Pays · Europe

United Kingdom

The country that invented the modern suit, and still cuts as though the weather might turn.

British tailoring means structure. A traditional English jacket is built around a canvas chest and a defined shoulder, in cloth heavy enough to hold its shape, and it is designed to make the wearer look upright and substantial. Savile Row in London is its centre; Northampton, ninety minutes north, is the centre of English shoemaking.

The Royal Arcade, Old Bond Street — The Royal Arcade (completed in 1880), Old Bond Street W1, Mayfair, London

Structure as a national habit

The English coat is built. Between the outer cloth and the lining sits a canvas of horsehair and wool, shaped by hand with rows of pad stitching so that it holds a curve over the chest without being pressed into one. The shoulder is defined, often with a modest pad, and the sleeve head is frequently roped, set slightly proud of the shoulder line. The waist is suppressed, the skirt of the jacket is longer than an Italian equivalent, and the whole thing is cut to make a man look tall, upright and rather formal.

This is not decoration. It descends from military and riding dress, in cloth designed for a cold, wet island, for a customer who expected a coat to last decades and to be recut when his shape changed. Weight was a virtue: a 13- or 14-ounce cloth hangs better, resists creasing and takes a press.

Savile Row

A short street in Mayfair, occupied by tailors since the early nineteenth century, and the origin of the word bespoke in its clothing sense: cloth “spoken for” by a customer. The Row's houses are not interchangeable: Anderson & Sheppard cuts a soft, draped coat descended from Frederick Scholte; Huntsman cuts a lean, single-buttoned one with military bearing; Henry Poole, the oldest firm still on the street, sits between them.

The Row has spent forty years under commercial pressure (Mayfair rents against a business that takes fifty or more hours of skilled labour per coat), and several houses now sell ready-to-wear and made-to-measure alongside bespoke. The trade has also aged: apprenticeships thinned in the 1980s and 1990s, and the shortage of trained coatmakers is the constraint most cited by the houses themselves.

Cloth and shoes

Britain still weaves. The West of England (Fox Brothers in Somerset above all) is the traditional home of flannel and heavier worsteds; Yorkshire, around Huddersfield, is the centre of fine worsted suiting; Scotland produces tweed, including the protected Harris Tweed, woven by hand in the Outer Hebrides under statute.

Northampton has made shoes since the seventeenth century and remains the centre of English Goodyear-welted footwear: Edward Green, Crockett & Jones, Church's, Tricker's and others within a few miles. London holds the bespoke shoemakers (John Lobb and George Cleverley among them) in the same square mile as the tailors.

What the label does and does not promise

“Savile Row” is a street, not a certification. A shop on it may cut on the premises, or may take orders for garments made elsewhere. The Savile Row Bespoke Association sets standards for its own members, including a minimum proportion of hand labour and a pattern cut individually for each customer, but membership is voluntary and not every house on the street belongs.

Similarly, “English-made shoes” covers everything from fully hand-welted bespoke to Goodyear-welted factory production of several thousand pairs a week. Both are genuinely made in England and the difference between them is a factor of ten in price.

En un coup d'œil

Principal centres

London (Savile Row), Northampton (shoes), Huddersfield and the West of England (cloth)

Characteristic construction

Full canvas chest, defined shoulder, often a roped sleeve head

Trade body

Savile Row Bespoke AssociationVoluntary; sets minimum hand-work standards for members.

Tailleurs sur mesure dans United Kingdom

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An illustration of the house's recorded cut: natural shoulder, full canvas chest, drape: soft, full chest, long skirt. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Anderson & Sheppard

Anderson & Sheppard, the softest Savile Row tailor, cuts jackets with extra cloth across the chest so they hang softly and move with you.

An illustration of the house's recorded cut: roped shoulder, full canvas chest, lean, high-waisted, single button. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Huntsman

Huntsman, Savile Row's sharpest tailor, makes lean jackets with strong shoulders, a high nipped waist and usually one button, rooted in riding clothes.

An illustration of the house's recorded cut: soft shoulder, full canvas chest, balanced english; moderate shoulder, natural waist. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Henry Poole & Co

Henry Poole & Co is Savile Row's oldest tailor and made the Prince of Wales's 1865 evening jacket that led to the dinner jacket and tuxedo.

An illustration of the house's recorded cut: roped shoulder, full canvas chest, structured english. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Gieves & Hawkes

Gieves & Hawkes, at 1 Savile Row, is a tailor born from two old military firms, known for uniforms, royal warrants and firmly built English jackets.

An illustration of the house's recorded cut: roped shoulder, full canvas chest, structured english, military bearing. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Dege & Skinner

Dege & Skinner is a family-owned Savile Row tailor known for military and ceremonial uniforms, and rare in making custom shirts in the same building.

An illustration of the house's recorded cut: roped shoulder, full canvas chest, wide peaked lapel, nipped waist, flared skirt. Not a photograph of the house's own work.

Edward Sexton

Edward Sexton is the house of the tailor who shook up Savile Row in 1969, still making bold jackets with huge lapels, strong shoulders, nipped waists.

Bottiers dans United Kingdom

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The John Lobb shop in St James's Street, London

Tricker's Northampton · 1829
Tricker's is the oldest surviving shoemaker in Northampton, best known for heavy country boots like the Stow brogue boot with its thick, chunky sole.

Chemisiers dans United Kingdom

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Turnbull & Asser's shop in St James's, London

Fabricants et marchands de tissu dans United Kingdom

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Marques dans United Kingdom

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Drake's London · 1977
Drake's is a London tie maker turned full menswear brand, known for relaxed, softly made clothes in English cloth with little shoulder padding.

Styles de coupe

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Savile Row London
Savile Row jackets are shaped by hand around a horsehair and wool inner layer, giving defined shoulders, a nipped waist and an upright look for decades.

Villes

Dernière révision: September 2026 Signaler une erreur sur cette page

Sources

Savile Row Bespoke Association: standards for members , Savile Row Bespoke Association.
The Harris Tweed Act 1993 , UK Parliament. Defines Harris Tweed in statute, one of very few textiles protected this way.

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