My grandpa, the best-dressed man in Essex
Lara Grayson’s grandfather dressed gangsters and stars, and inspired her career
My grandpa Arnold Aubrey Grayson was always impeccably dressed head to toe. He never wore anything but a suit, accessorised with a baker boy cap, signature Burberry scarf and leather bag. They called him the best dressed man in Essex — at least as smart as the celebrities that he dressed.
I remember him once saying to me that he couldn’t believe how badly young men dressed these days, that back in the day men would be queuing up outside his father’s tailor’s shop in Waterloo for a brand new suit for every occasion. But latterly they favoured more casual clothes and the suits they did wear didn’t fit them properly.
Grandpa dressed Cary Grant, he made a suit for Mick Jagger. His clients included Henry Cooper, the boxing champion; Jim Standen the West Ham goal keeper; Dennis and Leslie Compton, famous cricketers who also played for Arsenal and Godfrey Binasia the president of Uganda. He met Princess Diana and Princess Anne.
Sadly my beloved grandpa passed away in January 2021, aged 91; but just before Covid hit he travelled to Australia to see me and I’ll never forget our time together. He loved to tell me stories from his days in the tailoring trade.
It all started in 1946, when he went at the age of 16 to the tailor cutter academy in Gerard Street, in Soho. He started working in his father’s shop in Waterloo —‘Hymie the Tailor’ which was the place to go and get your suits made back in the day, the Versace of his era. It was popular among gangster clans such as the Frasers and Richardsons. Buster Edwards, who was involved in the Great Train Robbery, got a suit made for his wedding day at Hymie’s and it was later found that some of the loot from the robbery was hidden on the roof of the shop.
In 1968 a client of the business was a consultant for a film called Performance, starring James
Fox and Mick Jagger and he recommended my grandpa as the tailor for the production. Grandpa went on to make five suits for James Fox for the film plus a three piece suit for Mick
Jagger. He fitted him personally and hand delivered it to his home in Chelsea. This was his first taste of celebrity culture but definitely not the last.
One of the first tailors to establish their own concession, in 1976 he set up Arnold Grayson tailoring within Harvey Nichols in Wigmore Street. There he made a suit for Milton Reid who played the villain in the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me.
He then moved to Selfridges. It was at Selfridges in 1978, that he got his own stardom moment by appearing in the background of a movie with Shirley MacLaine, who was shooting her film Madame Sousatka in the men’s department. Shirley came over to him and seemed intrigued with what he was doing and one of the camera men then asked if he could continue. He was paid the grand sum of £20 for appearing in the movie.
It was around this time that he was then introduced to Cary Grant becoming his personal tailor for eight years up until his death in 1986 — an experience I know was the highlight of not just Grandpa’s career but also his life, as he admired him hugely. At this time Grant was the face of Faberge the perfume company. The firm’s managing director, Norman Waterman was Grandpa’s client. Cary Grant had asked who his tailor was as he liked the cut of his suits and that is how it began. They hit it off, my grandpa loved the way he carried himself whilst wearing a suit.
He also rubbed shoulders with royalty; he met Princess Anne attended at a dinner for the tailors of Savile Row. The picture of them chatting was a prized possession. But this was trumped by meeting Princess Diana, when he was asked to go to Kensington Palace with a colleague to advise on the suit that Prince Harry would be wearing for the occasion of Prince William’s confirmation. Princess Diana met them at the top of the staircase and arranged for tea to be served. Grandpa described her as a charming lady.
He moved to Burberrys in 1992, and also worked in Savile Row, not really retiring until he was in his 80s. He was always going up to the West
End to make a suit for a client.
The memories I have of him will always be treasured —as will the beautiful blazers that I have inherited. I am a fashion stylist, and I’m sure I get my love of fashion from grandpa.
And when anyone asks where did you get your blazer from I reply, with great pride “It was my grandpa’s, he was a tailor.”
He made a three piece suit for Mick Jagger and delivered it to his home in Chelsea. It was his first taste of celebrity culture