The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-07-22
4SE,How on ENGLISH Toilor is to sc ~
~ give Uncle Sons Soldiers Fit" W.

American goods. Briefly. the American
clothes are superior in the beauty and
naturalness OF their lines. This applies
to uniforms as we'll
| THE American tailors are the only
| tailors who know how to mold the
shoulders of a coat. and II Is this detail
which dominates the appearance OF the
entire garment. Your English tailor
pads the shoulders and joins the sleeve :
with a sharp, abrupt angle. The AM
erican tailor. on the contrary. molds
the shoulder 90 fit the figure beneath
it. The effect is at once more natural.
and to borrow the Englishman's word,
F., smarter There are no angles IN the
human body such as the English
clothes would indicate. The lines
!, should be flowing and natural Pick up
any English garment and you will md
1t stiff with canvas and even horsehair.
An American coat. on the other hand
a good one-will be made OF nothing
but the ordinary material. and II will
be sewn inside and out with the same
care and finish.
"It is unfair to American taIiors that
the Government should go to England
for such work As a class we do our
share to support the Government. We
are obliged. for instance. to pay as
much as 100 per cent duty on the cloth
we use. See what discussion has been
aroused over the question OF building
the Panama canal with American ma
/
/ This decision Of the quartermaster's de-
partment does not make a dollars
worth of difference to US. but as a
question of pride. if nothing more, we
should have been recognized in an open
competition
! The superiority Of American tailor
/ Ing is susceptible OF proof in many
ways. not the least of which Is the
recognition IT is gaining in London
despite the protests OF London tailors-
One OF the most expensive tailors In
New York. who numbers among his
patrons many of the best-known club
members in that city, says:
81 know positively that American
fashion plates have considerable sale
in London. and that among the So
called military tailors. They are. be-
sides. In many cases watching US very
closely and copying many details OF our
clothes. What other proof could you
ask? The time has passed when It was
considered fashionable to go to London
for ones clothes.
There are only few AnglomanIacs
who still do 50. Then again there are
at least two tailors In New York who
make a speciality OF working aver
English clothes and trying to make
them fit. They are kept busy. Every
tailor has annoying requests to try to
do something with English clothes. and
many refuse to be bothered with them.
1T may be that London tailors make
/ better uniforms than ordinary clothes y
i They have a great opportunity for
/ gaining experience. But they overdo
\ il. The American would never tolerate
\ the pillbox caps and short jackets you
see everywhere in London 1t Is said.
/ I believe. that tailor Winter will not
design new uniforms for US. but merely
comes over to cut them so that we NAV
have smarter clothes. An English
tailor to cut our uniforms? Well that
/ is the unkindest cut of ALL"
The manager for a welI-known uni
form maker of this city took some
1
Winter is a specialist in this line"
/ said he. "and will doubtless do the
work expected OF him in a competent
manner. England has great standing
army, 1t should not be forgotten, which
is famous among other things for its
uniforms. tailor over there has
much greater opportunity for studying
| the demands OF soldiers 1t is NOT a
question OF the superiority OF English
or American tailors, but of the military
tailors of the two countries. and Eng
/ land has had the opportunity. while as
yet we have been somewhat limited
an England the work is still done
largely by workmen who are skilled in
every detail OF tailoring. over there a
man will take a piece OF cloth and
make coat of 1t. and a good one. with
1 out any assistance. He will be paid.
say a pound for a coat. and he will do
| two coats a week and be satisfied with
the income. How different it Is In
| America. Here we run TO specializing
/ in tailoring in many other things
I One man will do the cutting OF a part
of il. another will assemble the parts
/ still others do the sewing OF certain
seams, and so L don't care 10 go
/ into discussion Of the relative merits
OF the two systems. but I Know OF
many tailOrs in America who look for
ward with concern to the time when
the men who have an all round training
and experience shall have died out. We
have excellent tailors. no doubt, many
| OF them. but as yet we have no general
group of military tailors in the sense
that England has"
/ Another tailor believed that the quar-
termaster's department was unfortu-
nate in it's choice of Winter. lie said:
&c. V. Winter. am credibly informed
+ is not regular military tailor and +
not SO recognized sin London. During
the rsoer war he was ORDERLY. / IN
derstand. on Lord Roberts stnn and at
/ that time and later Invented several
details of equipment. some OF which
have become well known and have
brought him great deal OF moner
In trying TO patent these he has. how
ever, received adverse decisions. The
point is he Is not well known tailor
even if he be a good one 4 man should
be at the head of his profession to be
selected for such work. and the name
does not inspire confidence. I venture
to say there are several men in Wash