Bob Bigg has worked as a coatmaker on or around Savile Row all his life. He began his apprenticeship at the age of 16 and 60 years later he is still working, supervising and training. He worked with many tailors at the time, including Anthony Sinclair, who was the famous tailor to Harry Helman and Sean Connery.

But what was most interesting to me as I talked to Bob about the Row in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s was how different it was. It wasn’t dominated by the names we know now, and there was some sloppy work. On the positive side, it seemed like fun.

After hearing Bob’s stories for years – especially while visiting the Whitcomb & Shaftesbury workshop in India that Bob set up last year (below) – we finally took the time last week to sit down and talk about them all.

PS: Bob, tell us a bit about what Savile Row was like in the 1960s when you started.

Bob Vick: Like most coat makers, I learned my trade in Soho. You started in the workshop there and worked your way up if you were good enough. The place where I trained was across the street from the brothel, so it was a pretty colorful place to work.

I completed my apprenticeship and moved to Savile Row when I was 23 years old. It was a very busy place. The ‘trotters’ were running around all the time, moving from the tailor to the workshop and back again. The genealogy had a large black bag (pocket type) made from Silesia, in which everything was stored.

What did tailors wear in those days?

There used to be very formal dressing, but it slowly disappeared. One of my favorites was Johnny Reed (Jarvis & Hamilton’s cutter). He would go to work wearing a light linen jacket and perhaps casual trousers. He then changed into his work clothes. It was a shirt with a starched detachable collar, cashmere (a black cashmere jacket), a white waistcoat and a shirt with a flower in the buttonhole. It is often a bowler hat.

The collar allowed him to walk around with his nose in the air most of the time.

Was there a house like this on Savile Row?

No, the only one still in the same position is the Huntsman. Dege was in Clifford Street, Norton was in Conduit Street, Poole was in Cork Street and Davies was in Maddox. Hawkes was in the same place, but Gieves was in Bond Street. Gieves moved to Savile Row when it was bombed by the IRA.

So were all these names we think of as row stalwarts scattered around the surrounding streets?

yes. Anderson’s was on the Row, but of course they moved out of there. Kilgour was a celebrity, but they were in Dover Street.

Was Savile Row still the center of things?

Yes, it was still considered a centre, but there were generally a lot more tailors on all the surrounding streets and both on the ground floor and upstairs. Too many names have been lost. Downstairs at Whitcomb there is a bulletin board with a list of everything that used to be there.

Was it common for tailors to have a clear line of succession, with one generation taking over from the next?

No, it doesn’t. They usually centered around one cutter or owner, and as they went, the place either closed or merged with another.

In some homes, ownership made a difference. For example, Anderson & Sheppard was acquired by Tiny Rowland at the request of the cutter.

Looking at the big Savile Row houses now, it’s easy to think the British are good at succession. But in reality, our impression is distorted because we do not see everything that is closed, but only what is left.

Yes, the only two people who actually went through a succession like this are Poole and Dege.

Who were the other big tailors considered at the time?

JB Johnstone’s Like Carr Son & Woor, it was also large. One of the most respected of Lesley & Roberts was Harry Helman. Benson Perry & Whitley of Cork Street have made suits for many stars and even made suits for Dr No. Ian Fleming and Sean Connery also had their suits made there.

As for the next Bond movie, I remember they wanted too many suits and Benson couldn’t do it. So they went to Anthony Sinclair (with Connery above). Roger Moore had his suits made there for his first film, but then left. He didn’t like it and said the suit was trash. Sinclair was using fusion in some field at the time. It was one of the first times to do so.

That was one of the first places you worked, right?

Yes, Sinclair was one of my first jobs. He was on the first floor of Conduit Street, where the Tateossian is now, and had a studio on the fourth floor. It was a good setting.

He found it painful to work. He was the kind of guy who would change the sleeves he cut and expect them to actually fit into the armhole. But later you will find out that you did exactly that!

Didn’t we witness the great reconciliation between Connery and Moore?

Ah, that’s right. There were many articles in the newspapers at the time about the two men arguing. It was not long after Moore became Bond.

I was working in Cork Street and there was a pub on the corner of the 19th. I got on the phone and someone said, “Bob, come here, you’re going to see the real story.” I turned around and saw Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Ian Carmichael, Trevor Howard, and Kenneth Moore all urinating.

Who was considered the biggest celebrity at the time?

David Niven (below) was one of the biggest. I made a lot of things for him and he was considered the best dressed man around.

He was a really good person too. As I remember he was in the shop and needed some changes done. Maybe they replaced the buttons. Even though he was older at the time, he went down to the basement and tried to give the girls 50 pounds to say thank you. It was tiring for him to do it, but he wanted to do it.

You can see the real character of many people in that environment. How much I admire people who put in the effort to make themselves look good.

Was it a big deal for Sinclair to work for Connery at the time?

Oh yeah, it was a big deal for him. But yelling about it isn’t necessarily necessary.

Why not?

Well, you’re still selling an exclusive piece, and bragging about who it’s for doesn’t look good, and besides, the customer probably doesn’t feel like you’re their own tailor at the time.

We’ve had quite a few such customers over the past few years. I had a few people in Palm Beach who would drive me there when I had surgery, and they never wanted me to say I made it for them. They all seemed to like the suit, but they wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else.

Today we will call it gatekeeping.

That’s correct. But it didn’t matter because they ordered enough and I was staying with one person. Well, you can’t really call it a house, but it was private property. The man was incredibly rich. I remember him saying that becoming a billionaire is easy. All you need is your great-grandfather who runs a dirt farm in Texas to discover oil!

Were they knowledgeable customers?

Ah, that’s right. To be honest, perhaps the biggest difference between tailoring then and now is the sophistication of the customer.

There’s something about the way I pull my shoulders together when I wear a suit, and people always seem to say it’s comfortable. Well, he will know if someone else has ever made a suit for him, just by the slightest difference in the feel of the shoulders.

What’s another big difference between then and now?

In terms of products, the biggest change is how much ready-made clothing has developed. And that’s the trade’s fault. They never caught up.

When I first started, there was some really crap going on. Some manufacturers had poor quality and rough finishes. But customers didn’t really have a choice. There was no good alternative.

For example, Johnny Reed (above) had very high standards and knew this great finisher would get the job done. One customer refused to accept that the buttonholes were not machine-made, and he had to take the customer to the workshop to prove it. The buttonholes were so neat.

At the time, some of the finishes were really poor and it looked like it was covered in spiders.

So are today’s standards much higher?

Of course, all that remains now is the high end. The middle and bottom of the market are gone.

It’s similar to women’s fashion, but not as extreme. At that time, many women had couture items and they were expensive. A top-of-the-line skirt would have cost £600 (more than £8000 today). But there was no alternative. Now only the top part remains.

I think that’s reassuring. Because some readers will think things were better in the past when they read all the history of Savile Row etc. Was fabric better in the past?

Well, in many ways it’s not better. Nothing was okay. However, the cloth was left to hang longer. After I spun the thread, it sat still for a year. The cloth could be woven and stored for another year. Now, as they say, it’s straight from the sheep’s back to the chopping block.

This is the London set, or London as it is sometimes reduced. How does this affect the fabric?

It usually becomes denser and drier. It’s not for everyone and many people won’t like it. But it has a unique character and fits very well. You can work it with an iron, shrink it and shape it. It’s worth a try for a moment.

Thanks Bob. We are actually preparing vintage products. It would be interesting to try.

Part 2 of the interview, working title ‘Bespoke, alcohol and ladies!’ It will be published next week.