0:00:02 > 0:00:07ENGINE FAILS TO START 'A maiden in distress. But what's this? A knight arriving on the scene.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10'He's not in shining armour, but look at that perfectly fitting jacket,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'sleeves just the right length, and a nice hang to the trousers.'
0:00:13 > 0:00:15MUSIC: Quiet Life by Japan
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The gentleman's lounge suit has glamour, sex appeal,
0:00:20 > 0:00:25and can signal a timeless image of cool.
0:00:25 > 0:00:26# Boys
0:00:26 > 0:00:32# Now the times are changing the going could get rough
0:00:32 > 0:00:33# Boys... #
0:00:33 > 0:00:37But it also stands for a world of drudgery,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41bland bureaucracy, the very essence of squareness.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49How the suit manages to provoke such opposite reactions amazes me.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54I want to find out what makes a suit so special,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57how its evolution isn't only a story of fashion and tailoring,
0:00:57 > 0:00:59but a barometer of our social history.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04And ultimately, something that actually tells us what it means to be a man.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10There's something great about a grey flannel suit,
0:01:10 > 0:01:16it feels very British in a nice way, and it makes you look good.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21It makes you feel good. Elegant, important, sexy, tall.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25'Women love a man in a suit.'
0:01:25 > 0:01:30The suit indicates success, success, success.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I wouldn't really describe myself as a suit person.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45I remember turning up wearing casual clothes in the first day
0:01:45 > 0:01:47of my new job as a journalist seven years ago,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and being told that I looked like a scruff ball
0:01:50 > 0:01:53and that I needed to start dressing a bit more smartly,
0:01:53 > 0:01:55which meant of course wearing a suit,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59but I didn't actually buy my first suit until about a year ago,
0:01:59 > 0:02:00when I got married in it.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05It was off the peg, but I was very pleased with it because I guess it made me feel sharp,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and contributed to the sense of occasion,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and I suppose that on a subliminal psychological level,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16it helped me get into the role of playing a proper grown-up man.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19'Trouble with the set?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22'Good thing there's a man about who knows what he's doing.'
0:02:24 > 0:02:25I don't think I'm untypical.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29For a generation, the suit has become an unappealing prospect,
0:02:29 > 0:02:36a dull daily uniform or stuffy historical costume worn only for formal occasions.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Can you take me to Charlie Allen's, Upper Street, yeah?
0:02:43 > 0:02:51'So I'm off to properly get to grips with the nuts and bolts of the traditional suit.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55'And to do that, I need to speak to someone who makes them.'
0:02:55 > 0:03:01MUSIC: Le Tombeau De Couperin: VI Toccata played by James Rhodes
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Charlie Allen is a third-generation tailor.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11- Hi there, how are you?- How are you? - Good.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15'Along with his master cutter, Mr Moto,'
0:03:15 > 0:03:21he offers a fully bespoke tailoring service,
0:03:21 > 0:03:26where each suit is designed and fitted to the customer's precise predilections.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34There are 220 different components to a suit,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39and it's the detail that matters so much.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43- Top to bottom, give me all the options.- Right.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48The best way is to draw it... I'll start off with the lapels.
0:03:48 > 0:03:54- That's a step lapel. You can have peak lapel.- You've got a peak lapel.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56I've got a peak on here.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59If you want to look sharp and slim and neat,
0:03:59 > 0:04:04have your pockets slanted and narrow, the flaps quite narrow,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08not too long and deep, shortens the body when you have a deeper flap.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12- So you're always manipulating the eye, really.- Absolutely.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16- You're an illusionist. - That's it. That's what a tailor should be called.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20It depends on the actual body that you're working with.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26'During an initial consultation, the skill of a tailor is way and above
0:04:26 > 0:04:31'simply recording waist and inside leg measurements.'
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Is there any point in me sucking in my stomach?
0:04:33 > 0:04:38No, no, that's why you're here. Be yourself. Relax.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43He is also discreetly assessing a client's unique body type,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47his mannerisms and deportment, warts and all.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- Now, I'm looking at you, and you drop to one side.- Drop?
0:04:50 > 0:04:53- What does that mean?- One shoulder's slightly lower than the other.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57- That doesn't sound good. - No, but it's fine. It's normal.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59- Is there anything I can do about this?- No.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Normally, you have one arm longer than the other,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06so we have to check that as well, so we will check that on your jacket.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08- Do I?- Yeah, you do. - Yeah, of course.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Keep it quiet, because we're very discreet.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Back to the choices available with even a simple suit,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19and it's onto the trousers.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25These are a few of the finishes you can have, a slanted side pocket,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29or you can have welt pockets, or you can have frog.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35People won't believe you, frog pockets. Why's it called frog?
0:05:35 > 0:05:42Because it's a frog mouth, wide mouth, and it goes straight across.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- Or you can have Chinese pockets. - Chinese pockets?
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Yes, which go into the waistband.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Or you can have Western pockets, which is a rounded frog pocket.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Rounded Western frog?
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Yeah, then you can have the welt pockets,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59you can have jetted with flap, or just the flap, or...
0:05:59 > 0:06:03- Jetted with no flap. - Jetted with no flap.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05I recommend pleats,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09for someone who's got more prominent seat, as you call it.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11You know, wider in the hip.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- That's tailor speak for a fat arse! - Yes!- What about buttons, though?
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- You've given me one button. - You can have two, three.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22- Which one do you do up? - Always do the middle.- Always middle.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- If there's three, always do the one on the waist.- What if there are two?
0:06:26 > 0:06:29If there's two, always do the top one, but never do both.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- Never do both?- No.- Why not? - Because you look like a newscaster.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39It seems that sartorial elegance for men hangs on a thread,
0:06:39 > 0:06:45and decoding the rules of the suit is much more complex than you might imagine.
0:06:45 > 0:06:51The sleeve-button formation, you can have two, three,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I always recommend four because it's a nice figure.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Why do you like four? What do you mean it's a nice figure, why not three?
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Well, because three just doesn't look enough and four looks right.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06- Five, too many.- It's flamboyant. - Yeah. It's a bit dandy.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10This now looks like you are sketching a suit of medieval armour.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Oh, right. It's modern-day armour,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16it's a suit that you feel comfortable in, hardly protective
0:07:16 > 0:07:19but mentally, it's something that you feel really comfortable in
0:07:19 > 0:07:21and you can fight the world in.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Wow...it's dark now.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38I've been in there for quite a while with Charlie and I'm stunned.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42I'm almost speechless about the limitless possibilities
0:07:42 > 0:07:45of what you can do with a bespoke suit.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46It never ends.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50I knew that you could have some details, but he has completely opened my eyes.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56I feel like I've gone into a garage, opened the bonnet of a beautiful sports car
0:07:56 > 0:08:00and seen this unbelievable machinery and engineering underneath.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03You've got your lapels, they can be peak, they can be notched,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06the pockets, you have all these varieties, ticket pockets,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09fob pocket, frog mouth pocket, you can have a flap pocket,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11a patch pocket, a jetted pocket.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13You can have your trousers wide like Oxford bags,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17you can have drainpipe, narrow trousers, you can have turn-ups,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20you can have a zipper, you can have fly buttons...
0:08:24 > 0:08:26That is an art.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29It looks so simple and effortless when it's worn,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32but it's a thing of beauty.
0:08:35 > 0:08:42I'm beginning to really see that there is something unashamedly masculine about this mental armour
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and the world that surrounds it.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00But what surprises me is the gentleman's suit
0:09:00 > 0:09:03is currently also a fashion must-have on the High Street.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08# When I'm with you baby I go out of my head
0:09:08 > 0:09:10# I just can't get enough
0:09:10 > 0:09:12# I just can't get enough... #
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Designers at Top Man have a customer in mind.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22He's between 17 and 30, fashion forward and definitely no square.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29And yet, they're selling more suits than ever.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33The suit will make you feel different.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35It changes your posture,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37gives you a bit more authority,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40makes you look at yourself differently.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43You feel less slovenly in it, whatever the price was, if you know what I mean.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The perfect suit, I think, is the suit of the moment, really,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50because it reflects the times and it reflects society,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and that's what fashion is about.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04I'm quite surprised to hear that what I think of as a traditional outfit,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08a boring old suit, is claiming a bit of fashion credibility.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14What are some of the details that you've created with this jacket,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17which makes it more fashiony than traditional?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20When we first introduced the sort of skinnier-fit suit,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23it was literally all about the shaping.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26So it was taking the shoulders in, making them narrower,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28raising the sort of armhole here,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30making the sleeves slightly narrower as well,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35and then working a lot on the trouser shapes and making that as skinny as we can.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Which you can see on the mannequins. This is how you are suggesting they should be worn.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42This is how they're being worn at the moment, still elegant
0:10:42 > 0:10:49and still stylish, but it sits into that kind of fashion side as opposed to just being like a suit for work.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51# On the plane, on my brain 'Bout to do the sho'
0:10:51 > 0:10:55# 40K contract Take it out the door
0:10:55 > 0:10:58# Dive symbolise my life Roll 'em on the flo'... #
0:10:58 > 0:11:01A 19-year-old student might know what they're doing in here,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04but I'm still needing a bit of help.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05# While we watch the TV... #
0:11:05 > 0:11:10Time for a crash course in the very now rules of wearing a suit.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Bands and TV stars come to be professionally styled here by Michael Dale.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20OK, yes, so if we want to start putting some bits on
0:11:20 > 0:11:24and then we can start styling it up, working the accessories out.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31He's chosen me a suit, but not as we know it.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35I'm going to see whether these very, very skinny trousers actually fit.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40If I just pull in my stomach then I think, you know, I think that works.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44I don't think I've ever in my life worn a neckerchief.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Put it round, feels like a granny putting something over her head.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54The crucial part of the suit...
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Quite tight here at Top Man!
0:12:00 > 0:12:02That really is quite tight, isn't it?
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I know there's an Italian design, with a very short jacket,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07and it's known as the bum freezer.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09I feel like my bum would get quite cold wearing this thing.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11I'm not sure I can do this up!
0:12:11 > 0:12:14I think this jacket is a little bit too small.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I think everything else is a good fit.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21- The neckerchief is not working, is it?- It look amazing, you're working it.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25I'm slightly sceptical about the cravat, Michael.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28You could even push the sleeves up and have it a bit more of a casual...
0:12:28 > 0:12:33- Push them up?- Yeah, like that. So what do you think?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36- What's the verdict? - Well, what is the verdict?
0:12:36 > 0:12:40I think it's a very fresh look for you, it's young, it's hip,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43it's a very different take on your standard suit, you know?
0:12:43 > 0:12:44A different take.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48That is the thing that I find most baffling in a sense about this.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51I've just begun the whole process of finding out about the suit,
0:12:51 > 0:12:57and I had a particular vision of the suit as something quite traditional, quite Savile Row, and this isn't it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:04It's so different, and already I'm getting a sense that the suit is such a kind of slippery concept.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08If you're not comfortable about what you're wearing, it shows.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18I'm a little bit unsettled by my High Street fashion encounter
0:13:18 > 0:13:22with the nipped-in, cropped, too-cool-for-school suit.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28To understand how the suit evolved into that,
0:13:28 > 0:13:29I need to find out how it all began,
0:13:29 > 0:13:34and why this particular configuration of menswear, the classic lounge suit,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36has come to dominate.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41Ever since 1800, English tailoring has dominated the world.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Since then, all men have dressed as bankers
0:13:43 > 0:13:46because that was the way to reassure the little woman
0:13:46 > 0:13:49that you were going to support her for the rest of her life.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52And it all started with the frock coat.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56The frock coat, here we are.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58This is the precursor of our modern lounge suit.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03This is very respectable, that was the nature of the Victorian era,
0:14:03 > 0:14:04we were respectable,
0:14:04 > 0:14:10hard-working, honest, working for Queen and country and for the mercantile empire.
0:14:10 > 0:14:18The line of two buttons going up the chest like this, slightly flaring, emphasises the manly torso,
0:14:18 > 0:14:23- the wide shoulder, the slim waist. - I see.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Always about masculinity, about presenting yourself to the world.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Totally, and also looking like a proper warrior.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Actually, you will hate this,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35but if you took a pair of shears and went duf-duf-duf across there,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38- you've got a double-breasted modern lounge suit jacket. - That's it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43This was still being worn way up into the First World War and beyond
0:14:43 > 0:14:47by a certain echelon of society for respectability.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50But there was a great movement that started in the late 1800s,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53so 1860 it began,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59where this began to be seen as old-fashioned, fuddy duddy, too restrictive.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02By 1900, the poor frock coat was history.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06People didn't want to wear them any more. So last season. So last century, even.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Quite right. So last monarch.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11# Victoria
0:15:11 > 0:15:14# Victoria
0:15:14 > 0:15:17# Victoria, Victoria... #
0:15:17 > 0:15:20So instead of the stuffy frock coat,
0:15:20 > 0:15:26this is exactly what the very first English lounge suits would have looked like.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31Fittingly enough, for a period without central heating,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34what strikes me about this suit is its weight.
0:15:34 > 0:15:40The fabric is much thicker and heavier than suits that we wear now, but I think it's pretty sharp.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45Eric, I like the feel of this suit, and I like the look of it. I like this.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48This is a country check and it would be worn in the country,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51but if you imagine a plain blue, a plain black, a dark grey,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54that's what the businessman would have been wearing around town.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59So the cut and the shape, this was typical of the new lounge suits at the turn of the century.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04Correct, correct. We've got a waistcoat covering up the shirt for respectability,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06the shirt was regarded as underwear.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09The collar, which is missing, would have been changed on a daily basis,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14obviously washing machines were hardly common in those days,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16so it was much easier to wash the collar and cuffs.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18So the same shirt for a whole week?
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Absolutely, that would not be uncommon.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Now one thing I can just suggest here,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27the form is on a waistcoat to have the last button unbuttoned,
0:16:27 > 0:16:32I think we've got a little bit of a slightly dandyish thing going on here.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I agree, I think it's really good. It's making me stand differently as well.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Yes, that's a modern look for the modern 20th-century man.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44This suit is more than 100 years old in style,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46but it's not so different to suits we wear today,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51and it looks every inch the symbol of the sober establishment.
0:16:51 > 0:16:58But there was a time and a place when wearing a suit exactly like that seemed revolutionary.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Parliament... one of the few places where the suit is still an absolute necessity.
0:17:09 > 0:17:15John Sergeant reported on the goings-on in this place for more than 20 years,
0:17:15 > 0:17:20and has seen first-hand the role that the suit plays in the House of Commons.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24The thing that intrigues me is, you think about politicians today
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and the way they present themselves,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29in an era of spin, image is so important, they all wear suits.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33The point about that is, is that they wear the same clothes in order,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35in a way not to stand out,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39because they don't want to be, oh, what are you wearing today?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42It's a uniform, it makes it simple and you can go and work.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43It's like anywhere else.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49But in the 1890s, everyone here wore a frock coat,
0:17:49 > 0:17:55until Keir Hardie was elected an MP and turned up wearing a lounge suit.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Keir Hardie, one of the founders of the Labour Party,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02but when he arrived, a radical miners' leader,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05he'd organised a strike in Lanarkshire,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10he wasn't going to wear the sort of very formal frock coat and all that sort of stuff.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14No, he was going to wear what he regarded as an ordinary suit, and that made a very big difference.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19But he wanted to stand out. He was different. He wasn't part of the British establishment.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- He was making that point by what he wore?- Yeah.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But I suppose the irony is that it becomes the establishment gear,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29you know, wear a suit, fit in. Not wear a suit, look odd.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32In the '90s, New Labour came to power
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and it was a new era in politics, an age of spin, image was all important,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41and Blair and the politicians in Labour wanted to present a more relaxed attitude.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45They would appear without jackets, they would roll up their shirt sleeves.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Was that all a conscious decision on their part, do you think?
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Yes, cos they always try to give the impression
0:18:51 > 0:18:54they're new, they're offering something fresh.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56Does it work? Do people buy it?
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Well, no, because sometimes people are saying why don't they look smarter, or they lose authority,
0:19:01 > 0:19:09and one of the problems of that sort of smart casual, let's just be folk, you can push it too far.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12People say, wait a moment, he's dressed up like I am,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and he's meant to be running the country.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16He's meant to be different from me.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20So you've got to be careful about, oh, we're all mucking in together, aren't we?
0:19:20 > 0:19:22So during the Blair period, it's quite uneasy.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26People thinking, OK, I've taken my tie off, what do I do now,
0:19:26 > 0:19:32and how do I impress my authority on people if I haven't got a uniform on,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35if I don't look smarter and more organised than other people?
0:19:35 > 0:19:37So sometimes, the jeans and the casual look
0:19:37 > 0:19:41can give the impression you're casual about the state of the country.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52It's difficult to imagine that the suit, as we understand it now,
0:19:52 > 0:19:59was actually seen as a more casual option, the V-neck and jeans of a different age.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05But one man, a prince, and a king in waiting,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09was to do more for the popularity and the innovation of the suit than any other,
0:20:09 > 0:20:16and he helped to make this street synonymous with classic English tailoring, the world over.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27This is Savile Row, and when you say suit, this is what I think of.
0:20:36 > 0:20:42'The impossibly dapper Patrick Grant bought an ailing tailor's company here in 2003.
0:20:44 > 0:20:50'Now, he's Menswear Designer of the Year and he's very much the contemporary face of Savile Row.'
0:20:54 > 0:20:58There's something great about a grey flannel suit,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01it feels very British in a nice way and it, you know, it makes you look good.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06Grant's style hero is a surprising advocate of the lounge suit,
0:21:06 > 0:21:07the Duke of Windsor.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11He was probably the most photographed man in the world
0:21:11 > 0:21:15in an era where clothing changed very, very dramatically.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21Born in 1894, Edward, the Duke of Windsor was raised to inherit the Crown
0:21:21 > 0:21:24by the cripplingly formal King George V.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27There's a great quote in one of his books,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31he never saw his father without a starched collar on in his life,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35whether he was shooting or going to the opera,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38he always wore very, very, very formal clothes.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43And the Duke of Windsor really dragged us out of that very starchy, very stiff period.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46You can probably credit him with making the lounge suit
0:21:46 > 0:21:49an acceptable form of dress for everyone.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53MUSIC: Rebel Rebel by David Bowie
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Sotheby's sold his entire wardrobe in 1997,
0:21:57 > 0:22:03and the catalogue from the sale is one of Patrick's prized possessions.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07But you look at the colours and the patterns in his wardrobe,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11and it was really something spectacular when you think about what his father wore.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13- Here we go. - So these are his clothes.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18This is his stuff, I love this photo, the array of pattern and colour,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22he would have had a wardrobe like this in all of his houses.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26- They're quite loud. - Oh, they're very, very loud.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30You think of him in black and white. A lot of the photos are black and white.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33They are. But you know, there's so much colour.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36He just had exquisite taste in everything.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40I mean, he was obviously wealthy enough to go to the finest craftsmen that England offered.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44- Look at the trousers! - This is ridiculous, how can you say he had good taste?!
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Well, I mean, he enjoyed clothes, he was a flamboyant dresser.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50# Got your mother in a whirl... #
0:22:50 > 0:22:53He was pushing the boundaries all the time,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and he was always getting chastised by his father.
0:22:56 > 0:23:03I think that's part of the reason that really he was not thought of as kind of good king material.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07# Rebel, rebel you've torn your dress Rebel, rebel... #
0:23:07 > 0:23:13Throughout everything he writes, it's clear that he obsessed about clothes and the way things looked.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16I mean, he just wore things in a really fantastic way.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20- Lots of patterns. - Lots of patterns, he was always combining pattern and colour.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24- There was nothing drab in what he wore. Look at that!- Phwoar!
0:23:24 > 0:23:27That's a corker. That's probably an afternoon tea suit.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Afternoon tea suit? It's like loud Saturday night entertainment!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34It's very kind of Bay City Rollers.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37But you know, he somehow managed to pull it off.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41# Hot tramp I love you so... #
0:23:41 > 0:23:46One of the things I like about the story Patrick told me about the Duke of Windsor
0:23:46 > 0:23:50is that like a lot of young men, he was reacting against his dad!
0:23:50 > 0:23:53He thought his dad was quite stuffy and overly formal,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and he wanted to have a much more casual, fun-loving approach to life.
0:23:57 > 0:24:03And I love the way he signalled this to the world by using and wearing lounge suits.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07And I love the idea that Keir Hardie introduced the lounge suit to Parliament
0:24:07 > 0:24:09as an almost revolutionary gesture,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and just three decades later, you've got the Duke of Windsor,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16future King Edward VIII, before he abdicated,
0:24:16 > 0:24:21wearing this casual, quite loose, soft-fitting garment,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24the lounge suit, completely had gone right up the social scale.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27And that set the tone for what was to follow.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Soon afterwards, it was going to be adopted
0:24:29 > 0:24:33and worn by pretty much most British men who wanted to work.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'This young man is obviously heading for the top.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45'He knows he must be well-dressed, and that means superb styling
0:24:45 > 0:24:49'and skilled craftsmanship to the last detail.'
0:24:49 > 0:24:53MUSIC: Fade To Grey by Visage
0:24:58 > 0:25:04# Ah, ah, we fade to grey Fade to grey... #
0:25:04 > 0:25:07From the board room to the shop floor,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10every man who wanted to get on had to have a suit.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12# We fade to grey Fade to grey... #
0:25:12 > 0:25:15But it didn't stop there.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18A man's suit was worn everywhere,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21as Sunday Best,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and even on the beach.
0:25:24 > 0:25:30The simple lounge suit reduced all men to a sea of serge and grey flannel.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36In a world without jeans and rock and roll,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38it was a suit that even signalled sex appeal.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46Retailers of suits like Burton's weren't shy of pointing this out.
0:25:47 > 0:25:55Their advertising makes it very clear a suit was all you needed to make you irresistible to the ladies.
0:25:55 > 0:26:02Hm! Boy coming down the steps. He's worth looking at.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06What a nice boyfriend to have!
0:26:06 > 0:26:09So attractive! I like that suit.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16'There's no doubt about it, you can't beat Burton Tailoring.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:31Burton's opened in Leeds in 1904 and offered men across the nation
0:26:31 > 0:26:35a mix of made-to-measure and off-the-peg suits.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40And by 1925, it was the biggest tailoring chain in the world.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44With an exclusively male customer base,
0:26:44 > 0:26:49the drive to incorporate function and technology was very much to the fore.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59'That's careless, though this can happen to anyone.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04'And this you can't escape, but wise men wear trousers made of Burtex, Burton's new stain-resisting cloth.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07'See how ordinary cloth absorbs liquid,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10'but Burtex-treated cloth just won't absorb liquid.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13'It shakes off easily. That's careless!'
0:27:13 > 0:27:17After the Second World War, new-fangled man-made fabrics were seized upon
0:27:17 > 0:27:23and the suit was made washable and, miraculously, water- and stain-resistant.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Unfortunately, without the look and feel of 100% wool,
0:27:28 > 0:27:34men wearing these suits crackled with static and dripped with sweat.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42These days, most of us buy our suits off the peg.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46And we still want a suit that looks smart, but functions too.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52One in five of those suits sold in the UK comes from Marks and Spencer.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55They sell three suits a minute.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00And for them, the search for the technologically perfect suit is still on.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03What's your most exciting technical innovation?
0:28:03 > 0:28:07At the moment we've been selling this product here, which is...
0:28:07 > 0:28:08You might want to try one on.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12- This is what we call our performance suit.- Performance suit?
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Yeah, it's 100% wool, it's called high-twist yarn,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19so it's got a natural stretch in it.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22- High-twist yarn.- I think you'll feel comfortable in that,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27and it's also got Stormwear on it, our water-repellent finish that we put onto suits.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29- Water-repellent?- Yeah. I think as a customer,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34if you buy a suit and you go out and get caught in the rain, even if you don't know about it,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37that's a massive benefit, even if you only use it once.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43- You've brought a bottle of water. Excellent.- I'm really going to give it to you.- OK.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44Are you ready?
0:28:47 > 0:28:49That is amazing!
0:28:49 > 0:28:53- Good, isn't it? - There is no water on the suit!- No. - That is like a magic trick.- Yeah.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Why wouldn't you want your suit to be waterproof?
0:28:55 > 0:28:59When you put it like that, and after this, I couldn't agree more.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01- Thank you, Mark.- Thanks. - Sold.- Excellent!
0:29:06 > 0:29:13In boom times, huge factories employed whole towns in the North of England,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15just to keep up with the demand for the suit.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21'Young girls enjoy making clothes, especially for men.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27'Every year, groups of school leavers are recruited to become the machinists of the future.'
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Now, most mass-produced suits are made abroad,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40but some of the British companies behind them are still thriving.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47One British suit manufacturer makes as many as 18,000 suits
0:29:47 > 0:29:50for the British High Street every single week.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54And I've come to Hungary to find out exactly how they do it.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58This is Budapest.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10Berwin and Berwin began trading in Manchester in 1886,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14and have been mass-production tailors ever since.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18If you've bought a suit from the High Street,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21chances are they made it.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22The process begins here.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26You've got these big rolls, these are for Ted Baker and basically,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28this is an assembly line, this is a factory.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31What you see are the bales loaded into a machine here,
0:30:31 > 0:30:33loads of fabric rolled into them.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Because this is a factory, they're not cutting individual suits,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39they have big turnover.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42These machines are laying out the fabric, layering them up,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46ensuring that they're all smoothly positioned
0:30:46 > 0:30:48and ready to go into the machine itself.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53Mind out for the vents and the ducts
0:31:03 > 0:31:05This is completely extraordinary.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08This machine is called the Gerber Cutter.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11There are three of them here in this factory,
0:31:11 > 0:31:12one here and two over there.
0:31:12 > 0:31:18What that does, is cut through about 80 layers of fabric.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23It has a vacuum underneath it, so it's sucking in air, so all the fabric's held tight.
0:31:23 > 0:31:29That means that when the blade starts cutting in there, it won't slip.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33Inside that piece of machinery, in that head,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35is one of these.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39It's a razor blade, a big blade, each one costs about 20 euros.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42There's one of those in that head,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45and it's cutting through layers of fabric like this very, very deft.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49If you look up close, you can watch it go, so, so quick.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54The thing I love most of all, there's one guy operating it,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58and I'm slightly in the way, I don't want to disturb him
0:31:58 > 0:32:01cos he's working, but underneath, sorry, can I?
0:32:01 > 0:32:04You have these. Look at this. These are the shears. This is old school.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07This is how they do it on Savile Row
0:32:07 > 0:32:09But here they have this big machine,
0:32:09 > 0:32:15that tiny blade that's super sharp, going like that.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22So, once all those big rolls of fabric have been through
0:32:22 > 0:32:27the Gerber Cutter cutting machines, they're carefully labelled and piled up.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29They're placed in the back of a lorry here in Budapest
0:32:29 > 0:32:32and they're driven two and a half hours away to
0:32:32 > 0:32:35another factory where they're all sewn together.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40That's in a town called, I'll just get this right, Vasarosnameny,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43which is about 15 kilometres from the border with Ukraine.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45That's where I'm heading now.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12It's the scale of this place that is so mind blowing.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16I've been imagining one enormous machine,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19you put cloth in one end and magic suits come out the other end.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Of course it's not like that.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27The other thing that strikes me, I remember meeting Charlie Allen.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30We talked all about the jargon in tailoring
0:33:30 > 0:33:34and it felt like going to mechanics, opening the bonnet of a car.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Well, this is the assembly line where the cars are mass-produced
0:33:37 > 0:33:38and manufactured.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41It's exactly like that, all the bits are like chassis of vehicle
0:33:41 > 0:33:45hanging up, being taken along, something else welded to it, fused.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50The thing I really respect is the attention to detail.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54You'd think, mass-produced, who cares?
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Each person, they are paying so much attention to what they're doing.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02You can see that this is delicate, filigree, precise work.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11It's been a total eye-opener.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14The quality of what they produce here in Hungary, I think,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17is really pretty good.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20This is an example which happens to be on the dummy,
0:34:20 > 0:34:24it's a Ted Baker jacket, the label doesn't really matter, this isn't about product placement.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28The point is that if you look at the thing, I'll try it on...
0:34:31 > 0:34:37I think it's got a nice feel, and the detailing is second to none.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42Tiny little pockets on the inside, one lining there,
0:34:42 > 0:34:44another different lining with a pattern there.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Of course the killer detail for me, the cuffs.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51The sign of a bespoke suit, they say, you can undo the cuffs.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57Well, I'm standing in a factory in Hungary and there they are.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Have a look at that. That's the sign of bespoke.
0:35:07 > 0:35:1060 years ago, mass production meant ubiquity.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18And the lounge suit, like the frock coat it replaced,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22was starting to look just as stuffy.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30Suits became a byword for mediocrity, conformity and blandness.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36Every inch of it the uniform of boring, British commuter drones.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42But what happened soon after the war society began to change
0:35:42 > 0:35:43and change very fast.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47All of a sudden, popular culture and fashion
0:35:47 > 0:35:50infiltrated the world of the suit.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53And here in London, the suit began to swing.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58So to find out how the suit trends were set during the '60s,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00I'm going to take in a couple of movies.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13Chris Breward from the Victoria and Albert Museum, has a passion for menswear.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22- Now that, I think, is a very cool look.- It is.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24That's Ocean's Eleven, it's 1960.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27What do you think the impact of a film like that would've been?
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Film had enormous power, and people looked to film stars,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34men as much as women, for cues.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37This is an era where there aren't men's style magazines,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41when there's not the discussion of men's fashion in the newspapers,
0:36:41 > 0:36:42so who do you look to?
0:36:42 > 0:36:45You look to the kind of key fashionable films of the time.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50What are the stylistic hallmarks, of these suits that differentiate them?
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Well, I think Dean Martin's suit in this clip is the key one.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59It's slightly iridescent fabric, much lighter wool,
0:36:59 > 0:37:06it's cut much more tightly to the body, it's the very slim lapels,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09very narrow trousers, no pleats at the front.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14The style had little to do with traditional English tailoring.
0:37:14 > 0:37:20This was a look inspired by men on the streets of Naples and Rome.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It's lighter, it's sexier, I suppose, it's got sex appeal...
0:37:26 > 0:37:30- Hey gimme a kiss. - Sound idea.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33which you can't say about many Savile Row suits,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36traditional Savile Row suits, they're doing the opposite.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40They're like armour, that kind of, you know, covering up.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43They're presenting a different sort of mask to the world.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48The Italian suit, it's relaxed, it's about an open approach to life
0:37:48 > 0:37:53and the sense of the Italian man as a fashion icon,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56a sense of sprezzatura, of kind of owning the streets,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58of being relaxed in your clothes.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Is that what that means? A sense of sort of like pizzazz, confidence?
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Yeah, pizzazz, confidence, that's a very good definition.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10But Italian tailoring is all about that, which is very different
0:38:10 > 0:38:13to the more traditional notion of British tailoring.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19In a sense, this Oceans Eleven look,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22you can also see it reflected in the working-class sub-culture of the time,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26in the Mod sub-culture for example.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31Mods, young working-class men who are into an Italian lifestyle,
0:38:31 > 0:38:37the Italian mopeds, the coffee bars, the whole sort of Italian feel.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39What do you want to go with that?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42You want a sharp Italian-style suit that makes you look fabulous.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46I think that's what's so new and so brilliant about it in the '60s.
0:38:46 > 0:38:47It's very, very fresh.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53My second film is a little bit of a cheat.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57It's much newer, but I reckon the suits in it have become
0:38:57 > 0:38:59sartorial shorthand for the '60s.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Come on, baby, work with me.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09Show me love.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Great, baby! Yeah!
0:39:14 > 0:39:18This is a film that comes from '97, it's a big parody of Bond,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21of lots of stylish films that came out in the '60s.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Mike Myers is just camping it up to the max.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26That suit's ridiculous.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Somebody's done their research.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32I think there's a moment, around '66, '67 in London,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35where this kind of extreme form of menswear,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38just in a couple of streets, is outrageous.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43So in that sense, it's not so far-fetched I don't think.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47Oh, behave. Yeah...
0:39:47 > 0:39:51So, suits like that that were actually available to men in the '60s to buy,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53but not only that, they wore them.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55A few men wore them I think.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57It became known as the sort of peacock style,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01the kind of Swinging London look.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04If you were a young man in the Swinging '60s in London,
0:40:04 > 0:40:05you bought a suit like that,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08what's the message, what are you trying to say as a person?
0:40:08 > 0:40:12I think you're saying that you're kind of kicking against the establishment,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16this is not a suit for the office job.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19This is a suit for going out to the new London clubs,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23it's a suit for engaging with the new street culture of London
0:40:23 > 0:40:25and engaging with the now.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Means you're hyper-fashionable.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36Psychedelic, dandified boutiques and tailors like Mr Fish
0:40:36 > 0:40:41and Granny Takes a Trip, launched the peacock revolution.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48There's a sense of the kind of Edwardian or late Victorian dandy
0:40:48 > 0:40:51about this sort of costume, or even the Regency buck.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54But the period they really liked, the '60s designer,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58was the early 19th Century, the kind of Regency dandy.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00There's a sort of madness about it, I think.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Nothing was off limits and '60s designers used all sorts
0:41:06 > 0:41:12of unusual materials to steal the suit back from the establishment.
0:41:12 > 0:41:13# Daddy wasn't there
0:41:13 > 0:41:16# To take me to the fair
0:41:16 > 0:41:19# It seems he doesn't care. #
0:41:19 > 0:41:21It looks like designer curtains.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24It does, but the researcher's done their work,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28we've a suit by Mr Fish in the V&A collection, that's not so dissimilar.
0:41:28 > 0:41:34Those sorts of designers were taking furniture fabrics and turning them into suits.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36It's only permissible within the middle of London
0:41:36 > 0:41:38and other urban centres.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41It loses its power and becomes rather dangerous
0:41:41 > 0:41:44when it moves outside of that sort of terrain.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47There's a lot of nervousness about the way
0:41:47 > 0:41:50men are growing their hair, turning into women, essentially.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53I think it's disgusting, disgraceful and effeminate.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56- I can't tell one from the other. - I think they're a load of poofs.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03Do you think it was a particularly worrying time for those people
0:42:03 > 0:42:07because the suit, historically, is so synonymous with masculinity?
0:42:07 > 0:42:10To see that change, it's like, oh my God,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13everything we know and understand is being taken away from us.
0:42:13 > 0:42:19Yeah, social conservatives were, you know, shaking in their shoes.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21'If the row of long-haired mealy youths you've pictured
0:42:21 > 0:42:26'are British manhood 1967, then God help this country.'
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Things are loosening up in the '60s. Ways of being a man are shifting.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33You've got the decriminalisation of homosexuality,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36it's a time of new freedom.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38In an interesting way, I think men's clothes
0:42:38 > 0:42:42reflect those broader changes in terms of fashion generally.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50So there's this Technicolor moment when men's fashion
0:42:50 > 0:42:55changes from the monochrome, you get these incredibly bright colours,
0:42:55 > 0:43:00new textures, new inspiration, and then it goes again by '68, '69.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02- Very brief, then.- Yeah.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Although menswear as a whole got progressively wilder
0:43:08 > 0:43:13and more relaxed throughout the '60s, this wasn't good news for the suit.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18By the '70s, the predominance of denim and casual wear
0:43:18 > 0:43:24made the suit look boring, pretty ugly and strictly for formal occasions.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28In the '70s, suits were for work and they were for Sundays,
0:43:28 > 0:43:30and funerals and marriages.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34Nobody who was cool wore a suit.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36It was such, you know,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39if you wanted to look at a suit on Top Of The Pops,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42you'd switch it on and you know who'd be wearing suits?
0:43:42 > 0:43:43Mudd.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50The most ghastly, awful pop band, Mudd.
0:43:54 > 0:43:55Trash.
0:43:55 > 0:43:56Or The Osmonds.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00# Don't love me for fun girl
0:44:00 > 0:44:03# Let me be the one, girl
0:44:03 > 0:44:06# Love me for a reason
0:44:06 > 0:44:10# Let the reason be love. #
0:44:11 > 0:44:14It really was the decade that taste forgot.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16People were wearing safari suits.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20Think of Roger Moore, he was the worst-dressed Bond of all time.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24But the '70s wasn't without its suit moment.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Think of people like David Bowie or Bryan Ferry.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30They were suit innovators, doing something different, new.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32I'm going to meet the man who helped them to do it.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44# Teenage revolution... #
0:44:49 > 0:44:52When Roxy Music first appeared in the early '70s,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56their entire look, including Bryan Ferry's suits,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59was put together by designer Antony Price.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07A suit is one of the few garments that you can actually alter
0:45:07 > 0:45:10the contour of someone's body.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14You can make them appear a completely different shape
0:45:14 > 0:45:17by using the art of tailoring, which, of course,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19you cannot do with a pair of skin tight jeans.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21If you've got a terrible arse,
0:45:21 > 0:45:23it will be a terrible arse covered in denim.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33When you started designing the suits,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36what did you do specifically about the jackets?
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I suddenly started doing things that looked more American '40s.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46It's true that one does draw from things in the past.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49You've got to get men to buy these things
0:45:49 > 0:45:53and men are very conscious of buying things that are...
0:45:53 > 0:45:57They won't buy something if they're going to look a fool in front of friends,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59or they think that.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01When the penny drops they might get sex out of it,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04then we have a different attitude.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Women love a man in a suit.
0:46:11 > 0:46:17He can bring home the bacon, the suit indicates success, success, success.
0:46:18 > 0:46:23Women can take or leave sex, men can't and they need that suit.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26If it's going to get them laid, they're going to buy that suit.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The classic framing of Antony Price's suits for Bryan Ferry
0:46:35 > 0:46:39was further sexed up by subtle, but significant details.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42There's nothing feminised about this suit.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45The shoulders are defined, the torso's tapered
0:46:45 > 0:46:50and by cutting away the front of the jacket, the crotch is all on show.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00What I was doing in the '70s became commercial '80s,
0:47:00 > 0:47:05including that look that I'd done on Bryan Ferry, which was the slim suit.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10He'd obviously worn it on television, so it had got around.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Nobody dared wear that suit for almost ten years.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16It was ten years before Duran Duran took it on board and said,
0:47:16 > 0:47:17"I don't care who's worn it before,
0:47:17 > 0:47:19"we love it and we're going to wear it."
0:47:19 > 0:47:22# Her name is Rio
0:47:22 > 0:47:27# She don't need to understand. #
0:47:27 > 0:47:30The suits were narrow, with quite narrow lapels.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35We did the turquoise and green and lilac suits,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38which were then strategically placed on a yacht.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Everyone aspired then to go to the Caribbean.
0:47:42 > 0:47:48To see them sploshing around in these suits with dyed yellow hair,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51against a turquoise sea and azure blue sky,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55worked very well and it's an iconic image from the '80s.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04After a decade in the fashion doldrums,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08the suit started to become cool again during the '80s.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13Looking relaxed and luxurious, the right suit said you'd arrived.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15And it wasn't just Antony Price who was making them.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Just as in the '60s, Italian design was on the rise again.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Armani's really interesting.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26His whole attitude towards fashion, certainly the suit
0:48:26 > 0:48:30and menswear, has been about the feel and touch of fabric.
0:48:32 > 0:48:38An Armani suit was cool, sexy, with that kind of slouchy style,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42epitomised by Richard Gere in American Gigolo.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44It's not for boys.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46Isn't it a little late for you?
0:48:46 > 0:48:49My husband's still in New York. I'm alone.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53It's for men in their thirties who could afford it.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56You aspire to an Armani suit.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58Armani can pick up a suit and put it on like that.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02Because they're easy to wear, they're comfortable,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04it's like wearing a cardigan.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08- Why did he do that?- Because it was new and because it would sell.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20In the '80s, an Armani suit became shorthand for success.
0:49:21 > 0:49:27For all of his subtle design innovations and emphasis on fabric,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30it was Armani's ability to create a desirable brand
0:49:30 > 0:49:33that made his suits entirely new.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45What Armani did that was so brilliant
0:49:45 > 0:49:48was to make it so international
0:49:48 > 0:49:53and to make the idea of his label so extremely desirable.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56It was way above the importance of the cut of that suit.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02He started off in 1975.
0:50:02 > 0:50:07By 1987, he had a 350 million turnover.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33The '80s brought the suit right back into fashion,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35Antony Price's design for Bryan Ferry,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38the billowing silk numbers he did for Duran Duran,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41or think of Miami Vice and those loose colourful suits
0:50:41 > 0:50:43worn with the sleeves rolled up.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45But it was here in the City
0:50:45 > 0:50:48that the evolution of the suit continued again.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55If you think about the power suit worn by the children of Thatcher,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59the people who worked in the City, double breasted, big shouldered,
0:50:59 > 0:51:04big status symbols, worn by self-styled masters of the universe.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07This was the era when greed was good
0:51:07 > 0:51:11and that became synonymous with what they wore.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15And of course being a banker today is not such a popular profession.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18I would love to know whether the suit is still something
0:51:18 > 0:51:21that's worn with pride here in the square mile of the City.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35I feel like my quest to find the perfect suit,
0:51:35 > 0:51:37this is my Attenborough moment.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39I've hit the mother lode, this is the watering hole
0:51:39 > 0:51:43for the species of men who wear suits as a matter of course.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47It's a natural thing. How long have you worked in the City?
0:51:47 > 0:51:50- Since 1980.- Since 1980?
0:51:50 > 0:51:53So the '80s were quite a different time to be...
0:51:53 > 0:51:54You had to wear a suit.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56There was no other possibility.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- So in those days you always wore a suit?- Every day.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01It meant power.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04If you were bold in what you wore, it meant you were powerful.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08- It sent a signal.- It's interesting, now you don't wear a suit.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Have you gone underground? Incognito?
0:52:11 > 0:52:15It's not good to show that you're conspicuously a banker,
0:52:15 > 0:52:16definitely not.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18But isn't it important, when you're in the City,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21to kind of dress as other City people do?
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Not unless you're meeting a client.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27It's the impression you give to the client that's most important,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29so when they see you, they want to see you in a suit.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34In the '90s, influenced by American trends from Silicon Valley,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37the dominance of the suit in the workplace was challenged
0:52:37 > 0:52:39by the smart-but-casual revolution.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Dress Down Friday had arrived.
0:52:45 > 0:52:46I've done Dress Down Friday
0:52:46 > 0:52:49and sometimes there might be something important going on,
0:52:49 > 0:52:52and really, I'm not switched on enough, you know.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57I just feel like I'm an interloper really, not ready for work.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00I feel better, I feel more able to perform, somehow,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02when I'm wearing a suit.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05People coming in in their Bermuda shorts and t-shirts
0:53:05 > 0:53:06doesn't reflect well.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09It seems to encourage sloppy behaviour.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13The conclusion was wearing a suit, clothes maketh the man -
0:53:13 > 0:53:18that was resonating, I think, within the industry.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20It's almost a uniform for work.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24It's where I feel the most comfortable round the workplace,
0:53:24 > 0:53:26dressed like this.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29Some people don't like it, but it's an easy way to dress,
0:53:29 > 0:53:31you don't have to think about it too much.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Just get a shirt and get a tie and you go to work.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Someone said to me a long time ago don't dress for your job,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38dress for the job you want.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41You don't find top brass wearing jeans and a T shirt on a Friday, do you?
0:53:45 > 0:53:50It seems to me that the suit has come to a really interesting place.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Without losing its essential qualities,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55it has evolved into something versatile that means
0:53:55 > 0:53:59many different things to many different men.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03And that subtle flexibility is the secret of its survival.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07It successfully straddles two worlds.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10It remains a uniform, making men feel ready for work,
0:54:10 > 0:54:15but it continues to fascinate designers, whose innovations ensure
0:54:15 > 0:54:19that, however subtle, the look of the lounge suit never stands still.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24I'm going to finish my voyage of suit discovery
0:54:24 > 0:54:29by meeting Britain's international king of menswear, Paul Smith.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Oh, it's perfect, sir!
0:54:31 > 0:54:34So this is bespoke service, eh?
0:54:36 > 0:54:39'Paul Smith began selling menswear
0:54:39 > 0:54:42'from his first shop in Nottingham, in 1970.'
0:54:43 > 0:54:46We do 26 collections a year.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48'The potentially boring combo of a jacket and trousers
0:54:48 > 0:54:52'of matching cloth has helped build a glamorous empire
0:54:52 > 0:54:56'that now exports to 56 countries around the world.'
0:54:56 > 0:54:57This is the design studio here.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00This is where we work on our future collections.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04You're like a whirlwind, I'm just trying to keep up.
0:55:04 > 0:55:05Sorry, sorry.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07So this is how it all works.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10That's a suit that's got a knitted cuff
0:55:10 > 0:55:12and that will be slashed with some stitching.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15- I've never seen that before.- No. - A cuff like that.
0:55:15 > 0:55:16Don't show it!
0:55:16 > 0:55:18LAUGHTER
0:55:18 > 0:55:20- I think it's too late.- Oh, OK.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25Anyway, this is where we create fabrics which are going to be printed,
0:55:25 > 0:55:26often they'll get used as linings.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30For instance, you get a classic suit like you've got on,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and then it'll have probably a lining like this.
0:55:33 > 0:55:38It'll be a completely classical suit and then you'll get a bit of fun.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41We had the band Green Day and they wanted some suits
0:55:41 > 0:55:43for the Mercury Awards.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45So we made them some suits,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49and then I photographed a mixing desk and then that became the lining.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52When they got the award, the suit was just hanging out
0:55:52 > 0:55:55so you just saw a bit of that.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Since I was 18 I've been working with people like Led Zeppelin
0:55:58 > 0:56:03and Bowie and Jagger and now with Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, etc.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Amazingly, a lot of these young bands want to wear suits
0:56:06 > 0:56:08but they don't want to wear a more formal suit.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12They want a suit that's got a bit more of an unusual approach to it.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15So it'll be the way it's constructed or the fabric or the colour.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18Do you think the suit will just endure for ever?
0:56:18 > 0:56:21I do, yeah, because it does a job and, you know,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24if you get into it, it's actually quite a nice thing to use.
0:56:24 > 0:56:25What's the job?
0:56:25 > 0:56:28If you had to like boil it down, what's the job a suit does?
0:56:28 > 0:56:33Makes you feel good. Elegant, important, sexy, tall.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42Do you think you'll ever become bored with the suit?
0:56:42 > 0:56:46No, because I like to... I think you can wear a suit in so many different ways.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48With tennis shoes, a floral shirt,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51chambray shirt, just a jacket... No, never.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00A good suit is almost like,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03you know when you close a car door that's a nice car,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06it's got this sort of solid sound about it?
0:57:06 > 0:57:08Or you have a knife and fork in your hand
0:57:08 > 0:57:10and it's got some weight about it?
0:57:10 > 0:57:13A good suit just has that solidity
0:57:13 > 0:57:19and that sort of importance about it that equals craftsmanship.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26So, I'm still in Paul's office, he's gone,
0:57:26 > 0:57:30a complete dynamo of energy and before he left,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33he allowed me to try on the full suit and in fact he chose the tie,
0:57:33 > 0:57:35and he's done it up on me and everything.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38And it is quite amazing what it does.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Where I think Paul's bang on is that a suit shouldn't be about
0:57:42 > 0:57:45all the codes and conventions, the number of buttons,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48the type of lapel, the vents, the drape,
0:57:48 > 0:57:52just for their own sake as a ticket into high society.
0:57:52 > 0:57:53A suit should be about quality,
0:57:53 > 0:57:57it should be about making you feel confident, giving you stature,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00transforming you so that you can play the role, if you like,
0:58:00 > 0:58:01of being a man.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03This is part of the machinery of the modern man,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06even 160 years after the lounge suit was first made.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09I just wish that I didn't have to give it back.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16# Heaven loves ya
0:58:18 > 0:58:20# The clouds part for ya
0:58:21 > 0:58:25# Nothing stands in your way when you're a boy
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# Clothes always fit ya
0:58:33 > 0:58:35# Life is a pop of the cherry
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# When you're a boy
0:58:40 > 0:58:42# When you're a boy
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# You can wear a uniform
0:58:44 > 0:58:46# When you're a boy
0:58:46 > 0:58:48# Other boys check you out
0:58:48 > 0:58:51# You get a girl who says your favourite things
0:58:51 > 0:58:54# When you're a boy
0:58:59 > 0:59:01# Boys
0:59:04 > 0:59:05# Boys
0:59:08 > 0:59:10# Boys keep swinging... #