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Carol Alayne ~ master tailor

a blend of haute-couture and Savile Row

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Briefing for Bespoke: Line, shape, proportion

Dec 30, 2017
3 min

Briefing for Bespoke: Line, shape, proportion

You may have caught the compelling TV series “Madmen“. The story of the how the advertising industry took fire on Madisson Avenue in the 60’s. (30 years earlier the father of PR, Edward Bernays had started the ball rolling by helping the tobacco industry sell cigarettes to women with the somewhat questionable byline ‘A Torch for Liberty’!). In one episode an eager young secretary was given this down to earth advice from one of her more seasoned colleagues with regards to d

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TfW, Jaeger and the V&A

Nov 1, 2017
2 min

TfW, Jaeger and the V&A

I was thrilled recently to speak alongside a representative from the global brand Jaeger about women’s tailoring. We were both making a contribution to the Victoria & Albert Museum’s continuing series of lectures on fashion which has involved iconic figures such as Zandra Rhodes and Twiggy. Jaeger is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. It is an iconic brand which has always specialized in the use of natural fibres, including the so-called noble fibres such as angor

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Trouser roles

Oct 21, 2017
2 min

Trouser roles

I have a number of autumn/winter trousers in production at the moment. As I was putting the final hand stitches into a blue birdseye wool pair it struck me how, in a small but symbolic way, this garment had contributed to the emancipation of women in the workplace. Courrèges ‘in mid-sixties Europe was a major influence in transforming the combination of matching jacket and trousers into “acceptable formal wear for daytime professionals” (‘A History of Fashion’ J. Anderson

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Sensational Butterflies

Aug 1, 2017
2 min

Sensational Butterflies

The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity’, supposedly said the comedian George Carlin. I guess this is true in most cases. The finished product is far more attractive to look at than the work in process. But then, both can be equally amazing. I am talking about the brilliant mosaic mess you can find on my cutting room floor after a job is done! So let’s not discount the whole metamorphosis thing; what we think is an unremarkable worm is a

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Women tinkering with tailoring! Why not do it for real

Jul 27, 2017
2 min

Women tinkering with tailoring! Why not do it for real

“Annie Hall” hit the mark perfectly some 30 years ago in the eponymous film by Woody Allen. From top down, her combination of trilby, shirt and tie, waistcoat and chinos hooked a generation of women into the masculine look. Although she was by no means the first person to do so. Think of Marlene Dietrich and the allure of her androgynous cross-dressing. It seems that every autumn the fashion press re-visits this theme of masculine dressing and it appeared again in the Lon

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NHK – Bespoke for Japan; A woman’s point of view

May 14, 2017
2 min

NHK – Bespoke for Japan; A woman’s point of view

In the midst of a hectic time here in the studio; a royal wedding in Monaco, early planning for the shooting season, and gowns for the BBC Promenade concerts, I received a call to participate in the filming of a short documentary for the Japanese national broadcasters NHK. They wanted to know more about the tailoring tradition and Savile Row from a woman’s perspective. They were very much aware of how the demand for tailored clothing is changing among women as their professio

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Power Dressing, but does it empower

May 1, 2017
2 min

Power Dressing, but does it empower

The Sunday Times (UK) Style section devoted a number of column inches to the do’s and don’ts for women who find themselves at the front of the political stage either as leader or consort. It seems that once again the dilemma for high-profile women has surfaced; about giving the right sense of gravitas without appearing domineering, or warm and genuine as against frivolous and ‘fashiony’. From some of the books I have collected about the psychology of clothing its background

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Highland flair

Jan 30, 2017
2 min

Highland flair

I was working on four different Harris tweed garments last December when, by chance, I came across this article in The Guardian newspaper: Harris tweed sales soar. ‘Surely not just thanks to me’, I mused, but I was pleased with the closing remark from Lorna Macaulay, chief executive of the Harris Tweed Authority, who said: ‘There is a renaissance in handmade quality products, exactly the box Harris Tweed ticks. There is still a discerning customer out there who wants quality

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