Bespoke tailor · London · Founded 1906
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.
Anderson & Sheppard is the London house associated with the drape cut: a coat with a little extra cloth across the chest and shoulder blades so it hangs in a soft vertical fullness and moves with the wearer. Its lineage runs back to Frederick Scholte, who dressed the Duke of Windsor, and it is the softest of the major Savile Row houses.
What drape means
A draped coat is cut with extra cloth over the chest and the shoulder blades. Standing still, the front falls in a soft vertical fold rather than sitting flat; moving, the coat follows the body instead of resisting it. It makes a slim man look fuller in the chest and it is markedly more comfortable than a close-cut coat.
The origin is Frederick Scholte, the Dutch-born London tailor who dressed the Prince of Wales, later Duke of Windsor, and whose cut spread from that association into a whole school. Anderson & Sheppard is where the method has been most consistently maintained.
The house style, in detail
- A soft, natural shoulder with minimal padding, unusual on the Row.
- Drape through the chest and blades; a high armhole so the fullness does not restrict.
- A relatively long skirt and a gently suppressed waist.
- Trousers cut for braces, with a high rise, and generally no belt loops.
The house in practice
Anderson & Sheppard is bespoke-only for tailoring and does not offer made-to-measure; it also runs a separate haberdashery shop on Clifford Street. It is not a member of the Savile Row Bespoke Association, which is a fact about the association rather than about the house.
The drape cut is not universally flattering. On a man who is already broad it can read as bulky, and its softness is at odds with what many customers expect from Savile Row. Choosing between A&S and a clean-cutting house like Huntsman is the clearest example of why a customer should look at finished coats before choosing a tailor.
The lineage matters here more than usual
The drape cut is generally traced to Frederick Scholte, the Dutch tailor who cut for the Duke of Windsor, and Anderson & Sheppard is the house most identified with carrying it on. That is a genuine transmission rather than a marketing claim: it passes through cutters who trained under cutters, and it is why tailors who leave the house are followed by customers who want the same coat rather than the same address.
The practical consequence for a customer is that the house has a strong opinion. A commission here is not a blank sheet; it is an invitation to be cut in a particular way. Buyers who want a sharp, structured coat are better served elsewhere, and the house is generally straightforward about saying so.
The record
What it costs
Prices across the site →These are not quotations. Prices below are the most recent figures we could attribute to a source, shown in the currency they were published in.
| What | Service | Price | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-piece bespoke suitAn indicative band, not a quotation. Bespoke entry prices normally exclude tax and cloth beyond the house bunch, and houses raise them without announcement. | Bespoke | £6,500–9,500 | September 2026 |
Where they travel
Find a maker who visits you →Trunk shows let a house take orders and hold fittings away from its own workshop. Dates move; treat this as the pattern, not a calendar, and confirm with the house.
| City | Roughly | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| New YorkDocumented as travelling here for fittings. Schedules change; confirm directly with the house. | — | — |
Houses often considered alongside it
Grouped because they compete for the same commission or work in a comparable idiom: not a ranking, and not an equivalence.
01
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.
02
Steven Hitchcock
The drape cut, carried on outside Anderson & Sheppard by a tailor who grew up in it.
03
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.
Set side by side
Sources
- House information , Anderson & Sheppard.
Where a figure is disputed or a house has not published it, the page says so rather than choosing a number.
Picture credits 4
- 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.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
- 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.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
- An illustration of the house's recorded cut: natural shoulder, full canvas chest, drape: soft, full chest. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
- 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.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art