Famous Lowestoft tailors closes
When one Lowestoft fisherman wore a brightly-coloured suit in the early 1960s, his style soon caught on and was emulated by the port's young sea-going men.
When one Lowestoft fisherman wore a brightly-coloured suit in the early 1960s, his style soon caught on and was copied by the port's young seagoing men.
Now as one of the tailors famed for making the fisherboy suits prepares to close, a group of the town's 'dockside dandies' met yesterday to say farewell to the shop and reminisce about their unique sense of style.
Fisherman Bryan Scott was the first to wear a brightly-coloured suit in Lowestoft.
Many of the suits came from tailor's shop Lawrence Green, in the High Street, which is due to close soon when the current owner Spencer Green retires.
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Keith Mayall said his favourite suit was purple with black lapels and 28in bell-bottom trousers.
He said: "We worked in a hard environment so when we were home we wanted to brighten ourselves up and do something different. When people saw us coming up the street, they knew straightaway that we worked at sea."
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Trevor Durrant said: "It was a dirty, hard, grinding job. In those suits we felt special and people looked up to us. It was the fisherman's way of proclaiming 'This is who I am and I'm proud'".
Although the suits - which cost about �9 in 1962 - were the height of fashion among the port's fishermen, they only wore them for about three years before trends changed.
London-based artist Peter Wylie is working on an arts project about the fisherboys and their suits, called Dockside Dandies of Lowestoft, and is hoping to involve local schools and art students.
Anyone who has memories about the fashion can share them with Peter Wylie on 0208 9801120 or email eastofwylie@yahoo.com
