Bespoken for – tailoring to suit

Measure for measure: tailor Colin Taub at his Broadway Market premises. Photograph: Antonio Curcetti

In my search for a new suit it occurred to me that I did not know where to begin. Despite being too young to remember them, I longed for halcyon days when everyone knew their tailor, just as they knew their butcher and baker.

Colin Taub, who runs his business from Broadway Market Mews, recalls this time. His father set up near Well Street when there was large number of tailors in the area.

“They’ve all gone now,” he said, “I left school and went into work with him. It (the industry) has dwindled now, the youngsters didn’t want to go into this trade. It’s all gone abroad.”

“It all comes down to price, someone would always do it a pound or two pounds cheaper. There were places that were doing it for next to nothing.”

In spite of a perceived lack of government support for the industry and facing a variety of challenges during his career, Taub said that he has survived by specialising in Teddy Boy Suits and providing a quality service.

He said: “My customers are very particular, they’re very strict on the designs. They want to look smart and look good in what they’ve bought.

“I deal with everybody individually, even if I go to a weekender. If you go to Marks & Spencer for the stock jacket and trousers, if it fits and you think you’ll look good then you’ll buy it. But when you go to a tailor it is more of a personal service.”

Saving nine: Stitch 'n' Time tailor Tunay Cesme tailor in his Stoke Newington shop. Photograph: Antonio Curcetti

In Stitch ‘n’ Time on Stoke Newington Road, Tunay Cesme explained that he and his father have worked hard in their North London shops, listened to their customers and responded to their needs.

The Cesmes are originally from Cappadocia in Turkey, which is near the capital, Ankara. Stitch ‘n’ Time was opened in 2008 and Cesme Senior has been a tailor since he was 12 years old.

“He came to London in 1992,” said Cesme of his father. “From 1992 to 2002 he was working in a factory as a machinist. The business stopped and he had jobs on and off.

“When you open you don’t have customers and you have a lot of expenses but we worked hard. We have a lot of regular customers. From last summer we started doing dry cleaning as well, as a result of customer requests.”

Cesme enjoys his work and is visibly confident in his business and its prospects: “People need tailors, there’s no pressure, you always have business if you’re a good tailor.”

Costumier Claire Ashley, who has been living in East London for around ten years, described the characteristics she believes are needed to succeed in her trade: “You’ve got to have a bit of forward-thinking, a bit of creativity and lots of individualism.

“I mostly do cabaret costumes but also a lot of tailoring and a lot of vintage styles. It’s quite varied what I do. I don’t think I could be doing what I’m doing anywhere else in London.”

Ashley said the borough and its residents have played a role in her progress, as she too has developed close relationships with her clients and earned recommendations. “All of my performers live locally. That’s brilliant because I’m not too far for them to come for fittings.

“What I love about Hackney is that it’s a proper community and I think that’s the best way to get work.

“A suit can be worn for every occasion, not just the 9-5 and weddings. No longer is the ubiquitous grey single breasted jacket with flat front trousers the go-to suit for looking your best. There is a suit for every occasion, tweed 1940s style for weekends, velvet tuxedo for evenings and white linen for summer.

“Some of the colours trending for women are crossing into menswear also, pastels, cobalt blue, scarlet and green.

“Double-breasted suits are making a comeback after being out of fashion since the 1980s. The 1930s and 1940s styling is crossing over into street fashions but wear it with modern shoes and shirt if you don’t want to look like you’ve stepped off a film set (although I do love this glamorous and groomed look!)

“Tailored shorts are the big thing for summer menswear. Make your own by cutting the legs off last season’s trousers and stitching up the hems. Make sure they are not too long, or too short. Between mid thigh and upper knee is perfect. Wear with loafers or city lace-up sandals, not trainers or flip flops. And only wear knee high socks and sandals if you are under 30 and hang out in London Fields park.

“I am loving the comeback of hats for men in Hackney. Hats no longer mean a baseball cap or woollen ear-warmer but a gorgeous straw trilby or panama, flat caps in print or tweed, boaters and pork pies.

Hats are on the catwalk, on the high street and Hackney men have embraced the trend. I love them for the finish they give an outfit, and the practicality for sun and rain protection, and covering up a ‘needing a haircut’ day.”