"The London Cut"

[Lance]

Hello - I received a copy of "The London Cut, Savile Row Bespoke Tailoring" by James Sherwood in the mail yesterday. The copyright is 2007 but I think it is just out. Looks like a good read; it's an up to date version of London tailoring.

[Jack_Rabbit]

Don't forget to provide a review once you've had a good read.

[Lance]

“The London Cut, Savile Row”, by James Sherwood, is enlightening and entertaining. It offers a brief history of each firm as well as a description of the firm today, the house style, famous clients and royal warrants. There are many pleasant anecdotes and much interesting information. Some or all of it may be old hat to many of the loungers since it has a year old copyright , but for anyone else who may have slept through 2007, it is a fine introduction to the older, established firms as well as the newer ones on Savile Row. If you haven’t yet read the book, you can purchase it through Amazon.com on line for $16 or so plus shipping. Happy reading!

[dopey]

I pre-ordered it a long time ago and received notice from Amazon two days ago that it was shipping.

[manton]

I've had the book for a while. I like it.

[rjman]

I've had the book for a while. I like it.

+1. It's pretty nifty, and is a neat update to the 1987 Richard Walker book. The book takes the form of profiles of tailors rather than a study of the current state of tailoring, and some of the profiles appear to rely a bit too heavily on rather whitewashed confidences from the tailors or outfitters themselves, so that a few old myths get perpetuated. Still, a nice, rather elegant book.

[Cufflink79]

I like what I am reading about "The London Cut" here. I ordered my copy this past Friday at Borders.

Can't wait to look it over, and add it to my haberdashery book collection.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

[Doug]

The book was written as an accompaniment to an exhibit at Pitti Uomo by a group of Savile Row firms. As such, I don't think it pretends to be more than some appetizing bits and pieces. It is a pleasant book by that standard and a worthwhile use of $16. As noted in prior posts, there is a brief introduction, profiles of various tailoring firms (only ones, I believe, that contributed to the exhibit). Two short sections follow on furnishings firms and cloth merchants, respectively.

Each description of a tailor is preceding by a single page pastiche of photos, many of which come from the firms' web sites. A 60-page photo section follows at the end. The photos are all archival stuff, many of which, such a photo of Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock in shadow profile, or of Elton John in outlandish costume for his "Got Milk" ad, convey little information. There are no photos of the Pitti Uomo exhibit or the firms' contributions, perhaps because the book was produced in advance of the exhibit, and that's a shame.

If you are looking for a book about style or tailoring methods, etc, you will need to look elsewhere, such as this site, Manton's excellent book, etc.