Tailoring for Men and Women.
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Tailored Tinkering
Jun 08, 2020
Thinking 'outside the box'
When many people think about tailoring, they often think about classically cut suits, made from exquisite bolts of Superfine Wool, crafted to fit male bodies. For the most part, that is true. We all know the home of traditional tailoring is Savile Row in London. The craftmanship involved in making such a garment is unbelievable. But what would you say if I told you that this traditional format doesn‘t always have to be the case?
Women have been investigating the concept of fully tailored garments in recent years, a marked increase from the historical trickle of women deemed outrageous to don what has always been seen as male attire.
Where before women have been resigned to visiting male tailors, who would grapple with the strange notion of fitting a female form, to wear conservative suits.
That was then. This is now.
There has been a marked increase in all sorts of people wearing all kinds of variations and off-shoots of classic tailoring, which has given rise to a myriad of amazing styles and fashions, fuelled by the desire to wear a beautifully made garment.
This year, I gave an online lecture to university students about the construction of In-Seam trouser pockets. I could have used a traditional cloth to demonstrate this, but me being me – I decided to do something different.
I used a light pink wool crepe with a matching satin acetate lining for a half lining on the front of the trousers. The pocket bag was made from poly-cotton which was not a great choice (It was all I could find during the Covid-19 lockdown). Despite me machine washing and steaming the pocket bags, it still shrank!
My demonstration was a step-by-step tutorial from start to finish on how to cut and construct the pockets in a women’s trouser, which demystified the process for the students.
My point was, apart from educating them on the science of trouser making, to show them that you can use other fabrics in all kinds colours to make a trouser, and it will look amazing.
Now I have to follow that up with the matching waistcoat…
