Tailoring for Women

In the midst of a hectic time here in the studio; a royal wedding in Monaco, early planning for the shooting season, and gowns for the BBC Promenade concerts, I received a call to participate in the filming of a short documentary for the Japanese national broadcasters NHK.  They wanted to know more about the tailoring tradition and Savile Row from a woman’s perspective.

They were very much aware of how the demand for tailored clothing is changing among women as their professional lives become increasingly more public, and wanted to know how this was being met by the trade.

As always with filming, what is intended as a few minutes in front of a camera turns into a full day’s work, but it is always good to explain the process of bespoke to those who are interested.

A huge thanks goes out to all my friends and colleagues on the Row who helped out.

The documentary will go out as part of the El Mundo programme on NHK BS1 on the 16th May at 11 pm JST, and I hope that some of my friends in Japan will still be awake to see it!  And when I shortly receive my copy it will be uploaded here on the site, so please watch this space.

P.S.  As a footnote, I bumped into another film crew yesterday in my favourite haberdashers, MacCulloch & Wallace.  The BBC crew were filming the latest episode of the ‘Apprentice’ and one of the participants had been instructed to source 10 metres of , well you’ll see, while she stumbled through an attempt to negotiate the price.   Goodness knows why, but from the look of the cloth I think she may be planning some mid-series nuptials!

What a superb opportunity.  The chance to be interviewed by Jenni Murray alongside Lou Taylor, Professor of Dress and Textile History (University of Brighton).

Although I have spoken on both MidWeek and Start the Week in the past, Woman’s Hour is such an iconic programme it was my dream that one day I would be given this opportunity.  Thanks must go to Jaeger too who first put the proposal forward to the BBC.

It really is a fascinating, almost ‘other world-y’ type of experience.  All very efficiently executed by the production staff who had to co-ordinate our own contribution with that of the other speakers, and all within their strict time allocation.

In preparation for the interview we discussed a wide range of possibilities.  In reality, however, it was something of a task to condense the history of tailoring, and at the same time include the crucial intricacies of the ‘shoulder to hip’ profile of a woman’s figure, into the confines of a 10 minute slot.  Jenni Murray was extremely deft in co-ordinating our input.

Unfortunately it may be the case that some of you outside of the UK can’t listen to the extract because of licensing restrictions.  I hope not.

P.S.  it was quite nice to see one of my jackets on the BBC Website too!