V&A
Navy Blue Wool Tailoring Sample
1980s · 1980s · British
Designer
Henry Poole & Co.
Production
artisan-craft
Material
wool
Culture
British
Movement
Power Dressing
Influences
Savile Row tailoring tradition
A rectangular fabric sample with pinked zigzag edges, characteristic of tailoring swatches used by bespoke clothiers. The deep navy wool appears to have a smooth, fine weave typical of suiting fabrics. Four small holes are visible, likely from sample pins or attachment points used during the fitting process. The fabric shows the dense, structured quality associated with high-end menswear tailoring. Henry Poole & Co., established on Savile Row, would have used such samples to demonstrate fabric options to clients commissioning bespoke suits during the 1980s tailoring revival.
Connected To
Designer·Henry Poole & Co.Movement·Power Dressing
LINEAGEsame era · cross-category→ directed
Lineage: “Savile Row tailoring tradition”
That blue cardboard pattern piece and navy wool sample are the DNA and the finished organism of Savile Row's 1980s moment. The pattern's clean geometric lines—that precise shoulder curve, the calculated dart placements—are the mathematical blueprint that Henry Poole & Co. used to transform bolt goods into the armor of power dressing.
Text84%
Image77%
Entity63%
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