The House
One room, three cutters, seventy-eight years
Reginald Ashworth cut his first coat in a requisitioned room off Wickham Row in 1948, on cloth still under ration. His partner Eleanor Vane joined in 1963 and rewrote the house block. We are on the same street, two doors along, and the block is still hers.
3
Cutters
Each keeps roughly 180 live patterns
11
Tailors
Coat makers, trouser makers, finishers
4
Apprentices
A five-year indenture, still
2,100
Patterns in the archive
The oldest dated 1951
The making
Six stages, and what actually happens in each
- 0190 minutes
Consultation
We talk about what you already own, what you wear it for, and what has never fitted properly. No cloth is chosen yet and nothing is measured. Most of this hour is spent watching how you stand.
- 0245 minutes
Measurement
Thirty-four measurements, plus posture notes: a dropped right shoulder, a forward neck, a fuller blade. The notes matter more than the numbers and they stay in your file for life.
- 03One sitting
Cloth and specification
Two hundred and forty lengths in the book. We narrow it to five before you arrive based on the consultation, then decide every detail down to the button horn and the pocket count.
- 042 weeks
Cutting
Your paper pattern is drafted by hand and cut by one cutter, who will keep it for as long as you are a client. Roughly 5.2 metres of cloth is struck for a two-piece.
- 05Week 6
Basted fitting
The garment arrives held together with white basting thread and chalk marks, no sleeves finished, no buttonholes cut. It looks alarming. This is the fitting where the suit is actually made.
- 06Weeks 9–12
Forward fitting and finishing
A second fitting on the near-complete garment, then the buttonholes are worked by hand — about 40 minutes each — and the whole thing is pressed over a ham and hung for four days before you collect it.
Afterwards
A suit is a relationship, not a purchase
- Pressing and repair
- Free for the life of the garment. Bring it in, leave it a week. We will re-press it over a ham and replace anything that has worn — a lining, a pocket bag, a set of cuff buttons.
- Alteration as you change
- The seams carry inlay: 30mm at the side body, 25mm at the trouser seat and 40mm in the waistband. Two sizes in either direction, and we will let a suit out or take it in without charge for the first three years.
- A second garment from your pattern
- Once your pattern is drafted and proven, a repeat commission takes eight weeks rather than twelve and needs one fitting rather than three.
Where to find us
London
No. 14 Wickham Row
Cutting room and workshop. Fittings Tuesday to Saturday, 9am–6pm.
Edinburgh
Thistle Court
Fitting room only. A cutter travels up on the first and third week of each month.
New York · Zurich · Singapore
Travelling tailor
Four visits a year to each city. We hold your pattern and bring the book to you.