Below the Row

November 24, 2014 3:05 AM

Underneath Savile Row, the home of British bespoke tailoring, work goes on that is seldom seen by those that walk along the street. James, apprentice coatmaker and Paul, his master, encapsulate a life dedicated to craft and precision. (SLVimeo)
posted by bswinburn (9 comments total)

This quote, a thousand times:
"You have to love what you do. And very often you have to need what you do, because you need to work. You lose that ambition, and life becames very flat."

Thank you, that was beautiful.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 5:22 AM on November 24, 2014

From upstairs, here's a two part video about Thomas Mahon, a cutter. The cutter is the face of Bespoke, who measures, build a pattern, and cuts the cloth. From there, it's sent downstairs to the tailors to build up, then back up for adjustment, and so forth until the fit is just so.
posted by eriko at 5:46 AM on November 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thank you, that was a lovely video.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:19 AM on November 24, 2014

That was unexpectedly interesting, a short but intense view into a world I barely even know exists.

I noticed that they seemed to do a lot of their work perched up on the workbenches. As a fellow percher, I approved; one of the big differences between this and the sweatshop-style places I've seen is that each person was taking on multiple steps in the production cycle, rather than a production line approach. Presumably the quality improvements are worth the inefficiencies, and of course it would be a lot more satisfying to work that way.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:35 AM on November 24, 2014

Presumably the quality improvements are worth the inefficiencies, and of course it would be a lot more satisfying to work that way.

That's pretty much the whole purpose of bespoke tailoring - it's a lot less efficient (and a lot more expensive) than an off-the-rack suit, but it's he highest quality piece of clothing you'll ever own. Getting one for myself is on my "if I ever wind up with a giant pile of money" bucket list.
posted by Itaxpica at 6:49 AM on November 24, 2014

I was very fortunate to be able to get a suit made in Savile Row for my wedding last year, and I can attest that the quality is absolutely second to none. If I could afford it, I'd have all my suits made there.
posted by Nick Jordan at 8:06 AM on November 24, 2014

I read a book of essays years ago (name is escaping me) that looked at the economics of getting bespoke clothing from Saville Row shops and looking at shirts for example, it makes some sense as while you can buy a lot of shirts from The Gap or wherever for the price of one bespoke shirt, the bespoke shirt is going to last a lot longer and fit a lot better.
posted by misterpatrick at 8:16 AM on November 24, 2014

The blog English Cut has some neat posts about bespoke tailoring.
posted by exogenous at 8:20 AM on November 24, 2014

Very nice, thanks for posting this!
posted by carter at 4:02 PM on November 24, 2014