Tailor Made
“Clothes make the man.”
~Attributed to Mark Twain
Mark Twain may not have been entirely serious in the above quote,
but men’s clothing is certainly making serious money today. According
to the Toronto Star, “The global menswear market has been wildly
outpacing womenswear, the traditionally dominant portion of the
industry…This is no small potatoes, since the U.S. menswear market
alone is estimated to be worth $60 billion. Internationally that figure
is $400 billion.”
I grew up admiring men’s tailoring, associating it with my father’s suits,
and the exquisite illustrations in my favourite Beatrix Potter story,
The Tailor of Gloucester.
Beau Brummell (1778-1840), an English Regency dandy, is credited
with introducing full-length trousers to menswear. Prior to that, men
wore knee breeches, or shorts, and stockings. Beau Brummell went to
tailors near to Savile Row, a street in Mayfair, London, which is now
renowned for its men’s tailors. Closer to home, Walter Beauchamp Tailors,
here in Toronto, “work in a glass-walled room…and they are the first
thing travellers see if they exit the Bay subway station on Bellair St. in
Yorkville and look up.” – “Toronto retail sector undergoes major facelift”, Toronto Star
There are so many details which must be attended to with skill in a
“bespoke,” or made-to-measure, suit. I watched a fascinating video
one afternoon at the Royal Ontario Museum in the Patricia Harris
Gallery of Textiles & Costume. The video was of Toronto tailor
Stavros expertly and swiftly taking measurements for a new suit,
and of his employees crafting it, and I was entranced. See above
for a snippet from the video.
With a Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass you can go for free
to the Royal Ontario Museum.
“Men of the Cloth” is a documentary film I am looking forward to
watching. It is about three Italian master tailors aged 91, 67 and 66
who reflect on their craft and the lifelong learning it demands.
I come from a family of talented needlewomen who shared their skills and
knowledge of fabric with me, and I have a fascination with all textiles.
I was interested to learn that Harris Tweed, a handwoven textile from the
Outer Hebrides in Scotland, is protected by a 1993 Act of Parliament,
The Harris Tweed Act! I remember my father’s Harris Tweed jackets,
and how beautiful the wool fabric was, both in texture and colour, and
I am glad its heritage is being safeguarded.
Well-tailored Hollywood stars have influenced men’s fashion, and
Gregory Peck, Cary Grant and George Clooney come to my mind as
exemplifying classic tailored movie star style. Modern trendsetters
such as Ryan Gosling, Pharrell Williams with his marvellous
Vivienne Westwood hat, and soccer star David Beckham, truly are
men who make the clothes memorable.
10 thoughts on “Tailor Made”
Great post! Many years ago, while working on a farm/B&B in Ireland, I met a very nice man from Australia touring the UK and Ireland who had had a bespoke Harris tweed suit made for himself. He was a very tall, very large man who reminded me a bit of Robbie Coltrane. But, his suit and all his luggage had been stolen out of the trunk of his car in Dublin. Before he left the farm, he gave me his number in Brisbane and told me to call him if I ever spotted anyone walking down O’Connell St. in an ill-fitting tweed suit.
I wonder if he wasn’t better off without the suit; I can’t imagine it ever gets cold enough anywhere in Australia to pull out the Harris tweed.
Thank you, Alyson. You are right – that would have been a very warm suit for Australia! However, I can understand that man’s affection for Harris Tweed – it is just so attractive, and seems to work well in the many ways that it is used, whether for clothing, bags or even, as I saw recently, teddy bears!
I look forward to reading some of these books. Thanks for the post. I want to suggest a couple of other books in the TPL which may be interesting to the readers of this post.
One is The Coat Route: Luxury and Obsession on the Trail of a $50,000 Coat by Meg Lukans Noonan – a chapter devoted to each significant aspect or material involved in the construction of this tailored coat whose owner now lives in Vancouver.
Also, see: The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by J.J. Lee who has a program about fashion on CBC Radio. It’s a beautiful story and the reader learns a great deal about tailoring as well as Lee’s family.
There is a film about the elderly Chinese tailors that Lee worked with in Vancouver. I don’t recall the name of it but believe it is mentioned in his book. It would be a great addition to the TPL library for those who have a passion for bespoke tailoring.
If you are interested in J.J. Lee, he has a presence on the internet, of course!
Thank you, Beth, for your valuable suggestions. I am looking forward to reading “The Coat Route” and “The Measure of a Man.” There is something so magical about a handmade object. Perhaps “Tailor Made: Chinatown’s Last Tailors” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279113/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)is the film you recall?
That is it, Muriel.
I’m hoping J.J. Lee may respond as well as I sent him the link to your blog.
Thanks for some great suggestions.
If you get the film, I would love to know about.
Beth
I am glad that is the film you recall, Beth, and for sending J.J. Lee the link to this blog.
Lovely! A number of the above books I haven’t had a chance to read but I will now. Beth, thank you for including MOAM in this conversation. The Harris Tweed book would be at the top of my reading list.
I am glad you enjoyed this post, J.J. Lee. I am looking forward to reading your book, “The Measure of a Man.”
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here often. Best of luck for the next!
Thank you very much, Travis, and for your good wishes – I am glad there was something of interest here for you.