10 Downing Street
Following a fitting with then Prime Minister David Cameron
About
A heritage of
precision
Founded in 1963 by Geoffrey Golding, Goldings is a bespoke tailoring house in St Albans. It grew from one young tailor's determination into a name trusted for bespoke suits, formalwear, military uniforms and ceremonial dress.
Goldings has always focused on clothing made for occasions that matter: a suit for a private client, mess dress for an officer, ceremonial dress for a public occasion, formalwear for moments where first impressions matter.
From St Albans to Buckingham Palace, the our story is one of craft, nerve and old-fashioned service.
Workroom, Hatfield Road
Founded in St Albans, 1963
From the first
measurement
Geoffrey Golding did not begin with a grand address, a famous street or an inherited reputation. He began young, ambitious and impatient to make his own way.
At nineteen, he opened his first tailoring business in St Albans. He was too young to sign a lease in his own name, but what he lacked in age, he made up for in instinct, energy and an uncommon willingness to do what others would not.
In those early years, Goldings grew through service as much as skill. Geoffrey took on alterations, repairs and awkward jobs that other tailors often refused.
As the company developed, Geoffrey found his natural territory in the most demanding corners of the craft: formal tailoring, military uniforms and ceremonial dress. However, he was never simply making clothes, rather learning how people wished to stand in the world.
Early Client
"A deposit for life."
One early customer, Mr Varson, paid in full for three suits and later used that phrase. It still says something important about Goldings: this has always been a business built not only on garments, but on trust.
Shop Front, Hatfield Road
Installing the Royal Warrant coat of arms on the shopfront, 2001
By Royal
Appointment
In 2001, Goldings was awarded a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II for services to the Royal Household. For a St Albans tailoring house outside Savile Row, it was a rare distinction - and a recognition of our values.
The honour placed Goldings in a world where clothing is never merely decorative. At court, on parade, at state occasions and formal ceremonies, dress carries meaning. It must be correct. It must be dignified. It must allow the wearer to carry the occasion without distraction.
For Goldings, the Royal Warrant did not change the work. It confirmed the standard.
Geoffrey Golding would later receive the Royal Victorian Order, an honour associated with personal service to the Sovereign. For a tailor from St Albans, it was an extraordinary chapter in an already unlikely story.
HRH The Princess Royal
Wearing Royal Navy ceremonial dress and insignia
Clients of
distinction
Over the decades, Goldings has served members of the Royal Household, senior military officers, Prime Ministers, public figures and private clients throughout the United Kingdom and beyond.
Their requirements have varied, but the expectation has remained the same: clothing that is appropriate, assured and made to the highest standard.
Over the decades, Goldings became particularly known for bespoke, military and ceremonial tailoring, creating garments that combined traditional craftsmanship with a timeless sense of style and purpose.
Every commission begins with the individual and that is why so many clients return. Distinction is rarely about drawing attention to oneself. More often, it is the confidence that comes from knowing everything is exactly as it should be.
New Workroom, St Albans
Geoffrey Golding cutting cloth - back at the bench
Retirement &
the return
After a lifetime at the cutting table, Geoffrey Golding retired in 2021, selling his business to spend more time with Mrs Golding. It was intended to be the final chapter of a remarkable career.
It was not.
When the business that had purchased his former company later went into liquidation and retirement proved uneventful, Geoffrey returned to tailoring, determined to restore the reputation and good name he had spent a lifetime building. He reclaimed the telephone number that clients had known for decades and reconnected with many of the long-standing customers who had supported him throughout his career.
Today, Goldings Tailors continues with renewed purpose, serving clients who value experience, honesty and the understanding that great tailoring is measured not only by how a garment fits, but by the confidence it inspires in the person wearing it.