Bespoke, from the first telephone call
How a suit gets made here, and what it asks of you.
Not much, as it happens. An hour of conversation, a few fittings, and a willingness to be measured again on Tuesday.
You don't need to know what you want. You need to know what you do all day. I'll work out the rest.
- 12 to 14weeks, first measure to collection
- 3fittings, at least
- 60hours of hand work, or thereabouts
- 4people, one of them left-handed
Five steps. You are needed for four of them.
The waiting list for a first appointment is currently about three weeks. Getting on it takes one telephone call, which Ruth answers.
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A conversation, and the measuring
You talk; Ruth listens and measures. What the suit is for, where it will go, what your days look like. You don't need the vocabulary. She has plenty for both of you.
Measure twice, as the cellar door says.
Bringthe shoes you'll wear with the suit. That is the only homework.
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Your pattern is cut
Ruth cuts your pattern in brown paper on the oak table, the one with the Blitz scar. Because she is left-handed, it is chalked from the “wrong” side. Kofi can read it anyway.
Then it is labelled in pencil and hung on a hook in the cellar, with about 11,000 others, and kept for ever. Cut once.
PhotographA new pattern on the table, chalk lines drawn from the left -
First fitting: the basted shell
You try on the first form of your suit, loosely tacked together with white thread so it can be taken apart and changed. It will look unfinished. It is meant to.
This is where the arguing starts. Ruth's, with the cloth. You mostly get to stand still and say how it feels.
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Second fitting: forward
More of it is made, and it starts to look like yours. If you have changed shape since the first fitting (people do, sometimes over a weekend) this is where it is caught.
Measure again on Tuesday.
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Final fitting, and it goes home with you
Last adjustments, and then it is yours. Somewhere inside the jacket you will find a pocket sized for a paperback. It has been in every Pellow & Vane jacket since 1921. Nobody has ever been asked if they wanted it.
From then on, alterations are free for the life of the suit. Your pattern stays downstairs, in case you come back in twenty years.
PhotographThe book pocket, inside a finished jacket, with a paperback in it
What it costs, printed where you can see it.
These are starting prices. The cloth you choose can move them, and Ruth will tell you by how much before you choose it, not after. You will never find out on collection day.
For that you get around sixty hours of hand work by four people, at least three fittings, a paper pattern of you kept for ever, and free alterations for as long as the suit lasts. Which, if the ledgers are anything to go by, is a long time.
| Two-piece suit | from£6,400 |
|---|---|
| Three-piece suit | from£7,600 |
| Jacket | from£4,600 |
| Trousers | from£1,500 |
Half on ordering, half on collection.
Cloth can change the price. You hear the figure first.
What you are wondering, answered.
If your question isn't here, ask Ruth. She has heard it before, and she will not make you feel you should have known.
Before you come
- Do I need to know what I want?
- No. You need to know what you do all day. Bring that, and Ruth will work out the rest.
- What do I wear?
- The shoes you will wear with the suit. That is the one thing Ruth asks. Beyond that, nobody downstairs is looking at what you came in; they are looking at you.
- Can I bring someone?
- Yes. Bring whoever helps you make decisions. Mention it when you ring, so there is a chair.
- I don't know the words for anything. Will that show?
- Only to you. Ruth knows the words. You know your life. Between you, that is everything a suit needs.
About the money
- Will the price be more than I can say out loud?
- It is printed above, so you can say it before you ring. A two-piece starts at £6,400. If the cloth you like costs more, Ruth tells you before you choose it.
- When do I pay?
- Half when you order, half when you collect.
- Will I be talked into extras?
- The only thing added without asking is the book pocket, and that has been the case since 1921. Everything else is your choice, with its price beside it.
About time, and shape
- Can it be done faster?
- No. Someone once offered double the price for a suit in two weeks. Ruth's answer: “You can have it fast or you can have it right. We only know how to do one of those.” If you have a date to meet, ring early. It is about twelve to fourteen weeks, plus the three-week wait for a first appointment.
- What if I change shape?
- You will. Everyone does, which is why the rule on the cellar door ends with “Measure again on Tuesday”. While the suit is being made, the fittings catch it. After you collect, alterations to your Pellow & Vane suit are free for the life of the suit. And if you come back in twenty years, you are cut from your old pattern, plus whatever the twenty years added.
- I have an old Pellow & Vane suit. Is it too late?
- It is never too late. Alterations to any Pellow & Vane suit, whatever its age, are free for the life of the suit. And the pattern it was cut from is still hanging in the cellar.
- Will you alter a suit made somewhere else?
- Another maker's bespoke suit, yes, by arrangement. Ring and describe it.
About discretion
- Who else do you make for?
- People you would recognise, and nobody is ever named. “If you want to know who else wears us, you're asking the wrong tailor.” You get the same courtesy.
- Why is there no email address?
- Ruth does not do email. Deliberately. The telephone is 020 7946 0321, and she answers it herself when she is not cutting.
- Do you come to New York?
- Twice a year Ruth takes appointments there. The dates are announced by telephone to customers on the list.
Ring Ruth. Or come and see the workshop.
The door is at street level. The workshop is downstairs, and you are welcome to see it: the table, the cellar, Dot's window, and Hugo, who will stay where he is.
- Address
- Savile Row, London W1
- Nearest Tube
- Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Circus
Hours
| Monday to Friday | 9:00 to 17:30 |
|---|---|
| Saturday | By appointment |
| Sunday | Closed |
The waiting list for a first appointment is currently about three weeks.