Originally featured in Points West magazine in Fall 2015
Although often depicted wearing the buckskin garb of the American Frontier, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody also owned and wore some of the finest tailored garments from the best tailors of his era, including this black wool frock coat tailored by Henry Poole & Company of Savile Row, London, England.
During the Great Britain tours of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, Cody mingled with European royalty and nobility frequently. As evidenced by this coat, he was certainly well dressed for these formal occasions. He commissioned Henry Poole & Company to tailor the coat in 1903. The coat’s exterior is a fine black wool cloth while the interior is satin-lined.
James Poole began as a military tailor in 1806; his son Henry inherited the company in 1846 and opened a new shop on Savile Row. Henry Poole & Company served a number of British royals, including one of Buffalo Bill’s acquaintances, the well-dressed Albert, Prince of Wales, who later assumed the throne as King Edward VII. After one of Poole’s British dining jackets debuted at the Tuxedo Club, a new term describing men’s formal evening wear entered the American vocabulary. Today, Poole & Company remains one of the finest tailors on Savile Row.
Buffalo Bill’s Poole coat—and a double-breasted vest he ordered at the same time—was recently exhibited in Washington, DC, for the Savile Row Bespoke Association exhibit Savile Row and America: A Sartorial Special Relationship. Hosted by Sir Peter Westmacott, the British Ambassador to the United States, the exhibition included more than seventy garments. This coat appeared alongside tailored garments worn by Gregory Peck, Sir Winston Churchill, William Randolph Hearst, Ronald Reagan, and Michael Jackson, further demonstrating Buffalo Bill’s enduring ability to select the perfect clothing for any celebrity event!
Frock coat, 1903. Made by Poole & Company, London, England. Museum Purchase, Garlow Collection. 1.69.938
Post 168
