“Suits You” – ZenGuide and Tailoring for Women

by Angie Macdonald

We’ve recently enjoyed working with Savile Row tailor, Carol Alayne, to create her new business blog Tailoring for Women.

There are very few female Savile Row tailors, so it was a real privilege to get an insight into Carol’s world and the unique service she offers.

I used to associate Savile Row with men in suits making suits for men, but things are changing, and Carol Alayne is part of that change. She has twenty years’ experience and a particular passion for tailoring for women. Her background in banking means that she fully understands the tailoring needs of professional women and what their jobs require of them.

Through our coaching sessions on how to use blogging as part of her marketing strategy, we got to know more about Carol. Particularly fascinating is the fact that she learned how to sew on her grandmother’s knee at the age of five and started her first tailoring business when she was fourteen. Her other passion is playing the fiddle, which means she also understands the tailoring needs of musicians very well.

Together with our web design associate, David Robertson, we worked with Carol to design a site that would function both as a website and a blog, with the blog being the focal point.

The Tailoring for Women blog and website is now live. On the blog, Carol shares her expertise and insight on the tailoring industry. She is also creating a knowledge base that will demystify the process of the bespoke tailoring tradition and educate present and potential clients. Do go over and check it out. You will be able to learn about the differences between bespoke and ready-made and where to find extraordinary fabrics, for example. I was fascinated to learn that in many mass-produced ready-made garments the seams are fused together with glue!

Carol also has many high profile clients, including the British Olympic Shooting Team, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and one of my heroines, performance artist Laurie Anderson. From time to time she features garments she is making for high profile clients so it’s a good way to see who’s wearing what.

I hope Carol will enjoy blogging as much as we enjoyed showing her the ins-and-outs of blog posting, linking and commenting. We wish her every success!