The Art of Tailoring: From Armorers to American-Made Stories
Anyone who has ever tried their hand at sewing quickly discovers this truth: the magic of a garment lives in its fit. Tailoring, the art of designing, fitting, fabricating, and finishing clothing, is as much about precision as it is about storytelling. The very word tailor comes from the French tailler, meaning “to cut.” Its Latin ancestor, sartor, referred to one who patched and mended garments, giving us the English word sartorial, a term still used today to describe the elegance of well-made clothing.
View from our factory in Rochester, NY
The Origins of Tailoring
The craft dates back to the Middle Ages, when some of the earliest tailors worked as linen armorers, fashioning padded garments worn beneath chain mail. These pieces weren’t just functional, they laid the foundation for the first tailoring guilds in Europe. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, tailoring began to evolve beyond necessity. Garments shifted from simple drapes of fabric to fitted forms that mirrored the human frame. Clothing became more than cover, it became expression.
By the Renaissance, style was no longer confined to nobility; it was a marker of identity for anyone with access to a skilled tailor. Clothing could flatter the body, project status, and tell the world who you were. The rise of the tailor signaled something greater: the birth of fashion as a concept.
A Craft of Apprenticeship and Hierarchy
As early as the 1100s, tailoring was recognized as a respected trade. Across Europe, royal charters elevated tailors’ guilds, and the profession became one of skill, discipline, and hierarchy. At the top stood the master tailor, whose cut defined a house style. Below him, cutters and journeymen worked through the intricate tasks of lining, padding, and shaping garments. Apprentices learned by watching, cleaning, and, eventually, stitching. Before the sewing machine, multiple tailors often worked side by side on the same piece, sitting cross-legged in what the French still call assis en tailleur, “the tailor’s pose.”
For centuries, tailoring knowledge passed solely from hand to hand, master to apprentice. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that written manuals appeared, like The Tailor’s Complete Guide (1796) and later, History of the Art of Cutting (1889), books that serve as historical markers of how techniques evolved.
The Rise of Bespoke
The term bespoke, literally meaning a fabric had “been spoken for”, cemented England as the heart of elite tailoring. Savile Row, Bond Street, and St. James Street became synonymous with precision and tradition. Each house developed a unique signature: Huntsman’s one-button jacket, Bernard Weatherill’s riding-inspired chest. Tailors became custodians of style, updating silhouettes with the times but never abandoning their lineage.
Though tailoring is now most often associated with menswear, its influence extends across fashion. Designers like Alexander McQueen, who trained as an apprentice on Savile Row, carried tailoring’s discipline into womenswear, creating garments that were as sculptural as they were expressive.
Tailoring Today
Fast-forward to now: many modern garments cut corners for speed and scale. But true tailoring, the bespoke kind, remains a powerful act of care. It means designing for your body, your movement, your story. A well-made garment doesn’t just fit; it affirms who you are.
At Bards, we carry this lineage forward. Our tape measures don’t discriminate, our fabrics span the globe, and our cutters, sewers, and pattern makers work together to create clothing rooted in craft and soul. Each piece is still cut and sewn by hand, crafted in Rochester, New York, and designed with you at the center.
We believe every stitch has a story. What will yours be?
