Readers, Here are buttons I bought at Wayward, the shop I visited on a day trip out of London last Saturday. They deserve their own post. I’ve never thought of myself as a collector, but…now I think I’m a collector of vintage buttons. They’re irresistible. (They’re also easier to tote home in a suitcase than […]
Field Trip: Wayward, St. Leonards On Sea, East Sussex, England
Readers, Ever since I met Andrew Hirst a year and a half ago at his Portobello Road Market stall, I’ve wanted to take a train down from London to the town of St. Leonards On Sea to see his shop, Wayward, which he describes as “an emporium of vintage haberdashery and treasures.” I had been […]
Tailoring with Savile Row Tailors, Day 5: An Album
Readers, Two days ago our class was taken on a whirlwind tour of four London tailoring companies: Henry Poole & Co., Huntsman, Anderson and Sheppard, and Gieves & Hawkes. At each stop, with a bag hoisted onto one shoulder, I would start by scribbling furiously in my reporter’s notebook about the year the firm was […]
Tailoring with Savile Row Tailors: Days 3 and 4
Readers, In class today I found myself writing a letter in my head to my sewing teacher. Here it is. Hello Edith! Get out the smelling salts because you may be in for a shock. Yesterday and today in class I drafted a trouser pattern. No, really! I, who have been resisting your entreaties for […]
Tailoring with Savile Row Tailors: Day 2
Readers, Today’s post could be subtitled “The Secret Language of Menswear.” My classmates’ and my mission today was to crack the code of lapels, pockets, buttons, fit, and shoulder shaping to determine the “house style” of various tailoring establishments. Our instructor, tailor Victoria Townsend, gave us a map of London’s West End with a list […]
Tailoring with Savile Row Tailors: Day 1
Readers, I walked out of the first day of my short course at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London thinking a new thought: “I must get a thimble that fits!” I, who had scored so high in both finger dexterity and small-tool dexterity tests at Johnson O’Connor, was ham-handedly threading a tiny needle with […]
Field Trip: Vintage Fashion and Accessory Fair, Hammersmith, London
Readers, I had conversations with wonderful vendors and bought beautiful, intriguing vintage buttons in the two and a half hours I whiled away at the Vintage Fashion and Accessory Fair yesterday. Hammersmith Town Hall’s exterior is nothing to excite comment, that’s for sure. But just step inside during one of these fairs and it’s vintage […]