Why one Savile Row tailor is offering men free style sessions

Synonymous with power and polish, Savile Row can make a man feel deeply uneasy. Not because of the money — many hesitating to step into a tailoring house are comfortable dropping a few G’s — but because they don’t know what suits them.

Guys tend to freeze when judged on their clothes. It's unfamiliar territory, and perhaps lands harder because of it. Alexandra Wood, the famous London street’s first female tailor to only dress men, sees that hesitation every day.

“I’ve got clients you would think wouldn’t flinch at the idea. They’ve probably been in scarier boardroom meetings than walking down Savile Row,” she tells me.

“But they find the idea of having no idea of what they want absolutely terrifying.”

That fear is why Wood is offering complimentary one-to-one style sessions, complete with inhibition-lowering cocktails at her new Savile Row penthouse suite, to take the edge off the process. The space is deliberately homely: somewhere you could actually relax, just with Holland & Sherry tweed, soft Italian fabrics from the likes of Loro Piana, a rather handsome Alcantara bomber jacket, and a go-anywhere raincoat made from Ventile, the same high-tech fabric worn by Spitfire pilots in the Second World War.

Suits you, sir

Savile Row will always be associated with suits, but unless you’re attending the Grammys, the rules are clear — colours are limited, and decisions are relatively contained. It’s the rest of the wardrobe where men tend to lose confidence. Once they move into smart casual, the certainty evaporates. Jackets, knitwear, jeans and t-shirts are meant to feel relaxed, but come with more choice and fewer rules… and that creates panic.

“They say, ‘I don’t know what suits me.’ ‘I never knew colours were a thing — I just wore blue and grey.’ Or, ‘I don’t want to be so boring anymore,’ and ‘I don’t want to stuff it up,'” explains Wood.

“Experimenting with colour — they’re quite nervous of that. Most are open to it, it’s interesting, it’s different, but they’re confused about what goes together. So I’ve created pairing notes, so they know the formulas they can use.”

Wood compares how men shop to buying toothpaste: rushed, reactive, and based on what’s in front of them.

“It tends to be a last-ditch attempt, which doesn’t fit, and ends up being a waste,” she says, citing around 30 per cent of the average wardrobe won’t be worn in a year.

“Planning is key, otherwise it’s mad moments of needing stuff, or being drawn to crazy choices you’ll never wear.”

Her solution is to apply Savile Row rules on fit, proportion, and grouping to your entire wardrobe.

“In a world where everything is so fast and technical, nothing beats feeling the fabric or talking to someone,” adds Wood.

“Plus, buying clothes online always tends to go badly, and men are worse than women at returning items.”

The Style Council

Wood says the style sessions are worth £650 and deliberately low-pressure. There’s no expectation to arrive knowing what you want, and no requirement to buy on the day, though most choose to, with capsule collections containing six to eight pieces from four figures and rising. It starts with how a man actually lives, rather than what he thinks he should be wearing. Work, weekends, Wetherspoons (kidding, not kidding), all of it informs the suggestions that follow.

Some arrive with an aspirational reference point, and Chris Hemsworth comes up a lot. Wood’s response is to strip the fantasy back to something workable.

“Most are modest enough to admit they couldn’t look like him in a million years, but want to give it a shot,” she says.

“I don’t particularly consider Chris Hemsworth a style icon, plus it’s more to do with the clothes you put people in.”

A bit like Pinterest and colour wheels used by interior designers, Wood identifies the palette that works with their skin, hair, eyes and personality. Then, instead of working with wildly different seasonal shades (or accidentally discussing maximalist living rooms), prepares a moodboard showcasing a subtle twist on similar tones and suitable styles.

For most people, working with three or four colours is enough before moving on to fittings and fabrics if ordering there and then. Otherwise, a personalised style report is sent over via email afterwards. What surprises first-timers most is how straightforward the process feels.

“Savile Row can be seen as intimidating, so it’s about making it fun and relaxed,” says Wood.

“We do bear hugs and cocktails here.”

Absolute limbs

If the thought of a female Savile Row tailor sizing you up still makes you anxious, Wood has experimented with AI and removing the human element, but quickly found its limits, stressing an algorithm asking for a body shape doesn’t really know you, or instinctively understand whether something is going to look good.

“Limbs were not where they were meant to be,” she says. “Clients were too chiselled.”

Instead, she’s written her thinking down. The Simple Guide to Looking Hot is the logic behind her process. A way of understanding why some clothes get worn constantly, others don’t, and how to stop wasting money on the latter.

“It’s been in the making for five years,” says Wood.

“It was initially going to be a guide to every colour and every skin tone. But in the end, I opted for the simple system I use and how I think about every client’s wardrobe — so you end up with a good understanding of who you are and how to dress.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t need a suit,” adds Wood.

“Tailoring is flattering. It’s a superpower because it can hide things, it can manipulate shapes, and transform bodies. People say to me, ‘Can you make me look taller or slimmer?’, and yes, I can. I’m not joking. If you use clean lines and get the quality right, it does wonders.”

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