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New York — 29 July to 3 August 2026. Appointments by arrangement.

Welsh & Jefferies

Savile Row bespoke tailors. Established 1917.

Military structure, worn softly — cut by hand for clients from London to Shanghai.

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  • Established 1917
  • Golden Shears 2011
  • Royal Warrant as military tailor, 1990
  • London & worldwide fittings

The house

A century on the board

Welsh & Jefferies was incorporated in March 1917 at 15 Duke Street, St James’s, with roots as Eton College outfitters from 1901. Its first trade was military: dress and service uniforms for officers of many regiments, among them the Rifle Brigade and the Coldstream Guards.

In 1990 the firm was granted the Royal Warrant of HRH The Prince of Wales as military tailor. In 2012 the house passed to James Cottrell and Yingmei Quan, and the same discipline now shapes suits, ladies’ tailoring and the occasional piece of jewellery.

Military structure, worn softly — that has been the signature for over a century.

Discover the house
Blue checked tailoring in the foreground of the elegant showroomYoung Winston Churchill wearing his Welsh & Jefferies Hussars uniform
1917
Established
2011
Golden Shears
2
Master cutters

Services

What we cut

Bespoke and made to measure for gentlemen, ladies’ bespoke, and the military and ceremonial work the house was founded on.

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Full Bespoke

One cutter, a hand-cut paper pattern kept for life, and cloth chosen from thousands — tailoring in the house’s military-bred cut.

Made to Measure

The house pattern adjusted to your measurements — one meeting, the same cloth books as bespoke, and delivery in six to eight weeks.

Ladies’ Bespoke

Led by Yingmei Quan, winner of the 2011 Golden Shears — jackets, three-pieces, capes and coats cut to the figure.

Military & Ceremonial

The trade the house was founded on — WWI officers’ uniforms, a Royal Warrant granted in 1990, and ceremonial craft still on the board.

The making

Measure, cut, baste, finish

The house cut is military in its bones — a roped shoulder, a hand-padded chest, a clean waist — carried lightly in whatever the cloth wants to be.

Explore bespoke

  1. Measure

    Twenty-odd measures, and a reading of how you stand and move.

  2. Cut

    A paper pattern drawn for you alone, then struck through the cloth by hand.

  3. Baste

    The garment is sewn loosely for a first fitting — then taken apart and recut.

  4. Finish

    Hand-padded canvas, hand-sewn buttonholes, and a press that sets the shape.

Tailoring pattern lines are chalked across brown cloth beside a traditional iron and ruler.

The gallery

Recent work

“Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavour.” — William Cowper. Suits, jackets and coats, ladies’ tailoring and house jewellery, photographed as they left the board.

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Emerald and seed-pearl gold tie bar presented on navy velvet beneath a Welsh & Jefferies Savile Row plaque.Emerald Orbit Seed-Pearl Tie BarMidnight hussar tunic with six rows of silver frogging, olivets and trefoil cuffs.The Silver-Frogged HussarFront view of black-and-ivory houndstooth ladies' jacket with a black shawl collar.Graphic HoundstoothFull front view of the blue-gold Song-brocade smoking jacket.Celestial Song at Savile RowMannequin view of a camel vicuña double-breasted overcoat, with broad peak lapels, dark horn buttons and elegant turnback cuffs.Vicuña in CamelMannequin view of a pale-pink seersucker jacket, cut with broad peak lapels, a single pale button and rounded fronts.Rose Seersucker
Shelves of cloth bunch books with gilt lettering, from Super 130’s suitings to cashmere

Made to Measure

The house cut, now made to measure

Welsh & Jefferies now offers made to measure alongside full bespoke. The house pattern, adjusted to your measurements; the same cloth books; one meeting, and six to eight weeks. Bespoke remains the pinnacle — this is the nearer door to the same cut.

Discover made to measure
1917

Savile Row bespoke tailors. Established 1917.

Our story
“The owner may not be going into the trenches with this coat on, but I am reasonably certain that he could.”
Jeffery Diduch — Tutto Fatto a Mano — independent construction study, 2010

Our story

James Cottrell

Head Cutter

James Cottrell began on the board at Kilgour at sixteen, spent five years in Tommy Nutter’s workshop and eighteen years at Henry Poole, rising to head cutter. He joined Welsh & Jefferies as head cutter and took over the house with Yingmei Quan in 2012 — more than fifty years, so far, refining one trade.

Yingmei Quan

Master Tailor

Yingmei Quan came to London from Mudanjiang, China, trained at Central Saint Martins, and won the 2011 Golden Shears with a ladies’ wool overcoat. Widely reported as the first Chinese female tailor on Savile Row, she is the house’s master tailor — and the reason its ladies’ tailoring and its Chinese clientele are what they are. In September 2025 her winning coat stood once more in Scabal’s window on Savile Row, marking the Golden Shears’ fiftieth anniversary.

@welshandjefferies

@welshandjefferies

A working shop, photographed as it happens — new commissions, cloth on the table, and the occasional travel notice.

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Visit

Visit us

Savile Row tailoring, now at home in St James’s. The shop is open Monday to Friday, 10:00–17:30 — appointments are recommended, and visitors from abroad can often be seen around our travelling schedule.

10A Charles II Street St James’s, London SW1Y 4AA

  • Monday – Friday 10:00 – 17:30
Visit us
The full Welsh & Jefferies facade, entrance steps and tailoring window.