Disclaimer: Valentin is one of the two founders of the accessories brand Monsieur London . Passionate about British sartorial culture, he is now tackling English tailoring, and its eternal bastion: Savile Row.
Between history, influences and emblematic figures of this style, it tells us everything. And for those latecomers, also discover our test of Monsieur London accessories 😉
Not long ago, in a foggy land where the beer was warm and the ocean cold, an idle aristocracy hunted foxes in the fields. In the evening, its members met at the club, went to the lounge to smoke a cigar, or taste great French wines.
In the summer, they went to Scotland to hunt grouse, and then came back to the living room to smoke more cigars and taste great scotches. Asked.
England was immensely rich, possessing unparalleled power in Europe, as well as control of the oceans and much of world trade, banking, and emerging industry.
England was the first country in Europe to experience the Industrial Revolution, which explains its economic influence at the time.
Birth of English tailoring
In this rainy but powerful country (showing that rainfall does nothing to the history of peoples), tailors working for the aristocracy and the big bourgeoisie would soon give birth to modern costume , that is to say that we wear more or less every day, a century and a half later.
Quite surprisingly, most of our great classics, from business suits to tuxedos, tweed jackets and cuffed trousers, are directly inspired by those that were invented for a lifestyle that has completely disappeared (well, disappeared… you know the story: a small village still resists the invader).
Chauvinism obliges, we must remember that the English textile industry, at the forefront of creation in Europe at the end of the 18th century, still owes a lot to France. Or maybe his stupidity...
It must be said that a good part of the French Huguenots (Protestant movement, editor's note) then left the country following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, taking with them their manufacturing know-how , particularly in the silks .
According to historians, 200,000 Protestants left France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, a quarter of whom went to England, as here in Dover.
Established in London in the Spitafields district, they soon spread throughout the island, and largely ensured its success in the era of industrial textiles which was just beginning.
At the time, in fact, the supply of raw materials was the key to success : tailors can now work with local fabrics thanks to the development of weaving brought by the Protestants, and have a great time doing so.
Savile Row, the temple of English tailoring
In 1803, the first tailors set up shop on Savile Row , on what would become the world's most famous street for high-end men's elegance. Gentlemen's clubs sit on every street corner, bringing the perfect clientele.
It is there, and in the surrounding area - in the districts of Mayfair and St James's, on Old Bond Street, Piccaddilly Circus and Pall Mall - that the large houses were born or established throughout the 19th century which continue to dress the greats of this world to this day.
All of them draw inspiration for their cuts from the new canons of elegance decreed by George Brummel.
George Brummell, who is still called “Handsome” Brummel today.
This famous member of the court, who was the first of the dandies, is also the precursor of the abandonment of the wig and long hair, and the one who popularized the dark-colored suit , favoring the transition from long tight breeches to pants at men's.
A house destined to remain in history, Henry Poole and Co. moved to Savile Row in 1846. Coincidence? It was precisely during this decade that the history of contemporary costume accelerated , notably with the bringing up to date of tweed by Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore.
This aristocrat, having inherited thousands of hectares in the Harris and Lewis Islands, far in the North of Scotland, decided one day to dress all her staff in tweed in the colors of her family's tartan.
The issue is purely charitable: we must make the inhabitants of the islands work, who live quite miserable, and suffer repeated famines due to a disease attacking potatoes (mildew).
It almost feels like an episode of Downton Abbey: at the end, the kind countess saves the poor people, who thank her while crying.
But fashion caught on, driven by the British aristocracy's enthusiasm for Scotland, where it was fashionable to own a castle.
It is this attraction, at a time when the romanticism in vogue fits rather well with the landscapes of the lochs and the old haunted castles, which also explains the popularization of the tartan pattern, at a time when every large family with a Scottish heritage wears that of his clan.
The patterns of English tailoring
However, we must make a small digression here! We often imagine that the kilt and tartans are medieval products, having survived time and the modernization of clothing. However, it is quite the opposite.
It was only in the 19th century that the Scots allocated tartans to themselves by clans, regiments and families, having recreated from scratch a kind of eternal Scotland, made of kilts and colorful fabrics, for the visit of King George IV in 1822.
At the origin of this event, the writer Walter Scott, an author with an abundant imagination who succeeded in convincing the northern aristocracy to recreate a mythical and legendary Scotland to welcome the king, as a form of reconciliation after the incessant wars between the two nations.
This is the beginning of the first Celtic revival, well before Alan Stivell, Tri Yann and Nolwenn Leroy.
It is interesting to see how a motif favored by the aristocracy was taken up by followers of the punk movement, one of the most important countercultures of the last century.
Back a few decades later. As the English Nobility settles in Scotland each summer, you now have to have your tartan, just as you have your crew of horses or hunting dogs. Noblesse oblige.
For those who have no connection with the Highlands, but who don't want to look redneck during their stay, we simply create other designs!
This is how the Prince of Wales or “Glenn plaid check” was born , adopted by the Countess of Seafield, herself of New Zealand origin.
When the real Prince of Wales, future Edward VII, spent some time in Scotland, he developed a passion for this fabric and sought to have some costumes made from it. Which is quite simple, since he and the Countess of Seafield have the same tailor: Henry Poole and Co. The classic pattern among the classics was born...
Edward VII, aka "Europe's Uncle", in his Prince of Wales kilt.
The Prince of Wales is a figure to remember in the history of English costume, since everything seems to have been created for him. A happy party animal who loved nothing more than going to the brothels in Paris (including the famous Chabanais , where a chair was reserved for him), the future King Edward loved clothes and women.
It was for him that Henry Poole (him again) created the “dinner jacket”, more commonly called a tuxedo in French . A very casual jacket at the time, invented for evenings devoted to gaming. The idea was to be able to sit for a long time without taking off your jacket. Hence its classic use in France: at the casino.
The first copy is midnight blue, before turning black upon the death of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
Popularized by the king, the “dinner jacket” became an iconic garment for gentlemen.
Among the other innovations brought by the sovereign, we also include the rule that one does not fasten the last button of one's jacket , an innovation straight out of an evening of great food, and subsequently imitated by all the courtiers . As well as the turn-up on the pants , invented on a rainy day at the races, to avoid the hazards of mud.
Here again, the innovation quickly spread around the court, so much so that some time later, a person dared to appear at the palace with the bottom of his pants rolled up, thinking to please the king. He sent him for a walk, asking him if he found the corridors of his castle muddy.
So when it comes to fashion, it's all about feeling the moment, in palaces and elsewhere.
The colonial influence on English tailoring
At the start of the 20th century, Savile Row's reputation was well established. Over the following decades, other major houses were established, including Kilgour, Anderson & Sheppard and many others…
But it was in 1912 that the one who is today considered the most famous tailor on the street set up shop: Gieves and Hawkes. At the time called Hawkes and Co before its merger with Gieves, the company bought No. 1 Savile Row, a building previously occupied by the Royal Geographic Society .
Former Hawkes & Co storefront, at number 1 of the arcade.
The choice of the building constitutes a logical continuity, because the great English tailors are also the tailors of the army, of the explorers, and of all those who continue to make British power shine over the Empire where, according to the established formula, “ the sun never sets.”
An Empire mainly installed in warm countries, from which travelers, officers and civil administrators brought back astonishing innovations.
Invention of khaki pants
Thus, the color khaki was invented in the middle of the 19th century, by a soldier who had the idea of dyeing his uniform using a mixture of plants. The color seems more suited to the harsh climate in which the troops protecting the interests of the British East India Company operate, and which takes its name from a Hindi word meaning "dust".
The novelty will soon be adopted in South Africa for the English troops, then by all the armies of the world, before taking to the streets to clothe civilians. Only France will go to the front in 1914 with red pants.
Chic as can be, but mediocre when it comes to camouflage...
Arrival of the jodhpur pants
In the “colonial influences” category, we can also cite the jodhpur pants cherished by Indian polo players, again popularized by the future Edward VII; after the Maharajah of Jodhpur showed him his trousers used during his visit to England on the occasion of Queen Victoria's jubilee.
Without forgetting the Bermuda shorts
Next comes Bermuda shorts, invented in 1914 in a tea shop in the Bermuda archipelago, to clothe the sellers who served their beverage to British officers.
It's hot in the tropics, especially when you're boiling water all day in a small shop. The officers found this garment absolutely “charming” with its belt loops and pleats, and adopted it.
Be careful, you don't wear it randomly when you're a gentleman: the Bermudian bourgeoisie still wear it today, but with a blazer and socks.
This concludes this article on the colonial influences in the style of Savile Row, influences which we still find today in formal clothing, in many subcultures, but especially among the masses, following the enormous democratization of items like Bermuda shorts or khaki chinos.
