Savile Row Style Magazine

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•ROYAL TO OPEN SAVILE ROW SHOW IN FLORENCE

Prince Michael of Kent is to give a Royal seal of approval to the 'London Cut' event taking place in Florence next year, attending both the exhibition and the evening gala.

This is an extra bonus for an event already shaping up to be one of the most important for Savile Row tailoring in many years. It takes place to coincide with the prestigious Pitti Uomo menswear event that occurs each season and is the meeting place for anyone and everyone in the international menswear scene.

Top accessory names will also be present in Florence - as examples here from Hilditch & Key of Jermyn Street, suede shoe by Cleverley of Bond Street and smoking cap by James Lock of St James's.

The Italian organisers invited the best of Savile Row’s bespoke tailors to contribute specially made suits that will be shown in a presentation at the Palazzo Pitti for a month. It will open with a glittering evening occasion on January 10, at Florence’s grand Palazzo Corsini,the grandest of the grand palaces in Florence.

The tailors have been stitching away at their special creations over recent months and the new lines will be supplemented by some vintage pieces, including suits made for the Duke Windsor, Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Montagu. There will also be Royal ceremonial robes and military uniforms.

Plans are afoot to bring it to London and perhaps on to Japan. Much credit must go to James Sherwood, who has organised the event, and who is completing a book to mark the occasion.

In addition to the tailored items, he has brought in such famous houses as shirtmakers Hilditch & Key and Turnbull & Asser of Jermyn Street, shoemakers Cleverley and Lobb, and leather goods house Swaine Adeney Brigg to accessorise the show.

Credit must also go the the woollen merchants who have continued a long tradition of supporting the Row by contributing to the not inconsiderable costs of this event (see Cloth page).
For dedicated followers of Savile Row’s bespoke craft, its a showcase not to be missed.

• Black tie for the ladies too

VIP’s attending the Florence gala evening (see above) may cut a dash in their evening finery but the ladies will not be taking all the limelight on this occasion. The hosts are asking them to defer to the masculine focus of the event by dressing in male attire – well, male inspired.
The dinner suit has enjoyed popularity with a long line of glamorous ladies, from Marlene Dietrich through Yves St Laurent's muses to Bianca Jagger, Kate Moss and Madonna. At the Palazzo Pitti, it will be seen again on some leading stylish ladies.
But it is the tailors themselves who will be the star attraction. Some forty of England’s finest tailors will show just how a dinner suit should look. Each year, at their own charity gala evening at the Merchant Taylors' Hall, they present an image of male elegance that sets a standard many richer, grander events cannot hope to attain.

The evening coat above is by Richard Anderson. The ladies evening suit modelled by Joanna Lumley is from Henry Poole.

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:: What's In Savile Row Style ? ::

	Style 1 - Best of this and that -New names in the Row - Tailor snippets Style 2 -Royal at Florence event - Ladies not to outdo tailors - Shirt tales Style 3 - Style award winner - In the spotlight - Memoirs by Row reviver Cloth - Merchant help for tailors -Pick a pattern - What's in the sack? Grooming -Shaving inspiration - More parlours - Train the brain Cars - Britain's bespoke cars - Patterns on the body - Car Disneyland Drink - Round the bars in Paris - Bottle for the decorations - The flavour is Orange Drinks 2 - Shortage of Scotch? - Malt for the party - Top fizz Gifts -Lingerie made easy - Time machines - Spitfire ideas Travel - Staying in London - Tea on the estate - Skiing business Culture - Music mecca - Wildlife art auction - Cary Grant, style icon Companions of Savile Row – listing of top tailors and interviews

::Shirt tales ::


	BESPOKE shirts at one time were more associated with Jermyn Street but in recent years some of the Jermyn Street specialists have moved within Savile Row houses and other Row firms have established their own bespoke shirt services. Dege & Skinner, for example, has master shirtmaker Robert Whittaker on view at the back of their showroom, making shirts to order, as below. But top quality readymade shirts are also on sale, with Dege & Skinner recently launching a collection designed by Robert Whittaker that sales director Graham Lawless reports has proved very popular. The more high quality lines that the tailors are able to offer the better, helping the Row to lure customers from those ready-to-wear shops in Bond Street and Regent Street. And customers brought in for one thing are then tempted (as reported from Benson & Clegg on the preceding page) to go on to the full bespoke.

Crea