The Tailor and Cutter remembered by Eric Musgrave

Author of Sharp Suits and the former editorial director of Drapers, Mr Musgrave is a writer and commentator on menswear, textiles and fashion retailing. This is the fourth in a series of 12 contributions featuring the fascinating finds of The Tailor & Cutter.

Double your money

Within mainstream fashion, the double-breasted suit has been an outcast for decades. It last flourished as far back as the late 1980s and early 1990s when Signor Armani and his many copiers enjoyed a moment in the sun.

These days, any good-looking DB spotted is likely to have been made for its wearer. To choose to wear a double-breasted jacket and matching trousers is the mark of a man (or woman) who is prepared to put in to their clothes a little more effort.

A DB jacket should be kept fastened, even when the wearer is seated, and balancing the proportions of the trousers to the jacket is not as easy as it is with a single-breasted jacket. Yet, when expert tailor and proud wearer combine, the effect is delightful, as was well evidenced in the pages of The Tailor & Cutter magazine over the years.

Just right for pier or promenade: a summer DB suit promoted in The Tailor & Cutter 7 April 1939.

As with all menswear, the modern DB ensemble did not just fall out of the sky one day. It is the result of centuries of stylish and tailoring evolution. This Victorian engraving from The T&C in 1888 shows a fine fellow in his handsome frock coat – and the origins of the modern DB are obvious. The “wrap” of the coat, covering from one side of the body to the other, is retained in the contemporary DB.

From 1888, the quintessential DB frock coat.

Just four years later the skirt of the frock coat has disappeared and a modern-looking DB jacket is presented. Note the decorative inserts to the revers or lapels, the sloping breast pocket and the covered buttons.

A summer look from 1892.

Further evidence of the lineage of the modern DB can be seen in these two wartime covers from the magazine. The style of these World War Two coats had changed little in about 150 years. Once the front panels of the great coats were folded back open, the shape and form of the modern lapels began to appear in men’s tailoring, and the DB silhouette started to take shape.

Just weeks before the start of WWII, on 11 August 1939, The T&C features a military greatcoat, followed a couple of years later, on 31 December 1941, by its naval equivalent showing the inspiration for the classic DB.

From its naval origins, a short double-breasted jacket was once referred to as a reefer. The term is employed here in regards to a suit to describe what is quite a formal outfit, far removed for the utilitarian nature of the original nautical reefer. Note the four-button or six-button options of these 1930s suits; each uses only two buttons for fastening.

Covers from 18 September 1936, 5 May 1939, 13 December 1940. Apologies for their less-than-pristine state - they are all about 80 years old.

For some today, a double-breasted dinner suit is an option, but in the immediate pre-WW2 era, The T&C favoured white tuxedos. These images show the options of the classic peak lapel and some alternatives thereof.

A fashion plate from 19 June 1936, plus covers from 27 August 1937 and 14 April 1939. Note the scope for creativity within even the white DB option.

And to sign off, a bravura DB blazer from 1961 designed and worn by Leonard Whitley, managing director of London tailoring firm Benson, Perry and Whitley, of Cork Street, just off Savile Row. We learn from The T&C that he was a third-generation tailor and an Edinburgh man born and bred. No wonder he has such style.

London tailor Leonard Whitley featured in the 31 March 1961 issue.