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The second factor rcspon ·ible for the
emergence of ·o many dome ·ric -,,ells was the
inl-lucnce of ·'bespoke" taste. which wa to say.
the '·London Look.'" Ta.ilor and Cutter. Britain's
weekly trade gazette, trumpeted that "a man
can't make love with conviction unless he is
wcarjng a coat cut v\·ithin ~1
half a mile of Piccadilly"
\Vith the world's economies depressed.
men's styk took its lead from those 'Ncllst::trchcd
stalwarts ·with sufficient cash to have
their clothe · tailored on London's legendary
avile Ro": The English ··drape" suit and all rajment
.. Briddish" were regarded as the quintessence
of masculine sophistication.
The thirties represented the last epoch
in which a gentleman's ideal w::ts to be attired in
"bespoke E1shions ... Men's dress sti ll represented
a form of class-consciou.•me.ss, and tai lor-made
clothes ranked as another of those vessels oFdi.sti
nction O-Jnong the ch1sscs. \~ i th men's modes
molded by the eGte palates of the international
businessman. Europe's titled aristocrxr and
llollywood's cinematic royalty. the general taste
lcvd had nowhere to go but up. and up it went.
Even todar seven decades later. were
one ro conYene the world's be. t-dn:sscd men
under one roo£ the majority \\'Ould still show
up mantled in some form of custom- made clotbing.
Despite the culture's need for immedi