The tailoring shop of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were either sparsely or luxuriously fitted, depending in the size of the business and the types of clients. The basic requirements included shelving for the display of cloth, a counter where samples could be consulted, a space for initial measurement and a fitting room.
The workroom, usually behind shop, housed a cutting table and other tools of the trade. Several up-to-date fashion prints were also shown to clients. More prestigious firms made garments on the premises while "jobbing" tailors often sent work to outworkers, usually female seamstresses, who made up the garments at home.
By the turn of the twentieth century, many top-class bespoke tailoring shops had plush carpets, hardwood fittings, upholstered chairs and gilded mirrors. In the twentieth century tailors such as Simpsons and Austin Reed appointed their shops in art deco style and included barbers' shops and outfitting departments. Very often, and particularly in the mid-nineteenth century, other tailors were joined by high-end accessory providers and outfitters, making tailored shirts and selling items such as hats, ties and cravats, umbrellas and even footwear. Their shop-window displays tended to appeal because of their orderliness and neatness.
Tailoring shops were owned and managed by a master tailor, who always dealt with customers. He would employ journeymen tailors paid by the day or job and who would undertake the cutting and sewing work. The apprentices did the menial tasks whilst learning the trade. Cutting was really the most skilful element of garment making.
The way tailors sat often led to physical or medical conditions. They often developed round shoulders commonly known as tailor’s stoop or tailor’s bunion caused by prolonged pressure on the small toe joints as they sat cross-legged for hours on end.
