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Bespoke Tailoring

silhouette53

silhouette53

master brummie
Remember the good old days when people were actually measured for a suit which would then FIT them?? Off the peg was ok but lets face it, it was very hit and miss. Of course tailor made was only for the wealthy or those on a modest income who wisely chose not to squander money on Beer, Cigarettes, betting on the 'osses or the dogs or other frivolous pursuits. Anyone here fit that description and used to get 'measured up' ?

If so, do you remember a small tailors shop at the end of the Burlington Arcade off New Street called 'Your Valet' ? I thought they'd long gone but no, they're still going strong in a room upstairs in Cannon Street. In fact they're currently making a beautiful double breasted pin stripe suit for me which will be my first ever bespoke suit and will also be the only suit I own since the last one was the one I bought off the peg in 1981 to get married in and was given to the charity shop when I could no longer fit into it :'(

As a kid my Dad would get my short trousered suits from Foster Bros down Newtown Row and I remember how excited I was when I got my first long trousered one when I was about nine - that'd be back in 1962. I left school at 15 and borrowed £9 off dad to buy my suit for work from John Collier 'the window to watch'

So come on, lets hear some suit stories - did yer wear one and where did yer gerrit from !!
 
Back in the 60s I nearly always wore a suit when I went out and so did most of my pals
I think I was 19  (1965) when I bought my first made to measure suit, it was from Brooke Brothers on the Coventry Road in Small Heath and it cost an arm and a leg (sorry, the devil made me say that) >:D
I bought several more over the next few years from them and the routine was always the same
I'd go and choose the material for the suit and they'd take the measurements and I'd leave a deposit
A week or two later I'd go back for the first fitting and pay some more off the price
A week or two after that I'd go back for the second fitting and pay some more off the price
Then a week or two after that I'd go back to collect the suit and pay off what was still owed
So you see it was a long drawn out process but that suited ( groan ) most of us because it gave us the chance to pay the price over several weeks which was the only way we could afford it
Had some great suits off them and always went out looking and feeling a million dollars
Times have changed but not, I think, for the better ;)   
 
What's with this "dew claw" thing?
I lived through the 60s and not one single person I ever knew ever used the term "dew claw"
So now here I am, late at night and instead of laying my weary head to rest I've got to get out the dictionary and look up Dew Claw so that I don't look dumb tomorrow!
You're not related to my ex by any chance?
 
Brian had one suit when I met him, it was light grey and it always looked as if he'd slept in it. Clothes were never on his list of priorities, so I had to try to smarten him up didn't I. I got him to Austin Reeds - eventually, persuaded him into centre vents at the back of his jacket, instead of flapping side vents. He wouldn't even think about the big fashion, the 'Drape'. He had his suits made there for years afterwards, until he felt it was too expensive, and went to Rackhams sales. When he retired from the RAF, and wore out two or three suits a year, he graduated to Marks. ::)
 
All well and good..but just because it was measured for you didn't mean to say it would fit.
I'm going to name and shame here (bugger the consequences) you see certain people SHOULD be named and shamed in Public, Kates hatmaker, Frantics Barber..oh the list is endless.
I had my Wedding Suit made at Callaghans a 'Bespoke' Tailor next to the the Alexander Theatre by the Horsefair.
Sure enough he took all my measurements then promptly mixed them up with a Peruvian peasent named Sanchez.
Now Sanchez I never met..(I dont think he was allowed out of the Fairground on his own)
But over the years by looking at photos of my 'Made to measure' wedding suit I've tried to determine what his life must have been like..
For starters his social life must have been pretty dire..I guess looking at my suit he would have made a hopeless dancer..with one leg 5inches shorter than the other.
His obvious pigeon Chest was no real Chick puller either.
Showing appreciation at concerts must also have proved a little difficult as it appears he only had a 11 inch long left arm.
I'm still lost in admiration at the way Callaghans cunningly almost hid all that extra material for Sanchezs deformed back and the careful cutting of the one Lapel to disguise his heavy tilt to the one side..
Yes Callaghans outdid themselves that beautiful sunny day back in 1977..
They made a suit fit for a peasent that would have made him look like a King..
Unfortunately it was me that wore it..
I spit on 'Bespoke'
Auuuuukkkk...p'tung!
 
C'mon Di..if you had to guess what suit he'd have worn it HAD to be either Aubergine or Lemon.
 
6ft 5ins? I bet his Missus was only 4ft 2.
Which makes him about 5ft 6
 
Oh yes,thats definately you Langidoodle ;) have you still got your hair? ::)
 
Do remember when they used to ask "What side do you dress sir". The first time I ever had a suit made I replied "Depends on what side I get out of bed mate"
 
I worked for the window to watch in bullstreet do you remember the old lift that took you to the ist floor to be measured .I t was my saturday job
 
Can anybody remember a small Tailors shop in Hurst St just below the traffic lights at Bromsgrove St we use to get our suits made there in the early 60s. Qualty gear but for me very expensive i was a young guy earning about £15 a week these suits would set you back more than a £100 but when you stept out you felt a million dollars. Dek
 
Yes Dek i had a few suits made there it was...Callaghans


Mau-reece
 
Small correction, He was a small man!!!, Mossy it was Harry Cohen and he was also good for a no clothing coupon suit when rationing was in force, and you needed a suit!, he also made suits for the Stars at the Hippodrome
 
Len i dont think that is the tailors that Dek was on about it must be Callaghans

Mau-reece
 
Sorry boys but my bet is it was Tom Waters - originally from AB Row, but moved to Hurst Street in the 60's. All the 'Townies' used either him or Kurt Pressburger in Bristol Rd near where the Diskery is now. I spent a bloody fortune on his suits - you could often get lengths of tonic mohair from certain Pubs if you knew who to ask. Tommy would make them up no questions asked...ahem...
 
Thats the name I remember, bought my first Tonik suit off him in 1969 for 110 guineas shop was on the Locarno side of Hurst St. just below the Bromsgrove St lights. Always used to look in his windows whilst having a pint and a coffee on a Saturday night after a night out.Happy days.
 
Dennis Williams said:
Sorry boys but my bet is it was Tom Waters - originally from AB Row, but moved to Hurst Street in the 60's. All the 'Townies' used either him or Kurt Pressburger in Bristol Rd near where the Diskery is now. I spent a bloody fortune on his suits - you could often get lengths of tonic mohair from certain Pubs if you knew who to ask. Tommy would make them up no questions asked...ahem...
Click to expand...

Thats the one !! seeing the name again has switched the lights back on.De4k
 
That's the man and exactly the location. Expensive as hell, but his suits were to die for. Like you it was well more than a month's wages for me at 18 in those days, but it had to be done if you wanted 'the look'. Johnny Prescott plus all the footballers used him. Magic days. He has a unique 'language' his staff used to describe your shape, after the routine measurements, based on Acronyms to avoid upsetting the customers - I only remember the one - "FPS".i.e. forward protruding stomach... Died quite young, no idea why.
 
I remember the first made to measure suit I bought as a 19yr old from a shop called 'Loo Blooms' on the corner of Colmore Row and Livery Street. The tailor rolled cloths out on a table in the doorway so I could see them in daylight. I chose one and then spent 15 minutes being measured. Two weeks later I went in for a fitting and put on the partially made suit which I remember had lots of large white stitching. The tailor ripped some of it apart and re-pinned it and drew chalk marks in places. Four weeks later I went in, tried it and it fitted perfectly, It was marvellous - I will always remember that suit I had all those years ago.
 
I remember my first bespoke suit in the 1970's - I was still a teenager and couldn't find a decent off the peg so had a made to measure to go to a wedding. I was measured by a real 'old fashioned tailor' at a reputable gents outfitters who even enquired ' which side does Sir dress ? ' - I hadn't a clue what he was on about until it was explained to me ! Ah, the days of being young and innocent !
 
In my day most men went to the Fifty Shilling Taylors, or Burtons, I remember paying £14 for my wedding suit in1954,
I wish I could say it still fitted me but no chance whatsoever, back then I smoked 60 fags a day and was 11stone, it was
Dennis Healy putting 8p on fags in 1975/6 that saved my life, I packed up there and then, never touched one since.
Enid and I watched her Dad die of lung cancer in Yardley Green Hospital, isnt it part of Heartlands now, she used to say
"You will never pack up!! but I did, I wonder what happened to all that money I would have spent on cigges??
Have a nice day, whats left of it, take care now Bernard
 
I had three suits made to measure at Callaghans My Dress Suit for the Tower Ballroom, a dark blue suit for other door-work and a going out suit. I was very impressed with the three of them.
 
Hepworths Tailors on Stratford Rd, Sparkhill & later in New St next to the Odeon Cinema was where i had bespoke suits made circa 1950 untill they closed around the 1960`s. Len.
 
Jacksons the tailors, the 50/- Italian suit shop middle of town either corporation st, or new st can't remember now. paul
 
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