Savile Row -

Dashing Man: Robin Wight

Robin Wight is a man of ideas, action and a great deal of charm.

Working as a copy writer, Robin was lucky enough to have hit the hay day of London’s advertising scene, describing himself as an English version of the American ‘Mad Men’. Robin is currently the Co-Founder of advertising agency WRCS and president of The Engine Group.

With a fine tall figure ideal for tailoring, Robin is without a doubt one of Dashing’s most colourful customers, a great admirer of quality British fabrics and a huge fan of the colour purple.

Interestingly Robin was not always such a flamboyant dresser and ironical it was the work place after leaving Cambridge that encouraged his exhibitionism. In the world of advertising during the 70’s and 80’s a personal identity was important especially amongst creatives, a way to be remembered and establish a personal brand. Initially Robin sported bowties and hand painted waistcoats as his ‘brand signalling device’, becoming known in the industry as the bow tie wearing Ad Man.

Gaining sartorial confidence and enjoying the positivity that surrounds a dashing dresser, Robin dropped the bow ties on the advice of his third wife and moved on to wearing Versace’s exciting designs. Then, for a while the flamboyant colours of Ozwald Boateng’s collections took his fancy. Around this time Robin found himself gravitating towards the colour purple, not due to regal aspirations or knowledge of the historical expense of the colour but just because he liked it, and it suited him.

Purple soon became Robin’s thing and friends would question “Where’s your purple Robin?” feeling miffed if he turned up in anything else. Always on the look out for beautiful cloth Robin found his way to Dashing Tweeds. His eyes lit up upon entering our shop and such was his enthusiasm that we offered to weave special purple fabrics just for him after he had exhausted our current stock. We recommended the tailors Graham Browne and Chittleborough and Morgan to Robin as ones that would enjoy his company and respond well to his taste and as you can see the result is splendid. When questioned as to his sartorial commitment and joie de vivre it came as no surprise to hear, “I always want to perform and purple is the stage on which I stand”.

Swing by our store on 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND or if you would like to book a Made to Measure appointment, please drop us an email at: holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk

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Tailors Uncovered: Kathryn Sargent

Having a suit tailored by Kathryn Sargent is the most creative and collaborative process. She is fascinated by the psychology of tailoring, how a suit can become an extension of your personality or a projection of your chosen image. Through discussions and observation on the way you move and walk Kathryn is able to make you anything you could possibly desire, from Edwardian styled frock coats and riding habits to unstructured travel jackets. There is no doubt that she has the skills and training to tailor for men and women at the highest possible Savile Row level.

This comes as no surprise when you learn that before Kathryn ventured out on her own she was the first ever female head cutter in the 200 year history of Savile Row, and not with any small outfit but with the iconic tailors at No1 Savile Row; Gieves and Hawkes.

Without realising it the road to the row was her destiny. Growing up in Leeds, the centre of Britain’s textile industry, cloth merchants and tailors were an everyday sight and bespoke suits were more of the norm. Kathryn was fascinated at how her father transformed for work by donning tailored suits, she felt an urge to create with textiles.

Being a ‘bit of a mod’ helped as the sharp lines and slick look of role models led to a desire for technical knowledge. Enrolling at Epsom Fashion College with the idea of becoming a fashion designer involved work experience at Denham and Goddardjust off Savile Row, the idea appealed not least because of Alexander McQueen’s success following training at Anderson and Sheppard. Arriving on the row Kathryn soon realised that just passing through was not enough; here was a place she never wanted to leave.

Eager, intelligent and interested Kathryn jumped at the chance when an opening as a trimmer at G&H under Peter O’Neill became available. At the time fifth generation Robert Gieves was still in the house and Kathryn marvelled at the way he related to customers, finding out exactly what they were looking for. The step up from trimming to striking out cloth, enabled Kathryn to start her journey through the ranks and to cut the story short by 2011 she was the head cutter of Gieves and Hawkes.

Always keen on learning more and relishing tailoring for even the most challanging body shapes Kathryn made the brave move to venture out on her own, taking a spare table at the classic tailoring house of Meyer and Mortimerin Sackville street. Here some of the most skilled of them all reside including the famously skilled Malcom Plews who was always happy to dispense his words of wisdom should pattern conundrums arise.

Coming from Leeds, Kathryn is always keen to champion British cloth, often steering her clients away from super soft expensive fabrics which are design with softness rather than longevity in mind. She is a great fan of our cloths, loving the “intelligent designs, innovative use of yarns and Britishness”. When I was last round several Dashing pieces were going through her workshop, one in our reflective raver for a lady who loves to cycle in town as well as dance the night away.

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A Dashing Craft Week

Starting Wednesday 9th May London Craft Week opens the doors on London’s creatives, allowing you a rare chance to see how the most skilled craftsmen in town hone objects of extreme beauty from the humble origins of clay, wood, wool and metal.

During the past few years, with thanks to this event and others people have started to question where the numerous objects that surround them come from. Mass production has devalued everything from clothing to cutlery but now the true cost of ludicrously cheap stuff has come to light via sweat shop exposés and plastic pollution. We have to question what we actually need and then if lucky enough, own a few things which are exquisitely made. Fortunately the skills to make individually crafted objects are flourishing and you can have the opportunity to find over 200 events during London Craft Week 2018.

The wonderfully original cloths of Dashing Tweeds started life in our North London weave design studio before production in the finest British mills. Our fabrics are used not only by tailors the world over, but also by upholsterers and soft furnishing makers. On request, we can design and finish fabrics suitable for any interior projects from small homes to large commercial enterprises.

On Friday the 11th May I will open the doors to my home for a discussion with Maria Speake of Retrouvius and surface designer Daniel Heath. We will talk about the nearly completed house project and our shared love of natural materials which are of such high quality that they can live on through numerous reincarnations.

If you would like to choose from our extensive library of cloths to add that finishing touch to your home, please stop by our shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND.

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Tailors Uncovered: Chittleborough & Morgan

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” Taking advice from Oscar Wilde is easier said then done, being a work of art can be rather tiresome as I’m sure Tilda Swinton discovered snoozing in her glass box at the Serpentine Gallery back in ’95. Wearing a work of art should be the ultimate pleasure, enriching the lives of over others around you as well yourself. However, it is no less easy to achieve with style and elegance. Obviously one could don a Chapman brothers mask, but looking like an ethnographic anthropologist on his way back from an Amazonian burger joint may cause some mirth in the boardroom. The answer to the dilemma is to visit Chittleborough & Morgan in Savile Row and order a suit. No matter what cloth you choose the resulting creation will without doubt be an exquisite wearable work of art that will not only turn heads in the right direction but give you unbridled joy in both the bespeaking and the wearing. The reason your suit will be a work of art is quite simply because it will be hand cut and stitched by the most skilled and artistic of tailors, Joe Morgan and his protégé Francis Paley. As with any art, provenance is all-important and the suits cut by Joe Morgan have rested on the shoulders of iconic giants.

He started tailoring at Wilkinson’s helping to measure up Harold Macmillan on his first day and then as his tailoring talents emerged he moved on as a cutter with Tommy Nutter. Here Joe cut suits in the definitively sharp house style for everyone who was anyone, from the Beatles strolling across Abbey Road to partying lords. All the time perfecting the cut and details, working on seams to smooth away any unnecessary drape from a garment and figuring out how to angle the pitch of armholes forward to avoid a single wrinkle on the chest.

In the early eighties Joe moved on and started his own tailoring house with Roy Chittleborough another talent from Nutters. Their aim was to carry on developing the most stylised cuts possible and to take traditional tailoring techniques to the absolute limit of menswear couture. In common with all masterpieces no compromise is made at any stage, the finest linen canvassing and horsehair interfacings are sourced and I was amazed by the attention to detail.

To perfect the dramatic shoulders and high arm holes extra layers of strengthening are added in tiny hand stitched layers that I have never seen in any other Savile Row tailor, and the fabric around the chest and armhole is cajoled with steam to sculptural perfection. Then, to confirm that every possible stage is truly a work of art I spotted the internal stitches of a basting. Here for a colourful customer the functional threads are most beautifully sewn into a cat and pineapple, the fact that no one will ever see them and only the client will know is testament to a level of detail beyond meticulous. The passion for perfection in the workroom is palpable and all the young apprentices delight in this level workmanship. I was proudly shown photos of Dashing creations from a few weeks before where our checks are aligned in way I did not think was possible on a curved sleeve.

For many tailors innovation is not on the agenda but when I asked Joe if he had developed new ideas recently he instantly showed me trousers with a lap seam that I immediately lusted after. The high waisted wide legged trousers had an immaculate overlapping seam running the entire length of the leg including the pocket and were examples of the most outstanding craftsmanship.

Standing elegantly tall Joe conducts proceedings in the house with energy and charisma sharing his knowledge and good humour. He is a great fan of our fabrics mainly due to freshness of our designs and the characters that bring them in for tailoring.

In the present climate where large brands dominate and people are swayed into buying ersatz luxury, walking into Chittleborough & Morgan and seeing a totally British style at the most refined and modern is like discovering treasure of legend. I strongly advise you to pay them a visit and you will leave feeling a million dollars.

To find out more about Chittleborough & Morgan do pop in and visit them at 12 Savile Row, Mayfair, London W1S 3PQ check out their website for more details

Dashing Man: Oliver Gerrish

I first met Oliver singing at a young Georgian society ball, elegantly dressed for the evening in silk breeches, a frock coat and cravat combining all of his many talents with panache and polish.

A highly trained and talented countertenor, Oli has been singing practically since the cradle starting professional lessons at 10 and becoming a choral scholar at Lichfield Cathedral not long after. Whilst singing in the medieval cathedral he would gaze up from the choir and admire the exquisite architecture, as well I’m sure as meditating on the wise and foolish virgins standing erect on the chapel pillars. Such early immersion in the glories of decorated gothic with the sun setting during Evensong can have profound effects on a young man and would lay the foundations for later study.

In so swift a time, nature robs the angelic choirboy of his timbre and the rough and tumble of life advances. The playing fields of Harrow lay awaiting, although they were not heavily trampled by Oliver, who managed with great acclaim to carry on his musical studies. Following sixth form, Oliver was in a quandary as to the direction his life should take, the lure of music won and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama conservatoire was honoured to have him as a pupil. New talent is the greatest desire for teachers and Oliver was fought over, winning out to a teacher of classical opera.

However, the deep interest in architecture was not diminished by years of vocal training and following the Guidhall, Oliver wished to take up a masters course in building history in Britain at Wolfson College Cambridge. Initially the college was skeptical with regards to Oliver’s conservatoire education but upon learning that he had not only set up a whole under 35’s arm to the Georgian Group, but was also one of the youngest feature writers of Country Life Magazine. They were left in no doubt as to his intellectual caliber.

Several years on, Oliver is now extremely busy and sort after in numerous directions. He set up the first Great British Tour which gives unbridled access to the finest Country houses of Britain as part of educational architectural tours. The sorties are taken by Oliver and his charming wife Zuleika during the summer months and receive magnificent praise from participants. When not touring houses, Oliver is busy working as a consultant with Lady Caroline Percy with their joint business of Historic Decoration. Through talks at her ancestral home of Syon House, they educate already erudite designers on the finer points of period décor, enabling the finest of finishing touches.

As if this were not enough, Oliver still finds time to programme and perform for the New Georgian Opera company which he set up with soprano Alexandra Kennedy in 2008. Like all perfectly brought up children, Oliver is a helpful son and when time allows he uses his highly tuned eyes to help his mother purchase jewels and diamond rings for her business, The Antique Jewellery Company. There is always a thrill in buying fine quality antique jewels and even more of one when young sweet hearts buy them to plight their troth.

I caught up with Oliver recently at a recital he was giving in Burgh House, accompanied by lute and piano. He was sporting his favourite Dashing suit in our New Plum Peak design and pleased his wife by wearing the witty present of a shirt printed with common architectural vernaculars. He loves the heritage and originality of Dashing as well as the unique Britishness of the fabric woven in Scotland. The fact that he is unlikely to bump into too many people wearing the same is always comforting and “it just makes me feel very cool”.

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Dashing Man: Sloan Hickman

Sloan has a knack of being at the right place at the right time in the right kit. Growing up in Chelsea after an early childhood in San Francisco, Sloan was definitely where it’s at. Hanging out with fellow Etonians and the odd Harrovian down the Kings Road when it had originality to offer. Sloan would saunter down to Granny Takes a Trip and then groove along to Kensington Market in search of the perfect shaped loons (those fabulously shaped trousers with a kick from the knee) to wear for the evening ahead. Being a huge fan of live music, he would head his pack of like-minded cats east towards the legendary Marquee or 100 club for night of raucous rock and escapades.

Following school, Sloan picked up his camera and started to earn money as a photographer taking artistic family portraits and realising that a career in photography and film was what really interested him. He enrolled into a whole new type of course in North East London specialising in Communications Design, just as the world was readying itself for a hay day of advertising. The course led to a job working for a Graphic Designer in Soho, assisting on large corporate accounts at the time advertising agents were moving into the buzzing area.

A move into video production came when Sloan was offered a job at Dingwalls in Camden. The venue running along the banks of the Regents Canal had just installed one of the very first video setups and Sloan was in charge of the cameras, for mediocre bands he could sit in the DJ booth and operate them remotely but on days when Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders were on stage he would jump in front with his camera and shoot close up angles. It was on such a day that Chrissie suggested Sloan would love New York…and he did. “It was before The Bonfire of the Vanities, so English people were still regarded quite well” says Sloan as he regaled me with stories of directing music videos an managing five camera setups on live TV. He experienced the Punk wave for the second time as it travelled across the pond and coerced camera men to brave the mosh pits of live gigs for fabulous footage as he had done previously.

Returning from time in the States, Sloan moved into production for the Moving Picture Company, working on memorable adverts for brands such as Scotch Tape with that talking skeleton. Sloan worked with Bernard Lodge renown for this work on Doctor Who, Aliens and Blade Runner. They would often film at Bray Studios, the famous Hammer horror owned estate where model sets for Ridley Scott’s Aliens were created in one studio whilst vampires haunted the others!

Sloan’s life in graphics and film has honed his eye for originality and quality so it comes as no surprise that he is a huge fan of Dashing. Our concept of heritage and technology piqued his interest and Sloan’s first Dashing suit was tailored for him in our Dashing Explorer cloth, a modern British wool check suitable for town and country. The fine reflective thread in the design adds a subtle delight should a beam of light strike at the right angle. Sloan has his Dashing suits tailored by Russell at Graham Browne, and the tailor is now his first point of call when wanting an addition to his wardrobe. His latest suit in our Red Tappet cloth has become a firm favourite, the cleverly broken up check look both sophisticated and relaxed, making it suitable for business meetings when Sloan is sharing his knowledge through consultancy and when he is off out to more nights of live music.

Tailors Uncovered : Anderson and Sheppard

When it comes to the discreet, elegant service that you would expect of Savile Row Tailors then none are as exquisite as Anderson and Sheppard. With no need to brag and ‘under the radar’ as the usual command to the pilot, A&S customers are a discerning and elusive crowd. Heads of state, industrialists, designers and movie stars all frequent the establishment tucked around the corner from the main drag of tailors.

Like all good tailoring houses A&S have ` Per Anderson, apprentice to the great Frederick Scholte perfected the idea of tailoring based on the natural drape of fabric rather than the highly structured construction of the other Savile Row tailors with military backgrounds. The result is a incredibly comfortable suit that hangs neatly from the shoulders and gives the wearer the feeling that they are in charge rather than being coerced into proportion by tailoring.

The soft shoulder line of my evening suit.

The secret is achieving a fine balance of savoir-faire drape without looking limp, as I amusingly find the Italian retranslation of the look. This is all to do with the cut of the arm holes. The expertise of A&S is in the way they can create small armholes high-up in the body. This enables a great range of movement without the collar lifting at all from the neck when raising your arms. Through the combination of their soft canvassing, meticulous hand sewing and understated shoulder pads you feel as light as a waltz, which was probably why Fred Astaire was a regular customer.

All the sleeves are hand sewn to achieve the famously comfortable shoulder. The workshops below the shop floor are the as organised and tidy as the rest of the house.

Trousers are never as simple as they seem, some pairs find you tugging at the waistband like an ingénue at her first ball and others are just perfect. My A&S trousers all fall into the latter category. Again the secret is in a cut developed by Sidney Sheppard, a trouser cutter par excellence and a fitting associate for Per. Analogous to the comfortable arm holes, trousers are designed to sit high on your natural waist and the house is rightly keen on promoting the use of braces which not only enable them to cut their famous fish tail backs but also keep the line of the leg furrow free.

Danny Hall striking out on a linen cloth.

My A&S suits where all cut by the long serving master tailor Mr Hitchcock who has now handed the shears and expertise to Danny Hall on the coat making side of things whilst John Malone is still busy cutting the most refined trousers. Bearing in mind the expertise of A&S when it comes to evening wear I choose to have my black tie tailored by them. The term refers more to a style than fabric. I used our fine Merino with purple dots on a ground of dark navy, a balance of formal and amusing which brightens most dinners. Needless to say the lightness of the three piece suit with silk facings has encouraged much dancing and as you can see still looks fresh after 10 years of wear.

Exquisite finishing and button holes on my waistcoat.

Shears in the skilled hands of John Malone

The whole of Anderson and Sheppard is beautifully overseen by wonderful Anda Rowland. Her highly educated eye, knowledge of luxury and business ensures the smooth running of the house. Her forward looking programme of training apprentices at all levels means that standards are always kept up for now and into the future.

Classic high waisted trousers with a fish tail for braces. I chose to have the brace buttons sewn inside.

Pressing is a surprisingly skilled job which takes years to get right, too much pressure can ruin a suit.

If an easy elegance in tailoring at the highest level is what you are after then A&S is for you. This quote from Fred Astaire seems appropriate for the fabulously run tailor. “If it doesn’t look easy it is that we have not tried hard enough yet”

Colin, always a friendly face at the front of house, do go in and chat to him.