On, Off Savile Row, A tailor's story

If you live in the London square mile, care about the way you look and can afford to spend a few thousand quid on clothing? Then a visit to 32 Elder Street Spitalfield would be time and effort well invested. Why Spitalfield? It's the headquarters of Timothy Everest Bespoke, an expert Savile Row Tailor, off Savile Row. Why not on Savile Row? Why not be different? His workhouse from top to bottom is a hive of activity as all component parts of suiting are precisely engineered in readiness for the finished product. Take a tour and you will see where every penny of your spend goes. Nothing is left to guess; upon departure you'll have learned the constructs of your £3,000 suit and happily pay the price.

32 Elder Street Spitalfield, once the home of Jewish artist Mark Gertler, member of the Bloomsbury Group and painter of the famous Modernist work, The Merry-Go-Round (1916) its resident long gone. Timothy an artist of a different discipline stepped in, oversaw refurbishments leaving no detail to chance, attention is even given to the clips that attach electrical wires to wall, their origin and history documented. Now in complete transformation, some of the finest suiting in London is despatched. There's a thread of sincerity in each garment produced by Timothy, from finest suits to simple neckties.

If you can't afford to spend £3,000 on clothing, Marks and Spencers have Timothy Everest "Autograph" range of suits, they're made from 100% pure new wool and cost less than £300. You will also find Autograph shirts and ties to match, one stop and you'll walk away with a set of high quality clothing for less than £1,000.

Finally: Timothy Everest premier collection of silk ties is on display at selected retailers. Set against an autumn landscape, they celebrate a return to geometric patterns, symmetry the order of the day. Nothing is lost as small patterns pronounced by light colours and arrangement against a backdrop of richly textured burgundy, brown and midnight blue. There's value in conservative styling, not being a novelty it doesn't wear off, so as fashion completes many cycles, in years to come won't look out of place. And coordinating becomes a welcome task. Select wisely. Who is Timothy Everest? "Find out"

Meanwhile Vivienne Westwood edges closer to Savile Row, the most likely candidate should she ever take up residence to blow a wind of radical change on the Row not seen since Richard James introduced Saturday Trading in 1992.

Closing anecdotes: Spitalfields was known for its music halls, which grew out of music rooms at the back of pubs. Charlie Chaplin made his first stage appearance in the now demolished Royal Cambridge Music Hall in Commercial Street. The latest trend is for galleries to spring up in cafes and bars, style evolves.

1860, the Prince of Wales ordered a short smoking jacket to wear at informal dinner parties at Sandringham from his friend, the tailor, Henry Poole. It was the first dinner jacket on record and was cut in midnight blue cloth. In 1886, a Mr James Potter of Tuxedo Park, New York, was a houseguest at Sandringham. He consequently ordered a similar dinner jacket to Bertie's from Henry Poole & Co. It was this dinner jacket that Mr Potter wore at the Tuxedo Park Club inspiring numerous copies that fellow members wore as informal uniform for stag dinners. Thus the Tuxedo was born at Henry Poole & Co. It took only eight years for an accidental style to cross the Atlantic Ocean and soon became an American institution "a movable style"

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