Tailored Stories - An Oral History of Savile Row

[@GeorgeDaymondLush]

I thought this showed excellence in everything from the making of the film, the sensitivity and choice and range of people and the pure history and long may Savile Row and such people exist and flourish

[@chevydude658]

You summed my thoughts up beautifully. Well said.

[@youssouphafall6966]

Magnifique l'élégance Classe aux services du savoir-faire à la beauté vestimentaires de Luxe. Joliment Merci

[@sbaumgartner9848]

My thoughts exactly.

[@itsmeashishdhakal]

Lovely gents and pleasure to listen to their stories as well. Bellisima!

[@cameronsimpson5250]

An absolutely fantastic documentary on Savile Row and it proves how the tailoring trade in England has not lost it's meaning. Fantastic tailors shown on the film and it is evident how skilful people, young and old, are. It also shows the passion and pride from all the speakers and it's wonderful to see how people take pride in English tailoring and how they respect the history of a wonderful tailoring business.

[@deniseallen3379]

I LOVE TAILORS. THIS IS A FABULOUS STORY. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH NOT TOO MANY MEN TAKE TO THIS TRADE MUCH ANYMORE.

[@whawkins8636]

Very nice video

[@geraldhannibal7654]

Another great film. Thank you. Let's do all we can to preserve this tradition. Sew on and sew on. Respect. G

[@jcollins1305]

Fabulous. Watching and hearing these wonderful craftspeople at work was a treat. Long live Savile Row!

[@quintonfields8671]

That was the most beautiful explanation and expression of Saville Row ever.

[@annettewalker2382]

What a great documentary. I learnt so much. What characters these skilled people are.

[@tomschmitz4875]

Marvelous.Films like this make me understand why I love what I do.

[@fakarrudy2301]

An absolute delight to watch. Will always visit the street whenever in London. Not really ready (money-wise) to have a suit made, but one day... One day.

[@noillucs3392]

Lovely people, and a pleasure to listen too and hear the stories. The Tailor who couldn't remember what the block with the weights in it for ironing was called, that was a sign as too how professional these people are. The object never went missing so he has never had to ask if anyone had see it. Also that they respect each others tools. I read some of the comments about the difference between a cutter and a tailor. Well you wouldn't be much of a Tailor if you had to wait around while someone cut it for you. However, if you work in a Team as is shown here each one takes a part in the building of a suit.

[@DavidSaintloth]

Love this, takes me back to the years when my Papi would take myself and my younger brother Junior to spend the day with him at his Tailor/Dry Cleaning shop just off Flatbush Ave. I remember vividly the smell of machine oil, cloth and the seemingly ever working steam press in the back of the store. It was a place that was packed with nooks and crannies to discover and I would spend hours going over things I'd found that even my father didn't know about. He'd bought the shop from I assume the previous owner around the time I was 5 and would take us to the shop some where around 6 or 7 by 10 my brother and I would get on the bus ourselves to go visit him (it was a different time). I always had a facility for anything having to do with hand and eye coordination and so naturally was intrigued by the craft of cloth working but it awed me out dexterously my father could manipulate cloth under a stabbing needle without ever getting hurt. I didn't apprentice with my father to pick up the craft...he sold the shop by the late 80's after about 10 years owning it but experiencing a maker in his lab , creating things for customers or repairing things ...was all the convincing I needed to be a maker myself...my interests spanned far beyond Sartorial interest and embraced woodwork, machining and technical drawing in HS but the creative activity that took me over was the emergence of programming. It's just a different kind of Tailoring...where a Tailors "pattern" is a Software Engineers "Class" , where a finished piece is the "Application". Tailoring is probably the closest physical analog to what Code crafting is like... complete with the fuzzy edges that an unfinished piece in either domain often has but upon refinement becomes an elegant creation...well , in the ideal case. ;) Sad to see the stories of racism that also marred this otherwise fine profession... my father emigrated to the United States shortly after getting a Tailors certificate in Ayiti...because of him, I am an American born Citizen, his first child born on US soil.. and will not let the forces of evil now in power dial back the promise of a nation that welcomed him into the cowering shell of white supremacy that now does every thing in its power to reject the bounty of the world. It will fail.

[@ajayjackson7727]

fantastic documentary and very skilled people, these people are true artists

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

A brilliant documentary. One day I just may have enough spare dollars . . . . . . . !

[@RafeLavine]

What a fantastic story. A great doccie. The history and the time honoured tradutions shine through. Thank you. Well done.

[@Molloy1951]

Wonderful documentary! Bravo!

[@rjmagoon7981]

What a wonderful piece of work!! Thank you for posting!

[@theaussiebaron]

Loved the personal stories. Many thanks :)

[@johnckaye]

Great film, beautifully captures the essence of the Row.

[@anastasiajohnson6844]

Wow! This is amazing....! How many tailors, even now in the US, rather than UK, are still practicing this art, unless it is being perfected in a vocational sewing class? Even though you're taking a traditional stitching class, for attempting to learn bespoke technique--not enough training, for approximately six weeks in some community colleges, to master some of its overall 'prime' workmanship of jackets, suits, trousers, or coats: collars, facings [fronts, sides, backs, sleeves, shoulders]; linings, padstitching, pockets [welts/side seams], zippers or button holders, trimmings, and additional accessories that uniformed tailored outfits! 👖 Yet, for many of us, working-class Americans, often imagined traveling to Britain so that they could purchase a custom 'authentic' suit from Saville Row--oftentimes, expect the overall expense that hand labor is costly, plus the timing can be overwhelming! Therefore, many fashion and costume-production designers often try to emulate the tailored British mockups: on Broadway musicals, or perhaps certain historic television series, veering for gullible American viewing...😮

[@Ya0Yao]

A truly fascinating world! It would be nice to see an oral history of the shoemakers in Northampton as well.

[@youssouphafall6966]

Formidable totale Grâce D'elegance joliment Merci

[@davidfoster4066]

I really enjoyed watching the video thank you

[@obie4366]

13:25 to 13:30, fantastic view!

[@donkeyshot1]

such a well-made documentary.

[@chocolatejellybean2820]

So much history around these trades and what's more they endure. It was a time when people had a fair chance to earn an honest living. How these people endure I don't know they must love what they do

[@Dustin_N]

My great grandfather was a tailor for pancho villa. Always fascinated me

[@tayoadeyinka6736]

pray one day to be a bespoke saville tailor

[@cheesetownboatrepairmainte2101]

Are you one yet?

[@cowboyhank456]

Such an amazing story. I would love to go there one day to have a suit made, and talk to the people who make it happen.

[@ColliCub]

How easy it was to get a job back in the day; children, dropping out of school, just walking into a lifelong profession. Nowadays, you need your high school certificate, eighty five references and ten years experience! 🙄

[@JM-bg2ts]

And a house was 4 years wages, but millennials are entitled mmm makes sense.

[@sammavacaist]

Not if you weren't white. Did you even watch this?

[@RafeLavine]

...and your'e only 25. Pathetic isn't it?

[@nickfanzo]

Real tailors. You can tell by their posture.

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

In the 1960’s, my big sister made bell bottoms out of her regular jeans because she was a hippie. She’d split the seams and use some patterned cloth to stitch in and make them really funky cool bell bottoms. Somewhere I have a pair I tried to do, but I was 6 and couldn’t hand sew very well. She also used to iron her hair to make it look straight. Joan Baez type look. Of course, when I was a teenager, we all wanted to learn how to feather our hair like Farrah Fawcett-Majors.

[@ananda852003]

this should be on Netflix ....

[@erikakrause3044]

It's called a clapper (min 35)

[@digitalworks51]

Thank you! I'm glad someone knows!

[@tomschmitz4875]

That was odd, wasn't it! Gorgeous clapper though!

[@MrTAT275]

Pure art & Design

[@asmr8041]

That was great

[@RonsonDalby]

I really enjoyed watching this. So many lovely people. However, I could help wondering about how many have bad backs after a few years not just from bench-sitting, but also because of the low workbenches..

[@hydroaegis6658]

"Can I have a job?" "Yeah we got an opening if you want it" "OK" *It was as easy as that*

[@paulajavieraf.730]

Wonderfull!!

[@michaelmcdonnell5998]

39:30 Nick Hewer has popped in for a fitting!

[@digitalworks51]

Well spotted!

[@michaelmcdonnell5998]

@@digitalworks51 Thank you! Great video!

[@ukeelady]

Love. Thank you. ox

[@DistantLightProd]

Great doco. Lav mic placement..............

[@russellgibson5013]

Superb

[@wrkhrse]

@ 9:43 I feel bad for the cutter. His hands are uncontrollably shaking.

[@AJ-fv7tk]

Wrk Hrse no need to be sad. He’d be doing nothing else than this, he enjoys it unlike majority of the office going people these days. Feel bad for them.

[@Mr71paul71]

beware of farming out the training of new tailors to colleges, as all that will happen is the colleges will flood your trade with poor quality tradesmen and this huge number also of surplus tradesmen will drag down the rates of pay and job security of those in the industry. its happened across the building trade, where now the trades are totally flooded with 10,000s of tradesmen of every trade and the average standard of workmanship has dropped off a cliff. those in the tailoring trades do yourself a favor and have nothing to do with colleges and keep your training in house. otherwise kiss your industry goodbye

[@pyotrtchaikovsky9097]

Very true man, i was thinking exactly that the other day, it gradually is becoming a washed out trade atleast in Europe

[@DavidSaintloth]

"Tradition was...years and years ago... Aristocracy and rich people...always paid their Tailors last. God knows why.. cause they were a trade and looked down upon .... and people were embarrassed, Tailors...were embarrased to ask for money for a deposit?!?!? Madness!!"

[@neiladamstt]

Can I buy a copy of this film?

[@liliajoseph1664]

the inspiration

[@TheRhythmReview]

The comment I'm referring to is at 18:55

[@whawkins8636]

Wow

[@darraghsheahan8738]

Can anyone tell me what the music is at 7:49. Thanks

[@digitalworks51]

All the music used in the film is by the wonderful Lee Wood. That particular piece is called 'Home' and can be found alongside lots of other pieces here: soundcloud.com/leewoodmusic

[@darraghsheahan8738]

Thanks for the reply

[@herherje]

A street of excellence... Tailor Shops and the terrace of Apple Records...

[@markg0410]

One day...

[@StephenMwafric]

real legends

[@mohammadkamran6142]

nice way to stitched. I am also shalwar kameez cutter in Pakistan.

[@beautifullyflawed6723]

I buy Pakistan fabric all the time. It’s my fabric to work with.

[@TheVirtuoso883]

Hopefully someone can answer this as an aspiring tailor. I get confused with the naming, and role The gent you see stitching at the start, thats a tailor, the men you see measuring up front of house and cutting pattern, thats a cutter. So why is the term tailor used so generally, what is the career path, i must be missing something. Because if i want to become a tailor, am i dooming myself to a life in a basement sewing. i am a tad confused

[@digitalworks51]

It appears to be a career progression. They all start as tailors and some progress to be cutters.

[@TheVirtuoso883]

As i first thought, thank you. I will be staying in Londons Brompton hospital for 3 weeks as i have a lot of health issues surrounding asthma, (I live in Dorset) but i plan a trip to Savile Row and poke my nose in various shops, see who is happy to show me around etc

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

Thumbs up

[@mjy1628]

7:58

[@lowesonia8551]

only subject omitted their salaries!

[@digitalworks51]

It's mostly piecework I believe

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

Hong Kong was known for making great cheap tailored suits. I guess it was primarily because it was owned by Great Britain 🇬🇧

[@TheRhythmReview]

This was excellent. However, the racism surrounding the cutter position is very disappointing.

[@neiladamstt]

Are you a cutter?

[@TheRhythmReview]

+Neil Adams No I'm not, but it was disappointing to hear the young black male aspiring cutter in the video admit that he has experienced racism around whether or not he can be a cutter or upfront dealing with the actual clients "because that's just the way it is." Maybe I'm the only person who saw this young man say that here. But it's a bunch of bullshit none the less. Now, granted, there was no one on camera corroborating what he alleges has been said to him, but I'm inclined to believe him. I don't think he'd say that on camera if it were not based in some truth.....especially knowing others in the trade will see it. For Christ sakes, EVERYONE should be allowed to work in all aspects of this snotty part of the business.

[@digitalworks51]

I sat in on that interview and I can assure you he was telling the truth. He complained afterwards that the questions weren't as upfront as they could have been and that an inexperienced interviewer didn't follow up some of his answers the way they could have done [it was an educational project run by fashion students]. The other issue was that this interview took place in the cutting room with lots of people hanging around and listening in - including his bosses. The fact that he was so upfront in that situation speaks volumes for his need to say what he did. It's also worth noting that he is much older than he looks and the time he is referring to is over 30 years ago. Of course that doesn't make it all right but, thankfully, things seem to have moved on since those days. In fact, out of shot next to him was a Black cutter getting on with his work! You can listen to the full interview here: www.tailoredstories.org.uk/interviews.html

[@TheRhythmReview]

+digitalworks51 Thank you for your response. It gives additional clarity to the interview.

[@c.e.stanton988]

At least they are not women having by to deal with sexual harassment in addition to being paid less. What do you prefer someone calling you mean names about your color or someone sticking his hands down your pants?

[@lincoln-wav]

Stephen Lachter reminds me of Benedict Cumberbatch for some reason

[@rovercoupe7104]

I would love to be a tailor, but I don't think I have the necessary talent. M.

[@njkatakiya8227]

your video very nice sir

[@mishaguitar]

I'm sure there are dictators, war criminals, and other powerful and nefarious men/ women who have great sartorial tastes. As the saying goes- a jacket hides innumerable sins. I'm curious if the tailors ever experience any "moral quandaries" when it comes to tailoring for some of these people. I'm surprised this hasnt come up in any of the saville row docs.

[@msb3235]

I need a Navy suit for war

[@njkatakiya8227]

hello sir I am telaring work I am all work tiching I am making shirts place Sir Help me do you job sir please Sir.

[@nickfanzo]

NJ Katakiya did you get a call?

[@verditer-flytonature250]

NJ Katakiya we need tailors for gents for the Raymond's custom Tailoring hub in Salem call 7708222211

[@binaleem4937]

Talarin TAILORING & STICHING My(dear)

[@juanok2775]

He said his boyfriends

[@adrianogomez1494]

Ń

[@damohr69]

great experiences... but they all look so grey and dusty..

[@NaNa-wj8tw]

DAT BOI Yes and what a beautiful change it makes too.

[@lowesonia8551]

And happy with their careers . ARE YOU if you work?

[@Yoututu]

I see old lady and gentlemen who has being blessed with parent who know people in the business in tailoring who trained them to the higher standard, who in turn never teach the new comer anything and make their life miserable at the end they have to leave now you have no one who say a good ward about you only from those who take advantage of you, I DON'T see no young STAFF amount you, you SELFISH, NOW TAKE YOUR SKILL TO THE GRAVE WITH, DON'T forget the world will still goes around without you and your secret trade

[@gljay]

Gougoulina 20 Learn proper English to start with. These guys train others all the time. Learn the facts while you learn English

[@njkatakiya8227]

hello sir give me anwear