Skip to content
Il Sartoriale The World of Fine Menswear
★
Il Sartoriale
Start here Bespoke tailors Shoemakers Shirtmakers Cloth makers & merchants Fabrics & materials
Craft How clothes are made Tailoring styles Craftsmen History
Clothing GarmentsAccessories BrandsPeople
Places CitiesCountries World map
Tools Find a tailor or shoemakerComparisons PricesGlossary LearnNews Ask the ArchiveAI agents ★ SavedFree API
About About usMethodology Editorial policy Sources Image licensing How we assess CorrectionsContact
Settings
Dark mode
Interface language

Guided view
New to this? Every page opens with a plain-language explanation before the detail begins, and technical terms are expanded where they appear.

Expert view
You already know the vocabulary. Straight to the substance, with the introductory explanations hidden. This is the default.

★ Your saved pages
470 entries across tailoring, shoemaking, cloth and craft Reference publication: we sell nothing and rank nobody for payment Every figure carries its source and the date it was checked

9 entries

Start here

Nine short pages, in order. They assume you know nothing and finish with you able to walk into any serious tailor's shop and understand what you are being shown.

  1. Why expensive clothes cost moreA £4,000 suit costs more than a £200 one mostly because of hours of skilled handwork and fittings, more than the cloth, though brand plays a part.
  2. Bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wearReady-to-wear comes in standard sizes, made-to-measure adjusts a standard pattern, and bespoke draws a new pattern just for you, refined through fittings.
  3. How a great suit is actually madeA good tailored jacket has a horsehair and wool inner layer shaped with hand stitching, cloth shaped with an iron, and repeated fittings on the body.
  4. How a suit should fitWhen buying a suit, get the shoulders right first because they cannot be altered, while the collar, chest, sleeves, length and waist can be adjusted.
  5. Understanding fabricFabric is described by its fibre, weight, weave and fin
  6. What full canvas meansThere is a hand-shaped skeleton inside a good jacket. You can feel it in ten seconds.
  7. Choosing your first serious suitNavy or mid-grey, plain, eleven ounces, half canvas at least, and spend the difference on alterations.
  8. Understanding shoesA shoe's construction decides whether it can be resoled, which is what makes an expensive pair an investment rather than an extravagance.
  9. Caring for fine clothingWool mostly cleans itself with airing and brushing, so rest, brushing and good hangers keep clothes going longer than dry cleaning, which strips the fibre's oils.
Hand sewing in a tailoring workshop Step 01 · Why expensive clothes cost more A tailor's measuring tapes Step 02 · Bespoke, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear A jacket being made in a tailoring workshop Step 03 · How a great suit is actually made Herringbone weave in wool cloth Step 05 · Understanding fabric A tailoring workshop in Skvyra Step 06 · What full canvas means Brushes for clothing and shoe care Step 09 · Caring for fine clothing
Picture credits 6
  1. Hand sewing machine - Macedonian tailoring craft: Photograph · Orce Wiki · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. Tailor's measuring tapes: Photograph · Muszkietqa · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
  3. Tailor´s shop - Werkstatt 1: Photograph · Wolfgang Sauber · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
  4. HerringbonePatternCloth: Photograph · Thermos · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.5
  5. Tailoring workshop in Skvyra: Photograph · Unknown author · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
  6. Brush, clothes: Photograph · API data Catalogue record Photo · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0

Image policy