also gave me the chance to show the latest treasures in stock.  A selection of superb silk and wool tweeds prepared specially for me by Nicolas Guibauld at Holland & Sherry.

Silk is a natural protein fibre spun by the silkworm as it makes its cocoon…which is perhaps why moths aren’t particularly interested in it!  In cross section, the fibres have a triangular shape with rounded corners which allow light to reflect at different angles, giving the fabric a natural lustre.  Its smoothness and softness of texture belies the fact that it is one of the strongest natural fibres, and it also takes dye extremely well.  I believe also that violinists wrap their instruments in silk cloths in order to equalise in part any changes in humidity.

Holland & Sherry’s Silk Essence range is woven in England with Super 100′s wool.  When silk is included in the weave the natural qualities of the wool are enhanced immeasurably giving the fabric a unique drape and luxurious feel.  What is more, when silk is woven into patterns – dogtooth, herringbone, birdseye or glenchecks – it becomes almost irridescent.

They also stock a range of cashique fabrics; a very special treat indeed.  It’s made from a blend of the highest quality mulberry silk with cashmere and super-fine wool.  Definitely for the connoisseur.

It is not only the properties of the fabric itself however that lend to it its mystique.  It first began to appear in the West almost 2000 years ago and the trade routes that were established for the transport of silk and other commodities from China, the Silk Road, gave rise to a rich reservoir of stories and legends.

Everyone seems to have a ‘silk’ story.  What is yours?

I think that you may have gathered from previous posts that I have an interest in things Japanese.  What a surprise to find that in September, in Spitalfields Market (East London) opposite my studio, there will be a daylong event devoted to both the traditional and more contemporary aspects of Japan in the form of a ‘matsuri‘; the Japanese word for festival.  Click here to see just how spectacular it was.

I made my first visit to Japan last year and at the same time had my first experience of ‘o-matsuri’ in an area of Tokyo called Azabu Juban.  A really vibrant street festival with food, dancing, and everyone dressed in their summer yukatas.  The perfect way to blow away the jet lag.  I remember the air being heavy with the summer heat and eating flavoured crushed ice (kakigoori) to keep cool, and munching on octopus balls and grilled fish with a sip or two of sake.

It looks as if this could be a date for your diary.  Check out the website. Japan Matsuri

I can’t wait for my next trip.

Image: thanks to Shimei Okumura

Were you aware that the Asian elephant was under threat? Because of the loss of its natural habitat, a result of expanding human populations, the number of wild Asian elephants is plummeting. The area they once inhabited stretched from the far corners of China, through Thailand, Indonesia, India and across Syria; some 3.5 million square miles and about the size of Canada. It has now shrunk to some 170,000 square miles – less than the size of Spain. I learned this at a special celebrity  launch reception for the charity Elephant Family held by one of my clients, Wendy Senturier, earlier this week.

What a special event it was; approximately 200 guests including celebrities such as Joanna Lumley and the Duchess of York. (It was covered by the London Evening Standard a few days later), The outcome of this initiative should be seen some time next year around the streets of London. The star auction items were a herd of 200  2-metre high, hand-made elephants which will be decorated, and  placed at a number of locations around the capital. The target is £1 million in order to secure land in Asia to create an elephant sanctuary, and the event made a significant contribution to this.

I am fortunate to have such a list of intriguing clients, and Wendy particularly so. She runs a highly regarded networking service for the international community with offices in London, Geneva, Hong Kong and Singapore. For this event, I created this sleeveless dress with a cutaway neckline from a silk chiffon print by Roberto Cavalli, a favourite designer of Wendy’s. This print was especially complex because of the juxtaposition of pearls, lace, animal print and floral motifs. With a brief of this nature it can take some time to understand the fabric thoroughly and all its design possibilities. In fact I hung the the whole length high up along a wall in my studio and lived with it for some time before I made the first cut. It’s always an interesting challenge to work within the constraints of a fixed length of print fabric; technically tricky too, when trying to match printed patterns on such a fragile silk weave.

Keep your eyes peeled next year around May to July when the results of this fundraiser will be seen around the streets of London. You can catch a flavour from a similar event that took place in Amsterdam earlier this year at http://www.elephantparade.com/. We wish the charity every success. As we know…an elephant never forgets.

Photo: thanks to Elephant Family

I attended a concert at London’s Wigmore Hall the other night.  It’s considered to be one of the world’s foremost venues for high quality performances of chamber music and this night was no different.  The Academy of Ancient Music’s director, Richard Eggar, was giving a harpsichord recital; “the ultimate instrument that goes ‘ping’” we were told.  This year heralds the anniversaries of Purcell, Handel and Haydn, and the programme was devoted to these three composers.  One of the pieces that Richard performed got me thinking.  It was the Chaconne and 62 variations by Handel (for those in the know, HWV 228!).  How many different variations are there on a jacket? … So I started counting.

Barrister * Blazer * Boating * Bolero * Brigandine * Cagoule * Carmagnole * Cassock * Chef’s * Chesterfield * Clerical * Cloak * Coatee * Collarless * Crombie * Dinner * Donkey * Doublet * Dress * Duffle * Duster * Eisenhower * Eton * Flak * Fly front * Frock * Greatcoat * Guards * Hacking * Highland * House * Hunt * Inverness * Jerkin * Justacorp * Lab * Lounge * Macintosh * Mess * Monkey * Morning * Nehru * Newmarket * Norfolk * Opera * Overcoat * Pea coat * Pilot * Polo * Prince Albert * Pyjama * Raglan * Redingote * Reefer * Riding * Safari * Shooting * Smoking * Spencer * Sport * Straitjacket * Suffolk * Top * Trench * Tunic * Ulster * Zouave

I stopped counting after 62.

There are a number of reasons for having so many different styles, and not all to do with fashion.  The Norfolk jacket for example, was designed with a high collar to keep the weather out, and with deep accessible pockets in which to keep shooting cartridges.  Shorter jackets such as the hacking jacket were intended for horse riding, and traditionally had pockets cut at an angle with thick external flaps to prevent anything from dropping out.

Can any of you add to the list?

We were sifting through the archives of press cuttings and images the other day.  I am preparing to speak at a seminar for the V&A later this year and I was searching for pictures of some of the ‘old guard’ in Savile Row.  It is extraordinary how much I have forgotten over the last two decades of working in London.

And what an interesting journey, going right back to the beginning when I started with a clientele made up almost exclusively of performers.  I set out very quickly to learn the techniques of making a tail coat and suddenly found myself kitting out the violinist Gil Shaham, and the conductors Barry Wordsworth and Tamas Vasary.  I later made a much more feminine version for the singer Hilary Summers.  You can see Hilary here with the Michael Nyman Band in another outfit we made for her.

More recently came the coverage for the Commonwealth and Olympic shooting teams, and the British Embassy magazine in Japan.

Dealing with press exposure is an illuminating process.  A number of my clients come from the corporate communications and PR sector, and I have learned a great deal from them about the expertise that lies behind an effective press campaign.  It is one thing to get a novelty item in the Evening Standard about dressing a teddy bear, quite another to make a consistent impact in the fashion pages!

We have written about the credit crunch in other posts, however this particular project we undertook recently with Malcolm Plews of the tailoring house Welsh and Jefferies was an opportunity for clothes to ‘bite back’. And it involved a fashion student; Katie Robinson.

From time to time we try to make space to work with up and coming students in the clothing industry. Their ideas can be really refreshing and it gives us the opportunity to keeping in touch with current trends.

Katie’s particular specialisation is textile design and this collection, ‘Boom and Bust’, is inspired by the traumas of the City over the last few months.

The print designs were created on a range of different fabrics and used a number of iconic motifs such as the gold chip on a credit card, and embossed coinage.

After the fabric came the construction; I worked on the women’s business suit, Malcolm the men’s, and the one and only Delroy Mitchell produced the shirts.  I wonder if it is the first time a graduation show has had such a back stage representation from Savile Row?

Here is the collection, beautifully captured by the photographer Vicoria Brocklebank.

If all goes well, the collection will be selected for an independent London show at the East Winter Garden in Canary Warf on the 12th of June.

Good luck Katie!

Last week saw more coverage about ‘Austerity Britain’.  In particular,  how people were looking to revitalise long forgotten skills.  BBC TV’s Newsnight had people talking about reinvigorating the clothes in their wardrobes,  the Independent issued a supplement in their New Good Life series (Making and Mending – Sewing, knitting and darning), and the Financial Times ran a page about the rise in the sales of sewing machines and haberdashery.

I visited a number of my favourite suppliers here in London and they all confirmed how there had been an upsurge in interest,  although as Martyn Frith of the Button Queen commented,  “this was their third recession over 50 years, so it was not entirely unexpected”.

• The Button Queen: Established for over 50 years with a collection of some 2 million buttons, including rare antiques.  They will source special requirements.
• MacCulloch & Wallis: Great selection of millinery items in addition to an extensive selection of fabrics and trimmings,  all within a listed building in Mayfair.
• Kenton Trimmers:  Family business that caters specifically for the bespoke tailor.
• V V  Rouleaux: Out of the ordinary, theatrical trimmings and decorations.

A little while ago we ran a post about the fashion industry and how it had spawned a rash of cheap clothing much of which ended up in our land fill sites after only a couple of outings.  It is a welcome move forward that people are now looking to remodel and recycle.  Unfortunately,  because of the structuring of mass-produced garments this is not always as straightforward as it seems.  With some new designs, compromises are made in the make, and in the use of cloth and trimmings – and seams have a tendency to autodestruct at the slightest hint of a repair kit!

Nonetheless, I am all for ‘making do and mending’.  In fact it has given me great pleasure recently to work with one of my clients, a medical consultant, who wanted to have a hand in sharpening up her tailored wardrobe, and adapting it more to her own changing tastes and body shape. Ultimately she would like to learn more about basic tailoring, extending her creative skills set as well as the life of her garments, and at the same time adding some personal touches to her wardrobe.

I think it was the blues singer Corey Harris who said,  “in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been”.  Last week I spent some time re-visiting an old friend with a view to making a new one.

This knee length dress in wool crepe was commissioned last year.  It came from the first client via our TfW blog who wanted a simple elegant piece to make an impact during a special viewing at Christies; the international auctioneers of fine art.

As an inspiration she suggested looking at the French designer André Courrèges,  famous for producing immaculately tailored sporting clothes in the mid 60′s.  He became known as the socialites’ couturier, and his clients included the Begum Aga Khan, Princess Lee Radziwill, and the Duchess of Windsor.  His signature silhouette for a dress was an “A” shape that bypassed and concealed the waist.

This rich red dress is made from double wool crepe selected at Joel & Sons. The fabric has a deep texture that can be indented by topstitching, a technique similar to quilting that was favoured by Courrèges.

Wool crepe has a characteristic crinkled granular appearance produced both by the special type of yarn used, and the distinctive way in which it is woven.  It also dyes well in any range of deep jewel or soft pastel colours, with the texture of the fabric enhancing its hue.

This cloth has many attractive properties for a tailor or couturier.  From a design and construction perspective the relaxed weave allows a slight “give” in all directions, making it possible to shape and mold the cloth into sculptural lines that follow the contours of the body.  Newly developed stretch linings are compatable with an outer crepe layer to accommodate any movement.

For the wearer it creates a garment that is comforatable all year round.  It will also be durable, perfect for travel, easy to care for, and equally suitable for boardroom, day or evening wear.

There is a re-emerging trend for dresses as they seem to offer the ideal solution as an alternative to the more conventional skirt and jacket combination.  They are easy to accesorize and to wear with other separates.

Returning to our crimson friend above, in a short while it will return to the closet with a new companion to share the rail.

I wonder how many of you were able to view the moving testament by Jenni Murray on the Newsnight programme recently on BBC Television.  This highly regarded presenter of the long running Woman’s Hour Programme (BBC Radio) spoke with great openness and pragmatism about the moment she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It made me think about some of my past clients who had contracted the same disease and how they came to terms with the physical changes that they were faced with.  The medical profession tells us that surgical techniques and recovery processes have changed radically over the years and the procedures are not perhaps quite as brutalising as they were once considered.  The lingerie industry has given us products that are sufficiently advanced to help disguise any changes in body shape,  however there remains still the psychological trauma linked to a perceived loss of one’s femininity.

It made me realise that as a tailor one is privy to some extremely personal moments in a client’s life,  and the role one can play professionally  in supporting the journey back to full confidence is certainly a privileged position to be invited to fulfil.

I was advised by one of my clients, a medical specialist, that should you need any information about this subject this is by far the most helpful website for research,  run by Macmillan; CancerBackup