This year Savile Row tailors Dege & Skinner are 150 years old – pretty impressive for any business, but particularly one that is still family owned. In fact, the house has done rather well in the last couple because of that heritage, benefiting from customers leaving other Savile Row houses that have been bought up.
Dege held a little party at the store last Thursday to celebrate the anniversary, mostly peopled by staff and customers. It’s an odd combination – young and old, familiar and not – but they all seemed to rub along well. Pictured above, Michael and William Skinner raising a glass outside the shop.
For those that are interested, I’m wearing the Henry Poole double-breasted suit I had made a couple of years ago – there are nine step-by-step posts on that on the site if you search. Worn with denim shirt, navy grenadine tie and grey linen handkerchief.
For anyone who makes the pilgrimage to Savile Row, they don’t want to see William Hunt or Mark Marengo. They want to see beautiful and inspiring clothes for gentlemen. Dege & Skinner always have the best windows. They’re 100% bespoke. They did the Queen’s Coronation. They make the most varied range of garments of all the firms I’ve known in Savile Row. They don’t employ a designer or use an army of PR people. For those who don’t know otherwise, THAT is what they used to call a Savile Row tailoring firm. Cherish them.
I agree completely. I have purchased some their lovely ready to wear shirts in their sales over the past couple of years and they are terrific and their service charming. Smashing “old school” proper width ties too..
Looking sharp Simon. I must ask though it seems that you puff Linen pochettes ? Was it just a further attempt to informalise the outfit? I understand that it is not new and great dressers of the past like Astaire and Bogart in particularly did it but i prefer the TV fold for Linen.
All in all fun night all around and Dege& Skinner should be celebrated indeed for such an accomplishment.
Points or fold for linen, but never a puff
Oh yes, Simon. I, of course meant ‘fold’. As Linen as a material is too rigid to puff.
I still prefer the TV fold for linen but of course YMMV.
“I’m wearing the Henry Poole double-breasted suit I had made a couple of years ago “.
Simon, you’re becoming as bad as me in failing to notice the old tempus fugit. I don’t think it was a ‘couple of years’. Double that; more like four. Age, dear boy, age. It catches up with us all in the end, but there are compensations.
Mark dear boy, you sound like you are a crashing bore.
Great to see their continued success and I thank Michael for the faith he put in me and the orders he placed with us back in the early days of my business.
Dear Simon
Well done on producing the best sartorial blog around. Long may it continue. I have a question and cannot find any previous posts where you have covered it. My apologies if you have. I am wondering what your advice is for wearing a shirt and jacket without a tie?
As a hospital doctor, I am subject to the ridiculous edicts of infection control, and ties are largely proscribed. I have found myself over the last few years wrestling with the difficult problem of wearing a jacket and shirt, tieless. I have always been a fan of full cutaway collars, but these collapse under a jacket more than most. I love the open-neck look when the shirt stands proudly to attention but too often, the collars disappear under the jacket. I have tried using good old fashioned laundry starch, with variable results. The dreaded spray starch can help in stiffening the collars, but has more than once practically ruined a shirt with staining. I have seen Pink are now doing the blazer or independent collar on a shirt, which they claim supports itself better under a coat collar, but I have yet to try one. They do not come with french cuffs though, which is a problem for me. I have found semi-cutaway collars sit better, but still often collapse down. Button down collars seem too informal for me too. The only other option I can see is a cravat, which works wonderfully, but is not always easy to carry off. What advice can you offer to pull off this look properly? Is it a matter of collar style, starch, or some voodoo I’m ignorant of? Many thanks
I recommend trying one of the Italian makers I have written about – Luca Avitabile or Simone Abbarchi (full post coming up on him). Read the text on Luca and you’ll learn about how the soft fused collar (and better collar stand shape) avoids this problem
Another possibility might be a long sleeved polo shirt. It is a different look, I know. But I find it works better than the tieless shirt look. Especially if the polo shirt has a higher collar (e.g. the new Medlock by J. Smedley or its slim fit counter part).
Good call. As on my ‘Clothes for Travel’ post.
Luca Avitabile is actually some of those RTW soon. More to come.
Rob, forget starch. It’s probably the back balance. See a good bespoke shirtmaker.
Thank you Simon and Frank both. I agree. Good call on the polo shirt. Usually too casual for me but I had completely forgotten Smedley. Haven’t had one of theirs for decades. I shall give them another look. I shall also look out for Signor Avitabile’s stuff and may give him a whirl. Many thanks again.
Rob, can’t you try wearing a bow tie? you may feel it is a bit too old-school doctor, but it provides a closure, looks good and doesn’t have any of the hygiene issues that are involved with long ties.
Thanks Mark but it’s a step too far for me. Wearing a bow tie in hospital marks you out as (almost always) a neurologist or a physician. I’m neither I’m afraid. I restrict my bow tie wearing to dinner wear only.
Rob, have you tried a button-under (or “hidden button-down”) collar? In this, the buttons are hidden underneath the collar flaps so it still looks like a normal collar but will stand up like a button-down.
Simon, do you have any advice on how best to fold a linen square? Your “lazy fold” is invaluable for smaller silk squares but I haven’t found a good technique that works with linen (or wool for that matter.)
With linen it’s either a square fold (get the width right with the folds then place in, and ruffle the folds after if you want), or a stuff with the points showing
Have you taken to deleting my comments, or is the system an issue; my posts of last night were from Hong Kong so not sure if that was the problem.
Either way, please let me know.
Thanks and regards.
I haven’t deleted anything Nick, but I don’t have your address to email you I’m afraid
OK, thanks Simon. My father has been a customer of Dege since as long as I can remember . He is now 90 and they have just done so,e alterations on a pair of tartan dress trousers they made for him over 30 and they fit like a glove!
Nick, glad our bespoke tailoring has stood the test of time for your father