Published on March 30, 2026
Dege & Skinner’s military tailoring specialist Sarah Wilkinson joined the bespoke tailoring and shirt-making company based in Savile Row in 1983. During her forty-year career, she has worked on some striking pieces of military tailoring, including uniforms for the Royal Family, the Yeoman of the Guard, the Guards regiments, and the Royal Company of Archers, which acts as the Sovereign’s official bodyguard in Scotland. She was a trailblazer for women on Savile Row and has been with Dege & Skinner, who hold the Royal Warrant for work on these specific and historic uniforms, for forty years.
Sarah told me that in her teens, she was determined to find an apprenticeship in tailoring but was often told that tailoring was a man’s trade, reflecting the attitudes of the early 1980s. Undeterred, she persevered and was eventually offered an apprenticeship , the then-Managing Director at Dege & Skinner, joining the company at the age of sixteen in August 1983.
She underwent training in both military and civilian tailoring, from creating naval uniforms during the Falklands War to attending the Queen’s Birthday Parade, where she witnessed the uniforms she had crafted being worn at The Trooping of the Colour.
Sarah began specializing in military uniforms, attracted variety of technical skills required to produce their unique shapes, sew their quilted linings, and attach the ornate braids often used in their decoration.
Examples of Sarah’s work are impressive, including:
– The Royal Lancers uniform featured in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s 2014 exhibition titled “What Is Luxury?” and now part of the official archive at the Museum.
– Prince Harry’s wedding day frock coat when he married Meghan Markle in 2018, along with the Page Boys who wore miniature versions of Prince Harry’s Blues & Royals Mess Kit.
– HRH Prince Louis’ doeskin tunic worn at the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III in 2023.
Sarah is always busy, as her work is so niche. She finds herself making uniforms for non-military clients drawn to their color, design, and the skills involved in their construction. Above all, she feels great pride in reflecting on her forty years of work, which has helped establish Dege & Skinner as a leading military tailor as well as a civilian one. As the owner of two bespoke suits from Dege & Skinner, I can confirm the exceptional quality of their craftsmanship.
With many thanks to Sarah Wilkinson and Dege & Skinner.
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