459. The Suit, Savile Row, and Smartly Dressed Men

"His clothes seemed to melt into each other with the perfection of their cut and the quiet harmony of their colour. Without a single point of emphasis, everything was distinguished"
The suit has long served as the official attire of men in Britain, Europe and the Western World. Traditionally the uniform of the elites and an indicator of class, its purpose and design has evolved over time. Notably, in the great sweep of clothing throughout human history - from the Roman toga to the ancient Egyptian shendyt - the suit is unusual for the way that it hugs the body, rather than hanging off it. What then is the origin of this most venerable of fashions? And why has it conventionally been so much more constrained and less flamboyant than women’s clothing? The genesis of the suit dates back to 14th century Latin Christendom, a period of rapid innovation and evolution in clothing, though in England its symbolic resonance emerged during the Civil War, when the style of one’s dress became emblematic of ideology. Remarkably, however, the exact moment of its invention is recorded when, in the wake of the Great Fire of London, fears for God’s wrath and the economy, saw Charles I announce the introduction of a new design for his nobles. From this moment onwards the suit has been woven into some of the great ideological movements, moments, and characters of history.
Join Tom and Dominic as they travel through the glamorous, colourful and often adventurous history of the suit. From Chaucer’s England and the Black Death, fashion feuds between Kings, through the Napoleonic Wars, into the Highwaymen and Pirates of the 18th century; Beau Brummell and the rise of the dandy, the macaronis and the fop, right into the illustrious origins of Savile Row, and some of the suit’s famous contemporary champions…



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