Winston Churchill’s siren suit is one of those garments that falls into the category “brilliant & nuts”.
From a boiler suit to a siren suit
The story goes that Winston Churchill noticed that bricklayers at his Chartwell Estate wore a heavy boiler suit. Next he went to his shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser asking them to make a similar garment from a suit fabric. Winston Churchill was so thrilled with the result that he ordered a batch of siren suits in different fabrics.
The origin of the name
The famous prime minister called his one-piece suit a “romper suit”. People dubbed it a siren suit though. When the sirens in London warned about bombers during WWII, Winston Churchill and citizens of London would swiftly put on a lightweight one-piece suit, “the siren suit”, before going to a bomb shelter.
Pitti Uomo made me think about “the onesie”. A guy there wore a garment that seemed influenced by Winston Churchill’s design invention. I think he did it well. The belt was a good addition that shaped the garment a bit more.
A classic. Churchill’s velvet romper suit. Photo: Science Museum, London
If you want to see the real deal then visit Turnbull & Asser next time you are in Jermyn Street. In the cellar of the famous shirtmaker you can gaze at a velvet siren suit made for Churchill by Turnbull & Asser, probably as a sort of substitute for a green velvet smoking jacket. The garment is one of three romper suits left from Winston Churchill’s wardrobe.
Looks awful to be honest. Onesies are for babies.
But hey, tastes vary.
Not wild about the romper suit, especially on Winnie.
Did you know he was a bit of a nudist? Conducted meetings and briefings while in the bath or undressed. A great figure but odd in many ways.